Outside the study.
"Oh my, you came back at just the right time. How is Father? You were gone so long that I came up to check."
The moment she stepped out of the study, she happened to see Eva climbing the stairs. Their eyes met. Eva assumed that Natsuhi Ushiromiya had failed to persuade Kinzō Ushiromiya and must have been deeply dejected, so she let out a mocking snicker.
But to Natsuhi Ushiromiya now, such a frivolous smile could not insult her in the slightest.
Because although she had no right to wear the family crest on her clothes,
she had been permitted to engrave it in her heart.
So she calmly acted as though nothing had happened, yet carried herself with the dignity expected of someone protecting the honor of the Ushiromiya Main Residence. She held her head high and said,
"Father said he would not attend the family conference. He said he had no interest in such filthy topics."
"You're still going on about that? Since you couldn't persuade Father, why not just admit it honestly?"
"How pathetic. No wonder Father sighed."
"Y-You... what do you mean by that?"
Natsuhi Ushiromiya did not answer. With the same proud, upright back Kinzō Ushiromiya had displayed moments ago, she descended the stairs.
Eva did not understand that she had been looked down upon, much less what had happened. All she could grasp was that Natsuhi Ushiromiya had suddenly become brimming with confidence.
But she still lacked the courage to anger Kinzō Ushiromiya. She did not dare knock on the study door and could only click her tongue, make a gesture as though clawing at the door, then follow Natsuhi Ushiromiya downstairs.
"Are my brother and the others in there? Did you ask Father?"
"I had no opportunity to ask,