Her parents and sister finished their breakfast. Miyo cleared the table with the servants and then went outside to sweep the front steps. She rarely cleaned inside the house to keep out of the way of her stepmother and sister, who were always looking to complain about something and saddle her with additional tasks. The servants were well aware of this, and she suspected they sympathized with her, because her share of the chores was always laundry and outdoor tasks. This allowed Miyo some welcome respite on the days when her stepmother and sister didn’t leave the house.
“Hello.”
Miyo had been cleaning in silence until close to noon when a guest arrived.
“Ah. Hello, Kouji.” She bowed at the newcomer, who smiled at her gently.
This well-disposed man with a pleasant, handsome face and dressed in a well-tailored three-piece suit was Kouji Tatsuishi, the second son of another distinguished family with the Gift. His estate was nearby, so he’d known both Miyo and Kaya since childhood. Most importantly, he saw Miyo as a rightful daughter of the Saimori family and was a true friend to her.
“It’s a nice day, isn’t it? Very warm.”
“Indeed. That will make the laundry dry quickly.” She didn’t have anyone else with whom she could indulge in such small talk.
Kouji had tried many times to do something to improve Miyo’s situation when her family had started to treat her like a servant. Ultimately, his father, the head of his family, gave him a severe talking-to and forbade him from interfering with another family’s private matters. Although Kouji hadn’t been able to openly take her side since then, she still considered him an ally.
“By the way, here’s a little something for you,” Kouji told her.
“…You brought me sweets?”
He had handed her a box wrapped in beautiful Japanese paper.
“Sure did. I hope you don’t mind it’s not one of those trendy Western cakes. I heard they tend to get smashed in transit.”
“Thank you. I’ll share them with the servants.”
“Please do.”
Only then did something occur to Miyo.
“And what brings you here today?”
While he would dress smartly when visiting, his attire that day was more formal than usual, and it was very rare for him to wear Western clothes. Kouji’s expression clouded over at Miyo’s question before he looked away, as if embarrassed.
“Well. You see, I…have an important matter to discuss. With your father.”
He was stumbling over his words. Even though Kouji was the quiet type, he wasn’t normally so evasive. Perplexed, Miyo tilted her head to the side and wondered what was wrong with him. But he simply responded with a “See you later” and quickly disappeared into the house. Miyo was curious about his business with her father, but she silenced her thoughts by telling herself it was none of her concern and reached for the broom again.
She was the oldest daughter of the Saimori family and had been duly entered into the family registry. In practice, however, she was no different from a poor girl of common stock—talentless, uneducated, and plain-looking. It dawned on her that she and Kouji now lived worlds apart. Suddenly, her heart felt heavy. To distract herself, she focused on sweeping until one of the servants came out of the house to call her.
“Your father wishes to see you, miss.”
“Huh?”
“He’s asking for you to come at once.”
“Oh, I-I’ll be right there…”
Miyo had a bad feeling about this. She was little more than a servant to her family, so it made no sense for her father to summon her specifically while he was receiving a guest. Something out of the ordinary was happening, and it filled her with fear. Though she struggled to stop her legs from shaking, she made it to the reception room.
“Excuse me. It’s me, Miyo,” she called out from behind the sliding door.
“Enter,” came her father’s curt response. The hard tone of this command amplified her anxiety, and her fingertips pressing against the sliding door felt icy cold.
Inside sat not only her father and Kouji but also her stepmother and Kaya. Despite sensing that they had bad news for her, she concealed her fear behind an expressionless face. She sat down near the entrance, distancing herself from her grimacing stepmother and half sister. Her father began to explain the matter at hand in a detached voice without even glancing her way.
“I would like to discuss the prospect of marriage as it relates to the future of this family. Miyo, I thought it best for you to be present for this as well.”
Marriage? Hearing that word made her heart skip a beat. Thinking about how marriage could change her life brought her both fear and anxiety, yet it also rekindled the faintest of hopes within her. Perhaps it could be a change for the better. A moment later, however, she chided herself for entertaining such fantasies. Miracles simply didn’t happen—not to her, at least. Her father’s strong voice broke the silence once again.
“Kouji will be adopted into our family so that he may continue our family name. As such, he will need a wife to support him. Kaya, you will be his bride.”
Of course it would be her. Though Miyo should have expected as much, she nevertheless felt as if a chasm had opened beneath her. Everything went black for a moment as fear, or maybe despair, overwhelmed her. Kaya’s smug look didn’t even register. Miyo had been aware of her father’s plans to adopt Kouji, the Tatsuishi family’s second-oldest son, so at some point, a faint beacon of hope must have unknowingly wormed its way into her heart.
Hope that she might have married the one and only man she trusted. That she would have become proprietress of the Saimori household. That Kaya would have been married off and sent away so Miyo would no longer have to live in her shadow. That one day she would have been able to freely converse with her father again, as they had in the past.
It was all so foolish. She should have known that fate simply wasn’t in her cards.
“Miyo, you will be betrothed to the Kudou family’s heir, Kiyoka Kudou.”
She couldn’t even bring herself to look up. Instead, she gave her reply in a shaking voice, head hanging limply.
“As you wish, Father.”
“What, aren’t you glad to marry into the Kudou family?” Kaya added with insincere enthusiasm.
The Kudou family also possessed the Gift. Many of their lineage were blessed with exceptional supernatural powers, and the clan distinguished itself through countless feats of valor, some of legendary proportions. Their social standing, fame, and wealth were leagues ahead of their peers’.
On the other hand, Kiyoka had a reputation for being heartless. Of all the girls from well-heeled families who’d been offered to him as brides, none had managed to bear him for more than three days before running back home. Miyo had heard as much from the servants’ gossip. If those tales were true, the man must be horrible indeed.
And now her father was telling her to marry him, likely intending to never allow her to step foot into this house again. Miyo had no education. Her father was certainly aware that there was no chance of this arrangement going well.
“It’s really such a waste to give you this wonderful opportunity, since you have no redeeming qualities. You’re really in no place to do anything so rude as to refuse, of course.”
Her stepmother was in high spirits at the prospect of finally ridding herself of the stepdaughter she abhorred.
“Yes, you have no choice but to accept. Pack your things, and as soon as you’re done, we’ll have you sent to Mr. Kudou’s house.”
Miyo turned pale, unable to speak. Although she used to look forward to leaving the Saimori house, with the Kudou residence as her destination, she would be going out of the frying pan and into the fire. From there, she could envision only two possible outcomes. Either this merciless man would throw her out of his estate on the spot, or she’d irritate him and he’d cut her down where she stood. Her only hope was that he’d treat her like a lowly servant, just as her family did.
Very rarely did a potential bride stay with the man her family wanted her to marry in order to learn the rules of his household and find out whether they were compatible before making their betrothal official. The precautionary measures made sense in light of Kiyoka’s reputation as a difficult groom, but Miyo saw them differently—as evidence that her family wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. Her world turned black.