𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄 • k. ayato

05

☄. *. ⋆

From the carousel of random ideas comes some order—a subtle awareness of who she is under the flow of thoughts with their loose connections to her waking life. After a few moments more she begins to analyze them in a lazy way, perhaps these ideas are meant to be kept. Some are composed as if from a book she once read, some are just silly.

In another moment they are gone leaving no trace. If they are still in her head there is no bread crumb trail back to them.

[Y/N]'s eyelids flicker open to the unlit room. No daylight. She closes them again, willing the carousel to return, for her mind to tumble back to dreams, but it won't. Now the tasks of the day were demanding she thinks about them, finds solutions, and gets jobs done by the day's end. She was awake and there was no retreat.

Soon after, a headache comes barging into her head as well. The consequences of her drinking. No matter how many times she suffers hangovers, she can never get used to them.

She let out a slight groan, rubbing her temple as she steadied her upper body on one of her elbows, "Dear archons... Just how much did I drink?"

"Oh, you're awake already?" Ayato inquired, sounding more startled than he had intended.

"Mm? Ah, It's you," She opened one of her eyes to steal a glance at him. Even in the morning, he looked elegant and refined. But even so, she plopped back down and brought the covers over her head.

"I'm... taking a day off," She mumbled, all the while still groaning in pain.

"Haha, no worries. Please, rest for as long as you need," Ayato smiled to himself as he fixed up the sleeves of his outfit.

Although he was smiling, he felt rather guilty, "I'll tell the servants to bring you some pain-relievers."

The only reason she was having such a painful hangover was because of the poison which was laced over the rim of her glass. It was supposed to fasten the effects of the alcohol, but It seems like it also brought some unwanted side effects.

"Yes, yes, get out of here and stop bothering me. Tell the servants to be silent as well. I can't handle noise at the moment," She grumbled into her pillow as the warmth of the covers engulfed her once more.

She was by no means a lightweight.

This was rather suspicious to her as well, but she couldn't use her brain right now.

"I'll make sure to do that. Sleep well, dear," Ayato chuckled, and with one last look at his sleeping bride—he left.

The bed was her safe place, her haven. She would snuggle into the duvet as happy as a cat in the sunlight, ready for her starry dreams. She'd fall asleep in good time, either slowly or fast, either way, she enjoyed that feeling of relaxation she would get, albeit only when she was ill. As she was mostly busy.

But right now, even after the noises of the servants bringing her her medicine dissipated, she could not fall asleep. The thought of this unbearable, unexplainable headache was not leaving her mind. So, of course, she decided to sit up and do an investigation.

Firstly, she decided to question the spy she had brought with her. One of her most loyal servants. He was pretending to be a kitchen boy in this estate.

"Goro," she said in a quiet voice.

Suddenly, a man emerged from within the shadows and quickly bowed on his knee in front of his lady who was sitting in front of him, looking as graceful as always. He held a deep respect for his master.

"Ma'am," he said sternly.

"Has anything suspicious been occurring anywhere in the estate?"

The headache was pumping hard in her veins, but she did her best to control her expression. To her, a servant who would even give up his life for her was a threat. People turn fast at the sight of their master's weaknesses.

She knew that she had him under her control, and she was aware of his thought patterns. He for sure thought that her sickness was a facade in order to gather intel on the Kamisato's.

The servant kept silent, his head still lowered.

"Hmm... Have any poisons been delivered to the estate recently? Any herbs that could be made into poisons?"

Goro was silent for a moment, but soon his head perked up in thought, "Now that I think about it, I saw one of the servants rub a cloth over one of the wine glasses. Afterward, I inspected the cloth. It had some strange smell to it."

Suddenly, the air around his master chilled, and a smile made its way upon her face, "Please, bring that servant to me. As silently as possible."

Goro swallowed his own fear and held his head down once more before descending into the shadows yet again. To keep his life, he knew it would be in his best interests to keep quiet and leave without a word, as the shine in his master's eyes gleamed dangerously. 

And he knew better than to provoke her any further, as that could cost this world more than one loss of life.

[Y/N]'s arms were crossed and she leaned back into the chair, foot tapping on the ground. Her face had contorted from a smile to a scowl much more perilous than the ones before. Soon after, her spy emerged from the shadows with the kitchen boy in his grasp, mouth covered and hands tied up. He was squirming.

"Toss him over," she ordered.

Goro forced the kitchen boy on his knees, hands behind his back and head on the floor.

He tried to speak but his words were muffled by the cloth which was shoved in his mouth.

[Y/N] sighed, "Take that thing out of his mug."

Goro did as ordered. Now the kitchen boy was gasping for air, seemingly breathless, and afraid.

"Please! Milady, what did I—whatever I did to offend you, p-please forgive me! Allow me to—"

Cutting him off, "A wine glass," she mused, she saw how the servant's eyes widened, "Does it ring a bell?"

"N-No, not at all... What... are you talking about?"

[Y/N]'s headache only worsened at the sight of his lies. She did not have the time to deal with his antics.

"I will have your entire family murdered in cold blood if you DARE lie to me again," her voice struck fear as it echoed in the room. She stood up swiftly, towering over the man, glaring at him with deep disdain. Everything about this situation made the kitchen boy want to die.

He was ordered to lace the glass from which Ayato's wife would drink with poison, but he did not expect to have his family held against him. Just what kind of monster married into this family? He was afraid for his life. For everyone's lives.

"I CONFESS! THE COMMISSIONER ORDERED ME TO DO IT, PLEASE! SPARE MY FAMILY, PLEASE!"

He was kind. She could tell. In his eyes shone the love he had for his family. But because of his foolish betrayal, they would lose someone dear to them. She would be lying if she said that taking lives was an easy task. These killings often left her remorseful, but she couldn't let others trample over her. And so, she convinced herself that this was the right thing to do, and she did not hold back.

"Get rid of him. Discreetly," she walked away from the two, nearing her bed chamber's door.

"NO—PLEASE, I BEG!"

"I can't use you against the man I'm married to, therefore you're useless. No one will miss you anyway, so just die."

As his begging was cut off with a strike to the stomach, she walked out of her bed chambers. She couldn't believe Ayato had done this to her. She had begun to trust him too. She thought she had someone who would share their heart with her. She thought she could trust him, even just a little. But she was wrong yet again.

Just how many more times was she going to get disappointed and backstabbed by the people who are supposed to be closest to her?

☄. *. ⋆