Chapter 126
What if they Successfully Eloped? Part 2
Everything that night felt like a dream.
They successfully boarded the ship using forged documents and departed from Jinxin Port by water.
If Miki felt ill in a carriage, the rocking ship was even worse. Wakako offered her some sweet and sour preserved fruits she’d bought earlier, telling her to keep them in her mouth to help with the nausea.
Miki accepted one between her lips, but instead of drifting off to sleep as expected, she kept staring at Wakako.
“What is it?”
After a long moment, Miki whispered, “We’re… free.”
Her Saint’s acute senses told her that once the ship left the harbor, the Saionji clan and the royal family would never find them.
Wakako’s hand, which had been rubbing Miki’s back, paused briefly.
She could hardly believe it was real.
Only when they disembarked and gazed at the completely unfamiliar scenery did the reality of their freedom truly sink in.
At the port, many carriage drivers were waiting to make money by picking up passengers. Seeing that they were obviously outsiders, one enthusiastically approached: “Are you two looking for a place to stay? There aren’t many good inns around here; I can take you to one, guaranteed to satisfy you!”
Wakako knew to be cautious when traveling and didn’t fully trust such words. She was about to decline when Miki readily agreed: “Then we’ll trouble you.”
“Excellent! Please, get in.”
The driver took them westward through the city.
This was a simple, honest town. If the driver’s words had been said in the capital, they’d obviously be deceitful, but here, they turned out to be true.
He really did bring them to a decent inn, calling out as they arrived, “Madam Innkeeper, you have guests!”
A clear voice responded from inside, “How many?”
“Two young ladies.”
“Welcome! Please come in.”
Wakako moved to cover Miki’s face with a veil, but she shook her head in refusal before slowly, carefully descending from the carriage.
Though she no longer wore the Saint’s white robes but simple cotton clothing, she still couldn’t hide her otherworldly beauty.
The innkeeper was transfixed, accepting payment from Wakako while stealing glances at Miki.
“Your wife is really beautiful,” she said, instructing a servant to bring up hot water. With a smile, she added, “Like she stepped right out of a painting.”
The term “wife” was so unfamiliar that Wakako didn’t immediately realize who it referred to, responding only with a confused look.
Then Miki’s cool hand covered her wrist.
“You’re too kind,” she said softly.
Only then did Wakako understand that the innkeeper had taken them for newlyweds.
The hand touching Miki’s suddenly felt burning hot, and she didn’t know where to put it, but Miki held it firmly, not letting her pull away.
“Please rest well,” the innkeeper said, leading them to their prepared room. “Call if you need anything.”
Inside the room, Wakako felt restless. Despite having attended to Miki’s baths countless times before, she now felt too shy to approach, almost wanting to flee.
Before she could escape, Miki’s soft command stopped her: “Stop.”
Her hair was down, and she was soaking in the bathtub, her gaze was intense: “What’s wrong?”
Wakako slowly turned around, her breathing almost stopping at that moment.
After a long while, she said, “Just now… the innkeeper thought we were…”
She couldn’t continue, but Miki finished for her.
“Thought we were married,” Miki said. “So what?”
“Why didn’t you correct her?”
“Why should I?”
Wakako struggled to describe her feelings. Gradually, mist gathered in her eyes, and her voice sounded hollow, “You deserve a grand wedding ceremony…”
But she couldn’t give that to Miki.
Having eloped, they had to keep a low profile. Even if they had enough money, how could they openly hold a wedding?
Miki was silent for a moment and said, “I don’t need that.”
She asked, “Do you want to be my wife?”
Wakako nodded without hesitation.
“So do I,” Miki smiled gently. “That’s enough. Won’t you come here now?”
She reached out to Wakako, gesturing for her to take her hand. Wakako stepped forward and placed her right hand on Miki’s wrist, only to be pulled into the bath in an instant.
The world spun.
Water splashed everywhere, but fortunately, the innkeeper had provided plenty of hot water, so there was enough for bathing.
Wakako saw Miki pressing her forehead against hers, their noses touching, breaths intertwining, inseparable, indistinguishable whose heart was beating faster.
“Be good,” she heard Miki say. “Be good.”
Everything felt deeper in the water, and Wakako could feel her body tensing involuntarily before relaxing under the other’s gentle touch. The scent of cherries enveloped her ears and neck, sweet and rich.
Miki bit her shoulder and held on for a long time, making Wakako wince in pain.
Drops of blood rolled down her shoulder into the water, dissolving and disappearing.
“This is the Saint’s wedding gift to you,” she said. “Now you are Miki’s wife.”
The harder Miki bit, the deeper and more forceful her fingers became. Wakako cried from the pain but felt a void in her heart being filled.
Through blurred tears, she asked, “Can I really… be your wife?”
“Who else would you want?”
“Of course I want you… I just worry that being with someone like me would be beneath you.”
Wakako couldn’t see Miki’s face clearly, but could tell from her suddenly cold voice that her mood had changed:
“If you say such stupid things again, I’ll make sure you can’t leave this room for an entire day tomorrow. Understand?”
“…”
“Say you understand.”
“I… understand.”
Wakako closed her eyes.
In her daze, her body began to tremble, seeming almost at its limit, when she heard Miki say: “I really don’t care about any of that. I just want to be with you all the time.”
“Long ago, I… already became your wife.”
She used her free hand to touch Wakako’s eyes, forcing her to open them and look directly at her. “That will never change.”
Before everything went white and she could see nothing else, Wakako said, “Okay.”
Her eyelashes fluttered gently as she made her promise, “Me too… I’ll never change, for my whole life.”
Ever since she was thirteen, Wakako had eyes only for Miki.
She had always subconsciously thought that Miki deserved the best—a dignified and grand wedding, a position above thousands. But perhaps all that wasn’t as good as their passionate union tonight.
A strange town, a strange inn—no one knew where they came from or cared where they would go next.
Perhaps they would rent a small house in the city, find work to do, make a few friends, and live quietly; or maybe after some time, they would leave for another place they’d never been, to see what different mountains and rivers looked like.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was that from today forward, she and Miki would always be together.
Forever bound, never to part.
