I stirred and opened my eyes slowly. "What time is it?" I asked Kaname sleepily.

"It's the first hour of the tiger[1]," he whispered. "We're leaving on the second division[2] of the hour."

I nodded and got up to change into my travel clothes. When I agreed to his proposal, I thought we were just going out to visit a shrine on New Year's eve disguised as a normal couple. I never thought he'd bring me somewhere else and make it a weeklong 'date.'

The other day, he announced to the entire inner palace that he was leaving for a few days and won't be back until the third day of the new year. Everyone believed him, including a visibly upset Ayaka.

Of course, since we were leaving, my kagemusha once again returned to the palace to pose as me. Mami will help with the cover-up by paying 'me' regular visits, an idea she proposed when I told her about Kaname's plan to bring me somewhere with him. At last, everything was settled and we were finally leaving for the town of Naganohara in Gunma prefecture. I got to admit, I was beyond excited.

~~~

Kaname exited the ooku through the osuzu roka while I left through the underground maze that connected the inner palace to the castle's stables. Two of his shadow guards escorted me to where he was waiting. He was garbed in all black and just like when we first met, he was wearing an eyepatch to cover his blue eye. I smiled when I saw him standing beside his black stallion, both he and the majestic beast looked almost invisible in the night. I patted the horse's back, its coat was smooth as silk.

"Do you remember her, Kuro?" the horse snorted as he secured its saddle. "She's the woman who questioned your ability to surmount Kokuryuu-gawa."

"What are you talking about?" I had no idea what he meant.

"Do you still remember the river we crossed? It's called Kokuryuu river," he explained before signaling me to place my hands on his shoulders.

"This will be the second time I'm riding him," I told Kaname as he lifted me by the waist. Like the first time, I will be riding the stallion aside.

"But this time, you'll be in front of me," he replied before joining me on top of the horse.

"Mmm," I nodded my head in response.

Kaname slightly leaned forward to grab the reins. As I breathed in his familiar scent, I felt a strong urge to bury my face on his chest. Fortunately, I was able to resist temptation and behaved myself.

"Great leader, everything is set," one of his shadow guards announced.

I looked around and noticed that a total of ten guards would be escorting us. All of them were dressed in normal winter clothes, making them look like ordinary hors.e.m.e.n.

"How long will the trip take?" I asked.

"About half a day if it doesn't snow heavily," Kaname replied before pulling the reins lightly.

I leaned on his chest as soon as the stallion started to move; he wrapped an arm around me to help secure me in place. When we reached the outskirts of the city, I started to yawn.

"You may sleep if you like," he said when I inhaled deeply through my mouth for probably the tenth time.

I shook my head. "You'll have a hard time with the horse."

"It's okay, I can manage," he a.s.sured me. "It's still very early anyway, get some sleep while you still can. You will not be able to when we reach the mountains, the trail is quite steep there so I'll need you to be awake."

"Okay," I slowly closed my eyes and took a nap.

~~~

Along the way, we stopped by two inns to eat and to allow the horses to rest as well as fill their stomachs. It was almost twelve hours later when we finally reached our destination.

The scenery before us was so picturesque it would probably sell like hotcakes if it was photographed and sold as a postcard in the modern world. The mountains were covered with snow and could compete with the famous rolling hills of Salzburg, Austria. Although the crisp air was thin due to the alt.i.tude, it was fresh and smelled faintly of the surrounding coniferous trees. Kaname got off the horse and led Kuro to a well trodden path; a few minutes later, a beautiful house hidden by several oak trees and other winter-persistent foliage came into view.

An old man and two women who appeared to be in the same age as me stood waiting at the property's foreyard.

"Ryoji-san!" the old man smiled an almost toothless smile before giving Kaname a hug.

"Yasumori-san!" Kaname greeted the old man while returning his hug. "How have you been?"

"I'm good, I'm good," Yasumori-san replied warmly. When he saw me, his smile grew wider. "Ryoji-san, is she the wife you mentioned in your letter?"

"Hai," Kaname helped me get off the horse and introduced me to the kind-looking ojii-san. "This is my wife Aiko. Tsuma[3], this is Yasumori-san. He is the caretaker of this property."

I gave the old man a bow and a smile, "It's nice to meet you, Yasumori-san."

"Ah, she is indeed as beautiful as a sunflower," he tapped Kaname's shoulders happily. "You are lucky to have married such a beauty! Take good care of her!"

"I intend to do that and so much more," Kaname gave me a roguish grin, causing the old man to guffaw. I felt my cheeks redden in response.

"Alright, the sun is still up!" he said while ushering us inside the house. "You should both save that for later! For now, you both should come in and rest."

"Hai, hai," Kaname replied laughingly while intertwining his fingers with mine. "Yasumori-san, could I trouble you into preparing your famous okkirikomi[4]? My wife here has never had it before."

The old man stopped midstep then turned to look at Kaname then at me. "Hontou ni[5]? Aiko-san, today is your lucky day!" He started to laugh gleefully. "You'll be tasting the best udon in all of j.a.pan! My okkirikomi will make you crave for more as it warms you up to your bones!"