"Then why would he leave?"

Granny Fujino parted her lips for a reply , not before landing a pat on the toddler on her lap.

"Because if he stayed , his wife and children will be in trouble." She muttered , smiling down as the lilac haired girl stare at her opened storybook in undescribable expression."Look , it says here that the bad witch will find his family if he stayed,"

How her amethyst orbs flickered up crestfallen should have been enough to be a warning for what's coming next.

"Is that why my parents left me?"

Such simple question she spat should have been an easy question to answer , but the burden of words clittering the fact can only let Granny Fujino hold a gasp.

"...yes ,"

Granny Fujino doesn't even know if Hana meant her real unknown parents or Granny Fujino's long time dissapearing daughter , and her husband.

But either way , her job is to ensure the young lady on her lap.

"They left because they care for you."

She bit her lips , fluttering her eyes closed.

..I hope so.

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🎋~ .H.F. ~🎋
● Chapter 11 ●
~ ▪︎ ~
《Complicated》
____________________________________

"This is harassment!!! Harassment , i said!!"

Everything , aside Kija's screech , went smoothly afterwards.

The sky has turned a few shades darker , bluish against the light colored leaves and the starting bonfire.

Young girls dance around carefreely on the wide field,  passing the older men who played some light rhythm instrument while the others prepare for the festival properties.

"People have started gathering," Yona mustered in the middle of light atmosphere , eyeing how the young girls spun around and laughed with the men , or one of themー Jaeha."And i'm an outsider.Should i really be dancing?"

"Get it off me , you barbaric woman!!! Everybody!! Heelp!!"

"It's a festival , so the only thing matter is that everyone's enjoying themselves.That's what the women said," Yoon added to the noise at the background , ignoring whatever antic the two's pulling at the moment.

"I SAID , I DON'T WANNAーmph?!" Kija , who almost shed a tear after all that struggle widened his eyes in horror as Hana cupped her hand over his mouth in annoyance.

"Just give in already.I can't dance..!" Hana whisper-yelled , almost pining him to a tree.

"Are we just gonna ignore how Kija got pinned to a tree by a younger girl?" Jaeha teased as he approached from the crowd he chatted with , grinning contentedly as Kija reddened in realization.

"STOP IT !! DON'T LAUGH!!" Kija plead , avoiding the jab Hana tried to throw to immobilize hime and put the costume on him."And why couldn't you just put it on yourself?! Why does it have to be me?!"

"Because the old man wanted cute dancers," Hana explained behind gritted teeth , wrestling against the incredible power of the snow haired male."And you're cute , matched his expectation right?"

Jaeha must be the person who enjoys their uninvited entertainment the most,  because he gets to see how Hana just turned the pale entomophobic sane male red , stuttering as if his words stuck within his throat.

"Is that a blush i see , Kija-chan," Jaeha grinned in satisfactory from the sidelines, amused by Hana's arms steadily locking the supposed to be white dragon in place.

"Don't 'KIJA-CHAN' me!!"

To his luck , he managed to slip away from Hana's grasp , eliciting a loud click of tongue from the female as she clutch the costume in hand , looking around desperately.

And as if on cue , the males rushed away to hide behind Yona in protection , reluctant to be the next wrestle victim.

"Damnit."

"You can't dance , Hana?" Yona tilted her head , confused to why the older woman had been so desperate to find a replacer.

"I can't." Hana shook her head.

She lied.

All those years where she lived as the coming successor of the village chief , she had been bombarded with a lot of skill lessons , dancing for the village's Fujino dance and such.

"Ah...so i must dance by my own , huh," the conclusion rolling down Yona's tongue made Hana's eyes twitch on slight guilt."i see,"

Okay , maybe on second thought , dancing with Yona doesn't sound bad.

Hana took a long inhale.

"You know what? Since no one can sub in for me and we need to find out about the iza seed, then.." hana sighed , perplexed while the males behind Yona widen their eyes in confusion."Sure , i'll accompany you, although i should remind you , i am not a good dancer,"

"Really?! Thank you Hana!!" The small clutch Yona had on Hana's sleeve made her internally sigh in defeat.

Damn , she's so cute..

"Sure , no problem," Hana sighed contentedly,  ignoring Kija's offended noises as he pointed a finger idly at her.

"WHAT WAS THAT?! You were the one who desperately tried to avoid dancing a few seconds ago!!" Kija gritted his teeth , finding the girl avert her gaze somewhere else in boredom , his words going nowhere near her ears.

"Y'all hear something..?" Hana furrowed her brows slightly , pretending to think.

"Nah."

"Noooope."

"Oy , Haku , Jaeha!!" Kija's scream only earned shrugs as they parted away.

"But actually..what does a fire quelling festival commemorate?" Yona voiced in pure curiosity, eyes staying upon the cheerful faces of young lads playing around.

Hana whistled lowly upon the lighting torches the grown men built , straightened along the field.

"Back when King Junam ruled , this village was the site of a battle between Kohka and the Kai Empire when they were fighting over territory," her explanation rolled smoothly ,accompanied by Yona's interested gleam and Yoon's approving nod.

"Literal flames of war engulfed the village," Yoon added , scrunching his nose."Homes were destroyed , many people died."

Another furrowed brows.

A grueling dance , it is , Hana thought.

"The man with the grain told me how this is a small village now , but it used to be a lot bigger," Yoon crouched to his bag , shoving his delicate hands in as he picked some necesities.

"So this festival is about quelling the souls of the dead , the fires of war...and.." Yoon stopped for a second , staring at the distance longingly.

"..the fury of the fire tribe." She mumbled.

It wasn't a very delighting topic to embrace , afterall.

"The fire tribe..." Hana muttered to herself , digging through her memories of thick covers , book dusts , yellowish pages , and dim lights of the night lamp in the middle of a library she visited like her own home everyday back thrn when she was in the village.

The tribe has been worded many times in some books , and Hana will be lying to say that she doesn't know as much as Yoon does.

This land must have been stolen from the fire tribe.People are afraid that there could be another war over it.

"I see."  A soft voice took Hana away for a while from her trance."Then that's all the more reason for me to dance,"

Awww , look at her being excited about this, Hana chuckled silently.

Like a kid.

"It'll be fine.These people want a merry festival to bring good fortune," Hak followed suit , grinning ear to ear."They'll all get a good laugh out of you and Hana's chicken dance!"

Hana rolled her eyes with an all knowing faint smirk,  sighing her heart out.

Now she kinda want to show off.

"Hak!" Yona's angry chirp resounded , inflicting a battle glare in which made Hak bow down a little to match their eye level."Maybe you don't know,  but i spent a lot of time practicing so i could show Su-Wonー"

Suddenly it's all silence and awkward.

Hana could literally puke at the tension , itching her senses as she mived away slowly.

Su-Won..? As in , the now King of Kouka? Why is the atmosphere turninー

Oh.

As fast as how the two gasped and straightened warily , Hana managed to connect the dots.

Su Won , seemed to be a sensitive triggering name for both , which could only mean one thing..

Hana watched with her usual poker face , biting the insides of her mouth cave as her amethyst orbs glimmered.

That King of Kouka was the betrayer who was once a close friend and cousin for both Hak , and Yona.

"Hey , Yona," Yoon's easy call clearly took Yona's entire attention , gaining Hana's as well."I didn't know you had something this beautiful,"

Along with his wandering praise and curiosity, his hands opened a wooden box , pulling out a beautiful red dominated flower hairpin , clearly an expensive kind of accessory Hana would think twice to buy.

"You should wear it for your dance."

The next second can only nake Hana froze as she leaned on a wall , eyes wide in confusion.

Yona snatched the pin franticly, body turning away from Hak as her eyes looked everywhere aside from Hak's frozen figure , standing mellow.

"Yona?" Hana muttered in concern , pretty sure heard Yoon mumble at the exact time.

"Oh , um...this is..." a fragile reddish flower standing still through the snow storm , moving along the breeze as the wind swept it with no such mercy.

It was how she exactly looked this exact moment.

Yona was so pale against her bright hair , pupils dilating while you can feel dissapointment radiating from the Thunderbeast.

What is actually happening?

"It's alright,  you don't need to worry. You can do whatever.." and Hana's pretty sure the lowering tone lacing Hak's voice weren't just her imagination , because Yona's eyes widened in horror right when he spoke , turning away in a clearly saddened expression. "..you want with that."

....he's jealous isn't he?

Hana wasn't stupid.

Disappointed sighs , lingering pained gazed , frowns , stiff walking.Yona was clearly uncomfortable with fact that she said such an emotionally triggering name and that Hak knew she brought an expensive hairpin , which could mean the hairpin was from the said Su-Won.

Hak is jealous , but in the same time,

Hana sighed , closing her eyes as she rolled her head back to meet the wall gently.

..he can't do anything about it because of his place.

"This is why i don't associate myself with love..." Hana groaned quietly , walking away calmly as not to disturb Yona , who stands still , uncomfortable.

"It's complicated.And i don't understand why people like that."

Jaeha , who stands right by the other side of the wall , grins without her knowledge.

Hana really have to train her weird smelling ability.

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Noisy , but warm.

Warm ,

Warm ,

Warm.

This village has some kind of smell Hana couldn't entirely comprehend.Like a mixture of sun, apricot..

She sighed quietly , fixing the head accessory clipped right on the right side of her lilac hair.

And dried blood.

The sky had turned entirely purplish blue , igniting the small stars glimmering.The creaks of burned woods and torch emit some kind of burned smell in the air , collapsing together with the smell of alcohol and prepared food.

In fact , this is the first festival Hana had ever encountered outside of Fujino Village.

And also...

"That....looks heavy," Hana sweatdropped , finding her hand twiddling after the brim of the big head accessory over Yona's petite bright hair...slipping another pin in for balance."you alright?"

"Mhmmm..well it IS , heavy," Yona murmurs , blinking in amusement.The center of her attention goes to the brackets of accecories scattered over the wooden table by her reach.

"Don't be silly , you're both dancers.You should go all out!" One of the young girls swooned almost aggressively, the others nodding at her statement."Yeah , we don't find much dancers around here."

"Why do you cut your hair short anyway?" one of girls voiced , and Hana couldn't even think before scooting closer , a bit interested to the reason.

The princess of Kouka was known of her reddish long curly hair , right.

"You've got such beautiful hair , you should grow it out," the girl we saved , with obsidian hair grinned , eyes flickering to Hana's bun tied hair in interest."Oh wait , are you two sisters? You got the same curly hair!"

Hana looked upon the mirror , tingling gaze lingering upon her bun hair , lilac strands poking under her temples.

Ah , i see.

I see a small similarity.

"Oh,  but we're not siblings," yona chirped, waving her hand.But her eyes seemed to tell doubt as her gaze lingered to long on the shared mirror."She's one of my new dancers partner!"

"Is that why she's only going to dance a small part?" Hana sighed silently , prying their gazes away as she turned away busily , attracted to a somekind golden cloth tied upon a silver headband with lace and small orbs.

"Oh , what is this?" Hana cut them up before Yona could answer, all eyes shifting to the object in her grip."Can i wear this?"

"Oh yeah! That's a face curtain , sometimes brides wear it until the marriage ritual finished." The others chime , some helping Hana clip the band to her head.

The accecories in her head covered her face , her side profile , and overall covered her head except her mouth.

"Eeh , but it covered your entire face! How will you attract men ??" One of them chimed , and Hana deadpans mentally.

That's the entire point..

The same girl pointed back at Yona."And you too , you can't attract men with short hair , you know,"

Hana was about to open her mouth when another girl opened her mouth in her place."They are both drowning in handsome guys , you know."

Suddenly it's all silence.

And to Hana's dismay , she understands so well what this atmosphere is.

So , when a hand landed on her shoulder in a soft force , she had prepared to keep a straight face.

"Sooo....are any of you involved with any of them...?"

"Are any of them involved with anybody else???"

Yona was the first one who got their face aimed but tens pairs of sharp interested gazes."Uh...i don't think so??"

"And you???" Sometimes people scared Hana , like how they just shifted their stares like some dimly lit candle in a swift night.

"Sleeping is more worthy than having a relationship with any of them." Hana spat out straight.

Except Shina , but who knows.

"YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!"

"You hear that? They're all single!!"

"The God of Love has blessed the Fire Quelling Festival~~~"

Hana pulled the side of her face curtain , eyeing how the girls squeal about the boys with such glimmers in their eyes and wide laughters , red blossoming on their cheeks.

These young lads...are energetic , aren't they?

Well good for them.

Hana shrugs , looking down to her lap as she listened carefully to the song Jaeha played behind the tent , for everyone else.

Jaeha's sure good at playing string instrument...

"Aww , they're so popular," Yona whispered audible enough for Hana to hear , giggling in the process.

Hana responsed with a faint smile , finding Yona's cute laugh endearing somehow.

"They sure arー"

"Well i like Hak best!!" The obsidian mop announced , sparkling while Yona froze , eyes glinting in surprise as she started fiddling with the hem of her dress.

Here is it again , Hana sighed.

"Ah...i can see that," the others nod in consideration."I knew he was Aro's type , that's why i stayed back."

"That's right! I'll make my move tonight!!" Aro squealed , her bright aura almost rivaling the torches in the tent."I'd love to bear him some children!!!"

Let's just say that if Hana didn't have the face curtain , they would we screeching in fear upon how Hana snapped her head towards them , glaring in disbelief.

Gurl , that's some bold words you got there..??

And you sure you wanna make a move on that annoying ass charcoal bear?

"Hey stooop , you're scaring the dancers..."

"Oh right sorry!" Aro smiled sheepishly."But wait , you guys must have someone you love too right? Who nests by your hearts~~There must be somebody,"

Hana really looked disinterested , because in fact , she got no one in mind , at all.

"Someone i love..."

Once again , all attentions are on Yona as she whispered , almost to herself.

"There was someone...i love.."

Her eyes are fleeting , as if she was recollecting something very , very , painfulー

Oh.

Oh.

I fucking get it.

Took me handful of silences to connect all them dots.

Hana shivered together with the ladies as Yona stayed silent , until Aro clapped her hand to break the silence."Withdraw , ladies!"

And then suddenly , Aro had found her arms around Yona in comfort , rubbing her cheeks together."Aw , you must really have a rough love life , haven't you? I'm so sorry,"

"We're just excited to have wonderful men visiting out village.It was rare," Aro stated in an apologetic manner.

"Yeah , the men here are brutes.Sometimes the men who visited are just soldiers," Hana had actually got a neck pain for turning her head everywhere just to look at the talker.

"Um...excuse me," a head popped from the slip of the tent entrance , dark blue eyes fluttering upon the sight of Hana.What surprised Hana , was how her cheeks redden as their eyes met.

"U-Um , can i have your nameー

"Ah-ah , Kiyo , we're dressing the dancers!!! You are not allowed here!"

"S-Sorry!!!!!"

And with that , the girl ran away , letting the other girls surround Hana with a sigh.

"Don't mind her , she's just a bit interested in you," she grinned , while Hana's eyes are wide , unblinking."We had to push the others out when they found out you're dancing too,"

Unknown to her , Yona who sat next to her giggled at the sight.

See , you're popular too~

"Oh my , is this yours? This is gold , so exquisite! You should wear this for your dance!!"

Hana had reluctantly turned to the source of voice , Aro , only to gasp quietly at the item in her hand.

The expensive hairpin.

"Aro-san," Hana reminded."That'sー

"No , i won't." Yona cut mercilessly, staring straight away with determination burning in her eyes."I'll never wear that hairpin again,"

Something about Yona's smell..

..burned.

Hana stared at Yona quietly , suddenly getting a clue to what she's about to suggest.

"Do any of you have a sword?" Hana implied.

"Sword?" Aro questioned.

And it is clear in Yona's face that it was what she about to ask.But Hana ignored it , taking the sword given to her , smiling to herself.

Only a rusty sword , seemd to be used a long time ago.

Turning to Yona , the glint in their eyes seemed to click together.

"This is perfect."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

People still actually read this book ??

😳😳

Anyway , i hope you enjoyed the update!!

☆Kuu☆