Asuna had already gotten out of the birdcage, so she was now able to log out of the game.
She opened the system interface in midair and left the game with Yui, returning to the real world.
In the real world, Asuna woke up normally as well.
She raised her hand and looked at how thin and withered it had become from prolonged malnutrition. Then she touched her cheeks, which were visibly sunken...
[Would Akasaka...]
[Would he still like me like this?]
The instant Yui woke up, she hurried into Asuna's hospital room and threw herself into Asuna's arms.
"Mother!"
Asuna gently stroked the person in her arms, her face brimming with motherly affection. The only people she ignored were the mother and father in the hospital room.
Asuna's parents both wore bitter expressions.
The first person their daughter wanted to be close to after waking up was not her biological parents, but an adopted child. As her father and mother... they could not help but feel bitter.
Asuna had nothing to say to these two parents.
Ever since she was young, they had arranged every aspect of her life perfectly—even choosing her marriage partner for her.
Even if Asuna did not like it, she could only accept it obediently.
Because she was a woman.
In Japan's social circles, women held very little status.
If a family had no male heir to inherit the family business, they would find a live-in son-in-law as a replacement.
That was exactly what had happened with Yukinoshita Yukino's father.
In the future, Yukinoshita Haruno would do the same, finding a live-in son-in-law to inherit the family business.
Or perhaps to serve as a puppet.
With Haruno's methods, even after getting married, the real power would probably still remain in her hands.
Just like with