The women of the Yukinoshita family were generally known for their looks.
Every generation produced a few figures that could be described as either "ice queens" or "social butterflies." Although the Yukinoshita family's nominal head had always been male, in two out of every three generations, the real power holders were women, with the men marrying into the family instead.
Their assertiveness was obvious.
However.
Today, the atmosphere in the Yukinoshita household was unusually oppressive.
Minami Yukinoshita, who normally carried herself with calm elegance in front of her family, sat at the living room table, visibly distracted.
Judging by her appearance alone, it wouldn't be unreasonable to mistake her for a young woman rather than the mother of two daughters. She wasn't old. There were no wrinkles on her face. In fact, strengthened by her temperament, she might have been even more charming than she was in her youth, fitting the description of an "ice queen" better than ever.
And yet, despite being fully aware of her own beauty, Minami Yukinoshita rarely appeared in public.
But even so, one accidental outing had been enough.
She had been seen.
And she had been targeted.
That fact alone was difficult for her to accept.
Impossible to accept.
But the one who targeted her was an heir of the Sanzenin family-someone with legitimate succession rights.
If the Yukinoshita family were stronger, that would be one thing.
But at least for now, even if the other party was "only" an heir, the Yukinoshita family had absolutely no room to resist.
The thought that the entire family might be ruined because of this filled Minami Yukinoshita with resentment.
Yet complying with the other party's demands was also impossible.
She knew very well that her husband had been frantically contacting every connection he had over the past few days, searching for a solution.
But the opponent was the Sanzenin family.
Frankly, she couldn't see any hope.
That was why she sat there now.
Lost.
Confused.
She had planned her entire life since junior high.
And this was the first time she had no idea what to do next.
Outside the living room, Yukino Yukinoshita and Haruno Yukinoshita were quietly watching their usually strong mother sit there in silence.
They wanted to comfort her.
But neither of them knew how.
Yukino had never been good at expressing her opinions in front of her mother.
Haruno was normally much better at social situations, but something like this...
She hadn't even seen it in fiction.
In those clichéd stories, lecherous figures from major families usually treated young, outstanding women as playthings.
But this time-
The target was their mother.
-Even Haruno didn't know what to say.
They both felt powerless.
At that moment, the sound of a key turning came from the door.
Kuzunari Yukinoshita walked in.
He looked exhausted, clearly worn down from running around outside for days on end.
Yukino and Haruno turned to look at their father.
Minami Yukinoshita seemed to have steadied herself. She slowly stood up and walked from the living room toward the entrance, showing her husband a rare, resigned smile.
"You're back..."
"Mhm."
Seeing his family-the three women often jokingly called the "three goddesses" of the Yukinoshita household-looking so drained, Kuzunari Yukinoshita clenched his fist.
Then, for the first time in a long while, he showed a hint of firmness at home.
"Minami, go rest. You've got dark circles under your eyes."
"Yukino, Haruno, don't worry about adult matters."
As he said this, he smiled.
A small smile.
But it stunned all three of them.
"The Yukinoshita family's crisis..."
"...has been resolved."
-
"Jaden, are you going to attend a business meeting?"
Erina looked puzzled when she saw Jaden preparing his clothes in the afternoon, clearly planning to go out that evening.
Jaden had never been interested in things like business meetings.
If one had to describe him-
He wasn't stupid.
But he wasn't fond of thinking too hard either.
Because for him, there was always a second option that ordinary people could never choose.
That was why business meetings were usually handled by Erina.
Jaden rarely attended them.
"Mhm," Jaden replied casually. "Kuzunari Yukinoshita came to see me earlier. I asked him to host a business meeting, so I'm going to take a look tonight."
Erina blinked.
"Are you planning to gradually take over Totsuki's business?"
She was actually a little expectant.
Ever since she took office, Totsuki had effectively had two generals.
One was her.
The other was Jaden.
It was just that Jaden had never actually managed anything.
"No."
Jaden shook his head without hesitation.
"I'm not interested in that stuff."
"I'm not going for business deals either."
"I'm just going to watch the fun."
He paused.
"Besides, Kuzunari Yukinoshita helped us back when we were dealing with Toyo Electric Power. I'm just lending him a hand."
"That's all."
Hearing this, Erina's expression turned strange.
"Don't tell me one of the Yukinoshita daughters was targeted, and you're going to play the hero and save the beauty?"
Seeing her reaction, Jaden laughed.
"If it were that cliché, what would there be to watch?"
He smirked slightly.
"The interesting part is that the one being targeted this time isn't a Yukinoshita daughter."
"It's Kuzunari Yukinoshita's wife."
"Pfft."
"Honestly, I've never even seen that in a novel."
"Ignoring the heroine-type character and going after the heroine's mother."
"So yeah. I want to see it."
Seeing the mischievous smile on Jaden's face, Erina stopped speaking.
She understood him very well.
Her relationship with Jaden was nothing like the relationships in the harem novels he sometimes read.
Theirs was mutual.
They understood each other.
Unlike the heroines in those stories, who talked endlessly about love and affection yet didn't even know what kind of person their partner was or what he would do.
No trust.
Only jealousy or blind acceptance.
Those heroines enjoyed love unilaterally and didn't care whether the other party loved someone else.
Erina didn't believe people like that existed in reality.
But for harem novel heroines, it made sense.
They didn't care what the protagonist did.
They didn't try to understand him.
So sharing a lover meant nothing to them.
Erina had only been curious about Jaden's purpose earlier.
But after seeing his expression, she understood.
He really did just want to watch the fun.
And perhaps genuinely help Kuzunari Yukinoshita along the way.
So she calmly watched him leave.
Then she returned to her work.
As for Jaden-
-After contacting Mikado Sanzenin, he headed straight for the venue of the business meeting hosted by the Yukinoshita family.