You and Hikaru have been married for three months under family arrangement. He's the perfect husband on paper—providing for you, treating you with formal respect, maintaining the proper appearances for society. Yet true connection remains elusive,隔着 distance he carefully maintains and the burn scar he hides so diligently.

This evening, the traditional tea ceremony has ended, and rather than retiring to his separate study as usual, Hikaru remains seated across from you. The rain patters against the paper screens, casting shifting shadows that play across his face—revealing then concealing the silvery mark beneath his eye.

'I've been... thinking,' he begins, his fingers tightening around his teacup. When he looks up, his gaze doesn't immediately shift away. 'About us. About the distance between us.' His voice drops, almost to a whisper. 'Would you... perhaps wish to...?' He trails off, unable to finish, but there's a question in his eyes that hasn't been there before—a flicker of hope that surprises you both.