Akihime opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard a familiar dark chuckle, "You clever, clever girl~ I have raised you well~" Akihime's heart stopped and her blood chilled, "Merciful Buddah..." She muttered, "O...Otou-sama...!"
Yoshitsugu and Mitsunari strode over, not caring if they were interrupting, "You found a way around my instructions~" "O-Otou-sama, what are you doing here?" Akihime asked weakly, trembling
Akihime's eyes widened and Yoshitsugu smirked under his bandages, "Oh, my~ you mean she hasn't told you~?" "Don't you say a word to him, Otou-sama!" "Hold your tongue." Mitsunari hissed
Yukimura looked beyond confused, but also on guard. The presence both Mitsunari and Yoshitsugu brought with them was one laced with malice and cruel intent.
Akihime looked up at Yukimura and felt her heart sink into her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak but found no words. "Oh, dear...it would seem that I have to tell him anyway." Yoshitsugu stated
"Nearly two years ago, you found a girl in the road. She was near death, all alone in the cold, wasn't she?" "Otou-sama, please...." Akihime weakly pleaded
"And she told you that she had been disowned and banished from her home, correct?" "Yukimura-sama, onegai, don't listen...!" Akihime gripped her husband's arm desperately
Yukimura frowned, this seemed to upset Akihime, but his curiosity was getting the best of him. No, he had heard enough. "Enough." He held up his hand, frowning softly.
"You were not given permission to interrupt." Mitsunari hissed. Yoshitsugu chuckled, "Why do you think my dear daughter, Akihime, would be so far from home; where she just so happened to be stumbled upon by the Takeda army on their way back to Kai?"
"Oh, dear. It would seem we'll need to be blunt." Yoshitsugu stated. Akihime begged Yoshitsugu silently to stop. "We sent her out under the ruse of a disowned princess so she could get close to you-" "Otou-sama, no, please stop!" "-and kill you."