Harumi could never have though that the doctors in this time and age were concerned about her mental health, but they did. She got some sleeping medicine and she talked a lot about what happend and the more time passed, the more she could deal with it and give the incident a place. Instead of consuming her she grew stronger and was able to give it a place. Not only Harumi was happy with the positive change, everybody around her was. Her maids finally had their sleep back and Nobunaga as well as Hidemasa could come over again without Harumi being scared to death.
"I have a surprise!" Nobunaga said while he came waltzing in the door in the early morning. Harumi gave him a grumpy look, due to just being up. She still wore her sleeping robes and didn't have any breakfast. Nobunaga walked past her to her bedroom. Harumi looked at her maids questionably but they had no clue either. Intrigued she stood and also walked to her bedroom, only to find Nobunaga rummaging trough her clothes.
"What are you doing?" She asked yawning.
"I'm looking for something for you to wear, something simple." He said. He looked at all her kimono's one by one before putting them back in her closet.
"Don't you have anything simpeler?" He asked when he checked all her kimono's.
"No, I don't have much choice in what I wear." Harumi said tired. She would prefer some simpeler clothes but this was all the castle tailor was willing to make for her. Nobunaga gave her maids a once over and decided that Lin-chan the most similar build as his wife had.
"Go get one of your kimono's for Nohime to wear, as simple as possible." Nobunaga ordered while pointing at the maid in the middle.
"I could never, the shame of Nohime-sama wearing one of my kimono's." Lin-chan said while dropping to the floor and making a deep bow for Nobunaga.
"It can for today, get up and go get it." Nobunaga ordered.
"Don't talk to them like that!" Harumi budded in. This may be his castle, but these girls were her maids. They helped her with literally everything and the least he could do was treat them with some respect.
"Lin-chan, would you please get one of your kimono's?" Harumi asked while she helped the girl back up. Lin-chan bowed again and then quickly left the room. Harumi gave her two other maids a look as if to say that she wanted to be alone with Nobunaga. Rike-chan and Masa-kun left quickly after Lin-chan. Now Harumi was alone in her bedroom with Nobunaga. Slowly she turned around to face him.
"I don't want you to bark orders at my maids." She said while staring him down.
"I'm the lord of this castle, I can do what I want." Nobunaga said as if he were a small child.
"That may be so, but they are still people who deserve it to be treated as such. They help me every day, and god knows it I need it." Harumi continued to scold him.
"And besides, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Harumi crossed her arms over het chest and gave Nobunaga a stern look. This was probably a small thing for him but it was important to her.
"Fine." He sighted eventually, admitting defeat.
"Why do I need to dress like this, and where are we going?" Harumi asked after she put on Lin-chans kimono and was following Nobunaga to his quarters. Nobunaga himself was also wearing simple peasant like clothes.
"It's a suprise." Nobunaga smiled. He grabbed her hand and dragged her along. When they arrived in his bedroom Nobunaga walked to the far wall. There was a heavy bookcase covering the whole wall. With a thud he opened one of the panels that opened up to a door.
"A secret hallway?" Harumi asked exited.
"Yes, this will lead to to a tunnel, that will lead you out of the castle. There are only a few people who know of it and even fewer how to open it." Nobunaga said while grabbing an oil lamp, igniting it and stepping into the dark hole. It didn't take long before they arrived at a staircase leading down. Harumi could tell from the air that they were underground. The floor of the tunnel was bumpy and the light Nobunaga had brought wasn't bright enough to light everything. She almost tripped over a few times but luckily Nobunaga had managed to catch her every time.
After what felt like forever they finally reached the end of the tunnel. Harumi had to blink a few times to let her eyes get used to the brightness outside. In wonder she looked around. A little bit up the hill was the castle and not very far away the castle village.
"I try to check up on the village as much as possible but you know how packed my schedule is." Nobunaga said while they walked to the town.
"I like to disguise myself and come her on marked days." He continued while they stepped onto the main road leading up to the village.
"So, right now we aren't Nobunaga and Nohime. We are just some people from a few towns away, here for a visit. You can't call me Nobunaga, my alias is Nagahiro, you can choose one for yourself as well." Nobunaga said.
"Harumi." Harumi answered almost immediately.
"Haha, looks like you already though about it." Nobunaga laughed. "Harumi, beautiful springday. A bit weird but very beautiful." Nobunaga praised her. Harumi began to blush by hearing Nobunaga saying her real name out loud. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the sound of her own name. She knew she couldn't tell him so for him to call her that for today was enough.
Once they entered the town Harumi didn't know were to look. There was so much to see! Shops opening up, street sellers readying their goods. Everything was so colorful and there were so many friendly people. Almost everyone they walked past greeted them with a smile. Once they arrived at the towns center she couldn't believe her eyes. Everything looked so cute. The square was packed with stalls. Everyone selling something different. Some were selling cloth, others vegetables and another one was selling live stock.
"Here, it's delicious." Nobunaga said while he handed her a skewer with some meatballs on it. She blowed on the food to let it cool a bit before she bite one off the stick.
"This is so good!" She exclaimed in excitement.
"I'm glad you like it." Nobunaga said with a smile while he carefully pulled her closer so they wouldn't loose each other in the crowd.