Light of the Dragon's Eye

Chapter Thirty-Two

***Back to the flashback***

Akira put her hands up to her mouth in shock. "Did he...?"

Rin nodded, although she didn't look very disturbed. "I believe so. But he was very convincing in his acting. Everyone else believed the story about the bear, for many roam this mountain and a few unlucky travelers have wandered into their territory.

"After Shin had 'recovered' he was appointed village chief, as the only surviving member. He appointed Elder Shiro as his chief advisor, and offered to let me live in the chief's manor along with him, as thanks and as a way to get away from the place that held the memories of my father. I accepted gladly.

"As chief, Shin lowered the taxes and generally improved the lives of everyone. He was still rather detached when dealing with village affairs, and he's still a bit strict about tax collecting, but he's a very good chief."

Akira blinked, glancing at the woman in surprise. She hardly seemed perturbed about the fact that her husband was a possible mass-murderer. She told herself to be wary around her as well. "And um, how did you two get married? He didn't force you, did he?"

To Akira's increasing surprise, Rin giggled. "Of course not! I was the one who asked him."

***Four years ago***

Over the past four years, Rin noticed something about the boy who had become chief at seventeen.

Now twenty-one, he had successfully made the village a lovely place. He had treated her kindly and made her feel, for once in her life, secure.

He may have killed all those men, but that was for the good of the village. Hardly anyone missed them. People no longer looked at her with pity, and she no longer had to drown herself in cloth and makeup to cover up her wounds.

Most importantly, she had someone to care about now. Someone who cared about her too, who asked for her opinion and never gave her a reason to cry.

This started to make her nervous around Shin. She would fumble through her words and lose her train of thought whenever he looked at her.

Sometimes, when she had been younger, she had imagined a prince who would take her away from her father and the village. These dreams were the only thing that Rin had had to look forward to in her childhood.

And now, the prince possessed deep, thoughtful brown eyes...

***

"Um, Shin?"

He looked up from some papers to see Rin standing in his room's doorway. "Oh, Rin. What is it?"

"I wish to speak with you about something."

"Alright. Shut the door."

She closed the door and hesitantly stepped closer to him. Horrifying experiences that women had spoke of when she was younger used to make her terrified of being alone in a room with a man. But Shin didn't make her feel that way. Not at all.

"I have a...a request, you might say."

He nodded at her. "Go on."

"W-well...I'm nineteen now."

"Yes."

"And...well I think it's time I find a husband."

She looked up to gauge Shin's reaction, only to find him simply listening. Does he not understand?

"Uh, w-well, and I wanted to hear your opinion of who I picked."

"Sure. I'm a great judge of character."