Shiro didn't care about their accusations; instead, he spoke seriously:
"Don't you think about it? This guy is the captain of the Royal Guard, and his purpose in coming here was to protect Lala. But now, she doesn't need protection. It's clear he's very idle. I think he is a very responsible person, so to keep him from being idle, I just found him something to do."
Shiro was talking nonsense with a serious expression, saying he was finding things for him to do and keeping him busy. Simply put, he himself was not a good person; he just wanted a tool.
Since they had been with Shiro for so long, these people were not fools and clearly understood his inner thoughts.
"Alright, alright, don't pretend to be good for his sake. We all know what kind of person you are."
Shiro felt helpless when he heard that. It was all the fault of those parallel scenes! He was obviously a good person!
"Emmm... Honestly, I was actually thinking about whether to take you along, but after thinking about it, not now. After all, those places are not good places, and you are currently not very suitable for it, or you can choose not to come into contact if you don't like it."
"You think I like those places?"
Mikan directly looked at Shiro, as if saying: 'Are you sure you're not joking with me?' And the other one also didn't seem to like it.
"Shiro, given your personality, you shouldn't like those places."
Shiro shrugged at that question.
"I really don't like those places, but in this situation, someone has already extended an invitation, so there's no harm in going, right? The main difference from before is that people used to think I was insignificant, but this time I probably can't be insignificant."
As soon as Shiro said that, the three of them were surprised. Was Shiro insignificant at such places before?
Mikan looked at Shiro with a strange expression.
"Onii-chan, are you sure you're not joking with me?"
"I remember that you only attended events of the Shokova family. In that situation, you were still insignificant?"
Shiro met her questioning gaze, shrugged, and spoke honestly.
"What's strange about that? Everyone treated me as a live-in son-in-law, they even thought the young lady was just playing around and that they could kick me out at any time. Someone like me was simply not important."
"And I myself was uninterested in those people. Normally, if someone were really entering the family or had other motives, they would definitely smile and actively approach, but my situation is different, right?"
Shiro gave a few instructions to these people and then left, not even changing his clothes.
When Shiro arrived, they had already been notified, and Chika had been waiting for a long time.
"Shiro."
Her makeup this time was more beautiful than usual, and combined with the red dress, it gave her a different feeling.
"Chika."
Shiro looked at Fujiwara Chika, who excitedly grabbed his hand, and patted her on the head.
"Shiro, can you please stop patting my head? I'm not a child anymore."
She protested against Shiro's action.
"I'm not treating you as a child. It's just that if I don't pat your head, should I pat your face?"
Faced with Shiro's question, she fell into deep thought, then thought about it and it seemed to make perfect sense.
"Oh, right!"
"Shiro, I saw you just now arriving on foot."
"Why didn't you say anything? I would have sent someone to pick you up."
Fujiwara Chika looked at Shiro, who seemed to have arrived on foot, and immediately showed a somewhat embarrassed expression, as if she had forgotten to send someone to pick him up.
"I came after shopping, alright?"
"Besides, it's not far from here, so I changed clothes along the way. After all, it's just a few steps."
A normal person would definitely ask how he changed clothes while walking, but she obviously didn't notice those details.
"Come on, I'll take you inside."
Fujiwara Chika held Shiro's arm and walked in. There were many people who came to attend this former prime minister's event. Seeing this scene, some recognized Shiro, because he was like this during the Kirishima family incident, except this time he was with a different person, and his identity had changed. For a time, the thoughts of many people became active. Some, although representing their families, were well aware that many shares of their family businesses were now in his hands.
"Wait, why are you taking me here?"
Shiro felt that something was wrong; they were already turning away from the main hall.
"Oh, oh, my great-grandfather told me to bring you if you arrived."
Shiro fell silent. After arriving at a house, she first knocked on the door, then cheerfully called: "Grandpa."
"Come in."
When the door opened, they saw an old man, not particularly old, in traditional clothing, sitting on a chair. He radiated a certain aura, although to Shiro it meant nothing.
"Grandpa, I brought Shiro."
"Mm."
He nodded to his granddaughter, then looked at Shiro, wanting to understand the background of this person, who had caused such a huge disturbance out of nowhere and possessed such power. But Shiro calmly returned the gaze, so calm that he had the feeling that Shiro was looking at him the way a person looks at an ant on the ground. Then, in the next moment, that gaze disappeared, and it seemed that Shiro had put on a mask.
"Old Fujiwara, happy birthday!"
At this moment, Shiro, holding a gift that he had obtained at some point, presented it along with perfectly standard social phrases.
And he watched as Shiro performed a display of what it means to instantly change expression. In his mind, he evaluated Shiro as a slippery eel, although it was possible he was a fierce dragon capable of swallowing everything.
After the two of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, someone nearby began to sip tea. Shiro cast a glance; she looked somewhat like Chika, but in some aspects, not at all.
As the two of them continued to exchange words, everyone, including him, realized that something was wrong. He had intended to probe Shiro's background, but at some point, it seemed as if his own secrets were being exposed.
He immediately cut off the topic, adding another evaluation in his mind: this was no longer a young fox; this was an old fox even more cunning than an old fox. Even he had fallen into a trap.
Fujiwara Chika was somewhat confused, because she was not involved in such matters, but her mother was different.
As a diplomat, Fujiwara Manaho understood very well what this implied. Such a person was difficult to cooperate with; one had to be careful in interacting with him, lest he extract everything he wanted.
Shiro, seeing her expression, raised his teacup, took a sip, and then, after putting it down, spoke with a smile.
"Old man, let's stop with this pretending. You're already quite old, why bother with all this beating around the bush? You should know very well that you can't outplay me, and I don't like to play this way—too tiring, too drawn out. Let's be direct."
Fujiwara Chika was still somewhat confused. What did this mean? The other two were stunned; they didn't expect Shiro to be so direct, but perhaps that was also the best, because they really couldn't outplay him.
"Ah, hahaha, that makes sense."
"Chika, Maho, you two go out for a moment."
After hearing that, the two of them obediently went out, leaving only the two men.
"Young friend, you should know the purpose of my arrival."
Shiro couldn't help but notice how well he spoke. Normally, someone would say "Your Excellency" or something similar, but he used "young friend" to reduce the distance.
"Although the Fujiwara family is a political family, it also needs sources of financial power. And many shares of your financial sources are in my hands. You feel uneasy, so you intend to find out what I will do."
"As a political family, you think about more things."
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