The night, after Harun.o.bu went back to Tsutsujigasaki, Sakura made some Chinese dishes for him. Together with several bottles of sake, she welcomed him. This time, Harun.o.bu asked the servants of the inner compound to enjoy the dinner together, in the yard. He was so happy, maybe because the war had been successfully stopped. Madam Sanjō was still angry due to the fact that Harun.o.bu’s success had rendered all her scheming in vain, and she ate almost nothing before asking for an early leave with Shimno. Sakura heard later from Ye that the night she asked Obu Toramasa to bring Taro to her house, she held him and cried for a long time. Sakura thought of the fights between Taro Yoshin.o.bu and his father as he was growing up. He and the master Obu Toramasa came to bad ends. Was this a result of Madam Sanjō’s teaching that your father disliked us? “Sakura, what are you thinking?” Harun.o.bu’s low voice woke her up. She found that there were only two of them left in the yard. “I am wondering why you didn’t go to the madam’s house immediately. She looks to be in a bad mood.” “Sanjō has Taro, so she is not alone. I guess she will have more children with me. So don’t think that she can be lonely.” “How can you be so indifferent? She is your formal wife and Taro is your son.” Sakura was surprised. “Do you think I will allow the son I bore with the lady of Kugyō to be the master of the family?” Harun.o.bu’s eyes were twinkling, like an endless deep hole. After a while, his expression turned soft again, and he took her into his embrace. “If you agree, I would like to give birth to a son with the woman I like, appointing him as the master of the family. Sakura, may I rest in your house tonight?” “I disagree.” She was absorbing his tenderness when she spoke out the ruthless words. “Why? Didn’t you accept me? Why do you hurt my heart again?” Harun.o.bu looked at her with an innocent face. This girl had slept with him in a bed. He tried the best to quench his desires for her before. But now, he had thought that they already mutually agreed on a new relationship. Sakura felt it was hard to answer him. Though the idea of staying a virgin in the modern age was very pa.s.sé, she couldn’t have an affair with this man. Because he was j.a.panese? Because they had different livings in two thousand years? Or because she was afraid that if they had a child, they might be parted? Like when she was a child, her dad pa.s.sed away after an airplane accident, and her mom died of cancer when she was eight years old? She was smiling at him, as before. But n.o.body saw her wounds deep inside. “Okay, I will wait for you. But I can’t promise how long can I wait. You should be careful of me.” Harun.o.bu kissed her forehead gently, and then planned to leave. At this moment, Ye rushed to bring someone to them. Sakura looked carefully at the visitor; she was surprised to find it was Itagaki n.o.bukata. “Master, it is so bad that Suwa Yorishige committed harakiri in the house we prepared for him.” So, they couldn’t avoid the war? Sakura was sitting in the yard before the hallway, seeing the pale pink sakura petals flying. She remembered when she was in Suwa, the people of the Suwa Family hoped their master was coming back early. Now they only had a cold corpse. This was the first time she saw someone who’d committed harakiri. Yorishige fell down with his face to the floor, and his white robe was dyed by the dark frozen blood. His eyes were open wide. Sakura was frightened by this sight. She was not afraid to see a b.l.o.o.d.y scene, but she was worrying how would Yiu react if she saw this. Itagaki n.o.bukata said that the father always believed that Harun.o.bu’s purpose was his daughter. He would rather die than making a life by sacrificing his daughter’s happiness, to make an artificial alliance with Harun.o.bu. Right now, Sakura was so sure that Yiu had been found by someone in the Suwa Family, and they’d stolen her away to some secret place. Whether Yorishige died of an ambition to vanish the Takeda Family, or he really thought it was good for his daughter, his death had changed the situation. Now the only thing that granted peace of mind was Harun.o.bu going to comfort Nene and asking her to allow her young son to inherit the Suwa Family; it was the only way that could they avoid a b.l.o.o.d.y war of revenge. Nene was taken back to Tsutsujigasaki, however, she hated her brother because of her husband’s death. Harun.o.bu had no recourse but to let her go to the temple Lady Ooi was staying at right now. Sakura went to see her once. Lady Ooi told her with tears that Nene refused to eat anything. n.o.body could persuade her. “Master Itagaki, I am sorry that I failed the mission. But I don’t think you taking the little son back to Suwa was a good idea. I think you should give Nene some more time. She is still in such a pitiful state.” Sakura was sighing again and again. “I understand this. In fact, the master cares for Lady Nene than anyone else. However, if Kai can’t make an alliance with Suwa, the Middle Shinano and North Shinano will form an alliance with Suwa to fight against us. Since you can’t help, I think the only possible method for the master is to find Yiu and marry her to strengthen the relationship between the two families.” Itagaki was touching his pepper-and-salt beard as he clenched his teeth. “Isn’t there any other way?” “Sakura, the master is so depressed these days. You’d better accompany him often.” Seeing Itagaki n.o.bukata leaving in a low mood, her heart felt like it was being pieced by a thorn. n.o.body aside from her knew why Harun.o.bu was so unhappy. He didn’t want to marry Yiu – he wanted to marry her. Why was she here to make trouble? The sky turned dark; she didn’t even notice she had stayed in the yard for the whole afternoon, forgetting to eat dinner. The night was so quiet, quiet with some strange meaning. Suddenly, Sakura saw a black shadow pa.s.s by the gate quickly. She was so alert that she ran to chase the shadow immediately.