A Promise Fulfilled Chapter Seven: A Secret Engagement
Hasho was looking over some papers when the door to his private study slowly creaked open. He looked up, expecting the maid to walk in with some tea. Instead, his daughter was standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. Hasho was stunned; she almost never came into his study, the passing years showing the growing rift between them. Since all they had been doing lately is fighting, maybe she was here to apologize. She shut the door behind her.
"Hey Sweetheart. What's up?"
She gripped a worn red book harder in both hands, the expression turning angry.
"Dad, did you sell my future for Mom's engagement rose?"
He shot out of his chair, shocked beyond belief.
"Nononono, I would never do anything like that! How on earth did you get such an idea?"
She opened up the book to near the back. She started reading out loud to him.
"'For countless centuries, the von Gikkingen line has kept a special rose bush in their garden, which few humans have ever seen. This bush only produces one bud every two decades, being colored ivory and veined with gold. The full properties of this magical flower are unknown, even to the von Gikkingens.' That flower sounds awfully familiar and valuable, Dad."
He stared at her, and then charged over to take the book from her.
It was all there, even more than he had known about the half-cats that fateful encounter nearly twenty years ago. It even had a drawing of one of Duke's ancestors. He wondered if they all like to wear formal attire at all times. But Haru didn't know German…did she?
"Where did you get this?"
She laughed bitterly.
"Would you believe from the school library? So, when were you planning on telling me that I've been engaged to a cat since before you married Mom?"
His hands shook, wanting to rip the cursed book apart. But the damage had already been done.
"How do you know you're engaged?"
She glared at him.
"Read the next part."
He did so.
" 'But what is known of the flower is that each time it blooms, the youngest generation plucks the bud with a bride in mind, most likely a girl chosen before or shortly after she's born. He then presents the flower to his love, and for some reason unknown, only one male child issues from each union. Each kitten-child born under the union of the Ivory and Gold rose will grow into a worker of magic.' That doesn't mean-"
"How did you get that rose, Dad? It states several times in the book that the rose is greatly treasured, so how did a struggling teacher get his hands on one if it's being protected by cat magicians?"
His mouthed opened and shut like a fish's, no sound issuing. With a huge shudder, he walked over to his desk and collapsed in his chair.
"I was in Germany for a conference, driving to the airport to return to Japan. But there was a terrible blizzard that day, and I was on a mountain. I crashed in the snow and blacked out. When I woke up, I was in a beautiful room, and it was summer outside. Needless to say, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I mean, the food someone had left next to me was better than anything I had ever tasted before, and the huge mansion I had woken up in was exquisite in every detail."
Haru nodded, privately knowing that the von Gikkingen estate was even better than how her father was describing it. He leaned over his desk to rest his head on his arms.
"I had woken up late in the afternoon, and couldn't find anyone to talk to. I wandered around a little until I came to a garden. It was after sunset by then, and the full moon had come out. Well, I came to a bush like the one described in the book. Think about it Haru; I was poor, and so were my parents. That flower was more beautiful than anything I thought I could ever give to your mother after the wedding. So I broke it off, praying that I could find a way to get it to her. What I would give if I could relive that day…I never would have entered the garden a second time."
Haru's gaze sharpened.
"Well, what happened next?"
He sighed.
"A huge gray cat jumped out and started yelling at me. But he was no ordinary cat. Remember my Cat Man stories? That was him, and he was angry. He said that it had taken two decades to make that rose, and there wouldn't be another one for another two. I tried to give it back, but he said that the damage had been done, and that I needed to repay what was stolen. I tried to say that I had nothing, and hadn't even married my sweetheart yet. That calmed him down, and he asked if I was thinking of your mother when breaking the stem. When I confirmed the fact, he spoke some nonsense words, and something literally burst out of me." He looked at his daughter.
"It was you, about how you look now, except for the fact that you had longer hair and you were see-through. You were waltzing around the garden by yourself, and for some strange reason, wherever you stepped sprouted real wildflowers. You stopped in front of the gray cat and held your hand out, like you wanted to dance with him. But then something glowed inside the cat, and an orange one burst out of him. You started dancing with the orange cat everywhere around the garden, the resulting wildflowers slowly getting bigger and better.
"The solid cat seemed shocked at first, and then laughed; speaking some more words to get you and the orange one to disappear after you had danced around for a few minutes. He said that the implications of what had happened were obvious. When another rose replaced the one I had taken, he would take you to be his son's bride. I was hoping that you would never find out. I was hoping that they wouldn't want you if you didn't dance."
Haru leaned against the oak door, stunned. But it matched perfectly with his strange behavior, as well of that of her nocturnal friends.
"So, the reason you've been trying to force me to be someone I'm not is because you don't want to keep your promise to marry me off to some guy you hate that you've never even met and whose father saved your ungrateful life?"
No wonder Duke wasn't all that concerned about what her father thought, even taking pleasure from the fact that she was sneaking around behind his back. Hasho's eyes glowed red.
"Did you miss the 'cat' part?!"
The door burst open, slamming Haru against the wall.
"Oof!"
Her mother walked around the door to hold her fiercely.
"You could have told me all of this, Hasho! Does that book say how to outsmart them?"
He started rifling through the pages as Haru tried to squirm out of her mother's grip.
"Mom, what are you doing? Dad made a promise!"
He snorted.
"More like the concept was shoved down my throat before he transported me to Japan."
"Oh, so that's how you got back ahead of schedule." Her mother commented, keeping her death grip on Haru, who couldn't break free.
"What's wrong with you two?! For all you know, Baron's a sweetheart."
Hasho jerked, turning his steely gaze slowly to her. Realizing what she had done, she covered her mouth with both hands, but the damage was done. Her mother gasped.
"You've already seen them? How did you escape?"
Haru kept trying to wriggle free, but her father grabbed her arm fiercely.
"It looks like I'm not the only one hiding something, young lady. Spill."
It was no use; they were holding on too hard.
"I've known both of the von Gikkingens for years."
He shuddered.
"I don't understand. I've had you under constant surveillance since you were born. How could they have contacted you?"
Haru suddenly saw her advantage, and jumped on it.
"The same way I've been dancing. By being sneaky."
He growled, and pulled her out of the office, her mother still latched onto her like a monkey.
"Sweetheart, let's not go crazy-"
He started laughing his head off.
"Why not? If anyone found out the truth, we would be locked up in some asylum. Our only prayer is to have body guards with her, every second of the day, even while she's sleeping."
Haru made sure to get indignant, lest they grow more suspicious.
"Honestly, Dad; can't you at least talk to the guy before you decide to hate him?"
"No!" he shouted as he roughly shoved her into her room. "I will not be tricked into having a cat for a son-in-law!" He whistled for Reta, who came running. "I want you to stay with my daughter until you are relieved. I'll need to find a few guards you can switch off with. If even a cat tries to get in, don't hesitate to shoot it."
Haru gasped, slightly enjoying behaving like a drama queen. Her father grinned, supposing that that was how she was meeting him. He and Naoko ran back down the hall, leaving the teenage girl alone with the bodyguard, who raised a thick eyebrow at her.
"Dare I ask what's wrong with your father?"
Haru laughed, finally seeing some humor in the situation as she sat down at her desk and started typing the essay.
"He found out about my boyfriend."
