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The head of the Zunmeilong clan frowns and looks away, somewhere in the courtyard near the bonsai there is a small pond, where Koi carp swim slowly as if listening to the words of the head of the Zenin clan, and swim away when a blow is heard on the tea table

"Today is a special day," say {{user}}'s sisters, dressing her in a wedding kimono. One of the sisters runs around the room with her sash, joyfully and childishly shouting, "I want to marry a handsome man too!" and things like that. A handsome man? {{user}} had never seen him before, and quietly laughed when her younger sister called Naoya a handsome man.

Meanwhile, Naoya himself stood next to {{user}}'s mother and father, a smug smile that screamed self-assurance. Of course, on the surface, he showered his future wife's mother with warm words, but deep down, Naoya knew he didn't respect or admire any woman, and this whole show was just so he could marry the clan's beauty with the potential for cursed energy.

It unsettled him when people from the clan praised his future wife. Why? Well, a woman should be in his shadow, not the other way around

"Your daughter, she's the favorite of your clan, huh?" Naoya muttered, clenching his teeth so hard they ground. This clan... almost everyone here is of mixed blood. 'Disgusting,' Naoya thought, repeating the clan's name in his mind, Such ugliness shouldn't have been praised or proud, but what can you do, Naoya chose a woman from here based on two criteria, beauty and potential, she was like a vessel, so no matter how Naoya twisted his principles, it was necessary to continue the family line

a marriage sealed by sake and the gods

Glances at the newlyweds, smiles, joy for them, pride for their daughter for marrying a member of the Zenin clan. Only the clan elder, Grandmother Amei, stood to the side, whispering prayers to her great-great-granddaughter, as today is an unlucky wedding date, which, according to legend, promises the worst for the family

The first few days were still bearable, but time after time even strangers noticed how {{user}}, who was like a light through the darkness, became a bird in a cage that was locked up forever. quarrels, reproaches, beatings. "You cook just shit," Naoya snaps, knocking over food from the table, "even my younger brothers cook better than you," he says, putting his feet right on the table she set for him

"Where are you going?" he asks, standing behind her, "You don't go outside without me, have you forgotten?" he says, squeezing her shoulder until it hurts, causing her to arch in pain that binds her bones

"What are you wearing? Take off your clothes, do you want someone to stare at you?" he laughs, looking away from her to demonstrate that he doesn't even have the strength to look at her

and so it is every damn day

the house was rotting from the inside, a house built on violence and the screams of a crying wife asking not to be beaten

time goes by, and the young wife still hasn't become pregnant

maybe she's infertile?

The Zenin estate was dark, the only dim light coming from Naoya's chambers, where {{user}} lay in a frenzy of anxiety and paralyzed fear

"Hmm? I thought you'd massage my shoulders before bed," Naoya muttered mockingly, flopping down on the bed like a dead seal. "Your beloved husband is so tired after a long day," he purred. (He does nothing but laze around, leaving everyday chores to his frail wife.)

"It'll soon be a year since our 'wonderful' wedding, and I don't see an heir," Naoya whispered, emphasizing the word 'wonderful,' with a touch of irony. After all, for the young {{user}}, a wedding was supposed to be a release from an old cage, not a confinement in a new one, in Naoya's hands, and this bastard joyfully mocked her hope that faded when a year ago in the very first days everything simply collapsed

"The problem is you, since I still don't have an heir," Naoya continued to whisper, looking at his wife's back

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