presents

The poetry slam had the opposite effect on Harumi. Instead of forgiving Nobunaga she became even more pissed at him. He had forced her to go to such a stupid thing while she clearly didn't want to go. Instead of showing up at her quarters and getting turned down at the door Nobunaga had found a different approach. In the span of a few days he had showered her with gifts. Flowers in the rarest colors, silk as soft as a baby's skin, jewelry the gods would be jealous of and many more things. Harumi couldn't care less. She had never bin a very materialistic person even in her own time where there were cars, smartphones, designer clothes and all the luxury you could imagine. She knew all these gifts had cost Nobunaga a fortune, but she had never asked for any of it. If he wanted to make amends he should just apologize to her, or at least ask what she wanted.

One morning there was an uproar within the castle. Harumi noticed that not only her maids but all the staff in the castle was buzzing with excitement.

"What is going on?" She asked. She had the feeling she was the only one that didn't know what was going on.

"You havent heard?" Lin-chan exclaimed. "There is a missionaris at the castle right now! He arrived early this morning and is still talking to lord Nobunaga-sama at the moment." Lin-chan explained. Harumi still didn't get it, why were they so exited over some person that came here?

"Nohime, did your father never welcome any missionarissen?" Rike-chan asked while she brushed her hair.

"No not really..." She mumbled, not sure what to say.

"Well, most of them are from europa, and are traders. When Nobunaga-sama is finished talking to him he will probably set up shop for a few days in the castle. We can buy all kind of interesting foreign stuff!" Rike-chan explained with excitement. Even Masa-kun seemed eager to go and take a look at the stuff the guy brought with him. Something that surprised Harumi. Normally Masa-kun was the level headed one, that barely showed what she wanted. This was definitely a special occasion.

"Okay, change of plans!" Harumi said while they helped her get dressed. "We will eat quickly and then take a look at the goods this man has with him. You can pick anything you want. My way of tanking you all for taking care of me." All her three maids stood dumbfounded for a moment before they screamed in excitement. Lin-chan and Rike-chan couldn't contain themselves and swallowed Harumi in a tight hug. Normally Masa-kun would say how improper this was but she didn't say a thing. She just looked at the three girls with teers of joy sparkle in the corner of her eyes. Masa-kun was a maid at the castle since she was twelve years old. She had helped countless of ladies while they stayed at the castle. From day one she had known Nohime-sama was different, but never in her wildest dreams would she imagine that someone would actually notice how hard all the maids worked and to thank them in such a manner. She was already loyal to the lady of the castle, but now she was even more determent to protect the princess with here life if she could.

They ate quickly while discussing what they wanted to get. Rike-chan wanted a new ornamental hair comb, while Lin-chan wanted a beautiful silk so she could make a kimono. Masa-kuns request were a little more modest, she wanted a new handhelp mirror. The three maids all had long list of things they wanted. Harumi promised they would get everything they want. After all she had unlimited fonds and could spend as much money as she wanted. This would be Nobunaga's apology to her, even if he didn't know it yet. She was so tankful to her three maids that made sure she was properly dressed every day and kept her fed. She couldn't think of a better way to show her gratitude.

After breakfast Harumi and her three maids went down do Nobunaga's personal quarters. A lot of castle staff was buzzing around these parts, hoping to see a glimpse of the foreigners. In one of the parlors a few men sat waiting. They were definitely foreigners. They were a lot taller than the average Japanese person and hair in all different hues of blond and light brown. Some of them had a beard while others had a clean shave. The one thing they had all in common was that they were very muscular. Well, they had to be. Harumi imagined they came here by boat. It wasn't like they could take a plane or something. She giggled in herself at the thought. Nobunaga was still talking the the leader of the group but Harumi didn't care. Disregarding the guards that stood at the entrance of his study she barged in. Not that the guards dared to stop her.

"Nohime?" Nobunaga asked surprised when he saw his wife walking in.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but my maids and I want to buy some stuff from our guests." She said.

"That's no problem, we are finished here anyways." Nobunaga said relieved. He didn't want to admit it but if frustrated him that his wife was ignoring him. It had kept him from his work and made him loose his appetite. Whatever the reason was, he was happy that Nohime had come to his office and didn't ignore him anymore. The man Nobunaga had been talking to was in his early twenties, had blonde hair, was very tall. At least five centimeters taller than Nobunaga who was extremely tall even for modern Japanese men. But most of all he was extremely handsome. Harumi felt her ears and cheeks turning red and wished she had brought a fan so she could hide her face. The man stood and bowed to Nobunaga, then he turned around and walked to Harumi. He bowed and without a warning he grabbed her hand gently and kissed it. She had no idea how to react but before she could the man was already gone.

"Did you like the things I send you?" Nobunaga asked when the two of them were alone.

"Honestly...?" Harumi asked carefully.

"Yes." Nobunaga answered tense.

"Not really, it's not that I didn't like the tings you had send, but it just wasn't really my style..." She confessed. She saw Nobunaga's face fall for a second before he composed himself again.

"Well, today you can pick anything you want." He said while straightening his kimono.

"I was already planning on that." She smiled.

The foreigners had put up their stall in the courtyard. A lot of people looked at the weird stuff with interest but since most of them still had work to do they couldn't leisurely look at all the goods. Harumi, closely followed by her three maids, walked up to the make shift shop so they could look at all the things they brought with them. There was so much stuff! They had some items that were clearly for men like swords and pistols but even more stuff for women. Clothes, shoes, make-up, bags, accessories and everything you could imagine. Her maids almost flew to all the stuff and looked at everything with sparkles in their eyes. Harumi looked at them with content. She could never receive a more precious gift than the look on her maids faces at the moment.

"Is there anything to your taste Lady Nohime-sama?" The leader of the men addressed her while bowing again.

"Maybe, I havent really looked at anything." She said. She first wanted to give her maids some space to look around.

"If I may ask, were are you from?" She asked the man.

"I'm from france, but most of my men are from Spain, England and Holland." He explained while pointing at some men who helped her maids.

"Ah, tres bien!" Harumi said remembering her french lessons. "Je parle un petit peu francias."

"Tres bien, Tres bien!" The man said while the clapped his hands. Her accent was terrible but he understood her and praised her for the fact that she could speak it at all.

"Do you have any writing utensils?" Harumi asked when her maids were finished and had chosen a few things they wanted.

"Well, we have a few dip pens..." Jean-Jaque, the man she had been talking to the whole time, told her. He shouted to one of his crew members who grabbed a box and showed the different types of pens they had with them. She chose one and looked at the other stuff they had with them but couldn't find a thing she really wanted to have. They had a few European styled dresses she was interested in but she didn't saw the point of getting them since she had no need of them.