Shouta whistled, interrupting my thoughts. Upon hearing his signal, Daiki started to gallop. The three horses followed the chestnut stallion into the night, leaving me alone with the woman. Somewhere nearby, I heard my guards mount each of their horses. The sound was almost inaudible, but as someone who has trained and worked with them for years, it was impossible for my ears to not recognize the sound. They waited patiently for me to give my own signal.

When Kuro started to sprint, I felt her arms timidly coil themselves around me. I focused on guiding my mount and ignored her hands that were rubbing against the fabric of my robe. The innocent action sent a tingling sensation on my skin, causing my brows to bunch together as I willed myself to focus on the road and not on her touch. When we reached Kokuryuu river, she suddenly ordered me to stop.

"What's wrong?" I looked over my shoulder to ask, there was a fearful look on her face.

"Umm… D-don't you think it's rather u-unsafe for us to cross the river?" she stuttered, her cheeks were flushed under the moonlight. "I mean… The horse might not m-make it."

'Ah, she's afraid,' I deduced. "My mount has crossed waters far more dangerous than this one. Your worries are unfounded," I a.s.sured her before giving Kuro's sides a light squeeze with my legs. We moved again.

"But there's two of us," she insisted.

"Didn't you give my stallion and I a proper look earlier?" I reminded her as a means of distracting her from her anxiety. "How could you not see that he is a st.u.r.dy and majestic beast?"

"I know but—"

"Woman, if we don't go now the water will rise even more and we will have to spend the night here," I told her. This river was not named after a dragon for nothing. Kokuryuu means black dragon and this body of water mercilessly claims lives yearly. "Or is delaying us your true intention?"

"No! Of course not! I'm just afraid we might be carried downstream. I don't know how to swim," she said, her dark brown eyes reflected her fear.

"Believe me, that won't happen," I a.s.sured her before my mount waded into the riotous river.

Halfway through, the water got so high that it almost reached our thighs. I told her to hold on tighter for fear that she might be swept by the current. Thankfully, we were able to cross the river safely. I got off my horse and checked on her. She was s.h.i.+vering! I got one of my unused cloaks and tossed it to her.

"Hurry and cover yourself. I have no idea why you're dressed that way in this weather," I ordered her.

She gave me her thanks before wiping and wrapping herself with it. I watched as she sneakily smelled the fabric, I almost wanted to a.s.sure her that it's clean.

"Is there dirt on my face?" she asked while consciously wiping her cheeks. I was glad her skin has lost its pallor.

'No, I just find you amusing,' I thought. "Do you have a name?" I asked instead.

"My name is Hinata."

"Hinata…" I repeated, the name suited her. "From which family do you come from?"

"I…" she hesitated. "I'm not from here."

"Oh? And how old are you?"

Instead of answering me, she got offended and proceeded to lecture me about the two things a man should never ask a woman. Apparently, mother should have taught me this.

"My hahaue did not mention such a thing when I was growing up," I replied seriously.

When she heard this, she rambled about how it was 'weird' and that this should be a learning experience for me as some women actually get a hit on their self-esteem when asked that question. I didn't care about all these information, however, what caught my interest was the fact that she could read. When I asked her about it, she launched another tediously long speech. Some of her words were foreign to me and I struggled to keep up with her.

"Audit department?" I repeated. "What is that?"

She rolled her eyes at me and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her eyes then widened, her hands flew to her mouth.

"Oh my G.o.d! I'm speaking in j.a.panese!" she gasped. "Whoa! This is awesome! I'm actually speaking the language! Amazing! Absolutely amazing! But how did this happen? Oh my gosh…"

I took a step back as I suddenly felt like I helped a crazy woman. How could she have not realized what language she's speaking? Is she possessed? Her personalities seem to be ever-changing! No… I refuse to believe she's unwell in the head! Someone as attractive as her couldn't be cursed with such an ailment, could she?