“Well, you’d best procure them quickly, because you’ll be competing in the kibasen in a few hours.”
“I don’t think I am, I’m—”
“Meeting your future husband? You needn’t worry about that any longer.”
Her expression grew guarded. “Ms. Mio? What did you do?”
“Oh, nothing, just extended a generous line of credit to your father’s company. On the condition that this little matchmaking session be called off, of course.”
“Excuse me?” You did what now? her expression screamed.
Offered your father’s company a generous line of credit, I wanted to repeat dryly but held my tongue. I’d been just as surprised when I read this was Shizuki’s plan. The amount she offered them was a mystery to me, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it were nearing the hundred million mark.
It was an interesting question, actually—what was the cost of stopping a marriage like this one? Since the engagement was merely a facade for the business dealings behind it, the cost to prevent it would undoubtedly need to match, if not exceed, the potential financial loss from disrupting those transactions. That was a bill Shizuki ostensibly took for my sake. Perhaps that wasn’t the best way to frame it. More accurately, she was investing additional funds to secure her stake in me, her designated villainess. Either way, the weight of this responsibility rested heavily on my shoulders.
Hah. As if the stakes could get any higher. If I fail here, my sister dies. Everything else paled in comparison.
As my thoughts rambled on, Ayame’s call seemed to be nearing its end. “Okay. Okay. Then I’ll do that. Thank you.” With that, she hung up and handed my phone back to me.
“I take it everything is settled?” I asked.
“Yes, thank you,” she replied. “My husband sends his regards. To both you and Lady Shizuki.”
“I shall be sure to pass that on,” I promised.
That was everything on the Azumaji side concluded. Now, to deal with the other half. As I turned to go find the would’ve-been fiancée, Ayame called out to me once more.
“Lady Mio, I have one question, if I may.”
“If it’s short,” I replied curtly.
“Thank you. I just would like to know, why have you decided to help us? My daughter caused you no small offense, and yet…”
A hint of wariness crossed her features. No, not a hint, full-blown concern written all over her face. Her daughter’s former antagonist now swooping in to bail her out must’ve set off a couple of alarm bells—the hidden cost of things, a catch they might’ve failed to consider.
I fell into thought for a moment, then looked at Asuka, who was observing quietly from the sidelines. “Yes, your daughter made a mistake. But she had the fortitude to admit that mistake and sought my forgiveness with a sincerity I might even describe as admirable. I’ve taken a liking to her. That’s all there is to it.”
“That’s all there is to a several hundred-million-yen cash injection with no strings attached?”
“I fail to see the point you’re trying to make.”
But internally, I was just as surprised as her. Several hundred million yen. Once again, I was off by an order of magnitude. When will I stop underestimating Shizuki, I wonder?
With that thought, I left Asuka and her mother behind, making my way toward the front desk. Who do I find there but the Akizuki heir, Kaito, like he was waiting for me? I’d heard it was a collateral relative Asuka was set to marry, but I suppose Kaito wanted to come see things through.
His brow furrowed as he saw me approach. “You? What are you…” Realization dawned on his face. “You came to stop the engagement, didn’t you?”
“How astute of you,” I replied. “I’ve just talked to Asuka’s mother, and the whole thing’s off. I was just on my way out.”
His brow twitched, but besides that, he gave nothing else away. Then, in a deeper, more amused tone, he said, “You consider us—” he stopped short and shook his head. “No, Sakurazaka considers us a threat, don’t they?”
Truth be told, they didn’t. Shizuki had told me she couldn’t care less about whatever maneuvers Akizuki made. I was tempted to snap back with something biting, suggesting that Sakurazaka regarded Akizuki as mere ants, but that approach seemed…a little too off the mark.
You see, Shizuki had said that the game’s happy ending involves the heroine bringing Japan’s zaibatsus together so they could weather the impending financial storm as a united front. If this were a neat and predictable game, I might have dismissed Kaito without a second thought. But purposefully provoking him in this more nuanced, complex reality felt counterproductive—even if he wasn’t a major player in the game itself. If unity was the name of the game, it seemed wiser to soothe his ruffled feathers.
Arriving at that conclusion, I corrected him gently. “You misunderstand, Mr. Kaito.”
“Oh? Do I now?”
His face turned darker all of a sudden. Likely, he was interpreting my words as a dismissal of the Akizuki family and their significance. I’d be lying if I claimed his reaction didn’t intimidate me. The old me, the commoner me, would have quaked at the thought of offending the scion of a corporate dynasty, but a commoner I was no longer.
I stood up straight, proud as a Sakurazaka would, and dismissively flicked a strand of my hair right in front of his face. “Asuka is a dear friend of mine,” I stated simply.
Kaito eyed me with a mix of suspicion and confusion, expecting further explanation. When none came, realization dawned on him. “That’s why you stopped the meeting from happening?”
My reply was a bland smile. The real reason was to avoid catastrophically derailing the storyline by having one of the villainess’s minions be married off, but he didn’t need to know all that. “Perhaps you’d understand me better if I phrased it as such: Masking your ploy to snatch away one of my confidantes under the guise of strengthening your family’s enterprise—I just might interpret that as an act of open aggression.”
“Snatch away?” He looked taken back, then thoughtful. “But I was under the impression that Ms. Asuka had agreed to this arrangement willingly?”
“I suppose she had, yes. But she would’ve agreed to anything if it meant she fulfilled her obligation to her family.”
Asuka might’ve agreed, but what she agreed to was selling herself out for her family’s sake. That was the point I was trying to make.
Kaito’s face changed as he absorbed this, the lines of his expression softening. “That’s…not how it was framed to me. Then indeed, there seems to have been a significant misunderstanding. I’ll take care of the fallout on my end. You needn’t involve yourself further.”
I let out an amused chuckle. “Oh, will you? How very noble. Then you may consider that a personal favor.”
A flicker of surprise crossed his face. Indeed, this should’ve been a puzzling development for the Akizuki heir. Now that the matchmaking meeting had been called off, it was his duty to smooth things over on his end. This wasn’t my business, yet I chose to make it mine.
“What are you after?” he shot back dubiously.
“Consider it an olive branch. That I mean the Akizukis no ill will.”
“And I’m to take you at your word?”
I gave him a shrug. “Believe what you will. In fact, it’s good that you’re skeptical. Expectations can be such burdensome creatures, can’t they? I am just an adopted daughter, after all.”
“Hm,” he responded, his voice neutral yet thoughtful. “Very well, I’ll hold you to that. You owe me one.”
“Please do,” I replied smoothly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Kaito.”
With that, I turned on my heel, retrieved Asuka, and together we departed from the hotel.