Malachi's POV
I wonder where he could be? It used to be he'd just pop up and surprise me! Maybe that'll be the case today? A few days ago I had received a letter from Mitsuhide:
"To My Helpless Pupil,
While I am on break from teaching you, I hope you do not forget to keep up with your daily studies.
Your indolence can only harm yourself. While it doesn't need to be said, do not think of escaping either. Not that it would help.
No matter where you run, I will catch you. Which is why you should be a good girl in my absence. Do you understand?
Oh, yes, of course. I have one last thing to share with you.
I miss you when I cannot see you.
Am I kidding, you ask? The answer is...a secret."
I remember just how red my face had been after reading it. Frustration or embarrassment..? Who knows.
A sigh left my lips as I cleaned the halls. Everyone else passed through here, why haven't I seen him yet?! ..It's been three boring days since I last saw Mitsuhide. He had said he'd check on me from time to time. But then again.. I did run away from him. And sorta erased all familiarity between us by referring to him as 'Lord Mitsuhide.' But Kyubei, I'd been seeing plenty of. He had taken over helping me with my riding and self-defense training. But it wasn't the same.
But I suppose that's what happens when you spend so much time with a guy like Mitsuhide. It's not like I miss him or I'm lonely! I'm just.. bored. "..You?! You're that maid..err, the.. chatelaine!" A voice spoke behind me. The man went wide-eyed when he'd seen me, and he started backing up in fear only to hit the wall. I didn't recognize him at first, but then I realized who he was. "Hey! You're that one asshole who loves to talk shit about other people but can't take a drop of criticism!"
The man glared at me, "G..Give me a break! It's not like I didn't have my reasons for saying that about.. you know who." He began looking around for Mitsuhide, only relaxing when he saw it was just us. I narrowed my eyes at him, 'you know who?' Is Mitsuhide secretly Lord Voldemort or something?
"You seem pretty obsessed with that guy, but from the sound of it, you don't know what he does." The warrior began, "Clever he may be, but no one does that kind of work without having a few screws loose." I narrowed my eyes at him, my suspicions of what he meant slowly rising. But I wanted to be wrong. "Pretty sure everyone around here has some screws loose, but- ..What work are you referring to?" I asked. The warrior gave me a confused look, but then spoke, "You heard Mitsuhide got information from Kennyo's agent, right? ..Do you have any idea how he got it?"
Even after the man left, I stood there, frozen. "What're you doing standing in the hallway, lass? Trying to earn a lecture from Hideyoshi?" "Masamune..?" Seeing Masamune, I suddenly realized, he could confirm or deny what I'd just heard. I had my own suspicions but.. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that even Mitsuhide would stoop that low. "Um.. I heard a uh.. rumor about Lord Mitsuhide and that guy he captured.. Kennyo's vassal?" I muttered. The smile quickly dropped from Masamune's face..
"So erm.. I heard someone say Mitsuhide's kind of.. well- This guy said.. He told me Mitsuhide's job is to.. torture people.. I had my own suspicions but-" "That's right."
