The delightful smell of spring was refreshing as it wafted through the room, carrying the scent of fresh flowers with the warm breeze.
Hina sat opposite the merchant as they played a round of chess, watching as he placed his next piece on the glass black-and-white board. It had become an unspoken tradition between the two over the last one and a half years.
It all begun one autumn day when Hina had gone up to his office with a request in mind, opening the door to catch the merchant in a pathetic state of playing chess by himself. He had been appropriately embarrassed and Hina had stood there in shock, forgetting her reason for showing up at his office in the first place. In an effort to diffuse the awkward situation, she had eventually asked if he could teach her to play and offered to play a round with him.
Since then, they would casually play a few rounds together, about once or twice a week whenever they had free time. Their relationship as a married couple however remained unchanged. The merchant still frequented the warm skirts of his mistresses around the city, which Hina was truly pleased about since it kept his claws off her.
Although there was bound to be no progress in their marriage relationship, the constant times they spent together in the same space for hours, simply enjoying each other's time and intellect smoothly soothed the uneasy tension that often sat between them. Hina still could not believe how peaceful and calm everything was at the moment. Never in a million years did she think that she would ever get this comfortable and relaxed around the merchant; enough to sit with him and just play some chess while she sipped on her tea.
"Your turn" he told her with a grin, watching closely like an excited child as she picked her piece and placed it, making a winning move.
"Checkmate" she told him, a wide smile on her face as she had just won for the second time in a row today.
"Ah! I didn't notice that before" he complained, staring at the board.
"I hope you're not trying to say that I cheated you?"
"No, of course not" he chuckled lightly, drinking down on his last bit of wine.
"That was a good game. You've gotten better at it, even outplaying me now" he told her, a proud tone in his gruff voice.
"It's only proper that the student outdoes the teacher. It shows what a great teacher I had" said Hina. Truth be told, she had always known how to play the game but had chosen to feign ignorance simply to ease the situation of that day.
"Indeed" He nodded in agreement.
"I hear that you have an important outing today.." he mentioned calmly.
"Yes. Tanaka and I are supposed to visit lady Rebecca.." said Hina, realising that it was about time for their outing and she wasn't yet ready. She had lost track of time while playing chess with the merchant and Tanaka was bound to throw a fit if she was late yet again.
"Then I shouldn't take up any more of your time. Tanaka must be waiting for you already" he told her as if reading her thoughts.
"Indeed. I should hurry and get ready. Excuse me"
The merchant watched her as she exited the office, a slight smile on his face as he realised how much she had grown into a fine young woman.
Over the years, his young wife had outgrown her childish small look and was now replaced with a gorgeous woman that many men admired in the Imperial city. Her stunning looks aside, she was one of the most intelligent people he had encountered in a long while and it made him so proud. On a few occasions, she had given him business advice that had positive turnouts. The merchant was no fool either and could tell that she was smarter than she let on. He often wondered why she felt the need to hide her intelligence and how far she would grow if she was free.
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With Suki's help, Hina was able to get ready on time. She was dressed in a gorgeous cream silk dress so sheer it seemed translucent, accentuating her figure. Suki placed a single silver chain around Hina's neck where it gleamed against her smooth rosy skin, like moonlight on rosewater. Upon the silver chain hung a pendant of intricate detail of golden amber gem, slightly lighter than her startling golden eyes. It was a necklace that the merchant had gifted to her the previous year on her birthday.
In comparison to how she looked just a few years ago, Hina had become even more radiant than before; her delicate yet enchantingly mysterious features gave her that ethereal appearance that never failed to draw attention to her. She had always been stunning but puberty had done a great job on her.
"The carriage is ready, lady Hina" Aoi announced as she came in, her gaze was drawn to Hina as she turned to face her. It was hard to get used to the lady's glow as it felt like she got more beautiful by the day.
"Okay, I'll be down soon"
"You look beautiful as always, my lady" Aoi said, unable to look away from her.
"Indeed, lady Hina is the most beautiful woman in the Empire" Suki replied with a sure nod.
"Thank you"
Escorted by Suki, Hina glided down to the awaiting carriage, pleased that she was on time before Tanny for once.
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