Sakura frowned.
"I know."
Everything wasn't going according to plan. She had devised everything perfectly. Get an impressive-looking abode that wasn't too decorated, wear a modest dress that accentuated her lovely figure and have the manners of a high-class woman. Everything was well planned. Uehara would be impressed with her and if possible, she would gain his acknowledgement or even affection. This way, she wouldn't have to be afraid of him leaving her alone and if possible, earn his affections.
Unfortunately, everything she did had an opposite affect. She didn't choose to hide it any longer. She confided to Chizuki about how these last few months, she'd been taking classes on how a woman should dress, act. When she renovated the house and bought all fifteen of the surrounding houses, she purposely avoided placing useless aesthetics since she knew Uehara didn't value them. All of this was in preparation for when he would come back on the third year to evaluate her progress.
Chizuki sighed when Sakura finally concluded.
"You know full well master cares more about strength than anything."
Sakura looked down in shame.
"I know. But I thought that if I changed my attitude, maybe he'd not be so inclined to leave me?"
Chizuki stood up and went to sit on the chair next to Sakura.
"Let me tell you something Sakura. Master is not a human. Although he looks like one, don't forget that his core being is a dragon and us humans are not worth more than livestock. Believe me on that."
Chizuki felt like crying every time Uehara would remain as impassive as ever whenever she was naked or in her night gown. She even remembered how he ruthlessly tore apart a prostitute that tried to lure him in, a child, for a good time after she had seen him carrying a lump of gold on the streets at night. Unfortunately, that woman joined the line to reincarnation."
"Although what you're doing would work flawlessly on other men, it would do the exact opposite on master."
Sakura frowned. A faint hostile tone could be detected when she spoke.
"You seem to know Black-sama very well nee-san."
"Of course I do. I am master's attendant after all. If I didn't observe master's actions and quirks, then I wouldn't be fulfilling my role as his attendant."
Sakura began to leak cyan-coloured chakra when she heard Chizuki gloat.
"If you hadn't appeared, then Black-sama would've stayed with me and I wouldn't have had to resort to such methods like some slut!"
"Sakura."
Chizuki glared at her, an overwhelming royal-blue aura emanating from her.
"Don't say things that you will regret later."
Sakura clenched her fists as tears came out of her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry nee-san. But the ten years are nearly up. Black-sama will leave me alone soon."
Chizuki came over and hugged her.
"How do I make him not leave me? I've already lost my brother. I-I don't wanna be alone anymore."
"That's the thing. You don't make him and you can't make him. You can only convince him and the only thing that can convince him is strength. As for our bodies, they're useless."
Sakura chuckled as she wiped her tears.
"I noticed. Even eunuchs aren't this immune like Black-sama."
Chizuki frowned.
"I don't think it's immunity. I think it's more like we don't register as the opposite gender. Master made it very clear that humans in his eyes are no better than livestock. You wouldn't mate with a pig right? It never even once registered with you to try."
Sakura became agitated.
"So the only thing we can do is?"
"Elevate our existence. You haven't slacked off in your training right?"
"Yes. I'm very close to opening the second path now, though I am having minor difficulties."
"Good. In master's eyes, we're just slightly promising chickens that can one day turn into phoenixes. If we want master to look at us, then we have to become phoenixes and the only way to do that is to open the gates, elevate our existence and become better than humans."
"Us?"
Chizuki's eyebrow twitched.
[You're focusing on the wrong thing.]
Meanwhile, Uehara was in the garden enjoying the peace and quiet. Sakura's actions had initially confused him and wanted to find out why but after she tried deceiving him twice, he felt he would kill her on the spot if he didn't leave the room.
[Some days, I wonder what would happen if I chose to consume Mangetsu's soul and immediately killed Chizuki after feeding on her.]
Using these types of thoughts to distract himself from Sakura's blonder, he began to ponder.
[First of all, I'd be roughly three times stronger than I am now. I would probably have four instead of three paths unlocked and I would've begun learning more techniques from father.]
He lifted his hand and nature energy coated it.
[I can't reverse time. Whether I come to regret my decisions or not will depend on their strength in the future. Chizuki exceeded my expectations by comprehending the water-sage transformation. As for teaching Sakura a sage transformation based on her fire-attribute, I'm not inclined to do so after what she did. I only have to observe her for a year before I can complete my part of the deal to Mangetsu.]
Wisps of nature energy began to dance around him.
[My strength is still pathetic. Father had already opened five paths at his age while I only have opened three. But the first twenty years of my life can't be considered wasteful. Like father said, I've accomplished a goal that would make other gods envious by finding Chizuki.]
His eyes glowed yellow.
"And in less than half-a-decade, Mangetsu's soul will be ripe enough for me to summon. At that time, with his experience from Yomi (Shinto underworld), he would make the best soldier in the human world."
A slight smile marred his face.
"And he would also become the gateway for me to enter the underworld of Yomi. If I can find Izanami and Izanagi and eat their souls, I will know every single weakness about almost, if not all the gods of Japan. After all, as the gods of creation and the parents of several gods, their knowledge must be superior to most gods of the Shinto pantheon."
He was about to continue planning when he felt the familiar chakra of Chizuki and Sakura rapidly approach him. He turned his head to see the both of them suddenly appear before him. Chizuki humbly walked over to his side while Sakura lowered her head and fumbled with her hands.
"Um, Black-sama. I-I wanted to apologise…for my earlier actions."
Uehara narrowed his eyes.
"Why did you do it? As much as I try to dwell upon it, I cannot comprehend your earlier personality change. So enlighten me."
Her face became flushed as she looked to the side.
"Well, I…"
She lowered her head again as shyness overtook her. In the end, when Uehara was about to tell her to speak, Chizuki spoke for her.
"It's because she wants your affe- approval master and she feels by giving off the front of a noblewoman, you would be more recipient to her and therefore approve of her and also allow her to journey with us."
Uehara ignored Chizuki's earlier blunder and focused his gaze on Sakura who seemed to have taken an interest in counting the grains of sand on the ground.
"I only value strength. You want my approval, have sufficient strength. Chizuki has my approval because she has strength. If you want my approval, meet me on the first island off the eastern coast one hour from now."
Sakura frowned.
[That's close to five-hundred kilometres away. Black-sama knows I can get there in thirty minutes if I rest every hundred kilometre. There's no way it'd be that simple.]
Indeed she was right.
"Chizuki. Give her your beads."
She smiled politely.
"Yes master."
She pulled back the sleeves of her cloak to reveal a pair of black beads on her hands. She took them off and handed them to Sakura. When she put them on, she immediately collapsed to the ground, causing it to crack like pottery.
The loud sound alerted the guards but they treated it as a daily occurrence since they knew how their young mistress always caused a commotion when she trained.
Meanwhile, Uehara's lips curved up just slightly when he saw how she fell to the ground. Chizuki was also suppressing a laughter as well as she looked to the side.
When Sakura managed to stand up, she was already sweating. Her eyes connected with Uehara's who was looking at her with a neutral gaze.
"You have one hour…and it starts now."
Uehara grabbed Chizuki's hand.
"I'll leave you some advice. Flying will be more detrimental than running."
They vanished in a swirl of darkness.
AN: We've surpassed twenty chapters and if you're still here, it means you have a good impression of this story. If possible, kindly consider donating a few bucks to my account on PayPal. You can find me if you search for mnrholygambler. The username is 'Holy Gambler' with the profile picture of a cat wearing a hat. It's quick, easy and it will help a lot. Thank you.