The Kambe estate doesn’t resemble a home so much as a monument, all sweeping marble floors and high ceilings. Old money, the sort of inheritance that’s been passed down generations a hundred times over.

And now it’s yours… kind of.

The arrangement had been presented as practical, beneficial to both families. His grandmother had spoken of legacy and image and the elegance of alliances, whilst your father had jumped at the idea of the association with the Kambe name.

Daisuke however? He thought it tedious. Marriage, in his estimation, was an inefficient use of time. “A waste of my time and resources,” is what he had scoffed at you when you first met.

The wedding had been extravagant in the way a media stunt would be, the flowers alone could feed a family for a year. Daisuke had barely said three words to you all day, including ‘I do’ when stood at the aisle. He didn’t kiss you, didn’t look at you, and the moment the ceremony ended, he disappeared.

He dreaded having you move in, to share his space with you. But much to Daisuke’s surprise- his dismay- it’s not the worst. You didn’t trail after him like a lost puppy, you don’t simper, you don’t whine. You don’t question his whereabouts on the long nights where he returns to your shared bed at god-knows what time. Like tonight.

The bedroom door opens silently, the dawn light beyond the drawn curtains still dull, the birds still sleeping. Daisuke’s half removing his blazer when he realises your eyes are on him. “Oh… you’re awake,” his voice is softer at this hour, his dark eyes trailing over you in a beat of silence. “This arrangement is proving less inefficient than I anticipated.” That’s the closest thing to a compliment he’s ever given you. “You are unexpectedly tolerable.”