"Naturally, I ignored his note and left the theatre with Ayaka and our maids without meeting up with him," I continued. "But—""Is this the note?" he produced a piece of paper.
I walked towards him to check it. My eyes widened when I saw that it was the exact same note. "Yes, why do you have it?"
"Ayaka gave it to me when you left the room," he replied. "Are you sure you didn"t meet up with him? Ayaka said you did even after she told you not to."
"What!?" I asked incredulously. "Kaname, I would never! In fact, she"s the one who said that we should meet with the person who penned it! She said that it will only be out of curiosity and nothing more!"
"Are you sure?" he asked tersely, his clenched jaw gave his beautiful face a murderous edge.
"Of course!" I replied confidently, I had nothing to hide after all.
"And then what happened?"
"Unfortunately, our paths crossed once again. "The crown prince… He s.e.xually a.s.saulted me."
Kaname"s eyes bulged as his face transformed into something that scared me so much I subconsciously took a few steps back. "But it was verbal!" I quickly added, not waiting for him to say or do something. "He commented that I had a beautiful voice and that he wondered how… How I would sound in b-bed."
"And after that?" his voice was quiet and deadly.
"I asked him if he knew who I was, when he said no, I told him I"m your third wife," I managed to say. The look on his face felt like fingers coiled around my neck, I was having a hard time breathing. "He made a comment about my looks, I didn"t want to be in his presence anymore so I prepared to leave. However, he physically stopped me."
"He dared to touch you!?" He took three furious steps and grabbed my shoulders, "Where!? Where did he touch you!?"
"You"re hurting me," I whimpered as his fingers dug on my skin.
"I said where did he touch you!" he yelled, I flinched at the loudness of his voice.
"My elbow… He grabbed my elbow," I was almost in tears. "I took my dagger and ordered him to let me go but he threatened me with his position. I held my ground and told him that if he didn"t release me in three seconds I will slit his throat."
"Why didn"t you tell me!" he shook me until my teeth rattled. "Why did you hide something as important as this!"
"I guess I was being overconfident since I was able to defend myself against his advances," I told him as tears streamed down my cheeks. "And when you came back from Kai you know what happened. I was too happy that you were back… Our reunion made me forget the unpleasant encounter."
"Are you sure that is all?" he pried my robe open, I heard its sash rip. "He didn"t touch you here or here?"
"No, I swear he didn"t! And I wouldn"t have let him!" I winced when I felt the very hands that caressed and gave me pleasure were now touching my privates roughly. "Kaname, you"re scaring me…"
He pushed me down on the floor, I almost blacked out from the pain when the back of my head hit it. He straddled my thighs and locked his hands around my wrists, pinning them to either side of my head. "Hinata, don"t you dare lie to me! I know what that f.u.c.ker is like! He simply won"t stop at just touching your elbow!"
"I"m telling the truth," I sobbed. "I protected myself, I was prepared to cut him if he made another move. Believe me, anata… Please…"
When he heard my endearment for him, he visibly relaxed. However, he didn"t retract his restraining hands so I remained pinned beneath him. "If I find out that… I swear that I"d…" he closed his eyes and didn"t dare continue.
I continued to sob, both from the pain and fear I was feeling. "Forgive me… Forgive me for not telling you... It won"t happen again, I swear it..."
He let go of me and stared at my naked body. Gone was the almost maniacal rage that reflected in them just a few moments ago, they were now dull and lifeless. "Hinata, what have you done to me?"
"I swear… I swear I didn"t meet up with him," I repeated. "You may ask Ryuko-san, she wouldn"t dare lie to you."
He got up and glanced at me one last time before making his way to the door. His shoulders were slumped, he looked utterly defeated. I ignored the smarting pain on my head and got up. I didn"t think about tying my robe close and just ran after him.
"Anata, where are you going?" I hugged him from behind and tried to stop him from leaving the room. "Don"t leave me… Please, I"m telling the truth! I"m yours and yours alone!"
"Hina, please let me go."
"No! You"re staying here with me and we"re going to talk about this properly!"
"Hinata…"
"Why!" I started to sob again as I buried my face on his narrow back. "Why can"t the good times last between us!? We were fine this morning!"
"I just need to clear my head."
"You"re going to the ooku, aren"t you? You"re going back to that snake Ayaka!" I was hysterical now. "No! I won"t let you! You"ve hurt me enough when you kissed her earlier! You"re not leaving! You"re staying with me!"
Kaname struggled to free himself from my grasp. I fought him as much as I could but he was much stronger than me.
"No!" I stomped my foot and shook my head furiously. "Stay! Don"t leave me!"
I tried to grab him again but he was able to evade me. "I"m not leaving anymore, I"m staying."
"Then let me hold you!" I cried. "Why won"t you let me hold you! Is it because you think I"m dirty now? Kaname, I swear on my life the crown prince wasn"t able to touch any other part of my body!"
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He was about to say something when the door suddenly opened.
"Kaname-sama, Lady Hinata, what"s going on?" Ryuko-san looked at the both of us with concern, she was in her sleeping robe and her hair was loose. She looked like she was awoken from her sleep. "A young page told me that he heard the two of you fighting so I hurried to get here!"
"Ryuko-san," I ran towards her. "Please tell him I didn"t meet up with the prince in the kabuki theater! I implore you, tell him the truth! I have always been faithful to him! Prove my innocence!"
My head maid wiped my tearstained face before turning to Kaname. "My lord, Lady Hinata wouldn"t dare do such a thing. I can vouch for her innocence! Whoever gave you that false information clearly wants to cause a rift between the two of you!"
"Ryuko-san, stay out of this please," Kaname grabbed my arm and tried to part us. "This is between me and Hinata. Go back to your room."
She lifted her chin in defiance and hugged me closer. "I will not let you accuse her ladyship of something she didn"t do!"
She tried to fix my hair but she suddenly stopped. She slowly retracted her hand and paled. "Blood…" she whispered. "Lady Hinata, your head is bleeding!"