An Arranged Marriage [Mitake Story]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 6

I woke up to some maids knocking on my door. Couldn't I just sleep a bit more? I yawned, then answered their calls. "Takemichi-Sama, we have an important day ahead,"

"Yeah, yeah,"

They stopped for a moment, and when I closed my eyes, it felt like heaven. Again, I heard the knock. "I'm awake!" I yelled.

Couldn't they just wait a bit more? The sun was barely up. I just decided to get up and open the door. I dragged myself out of bed and yawned again while opening the door.

"Good morning!" The maid said.

"Good morning,"

"Today we are going dress shopping! Let's hurry up and get you into a kimono,"

The other maids walked in and directed me to stand up. One took measurements and left while the others decided on what to do with my hair. The maid came back with 15 kimono options. They were all ugly except 3. One was pink, and the others were blue.

They all tried each kimono on me before deciding on one of the blues that had a pretty pattern. While some fixed some final details on the kimono, others did my hair and added some earrings.

Even though it was uncommon for a woman to have their ears pierced, my parents pierced my ears at the age of 8. Supposedly, it was to make me look prettier.

The maids choose silver earrings with gems and diamonds. They decided not to add white powder to my face since I was already pale enough.

Once I was done, they all admired their hard work. "We should get going, Takemichi-Sama needs to eat," they all bowed their heads and left the room. I examined myself in the mirror, and I didn't expect them to be so traditional.

My great-grandmother found dresses prettier than kimonos and started wearing them. The other young women who looked up to her started wearing dresses.

Kimonos were still common, but dresses were the top choice. My stomach rumbled out of nowhere! It startled me, and I left to go get breakfast.

~

Once I finished eating, my mother-in-law, Emma, and I got into a carriage. Emma wore a pink kimono while the queen wore a dark purple kimono.

Emma was very talkative throughout the whole ride, she talked about her favorite foods, how much she loved the lady whose house we were going to, and how unfortunate I was to marry her older brother, which I agreed with.

I honestly enjoyed her company during all of this. Without her, I'd be bored. It was about 30 minutes till we reached her house, she lived in the mountains and outskirts of the kingdom.

We knocked on the door, and the guards behind us stood right next to the door, not entering. It took a while, but a young lady (perhaps 27) opened to the door. She wore glasses, a dark long blue skirt, and a white button-up shirt.

She invited us in. The cabin was tiny but comfortable. A small table with 4 seats was next to a window. Once we sat down, the table was a bit crowded. She got up and got cups before pouring the tea that had been boiling in.

She didn't sit back down. Instead, she stood up and started talking with the queen and Emma. The queen then stopped and introduced me, "This is Takemichi. She's Manjiro's fiance. She's the one we need a dress for,"

The lady gasped before bowing, "Hello, your Highness! I can't believe Manjiro got a fiance!" She said the last part to the queen. My mother-in-law just smiled softly before speaking. "Takemichi, this is my friend, Tsukasa. She's the daughter of one of our most loyal and long-serving guards. He retired a while ago at the age of 61."

I held out my hand, "Nice to meet you!" She shook and smiled. "OK, let's get to business. What type of wear do you want?" I was expecting the queen to answer, but she looked at me. "I'm thinking of a traditional kimono wedding dress,"

"Got it," She took a notebook out and started writing. "Let's let you pick out a fabric, I have plenty." She led us to a pretty closet full of fabrics. They were colored-coded, and there were a whole 3 rows of white fabric.

"Ok, this row of fabric can be used for a wedding," I looked at all the pretty fabrics. They were mostly silk. The fabric was filled with a combination of white with colors of the rainbow and gold. One caught my eye.

It was a pretty fabric. It was silk and a combination of red and white. The design was beautiful, too. The outline was light gold. "I would like this one, please!" She smiled before looking at the fabric herself.

"Looks like you want... 162," She whispered to herself. She wrote it down on the paper. "You know your measurements?" I shook my head, "Ok wait a second."

She came back and took my measurements, writing them all as she took the measures. Emma and the queen seemed to be chattering happily. Then she asked me to pick some other layers for the jūnihitoe. It had to be red, so I picked a red silk fabric with gold circles and swirls covering it.

Once we finished picking all the layers, she sketched the final design, "I think this is what it'll look like," She muttered and showed the final sketch.

"It's so beautiful! I would like this one, please!" I said. She grinned happily, "Great! I'll start buying the materials!"

"Woahh, you have great style, Takemichi-chan!" Emma complimented. "Thank you, Emma-chan. You're too kind," I responded.

Right after, we left. The sun was beginning to rise, and we could see clearer. I fell asleep in the carriage, only for about a minute. The ride felt short, and I basically woke up as soon as I fell asleep. I rubbed my eyes while getting out of the carriage.

We went to the breakfast table, and some maids served us breakfast while others left to wake up the rest of the royal family.

Once everyone was gathered at the breakfast table we began to eat. Unfortunately for me, I had to sit next to Manjiro.

What a pain!

The whole time he reminded me of a pig eating out a plate. No manners at all! Here I was trying my best to look like a decent human being eating while he ate like a wild horse. I swear his face looks like a white horse.

Emma was sitting right next to him, she quickly nudged him hard on his rib. What a savior.

AN: Help I haven't updated this lol. Anyways I'll probably be cringing abt this in a few years, perhaps days, cus tf is this😭 I won't update much since motivation left as fast as my dad did. Lmao.

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

☆