Chapter 123 - Suspicion

"Hey you lovebirds, until when are you going to smooch?"

Ara was startled by her brother's voice, that she immediately pushed Kou away. She would normally face her brother with an embarrassed, guilty face. But the occasion was a happy one, and so she faced him with an embarrassed albeit jovial one instead. When she couldn't take it, she picked up the puppy so she could hide her scarlet visage behind its soft fur.

The Koutaishidenka, on the other hand, looked a bit miffed upon being disturbed. But looking at Ara's brother, and the people behind his future bother-in-law, he already had an idea that Aki was the sacrificial lamb to disturb them since the others were scared of him, and so he relented. He couldn't scold his fiancée's brother over something so trivial anyway.

Besides, aside from proposing, there was another matter he had planned to do tonight. It was to formally present Ara to everyone at the Cedar Palace as the future lady of the house. The servants had already gathered in the courtyard and were waiting for Ryuu and Ara to finish their business patiently, but as the two got distracted, they had been waiting a while. Aki and Gin had to still attend the third and final day of the IBEC the next day, and so, they had to sleep early.

He reached out for Ara's hand instead, the one with the ring and showed it to the others who then started cheering and giving them congratulations. Yayoi who was absent during the meal earlier was there now, smiling and clapping as she stood next to Gin with a suspiciously moist pair of eyes that threatened to spill some tears.

Everyone who had witnessed the proposal looked very happy for the couple. Homura Ryuu then signaled to all, who bowed and audibly welcomed their new lady. Ara happily returned their welcome, and everyone noted how the couple interacted so naturally with each other. They were the perfect pair.

A match made in heaven.

"Alright, the party's over, everyone's adjourned," Kazehaya Gin announced with a clap dispersing the people, as he signaled Ryuu and Ara to go away.

The Koutaishidenka's lips twitched and he pulled Ara back into the house. He walked her over to the private wing – the secluded area where Ryuu's chamber was. Ara's temporary sleeping quarters where she was brought earlier when she fainted was here as well, directly across from her fiancé's room. The screen doors were both open so they could see each other's sleeping chamber with their futon neatly arranged by the servants, ready for sleeping.

Upon reaching their destination, the couple stopped just in front of Ara's room.

"Well, I wasn't able to ask you earlier because you were unconscious, but do you like your room?"

Remembering her feeble moment when she saw the spider on Kazehaya's head, Ara gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry about the spider."

"It's not your fault if you are scared of them. But you should have told me these things in advance," Ryuu scolded her softly. "Is there any other thing you're afraid of?"

"No. Just big spiders."

Ara shook her head. Normally, she's scared of spiders – like really, really scared of them, but she could still function and run. Today, however, her body reacted before she could even analyze what she saw. Maybe her body had had enough of the damn arachnids after fighting with those aggressive giant ones the other day.

"So small ones are okay?"

Ara contemplated for a while. "As long as it's small enough that I can't see it or it's far away from me," she answered cheekily, which made Ryuu chuckle.

"Well, that's basically saying yes, you know."Ryuu patted her head which she thought felt nice. "Don't worry, Gin-nii already had his pet brought back to his house, and the servants already cleared the place of spiders and insects. You won't be able to see any of those here."

"Okay," Ara nodded as she smiled.

"So? Do you like your room?"

Ara turned to the mentioned chamber, and her eyes noted the very delicate and feminine interior. The screens were painted with soft pink imperial sakura, and the rest of the room was a pleasing pastel.

"Yes. It's very pretty," she said fondly, her silver orbs turning into warm pools.

Ryuu nodded. "Yayoi will be happy that you like it. She's been worried about that the whole day," he said with a small laugh. "She was not there at dinner so I'll introduce you to her tomorrow. You can tell her yourself you like your room."

"No need to introduce me. I met her earlier," Ara told him.

"Oh, you did?"

She nodded. "I met her earlier while I was talking to Emi."

At the mention of Emi's name, Ryuu visibly froze, and Ara frowned.

"What's wrong?" She couldn't help but feel the same secretive vibe from Ryuu the same way she felt coming out from Yayoi and Emi earlier.

She pulled her hand from Ryuu's grasp and hugged the puppy tighter, getting some sort of comfort from it. Her quizzing gaze never left Ryuu's face, however.

"I can feel you're hiding something from me. You and the others," Ara told him frankly.

There was no use beating about the bush. They were engaged now. She's okay being kept in the dark if the people involved wouldn't act like a clam. If they were all careful around her like this, it's making her mad.

Impatiently, Ara grabbed Ryuu's hand and pulled him inside her room, towards the futon and made him sit. She sat opposite him, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Talk. Who is Emi?"

Ryuu started to have a reaction then. Still, he looked like he's at a loss as to how to explain things to her. He was hesitating. Ara had a niggling feeling in her mind.

"Promise you won't be mad?"Ryu asked, and Ara's face became stiff.

"Is she your ex-girlfriend?" she asked.

It was incredulous and rude of Ryuu to make the ex-lover live in the same place he's planning to make his wife live. If it's like that then she'd be more than upset with him. She'd probably stomp on his man jewels, flip her finger and say sayonara to this place.

"Tell me."