She took out each item, one by one, and remembered that the bottom drawer had some of her grandmother’s things. Her grandmother normally wore Hylantian-style clothes, but in the drawer were several of her grandmother’s Hinomotoese kimono.
“These are…”
Yuuri picked up a black piece of fabric and froze.
It was a long, jet black kimono with vivid red flowers and folding fans painted onto it. The flowers and the fans were connected by yellow thread that would grab anyone’s attention. And that raw ebony material was second to none. Black fabric was highly valued in Hinomoto, as it required a great deal of skill to produce.
Cheaper black fabric ended up having a red tint, as the color had not completely set in.
But her grandmother’s kimono truly was black as the night. Her grandmother wore it only on rare occasions, so its color had not faded over the years.
“Grandmother’s black furisode…”
Remembering what her grandmother had used the kimono for, Yuuri stood in front of the mirror and tried it on.
She looked like a younger version of the woman who had raised her. Surely, the kimono would look just as nice on her as it had her grandmother.
Her grandmother was likely the same age she was now when she had worn this. How had she felt back then?
Yuuri was happy that she had found someone who felt the way about her that her grandfather had felt about her grandmother. Though the fact that she was descended from vampires and was destined to cause pain and suffering to her beloved always lingered in the back of her mind. Her grandmother had likely felt the same.
Human hearts might change. But Yuuri and Ernest were bound by blood. She could never be with another. Just as the kimono had been permanently dyed black, so too had she been dyed in his blood. No other color, no other person, could erase him from her heart.
She loved him unconditionally. There was no question there. But she was still racked with guilt over the fate she had saddled him with. He held her life in his hands. She would die without him. It was as true emotionally as it was physically.
And yet, Ernest showed no signs of running away.
The furisode was the deep color of night. It was perfect for her, for many reasons.
“Yuuri! What are you doing in there?”
Yuuri jumped at the sound of Ernest calling her. He had left the spinning top game at some point, snuck upstairs, and was now standing in her doorway.
Their eyes met in the mirror and she looked away out of embarrassment.
“It’s my grandmother’s kimono. It was a rare find.”
It seemed Yuuri was just as guilty of getting distracted as Ernest and Simon had been, yet there were no complaints.
“Black? That’s such a rare color.”
In Hylant, black was the color of mourning. But the kimono Yuuri wore was covered in bright red flowers and gave off a more festive feeling.
Ernest was used to seeing Yuuri and Simon in most Hylantian-style attire. Seeing Yuuri in the furisode made it even more special somehow.
“But it looks nice on you. A bit different from those haori you usually wear.”
He stood behind Yuuri, staring at her reflection draped in the black robe.
“Long-sleeved kimono are called furisode. They’re worn by young women in Hinomoto who aren’t yet married.”
“I see. Soon enough, you won’t be able to wear that anymore.”
“That’s right.”
Yuuri put her hand on her chest in relief. It was true, furisode were meant for unmarried women. But she had one last surprise for Ernest. She was content to let him think she was just trying it on out of curiosity for now.
But then—
“Wasn’t that the kimono Grandmother wore on her wedding day?”
Simon blurted out. He had followed Ernest up to the second floor and robbed Yuuri of her chance to surprise him.
He knew far more about Hinomoto than Yuuri. Even if he never heard his grandmother mention it directly, he knew what the kimono had likely been used for.
He was right. This was the kimono Hana had worn on her wedding day and a gift from their great-grandfather.
Yuuri tried to imagine her wedding with Ernest and slipped the kimono on once more.
“A wedding outfit? I thought you said it was only for unmarried women?” Ernest looked back and forth between the siblings and tilted his head.
“That’s right, but some women wear their furisode on their wedding day as well.”
Yuuri had gone quiet in order to hide her embarrassment, so Simon explained in her stead.
“Really……?”
“Black is the color of mourning here in Hylant, but in Hinomoto, thanks to the difficult dyeing process, it signifies that the wearer won’t be ‘dyed in the color of another’, so many brides go for the black furisode. Some do choose white for weddings in Hinomoto, but I prefer black myself.”
Ernest already knew very well how Yuuri felt about him, so there was no need for her to be embarrassed about the kimono. But this was who she was. Obstinate, awkward, and unable to show her true feelings. So she had wanted to keep the color’s significance a secret, at least for now.
“So you won’t be ‘dyed in the color of another’ except for mine, eh? I like the sound of that!”
Yuuri was turning red and couldn’t even bear to look at him in the mirror any longer. He could always see right through her, and he knew it vexed her so.
“I wonder if that’s what the ebony color of your hair means too, my little witch? That you were always fated to love me and only me?”
He played with her hair. He was telling her that this was their fate. He didn’t need special clothes or words or other symbols to know that.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…This is the hair I was born with. That’s all.”
“Oh no, you’re just saying that because I’ve figured you out. Just as you need blood to live, I need words.”
He was right, as usual. His human heart might easily be swayed, but it was useless to worry and suspect his motivations. Yuuri knew exactly what he wanted.
She wanted to be with him forever. Not because he was her food source. But because she loved him. And it was selfish to expect him to intuit that was how she felt without saying it.
“Uhm…I…”
It wasn’t a matter of sex or lineage. She loved Ernest and wanted to be with him. That would never change. And if he needed to hear it, then she would tell him, right here and now.
“Count Selden, you would really push my sister into public displays of affection right in front of her brother?!” Simon broke in, ruining the moment, his face redder than his sister’s. Yuuri backed away from Ernest.
As much as she knew he wanted to hear her words of affection, now didn’t seem to be the time.
“You’re the one ruining a perfectly good moment! You have no sense, Simon!”
“I was busy packing in here anyway, so please leave!”
Yuuri chased the two men out of the room. Her face was feverish, her cheeks red from embarrassment.
“See! You pushed her too far and now you’ve upset her! You better learn not to push your luck or else it’ll bite you in the butt!”
“As long as Yuuri’s doing the biting!”
“Oh gosh, spare me that horrible image!”
The two of them continued bickering all the way down the stairs.
Yuuri was suddenly overcome with exhaustion and flopped down on her bed with a sigh.
After her grandmother had passed away, Yuuri had been all alone. Her whole world had fallen into a hopeless silence. She merely existed from day to day.
But then Ernest had crashed into her world, shattering the silence once and for all.
Her home had become a bustling, warm, and comforting place once more. One that, no matter where she went, she knew would follow, so long as she had Ernest by her side.
Her life with Ernest was far from peaceful. After all, he, more than any other, possessed the ability to rattle her heart.
Their life together may not be a quiet one, but it would certainly be far from boring or bereft of love.