My Little Bride

Chapter 4

She opens her tired eyes and sees an unfamiliar room. Her vision is still blurry but she notices that the room is wide and decorative. Three paintings lined up on a wall complemented by a massive sakura art. It is aesthetically pleasing - a room fit for a princess.

The soft, white blankets that covers her makes it hard for her to fully wake up.

"You're awake.."

Dororo hears a gentle, female voice. Her attention shifts from drowsiness to the woman sitting on a nearby chair. She wears a pink kimono and a long green robe. Dororo uses her elbows to sit up to meet her gaze.

"Mama?" she asks in a daze.

Nui smiles and rise from her seat. "I am Nui, the Lady of this domain. You are in Daigo now. Don't worry, you're safe here." Knowing that the girl's mind might be still clouded, Nui explains and gives her a minute of silence to contemplate.

Dororo scratches her eyes using the back of her hand. Daigo. Yes, that's her destination. She begins to recollect everything that happened before she lost consciousness. She remembers the carriage getting ambushed, the old monk that saved her, walking around the village and getting lost multiple times in search for food, stealing money from the horse's pocket, almost falling on a river when she escaped, being tied up on the white horse's back, the young man that caught her and...and...

"The man before you is young master Daigo Hyakkimaru, the heir of Daigo clan."

A samurai's voice resonates in her memory. Perhaps she is too hungry and tired from all the running and screaming she's doing since morning and the shock of knowing that her captor is her husband-to-be, Dororo passes out.

Dororo gasps after being aware of her situation. What the hell? I stole his money, hit him and even bit his hand! How the hell is he going to marry me now?!

"Are you alright? Are you in pain?" Nui asks concernedly.

"Ah! No, no, no." Dororo hastily says, shaking her head. "I'm fine, my lady. It's just I'm still recovering my memories."

Nui gazes at her and nods. "Hyakkimaru is talking to my husband at the moment. You must be hungry, here, you should eat."

The woman pulls a small cart of food and Dororo drools. She gulps, controlling herself not to jump on the foods, shove everything into her mouth and eat like a wild boar. As Nui hands her a bowl of soup, Dororo cannot wait any longer until it cools and eat it. The woman watches in silent, worrying the girl might choke on her food on the way she's eating so fast.

"...If you don't mind, young lady, I would like to know your name.." Nui interrupts, hoping she can at least slow down from swallowing the food.

"Fowowoh!" Dororo answers with her mouth full.

"Fo...wowo?" Nui's eyebrows twitches.

Dororo swallows the entire dumpling in one gulp and slams her chest with her hand to avoid gagging.

"I'm Dororo! Nice to meet you Lady Nui! And hoooo boy, this soup is the best!"

Nui smiles. She can tell Dororo is a kind girl although her mannerisms lacks femininity.

-xxx-

"The Asakura?"

"She said they were attacked by the enemy clan going here. Father, what do you think?"

Hyakkimaru proceeds to his father's office after taking Dororo to his house. He wants to make sure that their enemies are not spying on them.

"It's highly unlikely that they know about the young lady. Unless there's a traitor among our men which I also don't think is possible." Kagemitsu puts a hand under his chin, thinking about what Hyakkimaru just said. He's pretty positive that the news of his eldest son's betrothal to a rich girl to give them additional finances hasn't spread in the village yet. The daimyo plans to announce their betrothal after the lady arrives in the domain and it is impossible that someone else knows it aside from his family and his advisor.