“Miss!” This was clearly Satsuki’s handiwork. Fully aware of that, Shindo called to her reproachfully as he marched over to her.
Meanwhile, Satsuki’s eyes were still burning with rage as she spun away from Shindo. “I’m going to give Father a piece of my mind!”
Slipping past Shindo, she held her hands palm-down over the fallen avalanche of files. She moved her fingers in a beckoning motion as if drawing them toward her. Like metal attracted to a magnet, the thick files flew straight into her hands!
“I’ve told him not to dump too much office work on you! Every time I turn my back, he’s increased your workload! What in the world is he thinking?” Satsuki complained.
Seeing Satsuki storm toward the door with the files clutched tightly against her chest, Shindo quickly jumped in front of her to block her path.
“Please don’t, Miss. Although I take great pleasure in knowing you are concerned for me, the master would call me to task if you did that.” The moment Shindo fell into her line of sight while he calmly offered that explanation, brows arched in anger lowered as her face took on a cute, somewhat sullen expression.
“But you’re my retainer! So why must you juggle assignments from my father and the office?! It isn’t right for you to neglect me in favor of other work! It isn’t, is it? Shindo, you,” Satsuki paused, softening her tone mid-sentence with cheeks slightly flushed once she realized how worked up she was getting. Averting her eyes from Shindo, she was uncertain where to look. Satsuki continued softer, “...you belong to me...”
Satsuki had an inkling her father wanted to assign Shindo a position at the Tsujikawa Corporation headquarters seeing as he not only knew the Tsujikawa family and company inside and out due to serving as her retainer since she was little, but was also as sharp as a tack. Nevertheless, she couldn’t allow her father to have his way. She was the one who picked Shindo. He belonged to her. Such feelings filled her heart. Besides, she held him closer to her heart than anyone.
“Thank you, Miss,” Shindo said calmly as he took the files from her hands. He placed them on the floor before taking her now empty hands into his own. Both of her hands rested upon one of his, leaving the other hand free to shroud them in its caress.
“You shouldn’t grab things like that so recklessly. What if you hurt your hands?” Shindo admonished.
“...You made me do it, Shindo,” Satsuki retorted. She clearly acted of her own accord. Although Satsuki knew that good and well, she refused to accept that fact.
With Satsuki’s hand in his, Shindo fell onto one knee, gracefully bowing before her. “You have my humblest apologies...”
It didn’t matter whether Satsuki made selfish demands or unfair claims. She was his mistress, posing as a supreme being before him.
“Please forgive me for upsetting you with my poor choice of words,” Shindo continued.
He squeezed Satsuki’s hands, still clasped in his own, as he looked up at her. Satsuki felt her chest grow tight as she peered into Shindo’s gentle eyes, which reminded her of when he was trying to soothe a child.
“...Forget it. I overreacted a bit myself...” she admitted.
Shindo only obeyed Satsuki’s orders when her father and head of the Tsujikawa estate entered the picture. He was the very man who allowed a strange boy without a name to stay with his precious daughter out of respect for her wishes, going so far as to tell him “Protect Satsuki.” Shindo could never turn down one of his requests.
That was why Satsuki hated when her father gave him work related to the corporation. The company was going to steal him from her! She couldn’t help but feel it would tear them apart. She was afraid that if this persisted, eventually it would devour all of his time and she would be left alone.
Of course, Satsuki had a good nine other attendants beside Shindo who provided assistance in various outlets. But attendants were merely attendants, not retainers. If—Heaven forbid—Shindo was released from his position as retainer someday, it was unlikely Satsuki could choose a replacement.
Shindo slowly drew to his feet and offered Satsuki a gentle smile. “Would you like to chat until you fall asleep? Or should I read to you?” he asked.
His gentle smile made Satsuki indescribably happy. She knew that he only smiled like this at her and no one else.
Looking up at Shindo, she offered him a happy smile of her own and replied, “A book sounds lovely. I’d like that big one about Greek mythology!”
“All right.”
Shindo chuckled to himself as he approached the bookcase against the wall. It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to obey the master’s orders today, he thought. As a wry chuckle slipped out, he suddenly recalled an engagement.
“By the way, we have a guest coming tomorrow morning,” Shindo told her.
“A guest? From what company?”
“...He’s the managing director of a very large company. And he’s coming to see you,” he explained. Although his meaningful grin piqued her curiosity, Satsuki slightly knit her brows at hearing the guest was coming to see her rather than her father.
Earning the title “Tsujikawa Sacred Blade” at an early age, Satsuki dealt with people claiming she was “already talented enough to take over Tsujikawa Corporation” since she was twelve or thirteen. There were naturally a great many who wanted to hold business meetings with her, but some in those ranks plotted schemes that extended well beyond the realm of work. The number of such scoundrels only increased as Satsuki grew more beautiful with each passing year.
“Since tomorrow is Saturday, he should arrive by 10:00 a.m. at the earliest. Please keep that in mind,” Shindo informed her.
“Understood,” Satsuki replied with her eyes on Shindo’s back. He was searching for the book while explaining the following day’s schedule. She found such meetings distasteful, but decided to savor this moment of bliss won by throwing a tantrum. Having come to this decision upon weighing her options, Satsuki patiently waited for Shindo to turn back towards her.