“Look at you! I am not the chief anymore. Just call my name Sakura. But . . . by the way, why are you here with Master n.o.bukata?” she asked curiously.

“I met Master n.o.bukata when he went to visit Suwa. He said you are so lonely, and not a person to speak to, so he asked me to come here to help you. Thanks to Master n.o.bukata. Chief, I didn’t tell anybody that you are here.”

Sakura wanted to appreciate n.o.bukata, only to find that the latter had already walked out to the yard. She was so grateful, but her “fight” with Harun.o.bu was still his trouble. She heard that Hua would go to visit Madam Takeda in Suwa for Lady Ooi after living with her for some time. Sakura found an opportunity.

“Master Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto of Suwa, 

Yamamoto Kansuke has become the trusted follower of Harun.o.bu. Please send your directions to this maid of n.o.bukata’s family.”

She wrote a letter and folded it to stuff into Hua’s hand, and told her seriously that she should put this on the desk of Imagawa Yos.h.i.+moto, and not tell Madam Takeda a word.

Hua never asked about the reason. She simply took this letter and hid it in the chest of her clothing, then followed the two maids of Lady Ooi coming that day to Suwa.

“Sakura, come out! Do you hear me? Come out immediately!”

After several days of sleeping well, Sakura was disturbed while still having a good dream that morning.

Was that the voice of Harun.o.bu? Was her strategy effective? She pretended to be asleep on the bed, without caring his calling.

“n.o.bukata, go away! I didn’t ask you about the issue of Yos.h.i.+moto. Sakura, wake up!”

Her quilt was taken away in a minute. Her eyes directly met the furious face of Harun.o.bu. The guy stared at her with a deadly expression. In less than ten seconds, his face darkened with horrible desires.

Gos.h.!.+

She forgot that she was still wearing the short skirt made with the cloth Harun.o.bu gave her when she was still in Tsutsujigasaki. When she realized how seductive the skirt was, she was already pressed beneath his body. She could feel his heat through the gauzy skirt. His breath also grew heavy. He was like a beast that had totally lost his mind, kissing her neck forcefully as his hand began to tear her skirt.

“Are you crazy? Come on, this is n.o.bukata’s house!” 

She was shocked and yelled loudly. Though she expected to meet him again, but she didn’t guess that this would happen. This strange Harun.o.bu was like a demon right now. His eyes were bloodshot, and told her that he didn’t care where they were.

“Release me! Or I'll fight back!”

She clenched her teeth and then used her left hand, which he gripped tightly, to hit his chest.

"Uh. . . " 

Harun.o.bu grunted as he knocked into the wall beside her bed.

She found he was holding his chest, and a bit of blood bled from his lips. It looked like this punch was a little too heavy. 

“Are you okay? I just don’t want to—”

“Don’t come near me.” He was biting his lip and the muscles on his face wouldn’t stop trembling. He threw a twisted piece of paper to her.

“Why does Yos.h.i.+moto give up Kansuke and leave him to me? Moreover, why does he know your name? And he also knows that you are in Kai? He asked me to present you to him.”

“What?” Sakura was astonished by this answer. She picked up the paper to spread it out and read it. In a second, she felt so dizzy.

It was a letter written by Yos.h.i.+moto himself, mentioning that he already knew that Kansuke had betrayed him. Then he called for a deal where Harun.o.bu could keep Kansuke, but in return, Harun.o.bu should submit another spy of his called Sakura to Suwa.

What a stupid idea! Sakura yelled in her heart. Yos.h.i.+moto had thought that this could help her to kill Kansuke and rescue her. He definitely did a disservice for the matter. But how did he know that she was in Kai? Was that Kansuke again? But that was impossible; she believed in Hua. She would not turn her in.

“Who do you suspect? I have no time to solve riddles with you. I don’t want your life, but . . . before giving you back to Yos.h.i.+moto, I should make you my woman. Otherwise, I can’t keep my dignity as the master of Kai. It was Yos.h.i.+moto who first broke our relations.h.i.+p. Some day in the future, I will destroy his family thoroughly.” His eyes were more violent than she had ever seen before.

“Keep calm! This may . . . kill your faithful family officers!”

Sakura hurried to put on her formal dress and ran out. She disliked Harun.o.bu like this. She was even afraid to look at his ferocious face. After today’s incident, their love was totally over. When she came to this mind, she felt her heart was still beating. Did he really love her? If so, this love pressured her. Each cell of her body felt so tired.

She must leave Kai, even though n.o.bukata had asked her to stay by his side. She must run to Suwa to ask Yos.h.i.+moto the details.

“Forgive me . . . I don’t want to be driven out by you. I’d leave before that happened. Don’t trouble anymore about me. . . I have no strength to take a hand in your life. Bye, Harun.o.bu. . . Let’s end this burdensome relations.h.i.+p.”