"Mm—"
Slowly opening his eyes and stretching, Yukinoshita Akira sat up on the bed.
Beside him, a slender figure lay there. Yukinoshita Haruno was still sleeping soundly.
Looking at the woman who, for the first ti, had shown such a "fragile" side in front of him, Akira carefully got up and gently pulled the blanket back over her.
After washing up, he headed to the living room.
There, Mrs. Yukinoshita sat calmly, arranging flowers.
Several stems lay on the table. In her hands, after being trimd and shaped, they slowly turned into a work of art.
"How did you sleep, Akira?"
"Very, very well."
It was a conversation between mother and son—
Yet sohow, it carried an odd feeling.
Akira looked at the woman who had "ordered" her own daughter to co to him, and a complicated emotion stirred in his chest.
Was family really more important than her own daughter?
"It seems you have so complaints and dissatisfaction in your heart."
"More or less. To be honest, I would've preferred for Haruno to give everything to of her own will—rather than like this, under Mother's orders."
"You and Haruno grew up together. You know her personality. If Yukino imitates Haruno, then Haruno imitates . But in the end, imitating soone else will never allow you to truly beco yourself."
With a soft sigh, Mrs. Yukinoshita set the flower in her hand aside and turned to look at Akira.
Akira fell silent.
Because it was true.
As both a mother and the ruler of the family, Mrs. Yukinoshita could easily see through and understand her two daughters.
And back then, she herself had once rejected her family's arrangents and chosen her own husband.
The role Haruno was playing now wasn't much different from the role her mother had once played.
"So what is it you actually want to achieve by doing all this?"
"You grew up under my supervision. I'm very satisfied with you. And you're also the only person who has truly entered Haruno's heart. But that child—if she isn't pushed, she will never make a decision on her own."
"What do you an by that?"
"From beginning to end, in her eyes, I'm nothing more than a controller who puts the family's interests above everything else—not a mother worthy of her trust."
Hearing that, Akira didn't answer right away. But a sense of unease rose inside him.
What did this an?
Was there sothing more behind all of this?
"I know. Deep down, you think the sa way too, don't you?"
"Yes."
He didn't deny it.
There was no point.
Akira might be confident in many things, but there was one thing he knew for sure—
When it ca to politics and strategy, he was no match for the noblewoman in front of him.
Because Akira was a warrior.
Not a politician.
"Being born into a family like this ans your life doesn't fully belong to you. If I don't demand this from her now, in the future, she'll just be devoured by n out there until there's nothing left of her."
It was the truth.
The status of won in Japan was indeed lower—an undeniable fact.
And in transactions of interest, won were often the ones most easily exploited.
Because won themselves were frequently used as "bargaining chips."
If the capital wasn't enough, and the calculations weren't precise, then not only would the benefits be taken away—
She herself would be "consud" as well.
"It seems you understand."
"More or less."
"I won't interfere in your matters with the Busujima family's daughter. And as for you and Haruno—how you arrange that is your own business."
"So you're just throwing all these problems onto ?"
"You're a man. And you're a man of the Yukinoshita family. It's only natural that you carry this family on your shoulders."
"Alright~"
Seeing the slightly "scheming" smile on Mrs. Yukinoshita's face, Akira began to understand where Yukinoshita Haruno's personality ca from.
The two of them were really very alike.
But thinking about it—
More than ten years ago, the status of won had been even lower than it was now.
Back then, for Mrs. Yukinoshita to defy her family's arrangents, choose an ordinary man from a lower background to marry into the family, and then use her own strength to support the entire Yukinoshita household—
Just from that alone, you could see what kind of person she truly was.
Perhaps she was a "reinforced" version of a combination of Yukinoshita Haruno and Yukinoshita Yukino.
After giving a bitter smile, Akira's gaze shifted toward the hallway beside them.
There, on the floor, he saw a shadow.
It was Yukinoshita Haruno's shadow.
Since the mont Akira had woken up, Haruno had actually been awake too.
Because she had lived in a state of constant vigilance and pressure for so long, her sleep was always shallow.
Only when she was beside her younger sister, Yukinoshita Yukino, could she truly feel safe and sleep deeply.
"By the way, since we have so ti now, I might as well teach Mother the Breathing Styles."
"Alright. I'm quite curious about that ability."
"Breathing Styles are a kind of—"
Akira slipped back into teaching mode.
Only this ti, his student was both his adoptive mother—
And his future mother-in-law.
For the next two hours, Mrs. Yukinoshita carefully absorbed everything he taught.
But what left Akira a little disappointed was that, even after understanding the thod, and even with Akira guiding her right beside her, Mrs. Yukinoshita still couldn't find the "key."
"It seems it really does take ti~"
For the first ti, Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't deny her own limits.
But that was only natural—a woman as strong as her wouldn't belittle herself so easily.
"Yes. Normally, ordinary people need several months to learn Breathing Styles."
"And you? How long did it take you?"
"For , since I created the Breathing Styles bit by bit myself, it took a little longer—about a week or so."
"Hm?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita's expression instantly changed.
You created it in just one week, and I need months to learn it?
What exactly are you trying to say?
"And Yukino and Haruno?"
"Uh—"
"What?"
"Nothing. Haruno took one weekend. Yukino—less than a day."
"..."
Silence.
Mrs. Yukinoshita stared at Akira, a cold glint slowly forming in her eyes.
"Ahem… I'll go check if Haruno is awake yet."
The mont he finished speaking, without waiting for a response, Akira imdiately turned and walked away.
Out in the hallway, Yukinoshita Haruno couldn't hold back her laughter and quickly slipped back into her room.
This was the first ti she had ever seen her mother "treated unfairly."
It was honestly a pretty interesting sight.
"This child… he's really learned how to be naughty. He even dares to play tricks on now—"
After Akira left, Mrs. Yukinoshita smiled instead.
In the Yukinoshita family, only Akira dared to speak to her like that.
After all, the one who was always spoiled—
Was always the one who dared to act freely, without fear.
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