Value

Yukino immediately shook her head. "No, I... I can't accept the three of us living under one roof. Not yet."

"Is that so?" Chen Tian chuckled softly, the rumble in his chest reaching her ear. "But did you know? Marin's already seriously considering helping me add more people to the household."

"What?!" Yukino abruptly broke free of his embrace, her almond-shaped eyes wide. All traces of embarrassment had vanished from her face, leaving only pure shock. "How could she... How is that possible..."

That was Kitagawa Marin! Chen Tian's publicly acknowledged "official girlfriend"! The woman countless female fans wanted to kill!

Seeing her shocked expression, Chen Tian's smile deepened. "Just like you, she's seen things that 'transcend common sense.'"

He paused, his tone steady with the assurance of someone in control of everything. "On top of that, there's the money I've accumulated through my concerts, along with my ongoing investments... She realized that it takes time to build up power. The future Chen Family will be a family with deep roots."

Yukino froze.

The extraordinary abilities Chen Tian had displayed, the ever-growing empire of wealth he had built beneath the surface...

Kitagawa had seen a more distant future. In Chen Tian's hands, the beginnings of a true elite family were quietly taking shape.

She couldn't help thinking of her grandfather.

That imposing old man had only her grandmother as his wife in public, but who in the family didn't know he had several other residences outside the home?

Even the Shinomiya Family... Was the head of the family, Shinomiya Kaguya's father, short on mistresses and illegitimate children? Wasn't Kaguya herself...

"So," Chen Tian said, drawing her attention back. He reached out and gently brushed his fingertips across her cool cheek, his gaze intent. "Yukino, are you really content to be nothing more than a mistress hidden away forever? Or..."

He deliberately paused, watching her eyes. "Would you rather stand by my side, together with Marin?"

Yukino's heartbeat suddenly went haywire. Content? Those words pierced her heart like a needle.

Why... Why did she have to hide in the shadows? Why could Kitagawa...

Her hand instinctively clenched the hem of her clothes. Her lips moved, but she couldn't bring herself to say no.

Looking at Yukino's conflicted expression, Chen Tian decided to fan the flames.

He lowered his voice. "Do you know why Siongo Gaan keeps having Kaguya invite me to dinner? Even though he knows Kaguya's always had feelings for me, he never tells her to stay away?"

Yukino was still lost in her tangled thoughts, her eyes unfocused.

Chen Tian chuckled. "People at that level know far more than ordinary people, especially when it comes to Japan's warped social relationships."

He leaned close to Yukino's ear, his warm breath brushing her sensitive ear. "He understands that if Kaguya became my woman, the Shinomiya Family could use that to climb even higher."

Yukino's heart skipped a beat. She was about to refute such an absurd argument when Chen Tian added in an even lower voice, "Including... the noble woman in a kimono behind you."

"What?!" Yukino's pupils contracted. She whipped around—

Just a few steps away, her mother, Kikuko Yukinoshita, was standing quietly. Always impeccably dressed, she had an imposing air about her.

(Yukino's mother doesn't have a name in the anime or novels, so I've named her after the voice actress who voices Yukino's mother.)

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows across her expensive kimono.

A reserved smile, characteristic of the old aristocracy, graced her face. Her calm gaze rested on Chen Tian and Yukino, as if she had been watching them for quite some time.

The air froze.

Yukino felt all the blood rush to her head, then drain away just as quickly, leaving her cold.

The rules of the elite and her resentment from moments ago were instantly drowned out by her fear of her mother's reprimands.

She instinctively stiffened, trying to pull away from Chen Tian.

"Mo..." She struggled to force out a syllable, her voice dry.

Chen Tian didn't move an inch. In fact, the hand that had been running through Yukino's hair slid naturally down to her waist, gently holding her in place with an unmistakable firmness and stopping her from pulling away.

Far from looking flustered at being caught, he wore an easy, almost amused smile as he calmly met Kikuko Yukinoshita's scrutinizing gaze.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Yukinoshita." Chen Tian's voice was steady and clear, breaking the dead silence. "What a coincidence, meeting you here."

The sleeve of Kikuko Yukinoshita's kimono trembled slightly. To Yukino's horror, her usually haughty mother slowly bowed to Chen Tian in a formal greeting.

The two attendants behind her bowed a full ninety degrees, their movements so perfectly in sync they seemed to have rehearsed them countless times.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Chen Tian."

Her mother's voice rang in Yukino's ears.

Yukino stared wide-eyed at the smile that appeared on her mother's lips as she straightened. It was the expression the Yukinoshita Family reserved for honored guests.

The sunlight suddenly seemed blinding. At some point, Big Orange had hidden in the bushes, leaving only a section of its puffed-up tail visible.

"It seems my daughter is very close to you." Kikuko's gaze swept over Chen Tian's hand, still resting on her daughter's waist. Only then did Yukino realize she was still leaning against him. She hurriedly tried to break free, but that hand pressed her back into place, leaving no room to resist.

Chen Tian chuckled. "Yes. She's my girlfriend."

Yukino jerked her head up and stared at Chen Tian's sharply defined profile in disbelief.

How could he admit it so calmly? In front of her mother? In a public place where the paparazzi could take a picture at any moment?

What left her even more breathless was the way the lines around her mother's eyes suddenly relaxed, revealing a genuine smile. "Then it's my daughter's good fortune."

Yukino felt the world spinning.

Her mother's stern face, the manga she'd torn up when Yukino was a child, the strict upbringing she'd imposed as Yukino grew up—every fragment of those memories was overturned in that moment.

She instinctively grabbed the front of Chen Tian's clothes.

"I heard Yukino's father ran into some difficulties while campaigning for a seat in the prefectural assembly?" Chen Tian suddenly changed the subject, soothingly rubbing Yukino's lower back with his fingers.

Kikuko's elegant expression stiffened for just a moment. "After my father passed away, there were indeed a few clowns..." She paused at just the right moment, like an actor delivering a line onstage.

"Contact the Gojo Family," Chen Tian cut in decisively. "Tell them Nero sent you."

"The Gojo Family... Gojo Satoru's family?" Kikuko's voice rose slightly. Yukino stared in shock as her mother's fingers, with their immaculate nail polish, began to tremble.

That Jujutsu Sorcerer Family, spoken of in hushed tones in both political and business circles? The Gojo Family, whom even the Shinomiya Family treated with deference?

Chen Tian nodded, then leaned toward Yukino's ear and whispered so only she could hear, "See? I told you the rules of the world couldn't bind us." His warm breath made her ears burn. "Your mother's probably already thinking about how to convince your father."

As Kikuko bowed deeply once more, the gold threads of the family crest on her kimono sash glittered in the sunlight. "Thank you for your generosity."

When she lifted her head, her gaze swept over her daughter's stunned face. In those gray-blue eyes, so like her own, Yukino clearly saw something she had never seen before—something close to approval.

"Yukino." Her mother suddenly called to her in the same gentle tone she used to coax her into taking medicine when she was little. "Remember to come home for dinner this weekend. Your father will be very happy to hear the news."

Only after the sound of her mother's wooden sandals faded around the corner did Yukino collapse into Chen Tian's arms as if all the strength had been drained from her body. The hand clutching his collar was still trembling. "What did you... give my mother?"

Chen Tian smiled and kissed her damp forehead. "I didn't give her anything. Your mother simply saw things clearly."

He pointed toward the distant Yukinoshita estate. "She knows who can give the Yukinoshita Family more opportunities. And you,"

His finger slid down to rest against her heaving chest. "You'll stand by my side, together with Marin."

A rustle came from the bushes. Big Orange emerged and barreled straight into Yukino's skirt with its round body. Chen Tian bent down, picked up the fat cat, and placed it in Yukino's stiff arms. "A new member of the family. Please take care of it."

Yukino looked down at the purring orange cat in her arms and suddenly realized that something even more frightening than her mother's approval was taking root in her heart—a seed called "anticipation."

Value

Deep inside the Shinomiya Estate, the air in the Tea Room was as frozen as ice.

Shinomiya Kaguya sat upright in her chair, her back straight as a statue of ice.

Her usually flawless, delicate face was expressionless. Only her dark red eyes gleamed with a chilling light.

At that moment, Kaguya was completely under the control of the personality that had shed all its disguises: "Ice Kaguya."

Across from her, a man sat slouched casually on the Tatami.

His kimono hung loose, his bald head gleamed, and his carefully groomed mustache and goatee exuded a deliberately irreverent air.

He was the eldest son of the Shinomiya Family, Shikoku Kōkō, who held the reins of the family's vast business empire.

He seemed languid, but his eyes were like poison-tipped needles, pressing down on Kaguya with an invisible, crushing weight.

Kōkō leisurely picked up the delicate Sake Cup in front of him and drained it in one gulp.

The bottom of the cup tapped against the low table with a crisp sound, jarringly loud in the silent Tea Room.

He tilted his head slightly, a disturbing smile playing at the corner of his mouth. His gaze slithered over Kaguya's icy face like a sticky serpent's tongue.

"I'm saying... Kaguya, you invited that Mr. Chen Tian... three times? Four times? Why hasn't he accepted even once?"

He leaned forward slightly. The pressure beneath his casual demeanor suddenly intensified, but his smile only grew broader. "Is your charm... not enough? That's unlike my 'perfect genius' of a little sister, Kaguya."

Every word was a honey-coated blade, stabbing at the icy barrier Kaguya was determined to maintain.

The fingers of Kaguya's hands, resting on her knees, tightened slightly. She raised her eyes and met Kōkō's scrutinizing gaze head-on. Her voice was so calm it barely rippled, and carried an almost formal respect.

"Brother, you jest. Mr. Chen Tian has a busy schedule and his own considerations. Whether I'm charming or not isn't the deciding factor in whether he accepts an invitation. He'll decide for himself when to accept."

Her words were airtight, perfect as a script rehearsed a thousand times. But in her phrases "his own considerations" and "he'll decide for himself," there was a hint of distance,

and a faint, hidden irritation at being rejected—something even she herself did not yet fully understand.

Kōkō tilted his head even farther. His narrow eyes narrowed, gleaming with curiosity. His tone remained languid, but now carried an even deeper amusement.

"Oh? Is that so? A busy schedule... considerations..." He chuckled, his fingers tapping idly on the table. "But I heard that our wildly popular superstar has been enjoying quite a bit of 'leisure' lately."

He paused deliberately, savoring the slight stiffness beneath Kaguya's icy mask.

"That prickly girl from the Yukinoshita Family," Kōkō added slowly, "seems to be getting awfully close to him. Even that haughty woman, Kikuko, has been treating him with... rather excessive deference."

Kaguya's gaze sharpened at once, the chill beneath the ice roiling fiercely.

Her hands clenched on her knees.

Kōkō's words were like a cold key, instantly unlocking the emotions she had been forcing down—Yukino! Yukino Yukinoshita! And even her proud, sharp-tongued mother was treating Chen Tian...!

Ice Kaguya could barely keep the flames of jealousy, resentment, and wounded pride under control.

She forced herself to steady her breathing, her chest rising and falling slightly.

"Brother," she said, her voice still icy, but now with the faintest tremor—the first crack in the ice. "Who Mr. Chen Tian dates is his personal freedom. How the Yukinoshita Family conducts itself has nothing to do with the Shinomiya Family. As for Kaguya..."

Her red eyes fixed on Kōkō, sharp enough to pierce his false smile. She spoke each word deliberately.

"Kaguya is only responsible for conveying the family's goodwill. I have no right to interfere with Mr. Chen Tian's wishes, nor... any need to make baseless assumptions."

She spoke the last few words with unusual clarity, her pride stubbornly intact.

Kōkō's smile deepened, though a cold, calculating glint passed through his eyes.

Looking at his sister, seemingly forged from steel and ice, he had finally pried open a crack in her flawless mask.

He leaned back against the cushion, returning to his lazy posture as if the relentless pressure of a moment ago had never happened.

"Heh..." The calm atmosphere didn't last long. Kōkō broke it with a scornful chuckle.

"Say, Kaguya, do you know what resolution was passed at the Prime Minister's Official Residence today?" Kōkō picked up his cup and studied it as if he found some unique pattern on it fascinating.

Kaguya said nothing, her red eyes fixed on her brother, as cold as a venomous serpent.

Kōkō didn't seem to care. He set the cup back on the table and looked at Kaguya, his tone full of contempt. "That useless son-in-law of the Yukinoshita Family will become a prefectural assembly member in Chiba Prefecture next year."

Then he leaned his head against the back of his chair, gave a scornful laugh, and smacked his lips. "Tsk, tsk. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll have to respectfully call that useless son-in-law 'Assemblyman.'"

Kaguya frowned slightly. She knew about this. Yukino's father had run into trouble while campaigning for a seat in the Chiba Prefectural Assembly. Many people at odds with the Yukinoshita Family had been trying to cause problems for him.

So why had everything gone so smoothly this time?

Kōkō leaned his head back against the chair. A smile appeared on his lips, as though he was enjoying the confusion surging beneath Kaguya's icy mask.

"You really want to know the answer, don't you?"

He suddenly sat upright, his movement deliberately forceful. His eyes stabbed toward Kaguya like blades, and he lowered his voice. "Because of the Gojo Family! That transcendent Gojo Family!"

He spat out the name, then relaxed back into his seat, his face full of undisguised mockery and disdain. "The Gojo Family, which never meddles in those political affairs, actually stepped in this time! All for the sake of one measly seat in the prefectural assembly!"

He scoffed, picking up his cup and turning it between his fingers. "Ridiculous. You understand what this means, don't you? Even the big shots in the Diet, even the person at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, have to be polite and respectful when they meet someone from the Gojo Family!"

Kōkō sounded as though he were talking to himself, yet also as though he were bombarding Kaguya psychologically. "A family standing at the pinnacle of supernatural power, suddenly taking an interest in a prefectural assembly seat in Chiba... Heh. Interesting. Very interesting."

Kaguya's hands, resting on her knees, were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. Veins showed beneath her pale skin.

It wasn't because of the Yukinoshita assembly seat itself, but because of the weight behind the words "the Gojo Family"!

As a core member of the Shinomiya Family, she knew all too well the suffocating position the Gojo Family held in Japan's hidden world.

They stood apart from the world and rarely interfered directly in secular politics. Their power belonged to another, terrifying dimension!

For the Gojo Family to make an exception and step in... The power and connections behind it were no ordinary matter! It was certainly more than the Yukinoshita Family could command on its own!

Kōkō rolled his neck, as if sitting upright had made him uncomfortable. He deliberately pulled an exaggerated, comical face and, in a flippant tone, jeered, "And all of this, you know, is thanks to your beloved Chen Tian."