Namida Bridge - Breakdown (3)

When I stepped outside the mansion, the summer glare was intense. On my way from Minega Castle to my home, as I approached the Great Buddha, I could not help but press my hands together in prayer before it.
After that, Tameuji must have been forced to write a letter of divorce for Princess Chiyo in front of all his retainers. That scene vividly appeared in my mind.
If only that couple had children... It is said that mothers troubled by a lack of breast milk believe in the virtue of the Great Buddha and scrape off pieces of its chest to brew and drink, but perhaps the protection of the Great Buddha did not extend to the lord and his wife. Looking up at the chest of the Great Buddha, Zushonosuke idly thought about such things.
Zushonosuke had also lost his father at seventeen during the Eikyo Rebellion and felt he had endured his fair share of hardships. However, he had never been involved in a conflict that threatened to tear the entire house apart like this.
"Do you think it's cruel?"
As I stood before the Great Buddha, a voice suddenly came from behind me. I reflexively reached for the hilt of my sword, but when I turned around, Suda Sado-no-kami was standing there. He was the younger brother just below Mino-no-kami. Zushonosuke felt relieved and took his hand off the hilt.
Unlike his stern and upright older brother, he had an extremely gentle impression.
"Lord Sado-no-kami."
Zushonosuke felt a touch of reserve toward the Suda family. He bowed silently. When Sado-no-kami Hidetasu also pressed his hands together at the Great Buddha, he eventually muttered.
"You may not have been able to understand it. Even so, my brother was quite troubled."
Hidetasu's words were unexpected to Zushonosuke.
"My brother has watched over the lord since he was a child and raised him in place of the late Yukiharu-sama. Seeing the lord finally find a partner and open his heart to the princess, it was my brother who was more relieved than anyone."
The gaze of Hidetasu, who said this, was as gentle as if he were watching over a younger brother much younger than himself.
"He must have also celebrated when you became a couple with Riku-dono around the same time as the lord."
Come to think of it, Zushonosuke suddenly remembered that when he went to work the morning after his wedding, the usually stern Mino-no-kami had a somewhat gentle expression.
"My brother's true nature is very kind. However, if he were to show that, it would interfere with the administration of the Nikaido family. That is why he has come to show only a stern face like that."
What would be the correct answer to give?
"If things continue as they are, it could undoubtedly lead to the ruin of the lord himself. You understand that, right?"
To Hidetasu's words, Zushonosuke could answer neither yes nor no. If he continued to act indecisively, Tameuji himself would lose the trust of the house. Hidetasu was saying that to prevent such a situation, Mino-no-kami and the Four Heavenly Kings were daring to take on the dirty work.
"How did the lord write the reason for the divorce?"
To Zushonosuke's question, Hidetasu answered again with a gloomy expression.
"He only wrote that since she has not been feeling well lately, she should recuperate at her father's place. He never actually wrote that they were divorcing."
"That sounds like the lord."
Barely managing to say just that was the best Zushonosuke could do.

After his conversation with Hidetasu, when he returned home, Riku welcomed him with a languid "Welcome home." Recently, like the lord's wife, Riku's health had not been good. She did not have much of an appetite and seemed to feel heavy. He was worried about her, but Zushonosuke could do nothing against his wife's insistence that she "wait and see a little longer."
Perhaps sensing something unusual in her husband's unusually depressed state, Riku silently prepared fish ball soup. She knew it was Zushonosuke's favorite, but even the soup, which he had gone to the trouble of having, he only sipped at now. After all, his heart felt heavy when he remembered the divorce of the lord and his wife.
"Zushonosuke-sama. What is the matter?"
When Zushonosuke told her that the divorce of Tameuji and his wife had been decided, Riku's complexion also changed.
"You're lying, right?"
As she said this, perhaps Riku had also foreseen the breakdown somewhere. She began to shed tears.
"Even though they were so close..."
When she said that, she held her sleeve to her mouth and began to retch. That state of hers was quite strange. Could she really be sick? He hurriedly rubbed her back. Riku brushed Zushonosuke's hand away and went outside to vomit something. He thought of something pointless, like what a waste of the fish ball soup it was.
"Shall I call a doctor?"
At her husband's words, Riku shook her head.
"It is not an illness."
However, her face remained pale as she said that. To the pressing Zushonosuke, Riku finally seemed to have made a decision.
"Zushonosuke-sama. It is difficult to say at a time like this, but..."
Riku, who was usually cheerful, rarely mumbled words in her mouth. It seemed she was trying to say something quite difficult to say.
"What is it?"
Since that flood, Zushonosuke's heart had been leaning toward the "subjugation of the Sukagawa forces." Indeed, Jibu's actions were unforgivable. Even so, the princess had kept smiling even while knowing she was not liked by the people of Wada. Knowing that, he could do nothing for her. If possible, he had hoped that the lord's wife would remain in Wada, and while staying with Tameuji, the flow would turn toward the Wada faction's subjugation of Jibu. But that must have been a naive thought to the Four Heavenly Kings and the others.
Perhaps Riku could not forgive that series of events.
However, the words Riku timidly told him far exceeded Zushonosuke's expectations.
"I am with child."
For a moment, Zushonosuke stared intently at Riku.
"Whose?"
A foolish question slipped out of his mouth.
"Your child, Zushonosuke-sama."
Riku, who answered that, also answered in a somewhat dazed manner.
Before he knew it, three years had passed since he married Riku. He had intended not to worry about it, but just as the lord and his wife's lack of children was being talked about, was Riku worried about not being able to have children?
The lord and his wife, who were married at the same time, were decided to divorce. Because a child was conceived in such a situation, she must have found it difficult to speak up while secretly savoring the joy of becoming a mother.
"Is that so..."
Gradually, a smile appeared on Zushonosuke's lips. He was going to be a father. It was his own child, finally conceived in the third year of marriage.
He remembered that at the flower banquet, it was suggested that Riku might become the wet nurse for the lord and his wife's child. Perhaps, unbeknownst to Zushonosuke, Riku had been blamed quite a bit for not being able to have children.
"When will it be born?"
"By the time spring arrives."
Zushonosuke gently placed his palm on Riku's belly. It was not yet noticeable, but he could certainly feel the resilience of life.
"I must feed the child in your belly something nutritious."
When he muttered that, his previously gloomy mood disappeared, and he gradually began to feel uplifted.
"Shall I go hunt a rabbit?"
Wild rabbits are pests found everywhere. If he sets a trap, he can catch them easily, and it also prevents them from ruining the fields. If he catches one and feeds it to Riku, it's killing two birds with one stone. However, Riku smiled in a troubled way.
"Actually, it is said that one must not eat rabbit while pregnant. They say a child with a harelip will be born."
"Hmm."
That is a problem. If the child born is a daughter, a child with a harelip would likely not find a suitor.
"Then, how about eggs? If it's a chicken egg, you would normally feed it to a sick person, right?"
Again, Riku shook her head.
"No, eggs are also taboo. They say a child without a mouth will be born."
"That's troublesome..."
Zushonosuke scratched his head, thinking he would have to confirm the taboos for pregnant women one by one with his father-in-law later. But even that was a minor worry compared to the crisis of the lord and his wife. Rather, he even felt joy in being able to worry about such trifles.
However, he did not know when the start of the war would be opened. In such a situation, he felt hesitant about whether it was okay to leave Riku here.
"Riku. The fact that the lord's wife is being returned to Sukagawa means..."
Riku, who had been looking happy until a moment ago, tightened her face, perhaps brought back to reality.
"It will definitely be a war."
Zushonosuke also nodded.
"I might not be able to see the child's face immediately after it is born, but for now, your safety is more important."
"Zushonosuke-sama. Please, do not make this child fatherless."
When she said that, Riku buried her face in Zushonosuke's chest. Zushonosuke's chest became wet.
"It might be unbecoming of a samurai, but"
While stroking Riku's head, Zushonosuke swore to the local gods.
"I will definitely return alive."

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