The whispers in the house amongst the maids and other servants were steadily increasing. Everybody seemed to be concerned, curious as to whether or not the beautiful young lady was going to soon pack her luggage and leave. It was an open secret among many of them that lady Hina had been brought in by the merchant through 'wrongful methods' but only a handful indeed knew the exact way she came into the house. Although the merchant had played it nice and treated her with respect, giving her gifts whenever he had the chance, nevertheless all that glitters is not gold. He had paid a measly fee for her, locking her in this elegant cage, so it would be no surprise if the lady wanted to leave after all this time.
Many of the servants were divided in their speculations; some were sure that the lady would not up and leave. She had a great relationship with the young master Kai and was the closest person to lady Tanaka, so surely she would stay. However, a greater few believed otherwise, claiming that she was definitely going to depart soon, as all this was forced on her from the beginning. Now that the lock that was chaining her here was gone, there was nothing to hold her back.
It was just the second day after the memorial service. Still dressed in all black to observe the usual ten-day mourning period, Hina had been knitting a scarf to pass the time, trying not to think too much as all the whispering had been getting to her.
She had gotten an unusual visitor these past days who often came to knock on her room door, offering a clumsy greeting before running off. The first time she had spotted the five-year-old in front of her chambers, she assumed his mother had put him up to no good but after a few visits from him, she realised the boy was coming to her room on his own volition to see her. Suki had informed her that his parents didn't pay much attention to what he did and more importantly, the little boy seemed to have a little crush on Hina. Starstruck even. He had left some candy in front of her door during his last visit but Hina didn't pay much attention to the child, thinking he would stop visiting her if she did so.
It was slightly past noon when she heard the familiar clumsy knock on her door and approached it. Pulling the handle to let the door slide open, she glanced down at the small stranger who stood with a candy in his hand yet again. His puffy cheeks were red as he blushed from ear to ear, looking at her like he had just seen a fairy.
"Good afternoon, M-miss Hina" He let out, almost in a whisper, too shy to properly look at her.
"I b-brought you something sweet!" He added, stretching his hands out to her with so much excitement.
She wondered what exactly he liked about her. He barely knew her and it was as clear as day that his mother and her didn't get along, so why did he keep coming up to her room? What if his mother got offended and decided to punish him for this behaviour? Hina shook her head as she stared at his shiny eyes. It wasn't as if she disliked the kid or anything like that. In fact, she thought he was quite adorable, taking after only the good features of both his parents. Nonetheless, she already had enough things to worry about and didn't have any time to spare to play with a kid. She knew it was a harsh thing to do but she was going to send him away.
"Would you like to come in?" She asked him suddenly.
"May I? Really?!" His eyes were wide and sparkly as he asked her.
"Sure, as long as you keep it a secret from your mother" she bent to meet his height.
"Okay!"
The boy rushed into the room with such brimming joy, looking around as if he had never seen a room before.
"Can I call you 'Auntie Hina'?" He asked
"Umm, sure. Whatever you like" she replied, not quite sure what she was doing with this kid right now. For someone who was intending to chase him away, she had done the exact opposite but seeing him so happy made her feel better.
"Auntie Hina, you're very beautiful!"
"Thank you. Is that why you're always coming to see me?"
"Yes! And also because you look like a fairy!" He admitted with so much confidence.
"Haha! I see. How do you know how fairies look?" She asked through a laugh.
"They're always very beautiful with shiny hair, just like Auntie Hina!"
"Ahh, no wonder. I guess I'm truly a fairy" she played along with him, engaging in small childish talks before Suki came into the room with yet another surprising news.
"Lady Hina, I'm sorry to interrupt your leisure time but there's someone here to see you" Suki said, her eyes focused on the little boy that sat beside Hina.
"Who is it?"
"He says he is the merchant's lawyer from the hotel and he has some important matter to discuss with the family"
"Did he say what this 'important matter' is all about?"
"Not specifically but I believe it has something to do with the merchant's will"
"Okay, let's go", turning to the little boy she said "go back to your mother, I'm sure she's looking for you by now. Don't forget, this is our little secret okay?"
He nodded at her words before hesitantly leaving the room, waving his hands at her.
"I'm surprised you finally decided to let him in" Suki said, almost smiling.
"I'm surprised too"
_____
With the entire family soon gathered at the drawing-room, there was a heavy tension that wavered in the air.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you here today", the old man began, breaking the quiet atmosphere.
"Likewise, it's been years since I last got the pleasure of meeting you too," Marie said, smiling as if she was just reuniting with a long lost friend.
"Of course, Lady Marie" he replied indifferently, "however, it is unfortunate what happened to Mr Yuichiro so please accept my deepest condolences" the man added with a slight bow. It felt odd hearing the merchant's real name being mentioned so many times these past few days.
"I am Mr Yuichiro's legal adviser and lawyer to whom he had left his final will and testimony to, in case any unfortunate incidents were to ever occur such as this one" he glanced at the family members, "the merchant had decided to write a will so that if anything was to happen to him, his family would inherit his fortune without any issues. He wanted the will to be announced three days after his funeral service, so I will be back tomorrow noon to read his final will" the lawyer said in a straight to the point manner, calmly standing up from the chair to leave.
"I expect the entire family to be around tomorrow noon for the reading" he warned with a final bow as he disappeared away from the room, escorted out by the head maid.
Epilogue|
It had been a long day and she was thankful when night fell. Her stupid headache had ramped up again and started to throb. With all the recent events, she needed sleep, about three days worth of it, but she could settle for eight, or even seven hours. She just needed her body and mind to rest. Soon enough, she began to drift into slumber until she heard the creaking sound of her room door being opened.
Hina's eyes flew open as she sat up, peering through the darkroom to see who was at the door.
"Hina..." it was Tanny. Hina switched on her side lamp to brighten up the darkness, watching as the girl closed the door and walked towards her bed.
"What's wrong, Tanny? Why are you still up by this time?" Hina asked through sleepy eyes, wondering if like herself, Tanny was finding it hard to sleep these nights. She had not noticed the tears in the girl's eyes until Tanny said "are you going to leave once the ten-day mourning is over?"
Hina's throat grew tight at the sight of the crying girl and she felt tears touch the back of her eyelids.
[She must've caught wind of the gossip] Hina thought, pulling Tanny close to her to sit on the bed.
"Please don't leave me...I don't want you to go" Tanny maintained as she wiped her flowing eyes. She had cried so much these last few days than she had in her entire life.
"I'm not going anywhere" Hina held onto her hands to assure her.
"You're really not going? You promise?"
"Yes, I'm not going, I promise"
Having sorted that out, Tanny eyes quickly dried up and she rolled into Hina's bed like a child, snuggling up to her.
"Can I sleep here today?" She eventually asked after getting comfy.
"Sure, let's have a sleepover.." flipping off the light, Hina drew the duvet over them, adjusting her pillow as she tried to drift off again.