Dressed in a simple all grey top and hakama with my face made up to look like the roguish Jin-san, I left my room in the ooku and went to Kaname"s quarters in the nakoku through the underground tunnel with two guards escorting me. He has just finished putting on his own set of clothes when I slid the door open to greet him. When he saw me, he immediately waved his servants out to give us some privacy."h.e.l.lo, my love," I murmured, keeping my voice low.
He looked at me, smirked, and suddenly pulled me in his arms for a searing kiss. I was out of breath when he let go of me, I looked around in panic to check if someone saw us.
"No one is here but us," Kaname said, not one bit nervous about what he just did. "It"s already midnight, those two were the only servants that are still awake."
"One of these days, either my disguise will be busted or people will think you"re secretly in a gay relationship with me because of you!" I hissed at him furiously.
"I don"t care either way," he caressed my cheek and lowered his head again for another kiss but I placed one hand on his face to push him away.
"Behave! What is wrong with you!?" I was not convinced that everyone has gone to sleep now.
"Can"t I kiss my wife if I want to?" he removed my hand effortlessly and gave me a closed-mouth kiss.
"Aren"t you even disgusted? I look like a man right now," I grimaced at him.
"It"s just a disguise, why would I be disgusted? Beneath all that paint, you"re still my beloved Hinata."
"Ugh," I freed myself from his embrace and inspected my makeup in a handheld mirror. Unlike my modern (and expired) makeup items, this era"s cosmetics smudged easier and was very difficult to blend to make it look like second skin. I always had to bring a small bag with me for fear that it might get ruined whenever we went out. I let out a huge sigh of relief when I saw that my face looked intact.
"It"s still perfect, isn"t it?" he propped his hip on his dresser and looked at me smugly. "I was careful not to ruin your disguise and focused only on your lips."
I glared at him and didn"t say anything. Sometimes I just don"t get what goes on inside this man"s head…
He took something from his dresser then told me it was time for us to leave. Aside from twenty guards escorting us, we went to the imperial palace with the ever reliable Taneyuki-san. Getting there required three-quarters of a day"s worth of travel. The roads the department of public works made during the last three years made this possible, otherwise traveling from Edo to Kyoto would have taken another thirty hours. By the time we arrived at the gates of the emperor"s palace, night has fallen and the banquet was about to start. We stopped in front of the main palace where a middle-aged man in a lavish robe along with three adolescent males waited to escort us.
"Are you alright?" Kaname whispered as he watched me dismount from Panther.
"I"m tired but I"m still good," I a.s.sured him. These past three years, I have grown accustomed to the long travel times and the little to no sleep that came with them.
"We"ll leave as soon as dinner ends. I don"t really stay for the performances and unnecessary parts of the banquet. Showing my face to the person that appointed me as shogun is enough," he said as we walked towards the people who were waiting to usher us inside.
"Mmm," I nodded my head and focused on our surroundings.
Like the shogun"s estate, the imperial home was vast and beautiful. Torches and intricate lamps lighted every corner, making it possible for me to appreciate the place. The man in a blue and green robe bowed at Kaname and smiled before telling us to follow him. The middle-aged man rambled on and on about how the emperor was glad he could come and how much the ageing mikado[1] was looking forward to Kaname"s present. I furrowed my brows upon hearing this as he didn"t seem to have brought anything for Mami"s paternal uncle.
By the main door, a familiar face was waiting to greet us. Beside him were three beautiful women, all of whom were dressed in kimonos that were worn in a way that their fair and ample bosoms were slightly exposed. When they caught me staring, they smiled at me coquettishly. I mentally groaned.
"Not again," I said to myself. "Jin-san is way to good-looking for his own good."
"Kaname-sama!" the crown prince greeted Kaname jovially.
I paused and watched the two men exchange pleasantries while the rest of the people surrounding them bowed their heads. Realizing my mistake, I smoothly paid obeisance towards the perverted son of the emperor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kaname try to suppress his grin. He knew me too well to notice my almost social faux pas.
"It"s been a while, kotaishi[2] Nagahito," he replied in a tone that told me he was forcing himself to be kind and respectful.
"Indeed," Nagahito replied. "It"s been, what? Three years?"
"More or less."
"How is your family? I heard my cousin is finally with child," the crown prince said as he walked us to where the banquet was.
"We are all happy and healthy, thank you for asking," Kaname replied, not even bothering to ask the same question back.
Nagahito didn"t seem to mind and continued to talk. Without even being asked, he began to talk about his wives and children. He sounded like a kind and responsible husband/father on the surface but his words held no love for the people he mentioned. There was only a sense of narcissistic pride as he told us how his own "little family" was like.
"I see you have brought Jin-san with you," he suddenly said, making me glance at him. He gave me a smile that made me feel very uncomfortable.
"Jin-san is one of my most trusted men," I felt Kaname"s warm hand on my shoulder, dissipating the discomfort I felt from the attention Nagahito was giving me.