My Little Bride

Chapter 8

A/N: Early chapter because why not.

"Dororo,"

She buries herself into the mattress with the white blanket enclosing her from head to toe. Hyakkimaru is sitting on the edge of the bed, unmoving. He massages his temple. Silence loomed in the room as Dororo refuses to talk to him. The festival officially ended and the night is getting deeper. Plus, it is raining hard with thunder and lightning. Looks like this year's Tanabata is not as blessed as in the past. Hyakkimaru chased her to his house after the incident but Dororo did not pay him a bit of attention. She slammed the door shut when he tried to follow her in her room and it surprised him that she did not try to protest when he entered. Dororo is silent, a side of her that he hasn't seen yet and Hyakkimaru is getting agitated about it.

"Dororo," he calls again.

Dororo rolls her body away from him. Just one more movement and she will fall flat on the floor. Hyakkimaru holds the blanket to prevent it but she sensed it and snatch the part he touched.

Hyakkimaru's eyebrows twitch.

"Let us talk." He requests.

She kicks her feet as if saying she's not willing to do it. Hyakkimaru sighs.

After a long minute, Hyakkimaru contemplates telling her the whole story.

"I met Mio a year ago." he begins and Dororo stops moving. "I was tasked by my father to check a small town located on a deep and vast forest in the easternmost part of the region. The people there are dying because of drought but they are skilled enough to be additional soldiers. They are known as renegade warriors from someone's domain and my father wanted to take them on our side. I managed to convince them somehow. We decided to return to Daigo to get the caravan that will assist their travel but we got lost along our way. That's how I met her."

Dororo peeks from the blanket, poking her head out, listening.

"We came across their group and they traveled along with us until we arrived at the end of the forest." Hyakkimaru continues and glances at her.

"After our groups separated, I went to find her again. Mio and I had a bond that eventually leads to a committed relationship."

Hyakkimaru checks if it's still fine for him to continue and look at Dororo.

"Mio works as a courtesan and knowing that my father and most likely my entire family will not approve of my relationship with her, I hid her existence in my life. However, at some point, my father discovered it. Probably a spy that he sent after noticing my odd disappearances. My father prevented me from seeing her, putting guards every time I leave from morning till night. I eventually escaped from them after a while and went to find her again. But that time, she cut ties with me."

Hyakkimaru stops and looks away.

"I could not understand her back then. It was sudden and I was not prepared. I busied myself from all the tasks as the heir of Daigo. I tried to forget her." He looks at Dororo with sorrowful eyes.

She feels her heart aching by seeing him like this.

"Do you...still love her?" she asks after a long silence and quickly regrets it. Dororo realizes she is not prepared for his answer. Her heart skipped a beat in anxiety, waiting for him to speak.

The question caught him off guard. His mind is jumbled and her question rings inside his head. Do you still love her? It is something Hyakkimaru cannot answer. It has been a year and there is a side of him that kind of forgot about Mio especially when Dororo came to his life. When his father announced his sudden betrothal, his subconscious wanted to object partly because of his memories with Mio while the other part agreed because of the pain she caused. Hyakkimaru did not plan to use Dororo to forget her at all. It just happened that Dororo makes him happier after Mio left him to pieces.