“Do you still not intend to inherit the rights of the Tsukiyuki family?”
When Tsukiyuki Kyoichi asked Uzuki this question once more, Uzuki still dared not lift her head, nor did she want to give the old man false hope.
But if she inherited the position of family head, she’d be able to have Sijin return home whenever she pleased.
Unlike Gao Sijin, she had always believed the memory of “home” was stained and bloody. There are millions of people in this world, and each one carries a different image of home. For some, home is filled with warmth. For others, the very thought of home makes them tremble.
Yet for Sijin, home ought to be something good. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so fixated on it, nor would he call home so often—even if the phone numbers were fake, he never tired of reaching out.
“Uzuki.”
“Uzuki!”
Uzuki jolted her head up.
“I was speaking to you just now. What were you thinking?”
A trace of displeasure flickered in Tsukiyuki Kyoichi’s piercing gaze. Ignoring someone during conversation was extremely rude.
“I’m sorry.” Uzuki immediately bowed. “I just…”
“Just what?”
“I can’t really say.”
The real reason she wanted to become head of the family was simply so that the person she loved could be happy. How could she possibly say that out loud?
Yet the old man seemed to detect the longing hidden deep in Uzuki’s eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be family head. She simply still lacked the strength to oppose Tsukiyuki Rio, and she probably knew all too well that aside from her kindness, she had nothing.
But kindness—that noble quality—was something not a single member of the zaibatsu family possessed.
“Next Saturday, the family will hold a gala banquet. All Tsukiyuki family members will attend as scheduled. That is the deadline I am giving you.”
Uzuki neither refused nor agreed.
If she became head of the family, there was so much she could make happen. Recalling how her mother had brutally punched her lower abdomen, and the humiliation of being covered in tattoos from head to toe—those memories made Uzuki’s entire body tremble. Surely there were others in the family who were also suffering.
She often imagined saving those family members trapped by pain, just as Gao Sijin had saved her. She also imagined that, through her efforts, the homeless would no longer have to sleep hungry and out in the cold. But she also knew the family didn’t need kindness; they needed cruel methods and political cunning.
Only Tsukiyuki Rio was truly qualified to keep the Tsukiyuki Zaibatsu running…
“Welcome home, Uzuki.”
Back at the apartment, Gao Sijin had his arm around Tsukiyuki Rio as they watched TV. Yu Qingxue was off to the side, playing cards with Morgana and the other maids. Uzuki kept her head low. The apartment no longer carried that terrifying atmosphere where a single wrong word could get her beaten, but Uzuki still felt suffocated.
Tsukiyuki Rio gave Uzuki a flat glance.
“Went to see that damn old man again?”
“Patriarch Kyoichi summoned me. I couldn’t refuse.”
“Next time, just refuse him outright. But then again, with your personality, you don’t seem like the type to refuse much of anything.”
Uzuki bit her lip and shrank into herself, like a young creature spotted by a predator.
She had always viewed her overbearing cousin as a god. But back then, she hadn’t understood one thing: gods are meant to be worshipped, not loved.
“Uzuki, if I told you to die, you wouldn’t refuse me either, would you?”
Tsukiyuki Rio’s leisurely words wrapped around Uzuki’s throat like a pair of hands. Gao Sijin, seated beside them, frowned sternly.
“Rio, don’t talk to Uzuki like that. She’s still a child.”
Even Yu Qingxue, who had been in the middle of her card game, stood up.
“Uzuki, weren’t you going to go write your light novel? Go on, get to it. Don’t just stand there in the living room. And from now on, come straight home after school; no more wandering around. Your cousin is only worried about your safety.”
“I’m sorry, Cousin…” Uzuki kept her head down, shooting a sidelong glance at Gao Sijin. “And I’m sorry to you too, Sijin, for worrying you.”
And so, Uzuki could only slink into her room, pulling the door firmly shut behind her. She couldn’t help but miss the time when Cousin Rio had gone to Jekyll Island and she had slept in the same room as Gao Sijin, close enough to hear him breathing. That had been pure happiness.
Back then, she had even let herself imagine wearing a wedding dress and walking down the aisle with Sijin—a completely unrealistic fantasy.
How pitiful she was. She was utterly powerless to hold on to happiness.
—Meow.
The black cat lay on the desk, watching Uzuki with worry in its eyes.
When her mother had tortured the cat to death long ago, it had looked at Uzuki with this exact same gaze, as if saying, This is not your fault. The black cat could only meow. But between Uzuki and the cat spirit dwelling inside her, there was an invisible bond that let them know each other’s thoughts. The black cat wanted to kill Tsukiyuki Rio, just as it had once tormented Aoi, Amano, and Kaoru.
“Please, you absolutely must not do that!”
After all, Cousin Rio was one of the people who had pulled her out of Hell in the first place.
Uzuki could not repay kindness with malice. Even if her cousin despised her, she had to obey.
The black cat’s eyes shifted to the pink princess bed in the room. In the next instant, the stuffed bear lying there transformed, taking on Gao Sijin’s form. Uzuki stared at the bear that had now become “Gao Sijin,” and finally, unable to suppress her feelings any longer, she threw herself onto the bed and hugged him tight, sobbing her heart out…
Even if the real body was only a stuffed bear, Uzuki so desperately wished she and Sijin could be lovers.
She knew she shouldn’t harbor romantic fantasies, but love was right there, close enough to touch. Should she repay the debt of gratitude she owed Cousin Rio, or should she become family head and give Sijin his freedom?
Tears blurred her vision.
A knock startled Uzuki out of her haze. Gao Sijin entered, carrying a freshly cut platter of fruit.
“Hey, Uzuki? Why are you crying?”
As he stepped inside, he noticed a pair of black cat ears perched atop Uzuki’s head and a cat tail swaying behind her, exactly like a catgirl from a fantasy isekai.
Uzuki couldn’t hold back. She rushed into Gao Sijin’s embrace and wrapped her arms around him so tightly that he found it hard to breathe.
“You probably shouldn’t use that paranormal power so casually…”
Gao Sijin whispered in a low voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“Eat some fruit, Uzuki. If something’s weighing on your mind, please tell me.”
“I won’t let Sijin worry about me too much.”
He gently stroked the top of her head. Her cat ears fluttered like butterfly wings, and her black tail swayed freely. She sought his comfort just like a little kitten. Uzuki saw the black cat—invisible to Gao Sijin—rubbing its tiny head against his pant leg.
The cat had accepted Sijin too. It liked the scent of his soul.
Uzuki scooped up the black cat and sat down on a chair.
How greedy she had become.
In the beginning, she had only wanted to stand behind Gao Sijin and gaze at his back. But now, she wanted to leave her mark on his life and become the most important person in it.
Hugging her knees, she remained trapped in the same dilemma over what to choose.
