Chapter 27

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Bookwalker

Author: Agitomi Akumi
Translation: rinrinu

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When she woke up, the slightly mouldy smelling stale air hit her nostrils.

She was inside a dark room. There must have been a light coming from somewhere, as it’s not so dark that you couldn’t see anything once your eyes got used to it, but because she couldn’t see outside, it was difficult to judge whether it was night or day.

Miyo’s body was carelessly left on the dusty wooden floor. Both of her hands were bound with rope, so she couldn’t move freely, and it took her a little bit of difficulty to get up.

(This place is…)

When she looked around properly, it was a place she remembered. It brought back a particularly unpleasant memory.

A cramped, practically empty room. Cold, damp air.

There was no mistaking it, this was the Saimori family’s storehouse that she had been locked in when she was a child.

Every home’s storehouse was built similarly, and there was no concrete evidence that this was the Saimori family’s storehouse. However, the inside looked completely the same as it used to, so she had a strange confidence about it.

The detailed reason still wasn’t clear, but it was hard to say her Stepmother and Kaya wouldn’t do such a reckless thing like kidnapping and locking Miyo up. The feelings of contempt, hatred, and disgust they both had towards Miyo were deep-rooted. If they had any chance, they would surely be able to do this much.

When she understood the situation, she felt a surge of fear of what was to come, and apologetic to Kyouka and Yurie.

By now, Kyouka should have been informed that Miyo had been kidnapped.

He would probably try to save Miyo. How troublesome would that be? She felt so guilty about it she looked like she was about to cry.

The loud ringing in her ears beat faster.

Her Stepmother and Kaya could turn up even at this very moment. If she were to face them again in this house, what would happen to her? ──She didn’t know what to expect, so her fear grew even more.

After leaving the house and acquiring a safe place to live, she thought she had become a little stronger, but on the other hand, she also felt that her endurance had become weak because of being pampered. How much would she be ridiculed if she cried in front of those two?

Miyo stood up with determination, and threw herself against the door with all her might.

She had hoped that, perhaps, since her body was bigger than it had been before, she could open it from the inside.

But the door still didn’t move an inch.

(……Obviously, right?)

There was no way the door, that was bolted shut, would open with someone throwing themselves at it.

If you can’t open the door, there isn’t any other way to escape. There is a small window high up, but climbing there would be difficult and it would be impossible to go through, given its size.

No matter how much she didn’t want to give up, there was nothing she could do, and as she sat down, feeling just like a prisoner waiting for their time of judgment, she thought she heard a noise outside.

“……tst”

Her body stiffened, and a cold sweat spread over her.

She unconsciously held her breath, while unable to take her eyes off the door that suddenly opened with a dull sound.

“Oh, sister. You woke up already?”

She knew it. Her shoulders jumped up reflexively with a start.

The person who had the servant open the thick door, and with her back to the setting sun in the sky leisurely walked right up to the entrance of the storehouse, was Kaya.

The gorgeous looks she inherited from her mother, the fashionable brightly coloured kimono she wore, and her clear, high pitched voice were as impeccable as always – but her eyes were filled with an intense, dark emotion. 

“It didn’t seem like you were going to wake up, so I thought your heart had finally stopped beating.”

The giggling expression on her face strangely lacked the imposing arrogance it had before. It looked like she was distracted in some way, or rather, like she had no time to waste.

“……Why are you doing……something like this…”

Fear and stress made her unable to breathe well. Her voice trembled shamefully as she asked.

Kaya’s smile deepened as she looked at Miyo, who was tied up and had no choice but shiver while grovelling on the dusty floor.

“It serves you right. That beautiful kimono is too good for you. It suits you much better when it’s dirty like that.”

“…………”

Words to reply with didn’t immediately come to Miyo’s mind. That’s because it was something that she had always felt deep down in her heart.

The only reason she was intimidated by being given expensive gifts is because she thought that, in the end, they didn’t really suit her.

As Miyo looked down, someone suddenly approached her side.

With a smack, a strong shock flashed through one cheek, and Miyo let out a short scream and collapsed.

“It’s your fault!”

The shouting voice belonged to her Stepmother. It seemed she had been knocked down by the fan she was holding.

Those words, echoing in her head, were very familiar. It was a phrase that had been thrown about a lot in the past, as if to put all the responsibility on Miyo.

“Because of you, my life has gone wrong again!”

“……I-”

She swallowed the apology that was immediately going to come out of her mouth.

“I’ve done you a favour by having raised you to that age, to think that the moment you become a wife you repay me with resentment!”

“…………”

About to claim she had no memory of having done that, when she saw her Stepmother’s terrifying expression, she was unable to speak.

It was pointless to say anything. Always.

“It really is aggravating. You should be quietly acting like a servant! Becoming cheeky because you’re going to the Kudou family……!”

Kanoko’s foot dug into Miyo’s body, which was still lying on the floor, unable to get up.

“Agh……”

She fiercely stamped on her side and shoulder several times, and as soon as Miyo thought the feet had moved away, her messy hair was tightly grabbed and they forcefully raised her head. The irritated expressions of Kaya and Kanoko were lined up right before her eyes.

“You……give up being Mr. Kudou’s fiancé.”

“……!”

The words that came out of her Stepmother’s mouth froze Miyo in place.

“That’s right, sister! Being Mr. Kudou’s wife is too much of a responsibility, right? Why don’t you switch with me?”

Kaya also leaned in at just the right moment.

Miyo felt that for some reason, in the calm part of her mind, she was beginning to understand what they were saying.

After all, it wasn’t good that Miyo, whom they looked down on and despised, seemed to be getting along well in the Kudou family. In any case, even though they didn’t expect her to manage to get married, they were impatient because the outcome seemed to be going against their expectations.

“It would have been good if you’d died a dog’s death somewhere. You overreaching little-”

“……kgh-”

Her scalp that was pulled by them grabbing her hair hurt. Her slapped cheek from earlier was also red and tingling with a throbbing pain. The faint taste of blood……it seemed even the corner of her mouth was cut.

“Isn’t this a good thing? You can be the one to turn down the marriage proposal to Mr. Kudou. Since you can ask him to buy you those kinds of expensive clothes, it will be easy for you to ask him to pretend the marriage proposal never happened, right?”

“Don’t worry, sister. I’ll get engaged to Mr. Kudou after that, and then I’ll give Kouji back to you.”

“…………”

It would be so easy to give up here.

Even if it was taken away from her, she wouldn’t utter a single word of complaint. Hoping that the storm would be over as soon as possible. That was how she had survived. It was easier that way. For Miyo, it was more important to focus on something so that the pain and suffering wasn’t prolonged.

Even now, if she just gave up quickly like she usually did and told them she would give up the position of being Kyouka’s fiancé, she would be released.  

She would once again live like a servant, concealing her heart and doing everything by herself. It’s better to resign yourself to living in a low position and not cause any discord. That was what she used to think.  

“……t…o”

“Oh, what was that?”

“d…on’t……want to.”

‘I won’t give up,’ she thought. That house, that person. I won’t let go of them.

Even when her mother’s mementos were stolen from her, she gave up after a while. But Miyo wanted to be next to that person. She wouldn’t hand him over to anyone.

“I can’t do your request.”

Miyo endured the pain and looked straight at them. Her eyes no longer wavered, nor did she turn her face away.

Her Stepmother’s expression became even more distorted because of Miyo’s attitude. She strengthened her gripping power on her hair and, with a clench, she pulled Miyo towards her and slapped her again with her fan.

“Don’t talk back to me!”

The moment she collapsed onto the floor her shoulder received a heavy blow, and she felt an intense pain shoot through her – but she clenched her teeth and endured it.

“Think about your position! You’re a defective! Unlike Kaya, you don’t have Paranormal Vision, and you don’t even have a single strong point. I was out of my mind from the very beginning to have someone like you, the disgrace of the family, as Mr. Kudou’s wife!”

“Sister, what’s wrong with you? Isn’t it good? You can get the Saimori house and Kouji. That’s what you’ve always wanted, right?

“I……”

It didn’t matter what they said anymore, she wouldn’t ignore what she wanted.

She swallowed all her fear and her panic and hid it deep in her heart. Miyo stared straight at her Stepmother and half-sister.

“I am my master’s, Kudou Kyouka’s, fiancé. I will never give him up!”

At Miyo’s shout, Kanoko turned bright red and raised her hand again.

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TN: The stepmother’s terrifying expression is written as “般若” (般若のごとき形相). It means dreadful face (esp. of a woman driven mad by jealousy)/terrifying facial expression. “般若” (in the form of 般若面) is also a noh mask of a grinning, horned demoness that represents a women’s rage and jealousy. Here is an image, so you can enjoy the full experience and be freaked out just as much as Miyo hehehe.

Hi guys!! Back again with another chapter! That I actually finished a few days ago but am only uploading now because I wanted to make some headway on the next chapter…

First and foremost though, woop woop! More ko-fi donations! Yes, you guessed right, I am and was grinning like an idiot and am unbelievably happy! Lori and the other anon people who were generous enough to give me something – thank you so much!! I’m so, so grateful for any donations you guys give me! It helps SO much and is such a motivation booster. To all the people who left a nice comment – you rock too! It cheers me up no end seeing people appreciating my translations (and the effort they take). Particularly the messages where you reassure me to take my time – I really appreciate it! I have a tendency to put time pressure on myself and constantly feel like I should be faster, better, and everything else-er, while not really giving myself credit for how much I do do (even aside from translating) – so having people tell me that it’s ok take as long or as little as I like to upload and showing their love is…T~T thank youuuu!
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I also wanted to ask if you guys had any good Japanese Manga/LN/Novel recs! I actually wrote a massive block of text more about this, (which I was about to post but then got nervous about how long and verbose it was and whether or not anyone would actually want to bother reading it >< yes I’m insecure the look suits me lol) which I can edit this with if you guys are interested(?) But long story short I’m wanting to do more reading (may or may not translate) and wanted some non toxic trope filled romance+whatever else themed reading material! If you have something you think I might like, please tell me it’s name with a bit of info about it/why I might like it so I can check it out! Any recs will be greatly appreciated! While I may even translate Novels/LNs and add them to this blog (probably not, but I might!), I will not currently be translating and adding Mangas, as this involves loads of other steps that I don’t know how to do…

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