Yiu? She was Suwa Goryōnin, Suwa Yoris.h.i.+ge’s daughter. A tragic girl who changed the fate of the s.h.i.+ngen and the Yoris.h.i.+ge families. She was young, but a sadness was already visible in her eyes. Sakura quietly watched her. Let it be, she had no business mourning the fate of this beauty during a time of war. If possible, she should try saving her and save her from the source of pain...

 “M’am, pardon my rudeness.”

Sakura was about to greet her properly when Yiu waved her off.

 “No need for formalities. The rules here aren’t as strict as the Takeda family’s. My maids all call me by my name, you can do the same.”

 “Yiu.” Sakura genuinely liked this young woman’s lack of airs, so she called her by her name. “Why are you standing here by yourself? It’s too cold and you’d get sick.”

 “Don’t worry about me, Sakura. I just don’t like cherry blossom flowers being blown away by the wind. Even if a tree lived to be 1000 years old, its flowers were still too fragile. They would be stomped into dirt after they fell, isn’t that so sad?” Yiu stared at the flower petals in her hand and sighed.

Sakura watched the falling petals and suddenly got an idea. She patted Yiu’s shoulder, “wait for me, I’ll be right back.”

In a while, Yiu watched Sakura run back with a broom, a hoe and a shovel, and was confused. Even more remarkable, this skinny woman could run even while carrying all these things.

 “Yiu, let’s build a memorial for these flowers, so it’s not sad anymore, okay?” Sakura handed Yiu a broom and started digging with a hoe. She was proud of herself for thinking of flower-burying, like a scene from the legendary novel, Dreams of the Red Chamber.

 “Burying flowers?” Yiu was surprised but agreed. The idea was worthwhile. She started to sweep the fallen flowers with a broom.

After almost two hours of work, when the wind stopped, so were most of the fallen flowers added to the flower memorial. Sakura was used to doing labor from her time at her grandfather’s martial arts studio, and it was great to exercise after all this time. Yiu may have been pampered, but she wasn’t like other spoiled girls, she was sweaty but happy, with the way her eyes shone a proud light. She smiled as she saw the memorial they built together.

Sakura felt more relaxed after meeting Yiu. Nene saw how much the two of them got along, and she didn’t mind Yiu being the daughter of her husband’s deceased concubine either, so she had Yoris.h.i.+ge transfer Sakura to be Yiu’s maid. Sakura didn’t realize she’d somehow become good friends with the legendary beauty of j.a.pan’s Sengoku era; she felt lucky.

Time flew by, before she knew it, Sakura has been in Suwa for more than a month.

 “Sakura, is the lady inside?”

Sakura was sitting and nodding off by the door, when the voice of Yoris.h.i.+ge’s maid woke her. 

 “The lady is not feeling well, she’s resting. Does the lord need her for anything?” She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

The maid lowered her voice to not disturb Yiu, “there’s a guest here. The Lord wants the lady to meet him. Maybe you should wake her up and help her prepare.”

 “What kind of important guest would need to see our lady?” Sakura was impatient. She was used to some of j.a.panese rules and rituals but still found them c.u.mbersome.

 “It’s our lord’s father-in-law, Lord Takeda. Hey, isn’t he your old lord too? You’d know how to greet him right?”

Takeda n.o.butora? That crazy old guy is in Suwa? Sakura couldn’t help but s.h.i.+ver. Saying she’d get Yiu ready, she hurried to make the maid leave.

 “Yiu, Yiu, wake up.”

She closed the door tightly and woke up her good friend, telling her about n.o.butora’s visit.

 “I need to go to my father and meet the guest now.” Yiu rushed to get up and get dressed.

 “No, you can’t go.”

“Why not? Isn’t Lord Takeda Madam Nene’s father?”

 “Something bad would happen if you went there.”

Sakura refused while listening for noises outside the door. Finding no one eavesdropping, she whispered to Yiu.

 “Takeda n.o.butora is old and mean, he didn’t even care when he daughter married over here, why would he bother visit her and your father now? I bet his real intention is to find a hostage from Suwa while making allies with other territories. You’re so gorgeous that he will definitely try to make you his concubine, and you’d be in trouble then.”

 “Why... why do you look like you know something?”

Yiu’s eyes glittered with unanswered questions, covering her initial shock at Sakura’s information.

 “Isn’t Lord Takeda your old boss? Why do you hate him?”

 “Listen, I’ll tell you more later. But this time, you have to trust me. Don’t go meet him. I’ll figure something out to deal with Takeda n.o.butora.”

Yiu, please let me save you. Sakura held onto Yiu’s hands.