Chapter Three

Daisuke did not expect to frighten her like that. He was first astonished and then found it funny. He was a silent, reserved man, so it was natural for servants to feel the awe of him.

Nonetheless, she was the first one who ran away in fear. He rubbed his chin and reckoned to himself, "Am I that scary ?"

When he went downstairs, Sayuri was eating breakfast alone, she titled her head to the side, hearing footsteps on the stairs, she looked up at her son, a cup of tea in hand and said, "Sabastian said you got up early. Why are you so late ?"

Daisuke smiled, but asked, "Where are Father and Suzue ?"

"Suzue went out early in the morning. The girl has barely stayed home since she bounced back. Your dad is in the garden now" Sayuri said to her son with a faint smile. "Do you still remember what I told you yesterday ?"

Probably because of the cloudless day, Daisuke was in a decent mood to ridicule his mother. He gazed at her with his blue eyes and pretended to be confused. "What was it ?"

''Well, It's what I told you last night. This afternoon-"

"Oh-I remember now. You wanted me to pull some strings and rearrange Suzue back, right ?"

"No!" Sayuri stared at him angrily as she slammed her cup of tea on the table, she was annoyed by his false incompetence "I knew it would be like this. You skipped all my words over one night. You didn't mind about what I told you at all !"

"Just a blind date " Daisuke stopped pretending and told. "I'll eventually go."

"Son, I've found an excellent girl for you this time. Besides her glamour and welfare temper, she comes from a decent family and has a nice educational background as you do. She is the best match for you. Don't screw it up again!" The mother earnestly instructed her son. "You are twenty-nine now. I do not urge you to get wedded right away, but you should at least take a girlfriend home for me to see. Okay ?"

"Very well then" Daisuke answered putting his napkins down ambiguously. After he wiped his mouth then hands elegantly and announced "I'm going to work now."

Before she could say anything else, the black-haired male strode away with the bag handed over by his butler.

However, he turned around at the doorway and asked, "Sebastian, is the one sweeping the yard a newcomer ? How old is she ?"

"She's new here. She came yesterday. Her nominal age is eighteen" the butler answered respectfully with his hands down.

'Eighteen years old ? She looks much more youthful than Eighteen'

After going down the steps, he stared to over his right shoulder, the tiny girl was gone, and so was the broom, she must have succeeded to come back for it. The ground was very clean. Even the leaves on the pavement had also been picked up.

As youthful as she looked, she did quite a sufficient job.

His driver Shinnosuke Kamei opened the door for him. When he got into the car, Daisuke certainly saw a small head pop at the corner of a wall. It seemed to have spotted him and thus withdrew hastily behind the wall.

Daisuke tilted against the leather seat, his tense gaze was directed towards the rearview mirror and asked, "Shinnosuke are the servants all afraid of me ?"

"Er...." Shinnosuke replied with a snicker while turning the car. "More or less."

"Oh, so they are afraid of me" Daisuke glimpsed to the spot where the girl hid and caressed his chin.

'That new maid ran away as soon as she saw me. How frightened was she?'

After a while, he arrived at the company, he arranged the work and spared an hour for the blind date from his tight schedule.

He was always punctual. But when he arrived on time, the girl was already waiting there. This was good because he didn't like waiting for others nor being waited for.

The reason why he agreed to meet her was that the girl was also called Mirai Mizuki the same as his childhood sweethearts. He was a little bit unusual curious about what this Mirai would be like.

At the sight of her, Daisuke was stunned for a few seconds before regaining his wits.

Besides the name, the girl also looked like Mirai Mizuki.

However, she was more peaceful and soft and spoke to him gently. In a long light white t-shirt and a tight-fitting brown sugar coat with a golden chain hugging her thin neck, she looked respectable and low-key and smiled a lot. When lifting her coffee cup, her pinky finger rose slightly. In the soft light of wall lanterns, her well-trimmed fingernails were glistening without any nail polish on them.

The girl was an accountant. Although she was very young, she already made herself a vice president of financial administration.

He talked with her about some financial affairs. If it had been someone else, she would have tried her best to show off her professional proficiency. But the girl in front of him recited very effortlessly and skillfully. Her words were straightforward, reasonable, and well-paced, making him pleased and at ease.

Daisuke couldn't find any défaut with her, even if he wanted to. The girl was flawlessly in accord with his standards for deciding on a spouse.

His ideal wife was Mirai Mizuki.

The girl he confronted today was a copy of her. Daisuke couldn't detest her out of the blue.

Possibly his secretary had told her that Daisuke could only limit an hour to encounter her. So when the time was up, she stood up, shook a hand, and bid him farewell.

Then she turned around without any hesitation or reticence, which was different from all the other women he dated before.

Daisuke nodded his head slightly.

Without Mirai Mizuki, she would have been a good choice. At least she was reasonable and not adhesive, and also seemed clever. Such a wife would take good care of his family.

"Miss Mirai" he called her. "Do you have time for dinner ?"

Mirai turned to him with a smile and a slight nod. "Of course, I would love to, if Mr Kambe hasn't found me talkative."

"Good. It's settled then. I'll ask my secretary to reach out for you." Daisuke thought for a while and declared, "Or how about I drive you back ?"

"No, Thank you for the offer but I have to decline since I have my car" Mirai explained to him politely. She walked out of the coffee shop, took out a car key and pressed it, and then the lights of a white car flashed.

She was born into a prosperous family and worked as a vice-president in a foreign company. A rich girl like her deserved a BMW or Audi, Rolls Royce even a sports car.

He did not predict that she would drive a normal car, Her low-profile style enhanced his impression of her.

Mirai got into the car, waved farewell to him, and then turned the steering wheel.

Her car slowly merged into traffic.

Shinnosuke unlocked the door, but Daisuke was still standing there in a trance.

He called, "Sir ?"

The man recovered himself and got into the car, leaned against the seat, and rubbed the area between his eyebrows. In the morning, he had measured how many days left in the Seven-year commitment between him and Mirai.

Until now, she had been gone for five years, ten months and four days, so there were only one year, one month and twenty-seven days left since they promised to marry each other back then, he was still holding onto that promise...

After he would fulfil his promise then he would forget her completely, and marry one of the girls his family introduced to him.

He did not remember how long he had been in love with Mirai. Twelve years ? Or twenty years ? It seemed that she was the only one he ever loved from his adolescence and on.

When he was younger, he was adamant and persistent regardless of the concerns of his parents and the guidance from his friends. But now, he was too old to wait longer.

He needed someone to bear the heavy burden on him.

"Shinnosuke go to the north cemetery" The male instructed his driver with tone hold layers of cold, his features frigid and rough as ever.

The cemetery wasn't far away from his previous date not far away from his company, checking the rearview mirror Shinnosuke could see his boss distant gaze, his eyes reflect the light coming from the window car as they pass by various buildings and houses.

Looking ahead of him, he continued driving before stopping in front of the florist shop, as usual, Daisuke stepped out of the car without even glancing at his driver, he entered the shop, he swung the door open to be met with the familiar old man.

The same old doorbell rang loudly and the old man raised his head surprised only to find one of his recent client's, soon his frown turned into a smile as he welcomed him back.

"The same as usual ?" The old man said and Daisuke spared him a faint nod of the head, a very aloof nod.

"Did you know that the classic deep red rose evokes love and grief for someone?" The man asked and Daisuke raised his head looking at the man who sadly smiled peeling the thorn of the fresh rose "That person must have been dear to you, my wife died two years ago she used to love white roses and lilies, she always used to give me a single white rose since it conveys a strong and deep message of hope, respect, and love. It conveys the purity of that love and deep respect"

"When a single white rose is given, it not only signals a level of humility but also conveys an everlasting love and devotion between two people" Daisuke completed his phrase.

"Sorry for your lost Young Sir"

"I appreciate it," Daisuke said and the man remained silent before wrapping the red rose beautifully and gave it to Daisuke who took a handful of cash and put it on the desk, the man eyes widened seeing three thousand dollars cash, he tried to call the generous gentleman before he could stop him.

Daisuke already left his shop...

Shinnosuke saw his boss coming his way so hurriedly opened the door for him, Daisuke pushed his expensive sunglasses over his head and sat down comfortably gazing at the single red rose.

Mirai used to cherish white roses, she always used to gamive him a single white rose whenever she had the chance to.

"Sir we're here" Shinnosuke declared openly and Daisuke raised his head looking at the open gates from the window.

It felt all familiar to him to walk on the paved path again, all familiar... his sunglass covered his sight from the strong sunlight, a gentle breeze of the autumn season passed by, his silk black hair swayed softly.

Daisuke looked ahead at the hill, he could see a very familiar grave, his footsteps came to a halt as he stood in front of the grave, a very clear and wide letter writing of the name of his beloved.

"Long time no see Mirai"