HIROMI

Chapter 20

Lord Kenji's sharp sword drifted closer and closer to the woman's neck. When some soldiers arrived on horseback, he and Yumi stopped.

Lord Kenji's sword remained directed at the scroll-stealing woman in the palace. Yumi notices soldiers coming to them.

"What's all the commotion about?" asks the person speaking.

The man who asked the question got off his horse. They were stunned when they saw the Second Prince with his soldiers. Lord Kenji and Yumi knelt before the Second Prince Hayate.

"Your Highness, the thief almost got away. It's a good thing we found her," Lord Kenji said in response to Prince Hayate.

"Thank you for catching this thief, and she needs to head back to the palace. She should be punished for attempting to escape! "Prince Hayate stated.

The soldiers took the woman back to the palace while carrying Taimatsu torches.

A Taimatsu torch is a lit piece of wood that can be held and used as a source of light and illumination. It often consists of a long pole or sticks with a cloth wrapped around the tip soaked in an explosive substance, such as pine resin.

Because he wanted to speak with Lord Kenji and Yumi alone, Prince Hayate sent his soldiers first. Then he said after his soldiers left.

"I saw the palace guard soldiers chasing after you two. Let me be transparent with you. Why did you two enter the forbidden room? Are you looking for something or somebody? I don't want a convoluted response!"

Yumi and Lord Kenji exchanged glances, indicating that the second prince had caught them entering the forbidden room.

Lord Kenji said to the second prince, "Your Highness, we apologize for entering the forbidden room."

The second prince chuckled at what Lord Kenji said. He declared that he would first give the two a chance before bringing them to the emperor for punishment if they did anything to break palace rules.

He inquires once more before he departs, "Who are you two looking for?"

“Your Highness, Hiromi is missing!" Lord Kenji responded.

A flashback to Prince Hayate is that the emperor granted authority to have Hiromi handle the crime in the palace instead of him. He was also saved by Hiromi when he attempted to drown himself in the ocean.

“You're looking for Hiromi in the forbidden room. Are you sure? Given how vast the palace is, she might be here. Perhaps you two are overreacting,” Prince Hayate said.

When the second prince left, Lord Kenji approached Yumi.

"Yumi, let's do this. Always follow the second prince's actions, and don't show off. And then I'll look for the first prince because he might also know something about Hiromi's disappearance," he said quietly to Yumi.

She asked Lord Kenji what connection Second Prince Hayate had to the disappearance of Young Mistress Hiromi and why she should follow him.

"Because I doubt the ethics of Prince Hayate. He has always been mysterious, outspoken, and superficial, even back then. My point is that I think he's also covering up something, "Lord Kenji answered.

Yumi sighed and thought before answering, “All right, Lord Kenji," Yumi responded.

Yumi didn't ask why Lord Kenji initially thought Second Prince Hayate of camouflaging something. In other words, he appears to be insinuating that the second prince may be involved in Hiromi's disappearance.

When Lord Kenji noticed Yumi was deep in thought, he told her not to be sad because they would also see Hiromi, and less than twenty-four hours had passed since Hiromi's disappearance.

Yumi gave him a faint smile, but Lord Kenji wondered why she had reacted so seriously to Hiromi's disappearance.

"I'd like to ask you, Yumi-san, how long have you known young mistress Hiromi?"

"What do you mean by your question, Lord Kenji? The length of time is not a measure of how long I have known her because even if we were only together for a short time, her value to me is double. After all, she never once treated me as her servant. She made me believe that people lower, like myself, have the right to go about their daily lives. Most importantly, my young mistress, Hiromi, does not look down on me," Yumi emotionally responded.

That flashback Yumi had with Hiromi before something terrible happened. Hiromi prefers that they eat together because she loathes eating alone and returns to her samurai life so that the pain of her brother's death does not consume her.

Yumi gained motivation and confidence from Hiromi.

She spied on the second prince the next day, but she had difficulty nearing him due to the soldiers guarding him. She didn't stop watching the second prince from morning to night.

Yumi was a little exhausted until the night came because she didn't notice anything unusual about the second prince. He is also preoccupied with his personal life. So she considered simply leaving because she would gain nothing by spying on the second prince.

Yumi was about to leave when she heard Second Prince Hayate was angry. She turned around in the distance and saw the second prince getting out of control ahead of his confidant.

She kept an eye on the second prince, although it was difficult for her to do so to answer the question of whether it had anything to do with Hiromi's disappearance. He rode his horse with some of his soldiers and his confidant.

Yumi followed the second prince out of the palace, but she had difficulty remembering how her brother died because the horse returned to her.

She was terrified of attempting to ride a horse by herself. She calmed herself down because if she constantly dwelled on the past, she would never be able to move on and continue in her life.

Yumi was able to ride the horse, despite her belief that her brother fell off because of her. She recalled his brother's scream as he fell off the horse. The opponents were chasing them, and she could not hold her young brother in her desire to save her brother.

"Sister!!!" shouts her younger brother.

“No!!!” Yumi became emotional while screaming.