My Happy Marriage

The story of a ruthless soldier and Miyo Saimori.

       "The cherry blossom is cascaded, surrounding me and my broken heart. In the rain of dancing petals, I cried, always alone. The gentle warmth of sun in the spring, Summer's light through the trees, the bright glow of autumn through cloudy skies, the morning sun on winter's snow... No trace of light ever found its way to me. Happiness felt like a cruelty, always beyond my reach. Every brief hope would vanish before my eyes. It all felt so meaningless... If this was the person I was destined to be, why was I born at all?" But everything changed when I met him. 

   Miyo is a 19-year-old woman who is the eldest daughter of the Saimori family. Born without any supernatural talent, she had a very traumatic upbringing, being treated like a servant by her stepmother and younger sister, while her own father deemed her to be useless and never showed her love or protected her from her stepfamily's abuse. Miyo's family fixed her marriage with Kiyoka Kudo. The 27-year-old head of the Kudou family and leader of the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit. Described as a "ruthless soldier", anyone who becomes his fiancée flees after only three days due to his cold and intimidating demeanor, but this changes upon meeting Miyo. Miyo makes her way alone to the remote Kudou estate and meets Kiyoka's servant Yurie. Introduced to her fiancé, she is amazed at his handsomeness.

"From the moment I saw him, I felt something shift. What was once a dark space in my life has a sliver of a light, a flower... so small, blossoming through the snow." Yurie assures Miyo the rumors of Kiyoka's cruelty have been exaggerated. Miyo dreams of the day her father confirmed she lacked the Saimori Spirit-Sight and started neglecting her. Miyo prepares breakfast only for Kiyoka to callously assume she was sent to poison him. Kiyoka leaves to train his supernaturally gifted soldiers to kill demons called Grotesqueries, though Grotesqueries are so rare they have not fought one in years. Meanwhile, Kouji moves into the Saimori home and sees the tiny room Miyo used to sleep in. Back at the Kudou estate, Kiyoka notices Miyo's habit of apologizing for everything. Feeling guilty, he asks her to cook breakfast in the morning. Miyo dreams of her father allowing Kanoko to abuse her. Kiyoka praises her cooking and is perplexed when it makes her cry. Bemused by her behavior, he decides to have the Saimori family investigated. 

    Kiyoka invites Miyo on their first date. Miyo has no idea what to do and simply tries to not be a bother. At the Saimori residence, Minoru is still furious to have lost Miyo's Usuba bloodline for Kazushi's future children but is assured by Shinichi that once Kiyoka rejects Miyo, Kazushi can have her. Kaya is frustrated to overhear them still discussing Miyo, especially as she suspects Kouji's feelings of Miyo. Meanwhile, remembering Yurie told him about Miyo mending her own clothes, Kiyoka secretly commissions a kimono. Miyo decides to hide her lack of spiritual gift in case Kiyoka abandons her. Kiyoka later gifts her a comb, despite Yurie's claim of a comb is a definite sign that he is making a proposal to her. The next day, an informant, Iwashimizu, shows Kiyoka the details of the investigation into the Saimori family. While disgusted by the blatant evidence of their abuse towards Miyo, Kiyoka also learns of her lack of spiritual powers and relation to the Usuba family, who has an ability to manipulate people's minds. As he is about to return to Miyo, he destroys several shikigami, furiously discovering someone was spying on him. 

    Miyo asks Yurie's help in giving a gift to Kiyoka. Yurie suggests something handmade, so Miyo chooses a kumihimo since Kiyoka always ties his hair with one. Kiyoka later gives her a protective charm. While shopping, Miyo encounters Kaya and Kouji. Kaya begins bullying Miyo until she learns Miyo is still engaged to Kiyoka. Elsewhere, Kiyoka visits the Saimoris and informs them they will receive none of the traditional benefits from Miyo marrying into a powerful family unless she receives a full apology. Kaya later briefly encounters Kiyoka and is struck by his beauty. Yurie informs Kiyoka of the incident and encourages him to give Miyo his unconditional love. When Kiyoka invites Hana over, a servant Miyo was close to as a child before she was unfairly dismissed by the Saimoris, Miyo is overjoyed to see her. She soon realizes Kiyoka must know her entire history, including her lack of spiritual talents, yet he wants to marry her anyway. Feeling very relieved, she gifts the kumihimo to Kiyoka who promises he will never reject her. Watching their blossoming love through more shikigami, Minoru desperately plots to break them up with a plan involving Kaya. Miyo happily accepts the kimono Kiyoka bought for her. At the Tatsuishi residence, Minoru shows Kaya the photo of Miyo and Kiyoka. Astonished, Kaya recognizes Kiyoka as the beautiful man. He informs Kaya that Miyo is actually getting along well with Kiyoka. As he had hoped, Kaya becomes jealous of the situation. Meanwhile, Miyo invites Godo for dinner as a thank you for reuniting her with Hana. She and Kiyoka are unaware of Kaya's shikigami spying on them. Later, that night, Miyo has a nightmare and Kiyoka consoles her. Shinichi bluntly turns down Kaya's request to sever Miyo and Kiyoka's engagement, so she instead offers the suspicious Kouji a chance to marry Miyo like he wished. The next day, Miyo forgets her protective charm while delivering a bento to Kiyoka and is kidnapped soon after. Kouji discovers what his father and Kaya are plotting and becomes enraged that his father knew about Miyo's abuse but did nothing because her timid personality is better suited to his plans. Kouji attacks his father with his powers but is defeated and restrained. After Minoru leaves to deal with Miyo, Kazushi frees Kouji and encourages him to go help her. A distraught Yurie informs Kiyoka of Miyo's abduction just as Kouji arrives and desperately begs Kiyoka to help save Miyo. 

   Miyo finds herself restrained in the Saimori storage room by Kaya and Kanako. When Miyo refuses to call off her engagement with Kiyoka, Kanako assaults her. Meanwhile, Kiyoka and Kouji head to the Saimori residence to rescue Miyo. After Kiyoka destroys a barrier cast by Minoru and Shinichi, Minoru attacks Kiyoka with his pyrokinetic power, which causes the residence being set on fire. Kiyoka then strikes Minoru with lightning, rendering him unconscious. Once Kiyoka arrives in time to save Miyo, Kanako breaks down upon seeing the burning residence. Kaya approaches Kiyoka about being his fiancée, but he dismisses her due to her selfishness and arrogance. Frustrated, Kaya tells Kouji to leave her, but he refuses as he does not want Miyo to be tormented ever again. Elsewhere, the Emperor is displeased over the Tetsushi's' failure and grants Arata's permission to deal with Miyo and Kiyoka. Miyo wakes up to find Kiyoka by her side. Kiyoka reassures her that everything that happened was not her fault as he, along with a very relieved Yurie, is glad that she is safe and sound. 

Story continues in next blog....