In the neighboring apartment, sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains, scattering pale patches of light across the wooden floor.
Tsukiyuki Rio leaned against a red sofa like an elegant, unhurried queen, her dark crimson eyes taking in the wall of monitors before her. To her, spying on the everyday life of her beloved was one of life’s greatest joys.
“Master said he would go to the library for a chance encounter with you. Will Young Lady Tsukiyuki be setting out soon?”
Nearby, Emilia ran a vacuum cleaner, going through the motions of tidying the spotless floor.
“I won’t be having a chance encounter with Gao-kun today.”
Tsukiyuki Rio smiled brightly, giving a slight shake of her head.
Love that comes too easily is never cherished deeply enough. Love requires a touch of loneliness and regret to settle and mature. Gao Sijin would go to the library full of hope, only to find no trace of his beloved. He was bound to feel thoroughly dejected.
And that dejection would age like fine wine, growing sweeter and richer over time.
Therefore, she had to suppress her urge to see him.
The next time, that dejection would multiply his anticipation. By then, Gao Sijin would be even more hopelessly in love with Tsukiyuki Rio. So today, she resolved to endure and deny him his wish. She would deliberately keep him hanging.
“Still, having said that, I do rather want to see Gao-kun’s crestfallen face when he fails to see me.” Tsukiyuki Rio shut off the wall of screens, her jade-like feet slipping into her geta. “Emilia, bring the car around.”
“Understood, Young Lady Tsukiyuki.”
Emilia set down the vacuum cleaner and hurried downstairs.
At the same time, Morgana had just woken up and finished changing into her maid outfit.
Opening the door, she spotted Tsukiyuki Rio preparing to leave and immediately approached her.
“Young Lady Tsukiyuki, are you heading out now? Please wait a moment. I shall accompany you.”
“Morgana, you should rest early. You’ve been monitoring those restless yakuza for days. I imagine you’ve barely had a proper night’s sleep,” Tsukiyuki Rio said in a rare tone of consideration for a subordinate. “You’ve truly helped me share many burdens this time.”
“It’s merely my duty. Please don’t let it trouble you, Young Miss. If you are going out, please allow me to accompany you. I’m not the least bit tired. I guarantee I won’t cause you any trouble.”
As she spoke, Morgana slipped a loaded pistol into her pocket, clearly ready for deployment.
“Rest assured, Morgana. We aren’t going to settle scores with those yakuza. I’m just going for a stroll near the library.”
“Even after those yakuza members have committed clear acts of rebellion, you still don’t intend to settle the score?”
Morgana was slightly puzzled.
Not long ago, the leaders of Tokyo’s Three Major Yakuza openly defied the Tsukiyuki Branch Family, exposing many scandals from Tsukiyuki Fumiko’s era to the world. In an instant, the Tsukiyuki Branch Family’s reputation was ruined. Even some members of the Tsukiyuki Main Family were greatly affected. The stock prices of many Tsukiyuki Family enterprises suffered cliff-like drops, causing immeasurable financial losses.
The Taoka Group, Kira Group, and Shokaku Society, once irreconcilable rivals, now presented a united front of shared hatred, leaving everyone stunned. It was as if a pair of giant, invisible hands had completely integrated the forces of the Tokyo Underworld.
“She’s nothing but a mole. Deluded enough to think that seizing control of the gangs is enough to oppose me. It’s just wishful thinking on her part.”
“Young Miss, do you know the mastermind behind this?”
“Not only do I know, I witnessed what happened back then with my own eyes.”
Tsukiyuki Rio was now finally certain of the identity of the woman who had filmed that video with Gao Sijin in the hotel back then.
The woman’s name was Feng Na, and she was a time traveler.
If her deductions were correct, Feng Na and Feng Xiaona were one and the same. Tsukiyuki Rio was even willing to assert that it was this very Feng Na who had killed Gao Sijin in a parallel world line. Among the many unnatural deaths, one of them was being stabbed through the chest with a cleaver. After killing Gao Sijin, the murderer fled abroad, shamelessly continuing her studies.
She never returned, even when her elder sister back home died in despair.
“The Taoka Group, Kira Group, and Shokaku Society have been controlled.” Tsukiyuki Rio’s expression held not an ounce of superfluous emotion, revealing a bone-chilling coldness beneath its indifference.
“Controlled in what sense?”
“Something akin to a mind-control ability. In the future, this ability was originally intended for taming animals.”
“In that case, wouldn’t destroying the device she uses for mental control solve the problem?” Morgana asked.
“I have no such intention. To be honest, I’ve never really liked certain ways the gangs operate. If I can use this opportunity to eliminate them completely, that would be a permanent solution. As for Feng Na, however, I will torment her slowly, leaving her unable to live and begging for death.”
A self-aggrandizing clown thinks she’s worthy of competing for my man?
There have to be limits to this joke.
“Let’s set other matters aside for today. If you’re not tired, come with me to the library area.”
“Indeed, please, I must insist on accompanying you.”
Morgana followed gracefully behind Tsukiyuki Rio. They took the elevator directly down to the underground parking level.
Just as the silver BMW drove out of the parking garage, Emilia carefully pulled the black Mercedes-Benz up before Tsukiyuki Rio.
“Young Miss, please get in.”
“Oh? Morgana, when did you wake up? You didn’t sleep until four in the morning. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’ll be fine. Allow me to take the wheel, Emilia.”
Morgana sat in the driver’s seat, then floored the accelerator. Using the navigation, she trailed the silver BMW driven by Yu Qingxue, maintaining a discreet distance to avoid giving herself away.
“Young Lady Tsukiyuki, how should we handle the matter of the Head Maid?”
“Handle what?”
Tsukiyuki Rio asked with an ambiguous smile.
“Nothing.”
Through the rearview mirror, Morgana observed that Tsukiyuki Rio didn’t particularly seem to want to discuss Yu Qingxue. Tactfully, she didn’t press the issue.
Yet Morgana couldn’t shake the feeling that if things continued this way, Yu Qingxue would inevitably take a rebellious path sooner or later. She had collaborated with Yu Qingxue before. Yu Qingxue wasn’t the type to remain subordinate forever. Especially in matters of love, she would be even less likely to make any concessions.
If it truly came to that, one person’s life would have to end as the conclusion to everything. Though she had considered killing Yu Qingxue to take her place as the new Head Maid, when she imagined that day actually arriving, she was always afraid Yu Qingxue really would die.
Could it be that she cared about Yu Qingxue’s well-being?
She was an enemy. In many aspects, she herself was far superior. She definitely didn’t care whether Yu Qingxue lived or died. If that day ever came, she had to steel her heart and eliminate her.
Only then could she become the Head Maid she’d always dreamed of, allowing her family to flourish once more because of her.
