"You...!"
"Midori-san must be exhausted after standing around for so long. I will take her to the couch to rest her legs for a little bit."
With a gentle tug at her elbow, Kiyoshi removed Midori from his parents' sight.
That was an unexpected development.
"Kiyoshi-san, what are you doing?" Midori asked incredulously.
Did this crazy man want to ruin his relationship with the Yamagata family so badly?
Kiyoshi stared at Midori.
"What did I do?"
"... You told your parents and Akiko-san that I am pregnant with your child."
Kiyoshi's lips curled up into a roguish smile.
"So?"
"So? That was a blatant lie."
"And why are you so sure about that?"
"... Should I not be?"
Kiyoshi eased open a double door at the far left corner of the ball, letting the clamor of the party recede behind them like a retreating tide.
Stepping onto the moonlit stone path that was flanked by tall, manicured shrubs, he led her into a secret corner of the garden, where shadows whispered and silence bloomed.
"Midori Takigawa, 21 years old. You left the Takigawa house to marry Ryouichi Koishikawa when you were 18 years old.
After three years of unhappy marriage, you were accused of cheating and thus kicked out of the Koishikawa house. Afterward, you returned to your birth family home. Right now, you are in the middle of processing a divorce from Ryouichi Koishikawa, while at the same time entertaining a marriage proposal from a certain Akiyama Kinoshita."
Midori stared at Ryouichi without saying a word. That was her life in a nutshell.
"That was the information privy to most people, easily obtained by asking around," Kiyoshi added. "Intriguing facts remained hidden beneath the surface, with a kernel of truth revealed when you spoke about what happened to you at Kagemachi in a tea house close to Nihonbashi."
"It turned out that you indeed engaged in an extramarital affair by accident when you happened to be in Kagemachi three months ago.
The one-time encounter left a seed growing in your belly, and now you are pregnant with the man's child. Am I correct so far?"
Midori broke into a chuckle.
"You have a great source of information," she remarked with a touch of sarcasm. "Is there a reason why you want to be the father of my child, then? Don't tell me that it's because you want to be a father so bad."
"Hahaha..."
Kiyoshi led Midori to sit on a bench before he took his seat next to her.
"I am the father of your child," he pointed out. "I thought you knew that."
"..."
No way.
No wayyyyy!!!
She and the protagonist???
"Impossible."
"Here, let me tell you what happened that night," Kiyoshi said.
"Three months ago, I had something to do at Kagemachi. The affair lasted deep into the night. Before I knew it, it was already too late to hail a ride back home.
I was sitting alone in the private chamber, pondering what best to do, when you stumbled inside, drunk and disheveled, but somewhat enchanting in your own way."
"..."
"You fell on top of me, burning with fever. The tea house owner thought that you might have been drugged, so I asked for a room to allow you to recuperate."
"..."
"There was no other room in the inn. It was unwise to leave you alone, so I asked for another mattress and slept next to yours.
At night, hot and bothered, you came unto me, begging me to ravish you."
"....."
Oh, Lord.
Midori wanted to die.
This was all the original host's fault!
"Our sexual escapade lasted for three hours or so. There was no inch of your skin I did not touch. Among which..."
Midori flinched when Kiyoshi's hand moved toward her waist.
His touch, no matter how gentle, gave Midori terrifying goosebumps.
"I remember the three stars that lined up at your lower back as I thrust into you repeatedly."
"....."
Kiyoshi's fingers slowly traced three little bumps at the very spot.
Three stars?
Three moles?
She had three moles at her lower back??? How did she not know that???
Wait, how did he know about her moles if she knew nothing about them???
Midori wriggled away from Kiyoshi's touch, and the latter retracted his hand. Her face was burning with shame.
"I..."
"I was hoping to talk to you in the morning. I wished to take responsibility for the passionate encounter, but you left so quickly."
But that was not all.
"And what happened afterward?" Midori asked.
Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes at her.
"Nothing."
"You are definitely lying this time," Midori exclaimed.
Driven by a burning need to know, Midori's hands, drawn by an invisible thread, found their way to Kiyoshi's kimono. With a swift, decisive motion, she parted the clothing, her breath catching in her throat as the truth lay bare before her.
Kiyoshi's kimono gaped open, a silent question mark against the moonlight. There, branded onto his skin, the tattoo mirrored the one she had witnessed earlier, its stark form an undeniable echo of the morning's encounter.
"Aha."
Kiyoshi caught her wrists and pulled her close.
"Interesting. You remembered nothing from that night, but you vividly recalled what happened the morning after."
Crap, crap, crap.
Midori swallowed hard.
She had stupidly revealed herself before Kiyoshi Matsumoto!
"Kiyoshi Matsumoto-san, please remove your hands from my sister."
Midori and Kiyoshi turned their heads at the same time to see Arata, who already raised his katana at Kiyoshi's face.
"Ah, your sister?"
"I am arresting you for being a suspect in a crime that happened in Kagemachi three months ago," Arata said in a triumphant tone. "Now release Midori-san slowly."
"Nice to meet you, Brother-in-law," Kiyoshi said with a bright, dazzling smile.
Both Arata and Midori gaped at Kiyoshi.
Brother-in-law???
What???
"I am beyond pleased to be reunited with Midori-san again. Now that she is pregnant with my child, naturally, I must take responsibility by marrying her.
That makes you my Brother-in-law, yes?"
Arata's face darkened.
"You?" He said in bewilderment. "You were the one who slept with my sister at Kagemachi?"