Twelve Years Later, Seiya Enters High School!

Adding flowers to brocade was far inferior to offering charcoal in the snow. A director who had survived in the entertainment industry for years was naturally an old hand.

This time, he had taken the initiative to approach Seiya with an audition opportunity. The favor he was selling was not owed by Seiya alone; the other director who had asked him for help now owed him one as well.

But overall, the other party really had helped him this time.

"So? Are you planning to accept the job Director Okawa introduced to you?"

Yuko walked behind Seiya, crouched in front of him, and gently rubbed his head as she asked softly.

"Of course I'll take it. Why wouldn't I? Didn't you say our finances were so bad that we were practically down to eating Instant Noodles?

Besides, the job Director Okawa introduced really suits me. There's no reason to refuse."

The job Director Okawa had introduced to Seiya this time was a Sengoku Period television drama, in which Seiya needed to play a young lord.

Because this young lord had been exceptionally gifted since childhood and possessed considerable martial prowess, the production crew had never found a suitable actor.

By chance, one of the younger crew members saw the "Young Soya" that had been making waves online these past few days and showed the director the edited clips.

After the middle-aged director watched the footage of Seiya fighting the wild wolf, his eyes immediately lit up. Wasn't this exactly the actor they had been looking for all along?

Connections in the entertainment industry were as tangled and complicated as the roots of a great tree. So, with the help of an acquaintance, that director contacted Director Okawa, which led to the current situation.

Compared with his previous bit part in a movie, Seiya had quite a few scenes this time because it was a television drama.

Though he still was not the male lead, second male lead, or even an important supporting character, he could barely be considered a fairly substantial role.

According to Director Okawa, Seiya would need a week to complete filming this time. As for his pay, Director Okawa had secured him one million yen.

For a rookie child star who had only ever played a bit part once, that kind of salary could already be considered astronomical.

The main reason Director Okawa had been able to negotiate such pay for Seiya was that, although Seiya was a newcomer, he was quite famous now.

The filming would last a full week and take place in Hokkaido, so Yuko could only put aside her work and accompany Seiya as his guardian.

After all, she could draw manga anywhere. And honestly, when she heard that Seiya would earn a full one million yen this time, Yuko felt rather stung.

Wenren Yuko worked tirelessly drawing manga, yet after a whole month of work, she did not even earn as much as five-year-old Seiya could make in a week.

Yuko felt deeply discouraged, as though her 20 years of life had been wasted on the dogs.

Time passed like a white colt flashing through a gap, and before long, twelve years had gone by.

Inside a luxurious two-story house, a sunny, handsome Black-Haired Boy with black hair rushed out through the front door bearing the "Wenren" nameplate, a slice of toast clenched in his mouth and a schoolbag in his hand, flustered and scrambling.

"Seiya, you're skipping a proper meal again! How many times do I have to tell you before you remember that breakfast is important for your health?"

The moment the boy left the house, a beautiful woman with an exceptionally curvaceous figure chased after him from the entrance. She wore casual home clothes, her long hair tied behind her head, and held a spatula in her hand.

"All right, all right. He's grown up already, so stop scolding him at every turn. Besides, he overslept because you didn't wake him up on time today, didn't he?

You should really change that temperament of yours. If you don't become a little more ladylike, you might truly never get married."

Twelve years had passed, and Wenren Yuko was now just over thirty. The passage of time had not left any marks on her face. Instead, it had made her even more charming and mature.

"Honestly, Sister, you spoil him too much. Back when I was already in college, didn't you scold me every other day too?

And didn't I say before that words like 'marriage' and 'getting married' are forbidden around me? Don't bring them up in front of me again.

My only family from now on will be Seiya and you, Sister. I won't build a family with anyone else, and I won't leave this home."

Upon hearing Yuko's words, another woman standing behind her, who resembled Yuko by seven or eight parts and was just as beautiful, let out a heavy sigh.

Then, looking at her legs resting in the wheelchair, she clenched her fists and said self-reproachfully, "It's all because I've held you two back. You and Seiya should both have had more wonderful lives."

The woman sitting in the wheelchair, who could still scold Yuko, was naturally Yuko's older sister, Ako.

Ever since Seiya had debuted as a child star and gradually begun gaining fame and earning money, Ako, who had been unconscious in the hospital, received better treatment.

After several years of treatment, Ako successfully woke up when Seiya was ten years old.

Sadly, her injuries had been too severe at the time, leaving her lower body paralyzed. She could only move around in a wheelchair.

According to the doctors, it was not impossible for Ako to make a full recovery. There were already quite advanced treatment methods abroad.

But the medical expenses... well, they were undoubtedly a truly astronomical sum.

Because she saw herself as little more than a burden, Ako had been deeply self-reproachful all these years. She had even thought of taking her own life several times so she would no longer drag Seiya and Yuko down.

Ako believed that the reason Yuko still had no desire to marry despite being over thirty was because she needed to care for her useless older sister.

Hearing her sister say such dispiriting things again, Yuko became extremely angry. She walked straight up to Ako, looked at her with a serious expression, and said, "We're family. There's no such thing as being a burden.

If Seiya heard you say that, he'd probably ignore you for several days again.

Have you forgotten what he said to you after he caught you trying to take your own life before?

And Sister, can you stop constantly worrying about everyone else? Who told you I don't want to get married because of you?"

Yuko's words made Ako lower her head. Even now, she could not forget what Seiya had said when he saved her several years ago.

At the time, unwilling to keep burdening Seiya and Yuko, Ako had chosen to slit her wrists in the bathroom.

Just as her consciousness gradually faded and her life rapidly slipped away, Seiya came home from school and discovered her. He carried her on his back for over ten kilometers before finally reaching the hospital and saving her life.

Ako still could not understand why Seiya, who had only been eleven or twelve at the time, had possessed such immense strength in that small body.