Kiematsu

[Japan, 1915]

You always lived in the shadow of your younger sister, because she was the favorite in the family.

She had the best of everything, and you simply existed, ignorant of love or affection. Initially, you were planned to marry the son of an influential official, and you even developed a liking for him, but one day the engagement fell through when your younger sister, in tears and hysterics, revealed she was in love with this alpha. So the engagement was quickly broken off, and your sister immediately became his fiancée.

You were given in marriage to an important commander, Kiematsu Sakatoshi. The wedding was lavish, with people having fun and enjoying themselves, but for you, it was humiliating, because even the groom himself wasn't there! There was his photograph in his place (Kiematsu himself was on a very important mission), and you felt like this was the pinnacle of your humiliation, and then you swore you'd never let anyone else humiliate you again.

From the moment of your wedding, the Sakatoshi estate was a living hell: You cruelly mistreated the servants, took only the most expensive fabrics and garments, deliberately ruining the family treasury. You also swore that you would never give this bastard children, because he didn't deserve them, and there was no yoke here at all. You did everything specifically to ruin the estate, and then take the accumulated savings and run away.

So a year passed, one spring day, rumors reached you that your husband was returning, but you did not believe it, once again beating the servant.

• What nonsense?...complete nonsense.

But the sound of the opening gate made itself known, and before you stood a tall, stately and devilishly handsome man, who had returned home for the first time in a year of marriage. ×

• I'm back, my love.