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Shin finished handling Konoha's affairs in just half a day.
Early the next morning, he set off to return to the Fire capital.
Due to her pregnancy, Uchiha Kasumi did not return with the daimyo, but instead rested in Konoha.
With Tsunade in Konoha, she received even better care than she would have in the Fire capital.
Shin rushed back to Mei Terumi's courtyard, and it was already late at night.
Mei Terumi was not asleep. She wore an elegant kimono, her waist slender, and a faint hint of sadness clouded her brows.
She sat quietly under the veranda, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky.
The moonlight covered her in a layer of silver.
Hearing footsteps, her body tensed slightly, then immediately relaxed.
At this hour, no one else would come here except that man.
She slowly turned her head.
Sure enough, she saw Shin walking through the courtyard, approaching her step by step.
Watching him draw closer, Mei Terumi's heart suddenly pounded.
Not out of love.
But from the sudden confusion of facing the child's father.
She stood up, intending to bow, but found her legs somewhat weak, and even her breathing became unsteady.
Shin calmly glanced at her and said, "Sit."
He walked directly to her side and sat down next to where she had just been sitting.
Only half an arm's length separated the two of them.
Seemingly within reach, yet as distant as the horizon.
In the air, there was only the rustling of the evening breeze through the leaves.
And Mei Terumi's own increasingly rapid heartbeat.
She clenched her fists hidden in her sleeves.
The sharp feeling of her fingernails digging into her palms kept her clear-headed, preventing her from losing control.
Shin looked at her and said without emotion, "I heard you were looking for me."
Mei Terumi froze for a moment, then looked up, meeting Shin's eyes directly.
Her voice was low but exceptionally clear. "Yes. My body has developed some problems."
Her gaze lowered slightly, falling upon her flat stomach.
Then she raised it again.
"I... might be pregnant."
As these words left her lips, Mei Terumi felt a sense of freedom.
She was like a prisoner waiting for judgment.
Constantly watching Shin's every expression.
She had expected many possibilities.
He might be surprised, he might question, he might be angry.
However, none of that happened.
There was no change in Shin's expression. He simply turned his head, his gaze falling upon her face.
Then slowly moving downwards, resting on her flat stomach.
That gaze, empty of any emotion, made Mei Terumi feel completely uncomfortable.
"Not 'might be'." Shin spoke. "It already is."
Mei Terumi froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
Sure enough, nothing could be hidden from this man.
A wave of fear washed over her. Thankfully, she hadn't done anything else.
Her lips shook, half-parted as she tried to speak, but her throat felt as if something was blocking it.
"My child, I naturally know." Shin smiled, his tone matter-of-fact.
Shin took off his cloak.
It was a black cloak of excellent quality, embroidered with the crest of the Land of Fire daimyo.
Then he gently placed it over Mei Terumi, completely covering her delicate frame.
"It's late. Be careful not to catch a cold."
This action, this tone, carried a tenderness that couldn't be easily noticed.
Mei Terumi was stunned, the man's scent reaching her nose.
Feeling the warmth of the cloak, for a moment she didn't know how to react, her mind in chaos.
"What... what do you want?" she asked without thinking, a hint of dependence in her voice.
Shin looked down at her, his gaze deep and calm.
"This child will be a prince or princess of the Land of Fire."
"He will possess the noblest bloodline and receive the finest education."
"His life will be free of any hardships."
"As for you..."
Shin paused.
Mei Terumi's heart jumped into her throat.
Then she heard Shin slowly say, "From today onwards, you are my, Shin Kurogane's, wife."
"You should understand what the position of wife means!"
"This is the reward you deserve for bearing a royal bloodline for the Land of Fire."
Wife... reward... Mei Terumi's body stiffened suddenly.
Her brain raced at that moment, trying to process this sudden information.
She understood.
This man, from beginning to end.
Never saw her as an equal opponent.
Not even a pawn worth his serious attention.
Her testing, her laying out her cards.
In her eyes, it was a gamble that would decide her fate.
But in his eyes, it was merely a woman's trick for favor.
Then, with the title of wife, he completely imprinted her and the child in her womb with his ownership.
He carved his ownership upon them.
Was it humiliation?
Perhaps it was.
Because he didn't ask for her wishes, nor did he make any promises.
He simply and roughly sorted her as a member of his harem.
This life, so clearly arranged, left her powerless to resist.
He simply used his most direct, most controlling will to decide her and her child's future.
An identity enough to allow them to live safely in the Land of Fire.
At this moment, Mei Terumi suddenly felt a little ridiculous.
She had struggled for so long, feared for so long, ran around for the resistance forces, fought for her own destiny.
It turned out to be nothing but a joke.
A single sentence from this man crushed everything from her past.
Her gaze fell on the cloak she was wearing. His body heat still remained on the fabric.
After a long while.
She finally said in a barely audible voice, "...Yes."
In the time that followed, Mei Terumi's life underwent a drastic change.
She still lived in that courtyard.
But her identity changed from a closely watched Kirigakure resistance army member to the wife of the daimyo manor.
The maids in the courtyard, who used to watch her.
Now, when they saw her, they would bow their heads from afar.
At noon, a maid served her food and accidentally knocked over a soup bowl.
The hot soup splashed, and without even looking, the maid immediately knelt down.
Her forehead hit the ground, her body shaking uncontrollably.
She didn't even dare to say a word of begging.
Every day, the best female doctor in the Land of Fire would come here.
Her reports were delivered with extreme care.
Medicinal herbs that the resistance forces once fought desperately to obtain now filled the storerooms.
Supplements rumored to bring the dead back to life became part of her three daily meals.
She no longer had to worry about supplies.
No longer had to plan in the shadows, wearing a mask.
Her only task now was to carry the child to term.
Waiting for the arrival of the life Shin called the prince or princess of the Land of Fire.
This ease was something she had never imagined in her past life of living on the edge.
But when all this truly happened, she felt no sweetness.
She was merely locked in a cage without a lock.
She would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, naturally wanting to form hand seals.
What her fingertips touched, however, was a soft, silken quilt.
The reactions of a shinobi were slowly being worn away by this life.
She clearly recognized it.
Her life, her freedom, ended the moment she said that 'yes'.
Now, she was merely a wife who could bear children.
There was no other path but to accept it.