Prince Sen and his attendee stayed for a week although Arashi was reluctant to let him travel in those wounds but Prince Sen said he needed to give his reports to his father, Emperor Yaguchi.
Because the disappearance of him might make the situation more dire and it might stir another war if he was away for long.
Arashi had given him all the medical supplies and I had packed large boxes of meals and water so they could eat it while traveling.
I asked a bit worried for the poor prince, "He wouldn't get attacked by the Yamaguchi clan members, would he?"
Arashi took a long breath as he leaned against his chair, sipping the mint tea leisurely. "I hope not."
I looked at him with my brows knitted on my forehead. "But that Hayato man said he would come!"
"Don't worry, I have given Prince Sen another route. Before the Yamaguchi clan members could reach them, Prince Sen would have been flown away to his border." He sipped.
"What if they come here?" I recalled the man, Hayato saying he would be coming after the Prince recovered.
"Even if they come here, they won't get Prince Sen."
"What if they come here for our heads?"
He looked at me for a while then sipped on his tea. How could he stay so leisurely? He had no trace of fear.
Even if we didn't serve them, he could kill us because he knew there wouldn't be anyone to question them. We had no King or any system that would judge their actions. The village elder was so old that even if he wanted to judge, they might kill him as well.
I sighed. There was no point at overthinking. Arashi might be right not to get excited about it.
It was morning and Prince Sen and his attendee went in the middle of the night. I hoped they were alright. I didn't want him to die because that might wage a war.
I stood up as I needed to clean the house but I felt tired because we hadn't slept and the previous day, I prepared the meal boxes while Arashi prepared the medicines for them.
I exhaled as I took the broom and Arashi went to the front yard to clean the dry leaves and twigs.
As we started to resume our everyday tasks, we heard Mr Hiro and his wife entering.
I put the broom down as I went to receive them. "Good morning, Mr Hiro and Mrs Hiro."
We bowed a little as they entered, greeting me. Arashi came as well and they greeted him.
"Mr Yuan, I came to give you my best piece of art!" Mr Hiro said, grinning as Arashi said with an irritated face, "I have told you many times not to give anything further."
"But how could I not?" He said, "Because of you, my eldest son got into the downtown school."
Arashi looked at him for a moment and asked, "The results came?"
Both of them nodded while big smiles plastered on their faces. It was great news since his eldest son had been training under him.
I congratulated them and said, "Then we should celebrate it with a good breakfast."
Arashi nodded, "Where are your sons? And please stay until lunch."
Mr Hiro said, "Oh! no. We can't stay today. School starts today and my youngest one has a slight fever."
Mrs Hiro said, "But we have brought some meal boxes with us because we didn't know what else we should give."
Arashi let out a sigh. "I told you not to come with any—"
"Oh! Mr Yuan, please stop with the modesty, now. I wanted to invite both of you but my son caught a fever so I am going to invite you when he gets well." Mrs Hiro said as she shoved the boxes in my hands while Mr Hiro shoved the large pot in Arashi's hands.
One thing I was very impressed about them, they both would keep on being stubborn until their purposes were fulfilled.
"Alright. But I suppose, that would take a while since, we were going to Bianka's father's abode in two days." Arashi said as I snapped my head at him. We were? He didn't mention it.
Then I realized the task Prince Sen had given him. We needed to go to Kosaki but how would he go to the emperor? It takes a while before a commoner could meet in person with the emperor. Although Arashi having sword didn't make him a commoner.
"Oh! Then Bianka must be very happy to see her father again?" Mrs Hiro asked and I looked at them with a blank face. Was I?
I gave them a nervous smile but Arashi could read it. He didn't say anything as he diverted the conversation, "Let us have tea then. It would be rude not to offer anything."
Mr Hiro said, "Oh! No. We have to go back since I got a ton of orders from my customers."
"Please, I insist." Arashi said as they couldn't deny it.
Arashi added, "Bianka, can you make the special tea while I finish cleaning the yard?"
I nodded.
Arashi said to the couple, "Please give me a moment. I am almost finished."
As he went, Mr Hiro followed him since he felt awkward to see Arashi doing all the work, he offered his help but Arashi declined. However, the Hiro family was known for their stubbornness and he kept following Arashi.
While the men went to the yard, I went to the kitchen taking Mrs Hiro. She was older than me and even though she had more experience in everything, she liked to learn different kinds of dishes that Arashi and I would make.
For the past few months, we had been exchanging food and without my notice, I started to like exchanging meals, talking with her. She became a friend and a very reliable companion.
I was preparing the special tea and we started to talk about many things but suddenly Mrs. Hiro asked a question that was really hard to answer.
"So Bianka, tell me. Is he making love to you?" Her eyes glinted and my cheeks grew colors.
"Wha—what?!" The tea pot was about to fall from my hands.
She gave a sly smile and said, "Lately, he is very open to talk. All these years, he would spill one or two words at most."
Well, she was right. At first, he really felt reserved even, I used to find it hard to talk with him.
"Your love is blooming, isn't it?" She added wirh a teasing voice as I got flustered.
"N—no, that's not it. We didn't do anything." I shyly said and she looked at me for a moment.
"Why not?" It felt as if she was offended when it should have been me. "You are beautiful and he is a man after all!"
"Err... maybe he felt that we should take our time?" I didn't know what to say.
"How much time do you guys need? It's already been more than 3 months!" She said as if she was the mother of the house, "Bianka, do something before he leaves you!"
I blinked and asked as my brow knitted on my forehead, "Why would he leave me?"
She let out a sigh and shook her head. "What am I going to do with this naive girl!"
I gave her a look. Why would Arashi leave me? From what I could gather he was not the kind of a man who would leave anyone. If he was as careless or greedy, he wouldn't help Prince Sen.
Mrs Hiro placed her hands on my shoulders and with a determined face she said, "You should give a man what he wants. If you don't please your husband, eventually he will leave you!"
My eyes turned wide. Please him? Well, I had no clue if Arashi would leave me for that but Mrs Hiro wasn't wrong. If I didn't do anything, maybe he would get another wife. My heart sank as I poured tea on the small bowls.
But what should I do? Moreover, why didn't he do it?
My mind ran all kinds of negative thoughts and slowly I realized, I had never seen him looking at me with that kind of look. Even if he had seen me naked while I was ill, his touch was careful and gentle, not something that would define him as wanting me that way. My face fell.
Did he even want me that way? I had never thought of it until Mrs Hiro mentioned it.
"Bianka! Allure him towards you." She ordered as I looked at Mr Hiro with a pair of pleading eyes. Because I had no idea how to do that? The maids never talked about it nor had any of the house ladies. Well, it wasn't something to talk loudly about.
"But how? I don't know how to do that." I said with a hesitating voice.
"Wear less clothes at night and prepare yourself in front of him when he is present in the room. Like in the morning and at night or after taking a bath."
My cheeks got warmed as I imagined myself doing those bold moves.
"That—that would be really embarrassing..." I mumbled. Less clothes! And how could I prepare myself in the morning? He woke up at four!
How could I wake up and take a bath that early?
"Do these things!" She said, putting pressure on her words, "Or, he will leave you, Bianka. Our husbands are men after all. They need these things. Otherwise he will leave you in your house."