31 Off we go (1/2)

It was early in the morning when Harumi's maids woke her. Groggy she looked at her maids who prepared everything for her. It was much earlier than normal and there was a weird tension in the air. Rike-chan put her futon away while Lin-chan prepared her clothes and masa-kun readied all het stuff on her vanity.

”What is going on?” Harumi asked, still sleepy. Lin-chan and Rike-chan gave Masa-kun a questioning look but Masa-kun stared them down. The two younger maids let their gazes trail the wall and floor without looking directly at Harumi. Masa-kun was very practical and stern with the two other maids. Something that was even more apparent when she was on edge. Had she done something? Harumi dug trough her memories, thinking about an incident that could have caused this behavior.

”What is going on?” She asked again when she couldn't think of something she could have done. Well this was a backwards century, so she probably had done something bad without even realizing it.

”Nohime, I know you normally don't eat much breakfast, but I suggest you do today.” Was the only thing Masa-kun said. It was true, normally she would drink some black tea and a tiny bit of rice and have a bigger lunch. When she was at home, most of the days she overslept so she almost never had time to eat breakfast. Her body got used to that so now she wasn't hungry in the morning. Reluctantly she began with the mountain of rice before her. Shoving every last grain down her throat.

Just as she was about to finish the last bit of the side dishes there was a short knock on the door. Harumi averted her attention. The sun wasn't even up and she almost never got any visitors before noon. Nobunaga walked in with long and firm strides. He was wearing his uniform.

”Where are you going? And when will you be back?” Harumi asked while Nobunaga sat beside her. Lin-chan quickly poured him a cup of tea. Her maids were probably on edge due to Nobunaga leaving again. Harumi had noticed the shift in atmosphere the last time Nobunaga left to deal with a dispute. Everybody left in the castle was a little bit more on edge. Without Nobunaga here and some of the warlords, the castle was a lot more vulnerable so everybody that spayed behind was on high alerts until Nobunaga returned. This was probably also the reason why they woke her so early, last time she made a big deal of him not saying goodbye.

”We're going to Echizen province, we have to take the Asakura clan down before they get to powerful.” Nobunaga explained while he sipped his tea.

”Okay, good luck. Will you leave any of your advisers here to look after the castle?” Harumi asked with a knot in her stomach. She honestly hoped that he would return home safely.

”A few, but I want to be prepared for everything so most of the men will come with us.”

”Okay, stay safe and I'll wait here for you.” Harumi said hesitantly, not really sure what to say.

”You're coming with me...” Nobunaga said. Harumi yanked her face up and looked him in the eye, checking if he wasn't making some sort of sick joke.