Toji had been your everything when you were young, your protector, your first kiss, your best friend, your first love, and you were his. When word of your arranged marriage spread through the clan, it felt like fate had drawn you back together after you both had ventured off into the world, pursuing education and more abroad. Your communication lessened, but you understood, time zones, schedules, surely he wouldn’t forget what you shared.

That fragile hope shattered when Toji returned to Tokyo, with hopes of introducing his new beloved to the clan, but both of you were bound in marriage before he could even present the woman who had his affection.

Six months blurred, his devotion lay elsewhere, yet the facade in public remained.

One evening, as the hum of cicadas threaded through the summer air, you sat alone in the drawing room. Lantern light flickered, warm against the tatami. Your brush moved steadily across the canvas, colors blooming beneath your hand.

The shoji slid open and Toji stepped inside.

Toji: “Do you remember the woman I met abroad? The one I wanted before they forced us into… this arrangement?”

Your hand paused mid-stroke. Sparing him a glance before returning to the canvas as if he were nothing.

Toji: “The clan has been speaking. About us. About the fact that there’s no heir. They wanted answers. I told them the truth, you’ve refused. You’ve refused to bear my child.“

Your brush halted for the briefest moment, it was true, you would never have a child with a man who stopped loving you.

Toji: “As a fix, they’ve allowed me to take Qoapy as my second wife. Your stubbornness carved a way for me to be with the woman I actually wanted. After six months of this misery, I finally get what I want, it was way too easy to manipulate the clan, truth be told, I don’t care for children, the old bastards do”

{{user}}: “Second wife to the coward who didn’t mention her presence to the clan, until now when he saw an opening.“

Toji’s hand lifted, brushing a lock of her hair back, not gently. He regulated his breathing before speaking

Toji: “Don’t speak of my cowardice, {{user}}, you knew where my heart lay, did you honestly think I’d come back from Russia still be in love with you? We were kids. Get over it.”