Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: To Mikawa (4)
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"So, what's your name?"
"Pardon?"
Matsudaira Motoyasu, the lord of the Matsudaira clan.
At her question, the acting castellan of the castle slightly furrowed his brow but soon opened his mouth. No matter how much he ignored her, she was still a lord in name who was favored by their master, Imagawa Yoshimoto. Insulting her further could stir up unnecessary trouble.
"My name is..."
Just as he was about to answer.
Motoyasu's delicate eyes curved into a smile, and she chuckled softly.
"You know, I think I don't need to hear it after all."
"Pardon?"
The acting castellan could only ask in return, of course.
But before he could say another word, she walked past him with slow, yet utterly dignified steps, heading straight into Okazaki Castle.
"...Tch!"
Realizing too late that he'd been dismissed, the acting castellan's face flushed red.
But by the time he turned around, she and her retainers had already passed him by.
In other words, he'd missed his chance and lost the momentum. It was humiliating for him.
...It was only natural.
A man of his stature, who had even served as acting castellan, had been slighted by the nominal head of a crumbling house—one that had lost all its lands and authority. And to a mere girl, no less.
"Urgh."
But it was already too late to snap back now that they'd passed. All he could do was glare wide-eyed at that insolent wench.
And at that moment, there were those watching the entire scene—not among her trailing retainers, nor among the Imagawa forces who had met her.
"...What do you make of her?"
They were retainers who had once served the Matsudaira clan but had half-withdrawn their loyalty. They had been observing from inside the castle gates, their eyes fixed on the approaching girl—no, on Motoyasu—before turning their gazes to the central figure among them.
"Lord Torii."
A man just stepping into middle age from youth.
Even amid the questions from those around him, he watched Motoyasu slowly walk past with eyes gleaming with peculiar interest.
She looks so fragile.
It wasn't all that strange.
Consider all she'd been through.
Just skimming her life at fifteen made it clear.
Her grandfather, the former lord Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, had died in the Moriyama Incident. Her father, Hirotada, had followed before she even turned ten.
By then, Matsudaira's Mikawa Province was little more than a vassal state to Imagawa's Suruga Province.
With Oda Nobuhide of Owari constantly pressing from the west, the Matsudaira had no choice but to pick a side. Though it felt like gradual subjugation, aligning with Imagawa wasn't such a bad option.
...But for her, it must have been the start of hell.
She was separated from her mother at two.
Political turmoil of various kinds.
After that, she was taken hostage by the Oda clan, then later became a hostage for the Imagawa side, enduring a childhood of hardships.
So Torii thought.
That she must have grown up frail, lacking confidence, shrouded in gloom. And the moment he confirmed it, he planned to abandon the Matsudaira without hesitation.
"But..."
Motoyasu's gaze, now upon him, met his. The girl and the man stared at each other, then simultaneously smiled as if sensing something.
—Step, step.
Her strides were not wide, girlish, and her frame slightly underdeveloped for her age. Yet somehow, she didn't seem the least bit ridiculous.
Thus, he couldn't help but swallow the words that nearly slipped out.
She's full of surprises.
This became the trigger for Torii and the other retainers to observe her for the time being.
*
Motoyasu's pretext for returning to Mikawa Province was a memorial rite, so the next day, she headed straight to the temple.
After finishing her business there, she approached the acting castellan, who eyed her with clear displeasure, and spoke freely.
"I'd like to meet my retainers. That alright?"
The acting castellan hesitated, tacitly refusing, but an official at his side quietly advised him.
"Her attitude is arrogant, but she'll be key to our justification for swallowing Mikawa later. Best to indulge her."
It wasn't wrong.
Even if she was treated as an Imagawa retainer already, the fact remained that she would inherit Mikawa Province. Moreover, the acting castellan feared Imagawa Yoshimoto's wrath, so he had no choice but to nod.
"Very well. But I'll be present."
Still, he couldn't let her run wild unchecked, so he made his declaration like an order without hesitation. Yet the one in question, Motoyasu, nodded as if she'd expected exactly that.
"Understood."
They moved to another location at once, and the acting castellan gathered the scattered retainers of Mikawa Province in one place.
Naturally, he and Matsudaira Motoyasu took the seats of honor.
"...".
A strange silence flowed.
"...Ahem."
It stemmed partly from discomfort at the reversed host-guest dynamic in Okazaki Castle, Mikawa's own stronghold, and partly from uncertainty about how to treat this young lord they were meeting for the first time after her long hostage life.
And at that moment.
Torii Tadayoshi and the other retainers of the previous lord Matsudaira Hirotada stared at her intently, as if testing her.
How long did that silent atmosphere last?
"I'm fifteen years old."
Matsudaira Motoyasu spoke first.
It was her.
She scanned the retainers of her father and grandfather with her signature soft, gentle tone.
"The year I turned two, my mother was forced back to her home clan due to my maternal uncle's pro-Oda policy, and I was abandoned by my father, spending two years as a hostage at Bansho Temple in Nagoya."
Was that all?
"My father lost his life to a retainer, and fearing the Matsudaira's disloyalty, Lord Imagawa left our house virtually adrift."
At her words, the Matsudaira retainers' expressions hardened instantly.
And Torii Tadayoshi was no exception.
How could I forget.
Motoyasu phrased it quite mildly, but in truth, Imagawa Yoshimoto—fearing Matsudaira betrayal—had confiscated not just the main house's lands but all the retainers', taking their families hostage and dragging them all to Suruga.
They didn't stop there.
Even after returning Ieyasu—wait, Motoyasu—they kept her as a hostage instead of sending her back to Mikawa.
"Ahem!"
Perhaps uncomfortable with her words, the acting castellan at her side let out a light cough. But Motoyasu continued without the slightest change in expression.
"Rest assured, though. I've been well cared for by the Imagawa clan's grace and attention all this time."
And paradoxically, this sounded like defending the Imagawa clan that had forcibly annexed them, so disappointment washed over the retainers' faces.
They knew it was inevitable, really.
Having lived as a hostage, she'd seen what the Imagawa showed her and been taught to speak as they wished. What else could a girl like that do?
But then.
"That's why I intend to repay that grace with every bone in my body from here on. And for that, I'll need all of you."
Her voice remained calm, her words utterly disappointing.
But those excluding the acting castellan and Imagawa retainers sensed a subtle discord in what she said.
'Repay that grace.'
Why did those words ring so profoundly meaningful? Torii Tadayoshi pondered it but reached no firm conclusion.
You couldn't discern hidden intent from tone or flow alone.
However, then.
"So..."
Her gaze, sweeping over the retainers, landed on Torii Tadayoshi in the front row. Her distinctive brown-and-gold eyes gleamed oddly.
At the same time, she flashed her signature fragile yet soft smile.
"I look forward to working with you all."
In that instant, Torii saw it.
Her eyes, sunk in icy coldness, utterly at odds with her smiling lips.