The Devil King of the Sixth Heaven was not known for sharing.

He believed that this country needed to be united under one rule. That was the only way of achieving lasting peace and stability. He would wage the last wars to eliminate war. Squabbles among men would be eradicated once all was under his control.

But how then, could one such as himself be persuaded to share a woman?

The Devil King did not share. That much, Mitsuhide knew.

"Would my lord indulge me?"

Nobunaga took a sip of his sake, putting down his cup as he made his next move, moving his black stone.

"You know I do not go easy on anyone."

"I would never presume," the silver-haired man replied coolly, pausing to study the remaining pieces on the board. "I only wish to rationalize your proposing the current… arrangement we have with our dear chatelaine."

The corner of Nobunaga's lips perked up into a smirk. "You already have a theory, do you not? Come now, share it."

Mitsuhide did not answer right away, opting to focus on moving his white stone to his chosen intersection.

"It was a ploy to keep us in line. You do not doubt our loyalty, not even the slightest, but you would never have us be divided over something as mere as a woman."

Nobunaga's left-hand man looked up from the board to gaze at his master in the eye. As expected, the Devil King didn't even blink.

"When you proposed marriage to MC, you never intended to wed her. It was to push the truth out into the open."

The accusation stood unanswered – not yet at least – as Nobunaga took another sip of his sake and proceeded to make his next move on the board. Mitsuhide could see it was a clever one. As always, there was no letting your guard down for even a moment.

"If the arrangement was proposed by you, the others would fall in line," he finished. "There would be no fighting among us over her. Mostly, anyway."

The next couple of turns were played in silent concentration, as though Mitsuhide hadn't bared aloud the other warlord's ruse.

"Out of all my men," Nobunaga finally said, in a tone that betrayed no emotion, "You were the only one I did not expect to be so charmed by her."

Mitsuhide shrugged. "MC has an intriguing but persistent ability to creep into people's hearts."

"That, she does."

Another few turns played in silence. Mitsuhide had to hold back a sigh. His territories were almost all surrounded. Perhaps, if he moved this particular stone over there–

A gentle tap on the door interrupted his strategizing thoughts, and the subject of their earlier conversation made known her presence.

"Lord Nobunaga? May I enter?"

Gods, he loved her voice.

Nobunaga gave his verbal permission. The doors slid open to reveal the beaming Chatelaine with fabric – expensive, from the looks of it – folded neatly in her arms. MC's gaze met Mitsuhide's as a gesture of acknowledgement; if one glanced upon the face of the man known to be shrouded in deception and mystery, they wouldn't have expected him to be capable to looking at another with such adoration.

"I'm sorry for the interruption. I just came to deliver your haori for tomorrow's meeting." MC walked over to Nobunaga's side, presenting her work for his inspection.

"You needn't have, you know." Regardless, Nobunaga spread the haori across his lap, humming in appreciation at the craftsmanship. Mitsuhide nodded in approval as well.

"I wanted to. I saw this in fabric in the market the other day, and I knew it was meant to be worn by you."

"Then wear it, I shall." The promise came readily as he folded back MC's latest creation, setting it down lovingly aside. Nobunaga reached out to brush his knuckles against her cheek, leaning into her ear to speak a low, seductive whisper:

"Stay with me tonight."

"I believe Hideyoshi is waiting for her tonight, my lord," Mitsuhide casually remarked. Though he wasn't able to overhear his lord's words, he had a very good guess at the look of MC's reaction. She could be very easy to read after all.

"He's right." She stood up, not before giving Nobunaga a quick peck on his cheek. "And no, you can't pull rank on this one."

"I could easily have Hideyoshi–"

"No. But if you're going to be fussy…" She reached into the side of her obi, fishing out a folded handkerchief and pressing it into his hand.

The Devil King raised an eyebrow, but studied the gift anyway, unfolding the white cloth. Nestled among the fabric were three pieces of–

Mitsuhide chuckled. "Our sweet chatelaine surely knows how to bribe our lord."

Nobunaga shot his vassal a glare. "Very well. Tomorrow night, then," he grunted before popping a piece of konpeito into his mouth.

MC winked at Mitsuhide mischievously. "We'll see." And she scooted out of Nobunaga's reach with a triumphant giggle as said warlord attempted to grab her arm with the intent of pulling her down onto him.

"Sly minx."

"Good night, my loves," she sang, brushing her fingertips affectionately against Mitsuhide's shoulder as she passed by and left the tenshu.

The two men resumed their comfortable silence as they returned to their game, though Mitsuhide was almost certain it wouldn't take that much longer for the match to end. A far more interesting matter was swirling among his thoughts.

He had always teetered between the two contrasting theories of Nobunaga's true feelings for MC. For one, it wouldn't be too far-fetched for the Devil King to have his eye caught by a woman in the shallowest sense. MC was physically attractive enough, she had talents of her own, she was a very capable chatelaine and was honest, compassionate and refreshingly assertive. Mitsuhide could easily see Nobunaga developing an interest in her – infatuation at most.

But for Nobunaga to love her would mean another thing altogether. No, he knew for there to be love, Nobunaga would want exclusivity. And that was the crux of it.

And yet…

Mitsuhide had known his lord was just as good at acting as he was, but the way Nobunaga reacted towards MC made him think this was his finest performance yet. The way Nobunaga looked at MC, a kind of gentle fondness in his eyes that Mitsuhide recognized in his fellow warlords. The way he said her name as though it were the most precious word to have ever graced all of humanity's ears. The way he reached out to touch her…

"MC has an intriguing but persistent ability to creep into people's hearts."

"That, she does."

Mitsuhide smiled. Even the best laid plans often go awry.

.::.

.::.

It was a most unusual arrangement, practically unheard of in their time. And yet, there it was.

The castle staff talked, of course. It spread like wildfire the first time their Lady Chatelaine was said to have spent the night with Lord Nobunaga in his tenshu. Exciting gossip, but unsurprising. He had favoured her since the night she had saved him from the Honno-ji assassination attempt and made it plain to see. The servants even had bets among them – to the reprimand of Lord Hideyoshi – on when MC would become Lady Oda.

But just two nights later, MC had spent the night at Lord Masamune's manor. And from his maids' firsthand report, she hadn't left his rooms.

There was no punishment, no denouncement of the alliance with the Date clan, no exiling ordered by Lord Nobunaga. So, the servants puzzled. Was she or was she not his woman?

And then came the nights spent in Lord Ieyasu's manor.

Followed by Lord Hideyoshi, and Lord Mitsunari.

Even Lord Mitsuhide was sighted entering Lady MC's room after returning from his secretive tasks in the late nights.

The servants liked and respected MC far too much to speak unkindly of her. But they couldn't help but wonder if their chatelaine was also now serving as some sort of high-ranking courtesan for some of the most powerful men in Japan.

Their behaviour, while not malicious, did draw Hideyoshi's attention. And so he summoned every single member of the castle staff one day before the first rays of sunlight graced Azuchi Castle.

.::.

.::.

"I understand you must have questions," Hideyoshi began calmly, addressing curious eyes before him. "Some of which, I will answer."

"Is Lady MC a concubine now?"

A sharp intake of breath and a mortified shushing came from one of the embarrassed cooks, as she started to fervently apologise for the younger girl's straightforwardness.

Hideyoshi raised his hand with a gentle smile to signal he took no offense.

"Her title and position is and has always been Chatelaine for the Oda. She is… favoured by us. But that in no way changes the usual routines as before. You will treat her the same, just as I know she has continued to do so towards you all."

Murmurs of agreement came after.

"I instruct all of you to let her, Lord Nobunaga, myself and the other lords keep to our private business, and maintain the respect you have always given her."

.::.

.::.

"I have an updated theory."

They were in his tenshu again, but this time, daylight streamed through and it wasn't a game that brought them to meet. Nobunaga didn't even look up from Mitsuhide's latest report – compliments from his spy network – but acknowledged the remark with a low grunt.

The silver-haired warlord smiled. "Your wooing of MC, the arrangement after… It started out as a ploy at first.

"But you, like us all, came to love her. Truly love her."

That got Nobunaga's interest, for he finally met Mitsuhide's gaze.

"And your basis for this is…?"

"I have never seen you look at another person the way you look at our dear chatelaine."

Nobunaga snorted. "That is a weak basis to go on. You disappoint me."

"Perhaps," Mitsuhide grinned wider. "I was stumped at first, I never pegged my lord for one to care much for sharing…" The Devil King smirked in agreement.

"But while my lord can forcibly conquer with his armies to claim provinces for his own… He will be less successful with someone like MC. I know this, and my lord knows this.

"You wouldn't risk MC's love."

And that was how the Devil King was persuaded to share.

.::.

Author's Notes: I'm aiming to have a minimum of two warlords per chapter. And yes, this is more Nobunaga-and-Mitsuhide centric, so future chapters will focus on the others.