Sakura had forgot when Yamamoto Kansuke left. Walking along the rugged mountain road, from time to time, she took out the Marici and touched it to get some comfort from the friend. However, this little idol could not change the truth of this cruel time, which sent chills to her heart. The days she visited Suwa, she had seen how gentle Suwa Yoris.h.i.+ge treated her; she could never imagine why this father sent her and some others to be Takeda n.o.butora’s hostage. The worst thing was that Kansuke told her Yiu was also on the list. Why was everything happening earlier than her calculation?

She went back to Kai again. The streets were as crowded as those in Suruga, unlike the time they left. Maybe Harun.o.bu had won the people’s heart after he exiled his tyrannical father. But she had a hard living in this chaotic time. Looking for a refuge was her daily task, though in return she had her freedom. How she missed her grandpa. If she’d obeyed him and stayed at the martial art hall instead of going to the college in Guangzhou, she would not have suffered from wasting away her precious youth in this calamitous era. Here, she was so weak that finding a way to save Yiu seemed impossible.

“I am a maid of Lady Nene, coming from Suwa. I have some issues to see Lord Itagaki about.”

She still remembered the way to his mansion. Waiting outside for a while, she saw him coming back from Tsutsujigasaki. Itagaki was in a bad mood until he met her. She found his look of surprise when he saw her, and he was a little worried about her.

“Sakura, why are you back? Has something happened to Nene?”

“Lady Nene is fine; Lord Itagaki has no need to worry about her. Actually, half a year ago, I was already sent by her to serve Yiu, the daughter of Suwa Yoris.h.i.+ge. Recently, Lady Yiu sent me to the shrine to ask for blessings to her family for forty-nine days. When I returned, I heard that my lady was already presented here. Would you please kindly lead me to my lady?” she begged him while bowing lowly.

How could Itagaki tolerate rejecting her earnest request? He asked for her forgiveness again and again. “Yes, I heard that Lady Yiu was brought here by Lord n.o.butora, and I know where she’s living right now. But since you have already been back and you know everything that happened in Suwa, you should understand that the small country will be ours. If a war is inevitable, Lady Nene will be brought back here. I just don’t understand why you came to ask me instead of making a plea to Lord Harun.o.bu.”

“I . . . my lord, I just thought that I should not bother him with this tiny matter.”

“You don’t want to face him, right?” Itagaki was touching his chin, confused by her. “You’re a rather peculiar girl in this day and age. Do you know how many women hope to marry him as a concubine? Though we can’t predict the future of the country, they hope to predict their own lives by securing a future without worries. However, you gave up this opportunity when Lord Harun.o.bu confessed his heart to you the day Lady Nene married, and threw back his folding fan. If this was not so, how could he change his goal to the Suwa girl?”

“Wait . . . wait . . . what do you mean? The folding fan?” She became curious. The Suwa hostages were sent here a short time ago before the exile of n.o.butora. However, the son would not let them go. Because of her? Oh no. . .

Itagaki took a look at her innocent expression and guessed what happened, saying, “Sakura, you don’t know a confession is made by gifting a folding fan?”

“It . . . was . . . a confession?” She knew nothing about how this matter was handled in ancient j.a.panese times.

In Kai, she had a pursuer named Takeda Harun.o.bu, and in Suruga, another one called Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto. Had she really been so charming to all the lords of this era? If they all fought for her, would she end up with her body separated into chunks? She didn’t want so many powerful Mr. Wrongs.

Finally, Itagaki took her to meet Yiu in a distant place.

“Don’t say sorry to me, Sakura; becoming the hostage is in my estimation. The same happened to Nene when she was given away by her father.”

She looked more peaceful than Sakura expected, though the sadness was there. She put her fingers on the lid of the teapot and rotated it to open it. A wave of longing to see her family overcame Sakura, but with it came the desperate understanding that she would never see them again, for the rest of her life.

“Have you met Harun.o.bu already?” Sakura asked. She didn’t know why she was interested in this fact.

“Though I met him once, I felt upset when I saw his face. I just don’t know why,” Yiu replied; with her head lowered, the weak but soft candle illuminated her long eyelashes.

“If one day, you have to become his woman, what shall you do?”

“I just don’t know. I am not you, Sakura. You are free, but I am a hostage. If I were you, I guess I could smile as bright as you.”