(All characters in this book are over 18.)
Study,
"Brother Sakayanagi, what brings you to call me today?"
Yun Shen, the current head of the Yun family, was surprised to hear from an old friend he hadn't seen in years. His friend was usually busy with the affairs of that so-called Advanced Nurturing University of his and didn't have time to call.
"It's like this. I was thinking your child will be starting high school soon, and wondered if my humble school might be lucky enough to welcome your son."
"Brother Sakayanagi, you're joking. I can't make that decision for him. It's mainly up to the boy himself. How about this? I'll ask him later."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Yun Shen hung up.
Yun Lan was adored by everyone in the family. No one could force him to do anything—not even his father, Yun Shen.
That affection wasn't only because Yun Lan was a once-in-a-century genius. It was also because he had passed the family's trials and earned the clan's full approval as its young master.
If Yun Shen dared tell Yun Lan he had to attend Advanced Nurturing High School just to do his Uncle Sakayanagi a favor,
then that night, the older generation and his wife, Xia Yue, would be coming after him with canes to see what he was made of.
Yun Shen took a sip of the steaming tea on his desk and thought for a moment. Then, having made up his mind, he rose and left the study.
"Master."
The old butler, who had been waiting outside, saw Yun Shen emerge from the study and immediately bowed, one hand over his chest.
"Has Madam returned?" Yun Shen gazed at the scenery outside the window and asked calmly.
"Master, Madam has just returned."
"Ask her to come here. Tell her I have something important to discuss with her."
Xia Yue had just come back from shopping and hadn't had a chance to rest when the old butler told her that her husband wanted to see her.
She walked into the study and saw her husband leisurely sipping hot tea. Irritation flared inside her.
"I hope this is important. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to make you sleep on the sofa tonight."
Yun Shen gave an awkward laugh and hurried to placate his wife.
"Dear, didn't you arrange a fiancée for Lan'er years ago?"
"I did. Is there a problem? Yukinoshita Yukikiyo helped me so much when I was traveling somewhere unfamiliar all those years ago."
Xia Yue answered with a sigh.
Yun Shen continued, "Here's the situation. Brother Sakayanagi hopes Lan'er will attend his high school. And Yukikiyo's husband passed away a few years ago, didn't he? Her family is in a difficult situation. I thought Lan'er could go to school in Japan and help them out while he's there."
Xia Yue thought it over, then agreed.
"That works. It'll give Lan'er a chance to settle the romantic debts he left behind in Japan. I don't mind having a few more daughters-in-law, as long as Lan'er has what it takes."
"Romantic debts? What are you talking about?" Yun Shen asked curiously.
"One of those romantic debts began when Lan'er was about ten. I took him on a trip to Japan, remember? He was buying water when he saw a pink-haired girl about his age stealing a hair clip. Lan'er didn't expose her. He bought it for her and gave it to her, then gently talked her through it. The girl even added him as a contact."
"You've agreed, so I'll call him over and ask what he thinks," Yun Shen said, taking a sip of tea.
"Then I'll let Yukikiyo know first." Xia Yue went out to make a call.
Yun Lan was a transmigrator. After the system loaded Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's peak template into him, it fell dormant. He had spent the past ten-odd years getting used to the template, and now he had finally completed the process.
The old butler summoned Yun Lan to his father's study.
"Young Master, Master is inside." The old butler opened the door and stepped aside respectfully.
"Lan'er, have you decided which university you want to attend?"
"Any of them is fine. I don't mind where I go."
With Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's template, Yun Lan didn't even need to go to school.
"Then... how about Advanced Nurturing High School? Your Uncle Sakayanagi wants you to study there."
Yun Shen got straight to the point.
"Is that what Uncle Sakayanagi wants? Sure, I agree. I'd like to see what this school is like—the one rumored to have a hundred-percent employment rate for its graduates."
Yun Shen let out a long breath of relief. Then he contacted Sakayanagi to let him know and prepared to enroll his son.
Chiba Prefecture, the Yukinoshita Residence.
Yukinoshita Yukikiyo called her eldest daughter, Yukino Yukinoshita, over.
"You actually have a fiancé. He'll be coming to Japan for high school soon, so you should get to know him and build a relationship. He's the young master of the Yun family in China. His mother and I are friends, which is why the engagement was arranged."
Mother Yukinoshita spoke calmly.
"The Yun family? The family that controls fifty percent of the global economy?"
Yukino asked in surprise.
"If you really can't bring yourself to like him," her mother continued, her voice steady and clear, as if reading out an asset valuation, "I'll consider letting Yukino give it a try."
Yukino's back was perfectly straight. The flawless smile of the Yukinoshita family's eldest daughter had settled into place as if by instinct. Only she knew that the palm of her hanging hand had been marked with several crescent-shaped indentations from her nails, before she forced her fingers to relax. Again and again. Clenching was instinct; letting go was decorum.
"You understand our family's situation, too." Her mother set down the celadon teacup in her hand. It made a faint sound, yet seemed as final as a verdict.
Her mother had brought up Yukino. Her younger sister, quiet as moonlight and fragile as fresh snow. Let Yukino "give it a try"? Yukino could almost picture her lowering her eyes, long lashes trembling, before finally nodding softly. She would comply, then fold away all her confusion and hurt and tuck them into some corner of her heart, slowly freezing herself into someone even quieter.
That thought stung Yukino more sharply than the prospect of accepting the arrangement herself.
So she smiled. The smile bloomed across her delicate face, bright and radiant, with a touch of her usual carefree teasing. Deep in her eyes, though, a glimmer quietly went out and sank into the depths.
"Mother makes it sound as if I'm being unreasonable and throwing a tantrum," Yukino said lightly, without a trace of hesitation. "Mr. Yun is a promising young man from a distinguished family. So many people would do anything for a match like this. I just... need some time to adjust."
She stepped forward twice, her bearing impeccable, and personally refilled her mother's half-cooled tea. Steam rose between them, briefly obscuring their view of each other.
"As for Yukino," Yukino looked up. Her smile remained unchanged, but her voice had a soft, velvety edge beneath which lay an unmistakable firmness. "She's timid, and she's in a crucial school year. We shouldn't bother her with this. I'm the eldest daughter, so it's only natural that I should 'understand' the Yun family's situation."
She spoke the word "understand" lightly, yet made it sound weighty.
Mother Yukinoshita looked at her, her gaze like an ancient well, deep and unfathomable. There was neither approval nor disapproval in it, as if she were simply weighing the quality and cost of this show of "good sense." After a long while, she gave a barely audible "Hmm," then picked up a document beside her.
Yukino kept her perfect smile as she bowed and took her leave. The moment she turned around, the light drained from her face like the tide going out, leaving only a calm, unfathomably pale emptiness. She knew she had just shut with her own hands the door called "self"—a door that might never have existed in the first place.
The corridor was long, covered in thick carpet that swallowed every footstep. She walked on, her silhouette like a bamboo stalk bent beneath the weight of snow and wind, yet stubbornly pointing toward the sky.
Some burdens were destined to be carried by someone. Since she was Yukino Yukinoshita, then she had to be the one to carry it. She could only be the one.
Meanwhile, in the principal's office at Advanced Nurturing High School,
Sakayanagi had received Yun Shen's answer and let out a long sigh. He silently studied a document on his desk. The White Room's finest creation?
"I went to a lot of trouble for this school, all so I could bring someone in to keep you in check."
A gust of wind blew the document to the floor.
The document read—Ayanokoji Kiyona.
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