Maybe his brother is right, and he ought to send Setsura away. Since she came here, he no longer feels restless or walks around at night thinking of his deceased wife. Her being here is like a herbal remedy for him. But in other people's eyes, they must think he is using Setsura as a replacement for his wife. That's not it, Akito didn't bring her here with that intention. So what if he treats her well? So what if he's comforted by her presence? That does not mean he is in love with her? If it were love, it would be a different type of feeling.

His gaze fell on the woman who is fast asleep, 'You're going to bring him more problems, aren't you?'

....

Akito knew he fell asleep because when he opened his eyes, he saw that Setsura was no longer in bed. He panicked for a moment, but Akito looked around, he could not see the tray of porridge he made for her. It was easy to deduce where she had gone. He groggily gets up and makes his way to the top of the stairs. He pauses, judging from her condition, she probably can't move around too much. The manor has several kitchens, and there's a small one on this floor. But seldom anybody used it unless they are out of supplies. She went to the kitchen, is she washing up? She doesn't have to, after all, there are servants in the manor for a reason.

The moment Akito stepped out of the room, though, a strong smell catches his attention. The direction it came from was the kitchen on this floor. Akito paused, maybe she's cooking? She honestly never struck him as the type, and with her lost memories, there was a limit to what he could ask her. Getting to know somebody involves asking them questions about themselves. But what if that person has no memories? How does a person get to know them then? The answer is simple.

One simply observes their habits. Their current selves with no memories will unconsciously do things similar to those of the past.

When Akito stepped into the kitchen, Setsura had her back turned and seemed to be busy making something. The sounds of the knife as she chopped something up, and a lovely aroma fills the air, "What are you making?"

"Wah--!" startled Setsura lost her balance, but he immediately catches her.

"Whoa, easy there," it felt odd for Akito. So he quickly let her go. He didn't know what it was, but just holding her briefly in his arms was all too familiar for him.

"I apologize," Setsura said. "But you should not sneak up on people like that; it's quite unsightly."

One other thing he noticed about her

"You cook?"

Setsura smiled, "I felt hungry, and the food here is good. But it lacked something, so I made something. I wasn't sure whether I could or not, but it seemed like I can."

While the aroma smelled nice when Akito peered over the appearance of the 'food' was somewhat questionable.

"Uh, this is…"

"Meat."

"Just meat?" Akito said. There looked to be questionable black things in another pot.

"That's desert."

Seeing her so proud, Akito didn't know whether it was okay for him to laugh. Setsura must have noticed since her cheeks puffed into a pout, "If you can do any better, I'd like to see you try!"

Akito paused, and an image of the last time he cooked appeared in his head. The last time he cooked was when his late wife was still alive. Now that he thought about it, she would often use this kitchen too.

"I'll instruct you. Start again."

Setsura deeply sighed, "Okay, but we should keep the desert. I worked hard on that."

His sweat fell; she worked hard on it? How come it turned black? Akito's gaze fell on the girl's hand that had blisters, and red marks. How many times did she burn herself? His gaze softened, well he can at least admit that she is a hard worker.

.....

8:00 PM

While he canceled his work for the next few days. He still had work to do at home, so after that little scene in the kitchen. Akito didn't see Setsura for the rest of day. He wanted to meet with her; however, there were affairs in the household he had to take care of. When he finally finished, Akito went to the forest and relax in the usual tree. Honestly, he didn't know what to do now. Should he go search for Setsura? Or is the girl fast asleep now? It felt odd for him, desiring her company for some reason. But other than his brother, coworkers and a few exchanges with the servants.

He seldom speaks to anybody in his free time. After what happened, he isolated himself and was a shell of his former active and chatty self. He immersed himself in work to distract himself, and when he came home, he would be far too tired to talk to anybody. He would just fall asleep. Still, these days, since Setsura came here. Akito changed his routine to match hers. But is this fondness simply because she resembled his wife?

Can people blame him for still being in love with his wife? At times, it felt like they were. Whenever they matched, make him with another person, and it didn't turn out well. Akito would see those faces of discontent.

Of course not.

He knew that he knew that nobody truly blamed him for what happened back then.

It was all because of that curse to his lineage.

Akito has always been mature for his age, though most people would place the blame on his father. Akito didn't, fate just naturally took course that way. His father ended up getting the whole family cursed due to a single slip up. Time was moving on though, Akito knew he couldn't live in the past anymore. In the past, that's what he thought. However, now? Now things were different. After what happened with his wife, Akito realized how much of a tedious task it was to do anything.

Whenever people asked him questions regarding his wife, he wouldn't answer them. People always took his silence as he's moved on already, he blamed her, or there are those rare few who noticed.

The answer is yes, yes he still loves his wife. Yes, he couldn't forget her.

People around him always tell him that he should find someone else. His whole clan would accept anybody as an heir, whether or not they had status. However, Akito couldn't do it. Whenever he stepped out of the house, he would see the flowers in the front garden and the hack. He would see traces of her inside the home too, old furniture she used to use — her studio. Akito could not bear to throw away any of his late wife's belongings away. Or rather he wasn't in the state to do so before. As time passed by, Akito realized that he never got around to it, and he doesn't think there is any point in doing so now.

Akito didn't know whether this was a curse or not. For a dead woman, she is undoubtedly doing a great job, making him remember her every second. But, these days the house seems a bit more different. Perhaps it's because Setsura started living here. However, in the areas, he allows her to go to. There is a different atmosphere, some things moved around, so it could be more convenient for her.

Akito sighed to himself as he gazed up at the moon. It was a breathtaking sight, as usual. The moon in this town always looked unusual; it seemed to change colors every full and half-moon. At first people saw it as a curse, but eventually, they grew used to it. Akito extended his hands out as though he was trying to reach out to it.

"The moon seems so far away…" Akito mumbled to himself, before sighing again. What is he doing now? He keeps making a fool of himself.

Realizing how long he had been on the tree, Akito decided it was time to head back. He dusted himself and jumped off the tree, in doing so failed to see the figure of the young lady who screamed when she saw him dropdown. The sound of her voice and clattering broke his thoughts.

It belonged to the girl he had been looking after for the last few days, "Aki-"

Hearing approaching footsteps, he scooped the girl in his arms and leaped up sitting back on the tree, but this time hiding at the back.

"Be quiet for a minute," Akito instructed. The girl lets out a muffled reply, and he smiled. Well, at least she is sensible. He turned to the people down below. There was a relatively large group of, around 10-20 men. All of them wore military uniforms and had their weapons. Akito whistled, 'How prepared,' he thought. Eisuke must have spread the news around that he is taking a break for a while. So, people thought they could take advantage of his break to kill him. How very stupid.

"Damm he isn't here."

"Are you sure you saw him?"

"Anyway, we should report it to that person."

At that, he felt the girl tremble slightly in his arms. Ah, it's only in moments like this that she will actually show her honest side. He placed his hand on top of the girls, causing her jewel-colored eyes to widen and a slight hint of pink appeared on her cheeks and yet he watched as she clutched his hand tighter. Really, she's cuter when she's like this.

Once the footsteps disappeared, he still held her in his arms, and he could feel how quickly her heart was pounding. Or was that his own heart? Even now, he still cannot tell what he feels towards her - feelings that are painful and yet beautiful at the same time.

Still, Akito frowned, 'That person?' It's too bad they didn't slip up. If they said the name, then he could easily take that person down. Well, it's not like he is entirely out of clues. His gaze fell on the ground; one of the men had dropped their cloaks when they were running away. 'Too naive,' Akito thought. There's most likely a name card of some type inside too.