Chapter 5

"Hey."  a low-toned voice called Nozomu's attention as soon as his father left him to attend the shogun. He grabbed the sheath of his sword ready to wield it anytime as an uninvited presence is lingering around him. Soft footsteps were heard against wooden floor of the main room's hallway and the candle are barely supporting his vision in the night inside the castle.

"It's me, idiot." A guy showed up as soon as the footsteps stopped. A man in 20s and has almost the same height as Nozomu wearing a grayish kimono with Hatakeyama clan emblem at the hem.
"Ryusei..." Nozomu called out and sighed. He backed out from his fighting stance and playfully punched Ryusei's arm. "Never do that especially when the noble families will be having a meeting."
"You mean a sentence of marriage for me?"
"Stop that. It's a disrespect to the princess of this manor." Nozomu replied. "This is an order from the shogun himself."

Nozomu patted Ryusei's shoulder preparing to leave.
"Forget her already. I bet she doesn't even remember what happened to the both of you that time. Face it now my friend, you will be soon a part of the Ashikaga clan marrying my Rin-sama."
Ryusei chuckled softly. "No way I could forget about her, she saved me from that time."

"Nozomu-san?" Rin was walking at the hallway when she spotted the two of them talking. She was with her attendant, Mei and a blonde man wearing the same emblem of the Ashikaga clan. Ryusei and Nozomu bowed before her as soon as they noticed her presence. Meanwhile the blonde guy wore a grumpy face towards the two samurais.

"Nozomu of the great Hosokawa clan right?" The blonde haired guy started to talk with a foreign-like accent.
"Yes, Tomohiro-sama." He replied, still bowing before them.
"You should've fetched the princess from her room, remember that this is an important business between our families."
"My apologies, Tomohiro-sama. Thank you for fetching the princess in my place. I know how important Rin-sama for you." Nozomu replied.

"Come on Tomo-chan, it's okay. They must've talking about something important." Rin interrupted. "It's okay Nozomu-san, my cousin is always like this."

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The main room was filled with the members of the four great clans of Kyoto. Ashikaga clan, Hosokawa clan, Hatakeyama clan and the Shiba clan.The leader of Hatakeyama clan, Ryusei's father was sitting apart from the Shogun's deputy which is the leader of the Hosokawa clan, Nozomu's father. Meanwhile Rin, Ryusei and Nozomu was sitting at the front part of the dining hall with the royal shogun as the main people of the said meeting.

"It is a good opportunity to be with your audience Shogun-sama." Ryusei's father started the conversation. "I am sure you have a lot of things to keep our country at ease from danger but you attended this marriage meeting. It was a pleasure seeing you here in this premises."

"This is a marriage of my little brother's precious daughter. Of course I should be a bother here." the shogun replied. Ryusei's father chuckled. "Oh no, you are not definitely a bother Shogun-sama."

The marriage meeting lasted for an hour without any distractions. The shogun went home to attend some work leaving the other guest staying for the night. Tomohiro, once again visited Rin's bedroom to check out for her but Nozomu prevented him from going inside.

"Rin-sama needs to rest for the day Tomohiro-sama. I am afraid I cannot allow you to go inside." Tomohiro clicked his tongue as he looked at him fiercely. "It was better for her to have her previous guard rather than you. I always see Rin all the time."
"Apologies Tomohiro-sama but I am just doing what's best for the princess."

Tomohiro was about leave when Nozomu asked something that hit him hard.

"May I ask you a question, Tomohiro-sama? Are you in love with your own cousin?"



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A/N: HEYAAAA! It's been a while since I got to update the fanfic. A lot happened in school I need to hiatus for a while. But now that I am back, expect more updates soon I guess.