My Soul Will Find Yours : The Fulfillment of the Promise

Why Would Someone Send Me These?

The three men, Kaname, Charles, and Kuya Rene, discussed what happened in the living room as mum and I prepared dinner. After setting up the table, I called everyone to eat. Curiously, none of the men mentioned Mr. Yang and his other family. The father and son duo kept the topic focused my upcoming birthday instead, which was only two and a half weeks away. Speaking of birthdays, Kaname didn’t want to celebrate his last July. To him, it was useless because he “should be dead by now.” When I insisted, he said that celebrating the day we were reunited next year was a better idea. I had no choice but to agree.

Although technically it won’t be the first time I’ll be celebrating my birthday with him, I found myself looking forward to November 17. While we were still on the topic, I decided to announce what Kaname made me promise in the bedroom using his always effective honey trap. Everyone agreed that it was the best decision. Seeing everyone else’s approval, I realized it was indeed for the best. Unlike the last time, I noticed how different my pregnancy was this time around. I tire easily and I had the worst morning sickness, my mood swings were so crazy I was the perfect embodiment of wifezilla. I didn’t have to have a doctorate in medicine to know that the biggest contributing factor was the difference in environment. The contrast between my life in the ooku and the modern world was much too stark.

~~~

I wasn’t surprised that my leave application was approved immediately. The management understood my situation and even surprised me with a small baby shower on the day before my last. One of our conference rooms was transformed into a baby pink and powder blue tea party where everybody, even Rachelle, gave me gifts and flowers and wished me a safe delivery.

After accomplishing and submitting the necessary documents to Human Resources, I was pretty much ready to start my leave of absence. Anne was quite torn between understanding why I had to be away this early and not wanting me to go. I noticed that she hasn’t been herself lately but never attempted to ask her about it because, as extroverted as she may be, I know there are things that she preferred keeping private.

“You can always visit me if you miss me,” I told her as I signed the last of the documents on my table. My maternity leave officially starts tomorrow and she seemed to be having a mild case of separation anxiety. “You know you’re always welcome in my home.”

I looked up to see that she was standing beside me with a faraway look in her eyes. I had to snap my fingers twice for her to return to the present time.

“S-sorry,” she apologized with reddened cheeks.

I lifted a brow as an unspoken question, she shook her head profusely in reply. Unconvinced, I swung my chair a bit so I was facing her properly.

“Alright, spill,” I said in my “boss” tone.

She pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes shut as her hesitance and apprehension brimmed over.

“There’s obviously something bothering you but how can I help you if you won’t tell me? Besides, do you expect me to just let this go when I’ll be gone for months?” I changed tactics and used a gentler tone. “You’re more than a secretary to me, Anne, and you know that.”

She slowly opened her eyes to look at me. While biting her lip, she knelt before me and rested her head on my lap.

“Miss, I think I fell for the devil.”

She sounded like she was so scared to admit it at first but I saw her shoulders visibly relax as soon as she finished her sentence.

“The devil[1]?” I repeated, amused at her choice of words. “I know he’s very popular and quite the cold type but I wouldn’t go as far as to label Alexander the devil.”