I went to writer Rushia's place to pick up a manuscript.

By sheer coincidence, I ran into her guardian there, only to discover that she was the heiress of the Okita Group.

And so... somehow, here I was, standing in front of her private room alongside her.

Sliding open the shoji screen, a room in pure traditional Japanese style unfolded before me.

Yet, right in the back, sat a single king-sized bed. "Ugh! Over here!"

Rushia tugged my hand, leading me toward the bed.

...Looking at it again, it was such a small hand. Rushia was eighteen years old.

But for her age, she looked incredibly young.

She was short with a modest chest, and she could easily be mistaken for an elementary schooler.

But then there were her lustrous white hair and her vibrant, crimson eyes.

And occasionally glimpsing through, that mature expression which contrasted so sharply with her childish appearance... it somehow stirred a sense of transgression.

Rushia sat down at the bedside and pat-patted the space next to her. "Ugh. Sit next to me." "Ah, y-yes..."

I sat down next to Lusia, and she pressed herself against me, fitting into my side perfectly.

It was just like that time we were alone together in the hotel's suite room... how she'd come over and snuggled up close to me exactly this way.

"Stay with me like this for a while." "I got it."

Lusia closed her eyes and shifted her weight onto me, entrusting her body to mine.

Soo... soo... The sound of her tiny, soft breathing.

Thump-thump... thump-thump... Her heartbeat began to pulse through against me. "This is bad."

Out of the blue, Lusia blurted that out.

"Usually, just being with Okaya like this calms my heart and makes me feel peaceful. But..." Lusia gazed at me.

Her eyes were welling up, and her cheeks were flushed.

Whoosh... whoosh... She was breathing heavily in quick, ragged gasps, as if she had caught a bad cold.

"Right now... my heart won't stop pounding."

Her small shoulders were heaving up and down violently.

As she squeezed my arm, I could feel the warmth—or rather, the thickness. "Why?"

"Because... Grandpa said that kind of thing." Rusia's guardian, Hirota Kogen.

Considering he was supposed to be a massive figure dominating Japanese politics and economics, the man was disarmingly casual and had an incredibly broad horizon.... "He sounds like quite the gossipy old man, though."

Rusia stared blankly, her eyes wide with confusion.

But then, she let out a light laugh, clearly amused.

"You're the first person to refer to Grandfather that way," Rusia said. "Really?"

"Yeah. Everyone crumbles the moment they bring up Grandfather's name or the Hirota legacy." It wasn't something I didn't understand.

The Hirota Group was a conglomerate so vast that it was hard to find anyone in Japan who didn't know the name.

Wherever you went, there was some company under their umbrella.... Wait, hold on?

"Could it be... that Hirota Group provided funding for SR Bunko..."

"...Grandfather probably meddled a bit in the matter. Because you were there."

I see... I really should express my gratitude for that.

Was it because of the editor-in-chief, Uematsu's personal integrity, combined with the open-field power, that SR Bunko expanded at such a terrifying speed?

"But even so... it's fine, okay?" "Fine?"

"...If you don't like it, you can just break up with me." I was taken aback by the sudden declaration.

Lushia said it, looking sorrowfully... lonelyly.

"You found out today, too, that I am an open-field woman."

I vaguely grasped what he was worried about.

The open-field Group is a huge organization.

Dating their daughter would undoubtedly become a considerable pressure.

"...Can you hear me for a moment?" "Ah. I'm listening."

What Lushia spoke of was episodes from her birth to the present. That she lost her parents at an early age. That she has no siblings.

As open-field Nagako (real name), as an open-field woman, she had always strictly disciplined herself.

That it was unbearably painful. That she had been despairing of life.

I had listened to the long, long tale of Akita Ryuko.

"Now you understand, don't you? How terribly 【heavy】 a woman I am." She laughed with self-deprecating irony.

"From the moment I was born until I die—and for the rest of my life, too—I am Akita's woman. Everyone sees me only as Akita Ryuko. That... hurt so much." Rusia smiled as she looked at me.

"You were the only one. The only one who looked at me 【as】 a pure individual, as 'Rusia.' I was saved so much by that..." Rusia lowered her eyes.

Contradicting her words, her expression was dark. Her gaze remained cast downward.

"That's why... I didn't want you to know. That I was born into the Akita family. I'm afraid. Afraid that you might... disappear from my side..."

Sniffling, Rusia burst into tears.

That must have been how it had always been.

As a certain kind of terrifying existence, everyone had stayed away from her.

Just like the saying "don't poke a sleeping god."

"If you say you don't want to, I can't... hold you back. But... but..."

Rusia squeezed out the words in a pitifully small voice, as if wringing them from her very core.

"…I just want you to always be by my side." "Rushia."

I pull her body in and hug her tightly.

She was so precious to me... I couldn't help it.

Learning about her painful past, my impression of her... only improved further.

Even amid such hardship, she still managed not to let her cool, poised demeanor crumble...

That kind of woman... only in front of me does she show her weak side like this.

I couldn't stop thinking that I wanted to protect her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Tight, I held on, refusing to let go, embracing her. "Not going anywhere." "...Really?" She asked, cautiously.

Could she still not fully trust his words? A tinge of anxiety was visible in her eyes. "Yeah, it's true." "...Is it really, really true?" "It is truly, truly."

Even hearing my words, the shadow of anxiety did not leave Rushia's face. "...Then prove it to me." "Prove what?"

"...Ah. Proof that I'll always be by your side. My love..."

Mm... Rushia closed her eyes and brought her lips close.

If it had been the me of before, I would have dismissed it as something a child does, refusing to take it seriously. I would have kissed her forehead and let her run away. But... I've been through a lot. My encounter with the Ina sisters.

Making love to Ichika, my forbidden passion with my step-sister, Midori Lake...

Through all those encounters with various women...

I came to know women—this kind of creature—in great numbers.

Lushia, tucked into the crook of my arm, looks like a young child.

But the sensuality radiating from her body... is that of an adult.

In our bodies pressed together, I can feel the softness of her breasts.

The sweet scent... it smells like the sweetness of a grown woman.

Yes... she is already a proper woman.

Lushia loves me, a man, as a woman does.

And I see her as a woman, too. Because of that...

To prove my love, there is only one way. "Lus... Lushia."

I place my hands on her small shoulders. "...I'm doing this." "...Y-Yes!"

Lushia's voice was trembling. She must be nervous. Entrusting herself to a grown man.

It’s only natural that she feels afraid. No matter how close we are, partners or lovers... Tension tightens her shoulders. She has stiffened up and is shaking. I pause for a moment to think...

I lean in close to Lushia's ear, whispering softly. "...It's okay." "Ah... ♡"

Perhaps from the warmth of my breath on her ear, the tension drains completely from her body with a soft sigh. "...That's why it's okay." "...Yes."

Every time I whisper near her ear, her body twitches slightly. Her knees were rubbing against each other.

Her cheeks flush red, and her breathing quickens.

Skin as white as virgin snow is dyed bright crimson, making it clear she's getting worked up.

Is my body telling me it wants this...? Gradually, she leans closer to me on her own accord. "...okay." The trembling in her body stops.

Mmm... Lushia naturally closes her eyes and naturally... draws herself closer.

To those small, moist, crimson lips like a budding flower. I press my own lips against hers. "Mnn... ♡ Mmm... ♡"

The strength leaves Lushia's body entirely.

I firmly caught her small frame as it swayed, nearly collapsing.

Lushia was uncertain of how to proceed, hesitating in confusion.

Guided by my movements, she moved her tongue in tandem. Sweet sighs gradually escaped her lips.

When I finally parted our lips... she gazed up at me with a blissful, dazed expression... utterly melted.

"Thank you for that wonderful... first kiss, Okaya."

"...Ah, I'm glad it went well."

A smile returned to Lushia's face... the darkness from before was gone. It felt like a heavy burden had been lifted.

"Okaya. I love you."

She conveyed her love with unwavering directness... honestly, without a shred of hesitation.

"Even if you look at other women, even if one day your heart were to drift away from me... I swear that I will love only you for the rest of my life."

Unwaveringly direct... and pure.

That had been how she was ever since we first met.

Even after learning that your family name is Makita, Roshia remains exactly the same to me as when we first met. "I love you, Okaya."

"I love you too, Rukako."

Roshia's cheeks flushed red; she looked away from me and said, blushing,

"...It makes me a bit shy. Please keep calling me Roshia." "Is that alright?"

She smiled quietly and nodded.

"Aah. I like the pen name you, my beloved Okaya, gave me."

The name Makita Roshia was one I came up with for her when she debuted.

I had stopped her from using her real name.

I was happy that she valued my name so much.

"Right. I understand, Roshia."

"Oh, but sometimes please call me Rukako." "You're quite willful, aren't you, Miss?"

"Miss has always been known for being willful, both in the past and present, east and west, wouldn't you agree?"

She laughed and closed her eyes again.

I pulled Roshan against my shoulder and kissed her once more.