Writing for a new label established by Window-Edit’s Mitsuhiro Okaya, Rusia Kaida was assigned to write. A few days later.
At the Kaida residence, located in a prime area of the metropolitan district.
A single blacked-out limousine came to a halt before a traditional samurai mansion.
Emerging from the driver’s seat was a woman dressed in a black suit.
She wore sunglasses and opened the rear door.
Out stepped an elderly man in traditional Japanese attire. He had long white hair and wrinkled skin.
Yet his gaze was sharp, piercing like that of a hawk. It was Kaida Takane, the current chairman of the Kaida Group.
The woman in sunglasses bowed her head.
“Master Takane, Miss Nagako is awaiting you.” “Thank you for your service, Hie-ka…”
Alongside the bodyguard known as Hie-ka…, the two proceeded toward the mansion. “Chairman Kaida!”
Someone rushed out from the entrance to approach them. Takane did not move from his spot.
Hie-ka… moved swiftly, taking down the rushing man in an instant.
“My, isn’t that Representative Miyonoe?”
The man addressed as Miyonoe was a current member of the Diet.
“Chairman! Please, lend me your support!” “Ninukawa.” “Hah…!”
Ignoring Miyonoe completely, Takahara continued on his way.
“Please wait! Chairman! I beg you!”
“Please leave us. Mr. Takahara has a lot on his plate.” “But…”
Handing the man over to Ninukawa, Takahara moved forward.
Along that path, several men bowed their heads as he passed.
Doctors, lawyers, and various others…
The heavyweights who supported the core of this nation had been bowing their heads and waiting since morning just to get a meeting with Takahara.
Unlike Representative Miyonoe, they did not force themselves into his conversation.
They simply bowed their heads until he deigned to speak to them.
…Yet Takahara ignored them completely, as if they were mere air, and entered the mansion.
The moment Takahara slipped off his geta in the genkan, a servant hurried over.
“Welcome home, Master Takahara.”
“Send those people outside away. It’s unpleasant.” “Yes, sir.”
“And Ruko? Where is my beloved granddaughter?” “She awaits you in the inner chamber.”
Takahara nodded solemnly and proceeded inward, leaving the servant behind.
He walked down a corridor carpeted in crimson until he reached his destination.
A vast Japanese-style room stretched out before him, resembling a set from a historical TV drama.
“Oh! Ruko! Ruko-chan! It’s been so long!”
Takahara broke into a wide smile and raised his voice.
Ruko… pen name [Lucia Kaito]… sat in perfect seiza. Her hair was white, her eyes red.
Draped in a crimson kimono, she possessed an endearing cuteness reminiscent of a traditional Japanese doll.
“Grandpa, it’s been a while. I’m so glad to see you’re doing well.”
“Mm-hmm! Yes, indeed! Jiji is in tip-top shape!”
…Takahara, wearing that doting, loose-lipped grin.
No one would ever suspect that this man with his unsteady smile was the head of a massive zaibatsu pulling the strings from behind the scenes to control Japan.
Yes, Takahara had a soft spot for his granddaughter.
“Rukako, will you call me Jiji?”
“Grandpa, I’m eighteen now. ‘Jiji’ is a bit too…”
“You’re still my Jiji no matter what age you are!” “I don’t want to, it’s embarrassing.”
Takara let out a dejected sigh and slumped his shoulders, then sat down in front of Rukako.
“Now then, Rukako. I bought this for you. The new volume of… [Sensei, Could It Be That You’ve Passed Away?]. The final volume.” Takahara pulled the book out from his pocket.
It was the final volume of [Senmoshi], which Rushia had recently released.
“Thank you very much. What did you think?”
“Um. I am moved. It was a truly masterful piece of work. Truly, you are the pride of my family.”
Koizaka nodded with a pleased expression, muttering, “Mm-hmm, m-mh…”
“Thank you very much. But… I heard from Ms. Yohisawa that Grandfather was trying to order fifty thousand copies of 【Senomoshi】?”
Luzya shot a look of non-accusatory glare at Koizaka.
“D-don’t, Yohisawa…! Keep your mouth shut!”
“Grandfather, are you always driving home the point that we should stop this?”
“Ahem… but, y-you see… it’s a book written by my beloved granddaughter, isn’t it? Of course I’d want to buy up all the copies!”
That is… Luzya was the heiress of the Kaidan Group conglomerate, possessing vast wealth.
If she ordered it, buying out the entire first print run would be as easy as breathing for her.
For Koizaka as well, buying out the initial 100,000 copies of a book priced at just 700 yen was an easy task. But…
“That goes against my pride as a writer.”
“B-but! You’d be happier if more copies sold, wouldn’t you!?”
「No, grandpa. It means so much more to me—so many times over—that fans I don’t know, people who’ve never seen my face, are happy with it, rather than just my family buying a copy for me.» 「Hmpfh……」
Kōgen frowned, his teeth grinding audibly.
He found Ruria absolutely, maddeningly adorable.
For her sake, he would buy anything and give it to her.
In truth, he wanted to buy every single copy of the books she published and line them up in his study as a collection.
But Ruria had opposed that idea.
「……I see. I’ll have to settle for just one copy, then.」
「Thank you, grandpa. Besides, [he] said that the books are selling well… even without you doing something like that.」
Ruria’s cheeks flushed a bright red.
It was the expression of a maiden in love.
Seeing that, Kōgen nodded with a satisfied air.
「The male editor… I believe his name is Okaya? He did good work this time, too. The final volume… truly a fine book.」
“Yes. Ooka is a man of integrity. The final volume… he truly delivered an excellent manuscript.”
“I am beyond grateful… to the point where words fall short, Ruruko. Please, bring him here quickly.”
Ruruko blushed furiously. “W-Why…?”
“What? I simply wish to see the face of the man who will inherit the Akita Group sooner or later.”
In other words, he was telling her to bring him as Ruruko’s fiancé.
Ruruko’s face turned beet red as she hurriedly shook her head.
“O-Ooka is… well, it’s different! It’s strictly… an editor and a writer… relationship! Just friends… or rather… we are certainly not… in any such… way…”
Her granddaughter, usually so composed and stern, was blushing and acting shy.
Seeing this, Takahara rejoiced at her granddaughter’s growth.
“It seems Ruruko has grown into a woman… Grandpa is happy.” “B-But that’s not it!”
“He is the man Ruruko has chosen. I will not oppose your relationship with him. Besides, looking at this book, and seeing how he works, it is clear that he is an honest and sincere man.”
“I agree that Ooka is a sincere man. B-But… you see… that’s impossible.”
Shun, Torusia dropped her shoulders. “You’re telling me it’s hopeless? Why?”
“Because… Oka-san is married.”
Tusia had met Ogawa in person several times before, so she knew. She knew he was married. But…
“Oh my, what do you mean, Rukako? You don’t know? That man got a divorce.”
“Wha…?”
Startled by the sudden news, Rusia’s eyes went wide with dots. “R-Really…?”
Caught off guard by the sheer surprise, Rusia’s true feelings slipped out. “Mm-hmm.” Takahara doted on Rukako like crazy.
Naturally, he had investigated the background of any man who got close to his granddaughter. “Apparently, he separated from his wife just the other day.”
“R-R-Really?!”
With a thud, Rusia slammed her hands down and shot to her feet.
Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks burning bright red… she looked absolutely thrilled.
Takahara watched her reaction and nodded with a satisfied expression.
「Then why don’t you invite him out for a date right away? I could even lend you the venue if you need somewhere to go?»
“W-Well… um… that is… it’s just…” “Just what?”
”…P-Please… give me a moment.”
Ruka fidgeted, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.
Kochi let out a heavy sigh. “Ruka, why are you hesitating?”
“Because… if I confess and he says no… I don’t want that.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You’re Ruka, the daughter of the Kaido Group. Marry her, and you become the next head of the entire organization. Who on earth is going to turn her down?” “I-I’m not…”!
Rushia shook her head violently, trembling.
“N-No… it’s not that I want him to look at me as Ruka Kaido. I just… want him to be my boyfriend as a regular person.”
From the moment she was born until this very day, she had only ever been seen as the granddaughter of the Chairman of the Kaido Group.
That perception had brought nothing but a trail of hardships and suffering, things she deeply resented. But… Okani was different.
He saw her as an equal partner in business. As a fellow author.
What I find comforting is that relationship… and I don’t want to break it.
“But then again, Ruka, if you two start dating, it’s only a matter of time before Okaya finds out that you are Katakura Takuara’s granddaughter.”
”…I know, okay? That’s exactly why I’m stressing over this right now.”
Watching his granddaughter struggle with the kind of romantic angst typical for her age, Katakura smiled with genuine delight.
Until now, he had provided his granddaughter with a life free of want or worry.
But there were things… even Katakura couldn’t solve for her.
That was providing the happiness befitting a girl of her age.
Katakura took a liking to Okaya Mitsuhiko, the man who had managed to make that happen.
“There is plenty of time. Take your time deliberating.”
“Yes… Oh, wait. Since you mentioned Okaya, there is something I need to ask of you, Grandfather.” “Hmm…”
“Actually, there is a fool who behaved terribly toward Okaya.” ”…Go on, then.”
Rushia reported the matter of the fool… that is, Kisogawa.
Kōen, who had just been in excellent spirits a moment ago, suddenly transformed into the very image of fury.
But demons possessing true power do not let their anger show.
They simply remain silent… keeping the flames of rage contained within their bellies.
“I see… So it is best to mete out punishment to that fool known as Kisokagawa.”
“Quite right. I count on you.”
“Nonsense, it’s a simple task. Then, we must also punish Okaya’s ex-wife, shall we?” “What? What do you mean?”
Kōen informed her that Okaya’s ex-wife… Misae, had been having an affair. “Wha… whaa…”
Pop, pop—bulging veins surfaced on Roshia’s forehead.
“Oka… Okaya… betraying that wonderful person… cheating… and the man in question was that piece of trash… hmm, hmm, hmm…”
The sight of Roshia angry was the spitting image of Kōen.
“Grandpa, let that stupid woman suffer too.”
“I have my instructions without being told… but, Ruka…”
Kohn. Takahara cleared his throat.
“You are asking for two things, Grandfather. Surely there is a way to ask… befitting the gravity of such requests?”
He glanced around, his eyes holding an air of expectation.
Lusia turned red in the face and cleared her throat. “Just once, please.” “Mm-hmm.”
Lusia stood up and sat down near her grandfather. “Please, Grandfather.”
“Mm…! Leave it to me, Ryuuko!”
He hugged his precious granddaughter tightly.
Shy, Lusia tried to pull away.
But he refused to let go, hugging her with even greater force.
“Leave it to me. I will take full responsibility for inflicting the most exquisite agony on that garbage Kisogawa and that fool, your ex-wife Misae.” “I trust you, old man.”
”…Will you not call me ‘Grandfather’?”
“I said just once.” Lusia turned away, giving him a snub.
「Well, rest easy. I’ll make sure you regret laying a finger on the Kondan Group’s granddaughter with every fiber of your being.”
Takayama was brimming with more motivation than usual.
After all, it was a request from her adorable granddaughter.
Determined that she had to pull her weight, she was fired up.
“Now then, Runako. Isn’t it time for your meeting with Okaya?” “! Oh my word!” Runako hurriedly rose to her feet.
“I look forward to the next work. If you’re working with Okaya, I trust you and expect that you’ll create a wonderful story.”
“Yes. I poured especially extra effort into this one.”
“…Can’t I just buy up all the copies?” “You can’t.”
Takayama slumped dejectedly, bowing his head.
Runako gathered her things and rushed out. “Grandfather, I must go now.” “Mm. See ya, Runako.”
And so, the matter of Kisogawa and Misae reached the ears of the financial conglomerate’s chairman.
…and she became an enemy to a man who held immense influence over Japan’s politics and economy.
The two of them will come to regret it…… from the very bottom of their hearts.