Kiyoka picked up the base with a pull-out drawer that functioned as a music box, which was relatively intact, and flipped it over to look at the bottom, then put it back where it had been.
Peering over at his hands, Miyo had a brief glimpse of a mysterious symbol on the bottom of the base.
What was that just now?
Initially, Miyo had thought it was the signature of the doll maker, but the design seemed too unusual for that. More than a signature or insignia of some kind…it resembled the drawings used for arts.
Was Miyo overthinking this?
But the Kudous are a Gift-user family, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for them to utilize arts… If it were something harmful, Father or Kiyoka would have removed it.
At the very least, it wasn’t anything Miyo needed to be concerned about.
Fuyu’s room was luxurious, but many of the furnishings—flower vases, clocks, animal figurines, framed landscape paintings, incense burners— prevented it from feeling distasteful.
Miyo couldn’t tell which among them were gifts from Tadakiyo or things she had picked out herself. However, they all complimented Fuyu very well, and either way, she had a superb eye for quality goods. Miyo definitely wanted to follow her example.
“Okay, Fuyu dear. We’ll leave, so go ahead and enjoy a relaxing dinner… Kiyoka, Miyo, let’s go for now.”
Fuyu’s mood finally appeared to have settled, and Tadakiyo spoke gently to her before addressing the young couple as well.
Miyo nodded slightly, and Kiyoka huffed out his nose, as if to say it was about time.
“You really never change, do you.”
When they stepped out into corridor, Kiyoka finally hurled a comment at Tadakiyo, having held back his displeasure the entire time.
“What does that mean, hmm?”
Tadakiyo turned around, revealing that his full-faced smile was still on his face. Even though he’d asked Kiyoka for clarification, it appeared he didn’t actually have any questions.
“I’m talking about your poor tastes… No matter how much you both may love each other, I don’t see what’s so wonderful maintaining control over Fuyu like that.”
“Huh?”
Unable to understand what Kiyoka meant, Miyo couldn’t help but stare blankly at him.
“Control? Now that’s not a very nice way of putting it. We’re both on the same page, you know. Besides, I’m not controlling her at all.”
“I think it’s safe to say that your morally questionable actions—such as giving Fuyu art-enchanted ‘presents’ that allow you to peek into her private space and listen in on her—are the same thing as controlling her.”
“What?!”
It took Miyo a moment to comprehend what they were talking about; she put her hands over her mouth in complete shock.
That meant she’d been correct to think that the pattern on the doll had been from arts.
Peeking in on Fuyu’s private space and listening in on her conversations? Miyo was somewhat doubtful there were arts or instruments capable of such things, but more importantly…
“Does that apply to all your gifts…?”
“That’s right.” Tadakiyo affirmed Miyo’s dumbfounded murmur without dropping his smile at all. “Actually, most of the items in Fuyu’s room are things I’ve given to her. I carefully applied arts on each and every one of them to make sure I can always keep an eye on her.”
Miyo stared on speechlessly as Tadakiyo—looking not just unashamed but pleased—explained himself.
She found it almost impossible to believe. However, since Kiyoka had brought this up in the first place and Tadakiyo had admitted to it so readily, there was no doubt as to its veracity.
Miyo’s mental image of Tadakiyo and Fuyu’s pure love crumbled away completely.
Now that she knew the truth, Tadakiyo’s unchanging expression, which she had always felt was kind and gentle, suddenly seemed incredibly unsettling.
Someone peeking in on her private moments day in and day out—the thought alone was so terrifying it made her mind go blank.
A dreadful chill ran down her spine.
“Still, it’s a shame about that doll breaking. It was a precious memento from our early days together, you know.”
“That’s rich. You were probably the one who broke it, weren’t you?”
Shocking revelations were coming out one after the other. The stimulation was so overwhelming, Miyo no longer had the energy left to react to each new fact.
“Oh, and what would make you think that?”
“None of the servants are clumsy enough to accidently break one of their mistress’s possessions. And on the off chance they did mess up and break it, they wouldn’t keep quiet about it, either. Besides…”
“Besides what?”
“You can peek into that room twenty-four seven to begin with. If a servant had broken the doll, they would have been dismissed immediately, regardless of whether you really cared about it or not. It’d be an issue of the Kudou family’s reputation. Despite that, none of the servants were fired today.”
“I see.”
“In other words, the doll could only have been broken by a family member on purpose or by accident. The possibility of the latter seems low, given what I saw of the situation. As for the former, Fuyu would never destroy her own gifts, Miyo and I couldn’t have done it while we were out, and Hazuki has always avoided Fuyu’s room. That narrows it down to you.”
Kiyoka looked dignified and quite reassuring as he smoothly laid out his reasoning. Meanwhile, Tadakiyo smiled, nodding as if impressed.
“There’s just one thing, Kiyoka. If that’s the case, did I break the doll accidentally? Or deliberately?”
Miyo wasn’t sure why, but for some reason, Tadakiyo had suddenly presented Kiyoka with a question of his own. It was as if he was playing some sort of game.
“Hell if I care.”
Fed up, Kiyoka quietly cursed as he gave up on the question.
“Well then, assuming it was deliberate, what do you think my motive was?”
Tadakiyo’s eyes glittered like a child’s, indicating he was thoroughly amused with the situation. Since Kiyoka showed no signs of answering, Miyo timidly spoke up in his stead.
“Um…was it because…the doll wasn’t necessary anymore…?”
“Really now? And why wouldn’t I need it anymore?”
“Oh, um… I—I don’t know…”
Miyo hadn’t thought this through much. To make matters worse, her head was now a jumbled mess.
Giving arts-enchanted items to his wife Fuyu, calling them presents, and placing them in her room to constantly spy and listen in on her, only to then break them himself.