Chapter 229 - His Wife

The drive to Denenchofu would be a bit longer than usual since they were already halfway to Yokohama when Suzuki Ara asked to transfer cars and decided to go back home. She didn't mind however as she didn't really feel like going back home yet. She was still in the high about the day's events.

She got married.

She found out her husband was a Returner to Ancestry, Kresnik.

She discovered that her memories from Ritz where her brother, Alistair set her up were not real.

She learned that she, Alinea and Suzuki Ara were the same people, that's why she had memories of both.

Gin fixed his relationship with Emi.

Aki would settle things with Chiaki.

The best of all, Ara ascertained her real feelings towards Ryuu.

Remembering her husband's voice earlier, and the longing that washed her when she heard his voice, she fished for her phone in her purse and decided to call her husband again. By this time, Ryuu was sure to be already in Hakone. She wondered if he's not busy enough to pick up her call again. She did promise to explain things to him when she requested to be picked up by the security earlier.

She quickly dialed his number, and after just a couple of rings, he picked up. Her heart flipped in her chest again, his voice filling her core with warmth when he spoke.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

Even if Ryuu couldn't see her, she couldn't help but nod and smile as if he was there with her.

"Yeah,"Ara answered breathily.

There was a few seconds of silence as if both were relishing each other's voices. Ara's face softened further as she tried to imagine what he looked like right at the moment.

"What happened?" he asked, and Ara took this chance to explain everything to him. She started with deciding to help her brother by setting up Chiaki as her tutor for the exam, then meeting the girl, and running across Maki Yuuka.

"You met her?"

"Yeah. For a while Chiaki and I thought she was a stalker,"Ara confessed with a laugh.

She totally thought she was being extra paranoid about her now that she remembered it.

"I was pretty rude to her at first too. She turned out alright, and I feel guilty for being nasty towards her at first."

Ara could still remember how she erred in her judgment over Maki's personality. She really thought she was another deceitful wench, but she was proven to be otherwise.

"But it's your right to be nasty. She shouldn't have followed you in the first place. If she wanted to talk, she should have approached you the moment she saw you."

Oh…

Ara felt touched at how Ryuu was trying to make her feel better. He must have sensed she was feeling guilty for misjudging the other woman.

"Well, she should have done that. But I shouldn't have been so harsh on her too. She was after all, also just a pawn set up by the elders. It was not her fault she was engaged to Aki before."

With that explanation, Ryuu became quiet on the other end. Ara reckoned her husband agreed with what she said. After all, the two of them were in the same boat before. They were just set up by their parents without them knowing – or rather in Ryuu's case, set up by the prophecy. He didn't have any other choice.

"What do you think about her?"Ryuu asked casually, and Ara wondered if he was checking about whether she liked Yuuka as a person or as a sister-in-law candidate.

"She's okay I think – if we're talking about personality-wise. Maki Yuuka's blunt and couldn't keep herself from speaking her mind. It's weird for a well-bred young lady of a prestigious family, but it's a nice trait for a friend. It felt like she couldn't lie to you even if it's just to make you feel better."

"Oh, you like her as a friend then?"

Ara smiled at Ryuu's teasing tone. Of course, she only liked Maki Yuuka as a friend.

"Of course. She can't be my sister-in-law. I only want Chiaki for that role. Besides," Ara remembered her conversation with the girl. "She openly admitted to not liking my brother in a romantic sense. She confessed she only likes the status he'd bring as his wife."

Ryuu laughed softly. "She's so brave telling that to your face."

"Well, it was fine since she's not really marrying big bro, right?"Ara countered amusedly. "If she's really engaged to Aki and she told me that, I'd have raised hell."

"Of course. No loveless marriage for your big brother. Also no gold digger for a wife," Ryuu agreed.

Ara of course shrugged and snorted in agreement. Regardless of how much she liked Maki Yuuka's blunt personality, in the end, as a girlfriend, she indeed seemed like a gold digger. She even confessed to swiping Aki's card all over the shopping mall if she were in Chiaki's place. Then again, Yuuka was also rich, and so Ara frowned as a question popped in her head.

"If a girl's also rich but still likes to spend money and wants to marry someone rich for money, is she still called a gold-digger?"

"Of course," Ryuu answered readily, and  a worried frown marred Ara's face.

"So if I'm already rich, and I'm now married to you and I spent your money, what do you call me?" she asked anxiously.

The last thing she wanted people to think of her was being a gold-digger.  She was already very rich by normal standards, but now that she's the lady of the Homura House, her wealth also increased by miles.

"What else?"Ryuu asked, and Ara held her breath waiting for the answer. "My wife."

Huh?

Ara was dumbfounded.

"Your wife?"

"Well, aren't you?"Ryuu demanded as if daring her to say otherwise.

"Of course I am," Ara answered, perplexed.

"Then you don't have to worry about what other people will think of you. I'm telling you this now. They won't dare think or say anything negative about you. You're my wife, my love. Your enemy is my enemy. What they say about you reflects on me."

Ooooh.

Ara was speechless. In short, no one would dare say anything bad about her if they didn't want the Homura House to breathe fire on them.

"Ryuu?"

"Yes?"

"You're cool."