At Ichiraku Ramen, the dim yellow light spread a warm glow through the deep-night chill.
It was already late, and only two members of the Hyuga Clan sat on the bench. Yet... the stack of empty bowls on the table was almost touching the hanging lantern.
"Th... the twelfth bowl."
Ayame's hand trembled slightly as she held the order board. She watched Teuchi set a bowl of miso char siu ramen in front of Hinata Hyuga. The girl shyly lowered her head, yet deftly twirled noodles around her chopsticks.
Day after day, the Taiwan Novel Network has a vast collection. Read whatever you like at .
Hyuga Kiyonari silently counted the bill.
A bowl of char siu ramen cost 85 ryo, and adding an egg cost another 8. But "adding an egg" here usually meant a marinated egg, and only half of one. A fried egg cost 15, while a bottle of cola also cost only 15.
That alone was enough to show that Ichiraku Ramen's prices were on the high side, but Teuchi's skill more than made up for it.
He felt the three thousand ryo he had "earned" that afternoon inside his clothes and couldn't help feeling relieved. He hadn't expected young Hinata to already have such an impressive appetite.
"Another bowl of char siu ramen, with bamboo shoots and half an egg."
He calmly added to the order, sneaking a glance at Hinata as she cradled her bowl and sipped the broth in small mouthfuls. Her cherry-colored lips carefully avoided the steam rising from the rim.
She could still eat more, but the girl would surely be too embarrassed to ask for it herself.
When the fourteenth bowl was set down, Hinata suddenly stopped eating and pressed her hands together in front of her nose.
"Thank you for the meal... This really is enough after this bowl."
Hyuga Kiyonari counted out the exact amount and handed it to Ayame. Then he rested his chin on one hand and looked down with some curiosity. After fourteen bowls of ramen, Hinata's stomach had only bulged a little.
As if noticing his gaze, Hinata turned slightly to the other side and sucked in her stomach.
On the way back, the snow fell a little harder, dusting their shoulders with soft flakes.
In the dim glow of a streetlamp, Hinata said quietly, "Sorry for the trouble."
Kiyonari shook his head slightly. "It's fine. My life may be a little tight, but I'm not so hard up that I'd worry over this much."
"Next time... let me treat you. How about yakiniku?"
"Then I'll look forward to it."
Just then, she looked at his profile. Her gaze traveled upward and finally stopped at his forehead.
"How... do you feel about this?"
"The Caged Bird Seal?" Kiyonari answered frankly. "I look at it with my eyes. How else?"
It was a silly answer, but Hinata understood the joke.
For most branch family members, the Caged Bird was a mountain weighing them down—a mountain placed on their shoulders when they were only three or four, one they had no way to resist. Rather than spend every day fretting and lamenting, they might as well accept their fate and make peace with it.
But that wasn't what Hinata wanted to hear. She knew, too, that Kiyonari wasn't someone who blindly followed convention.
"The branch family members clearly all—"
"Lady Hinata," Kiyonari interrupted her. "Do you think their grievances are really because of the seal itself?"
"I've heard about Neji and Lord Hizashi, too. But what I want to say is that a genius like Neji is rare. Most of the branch family are ordinary people like me."
"For us, the Caged Bird does serve to protect us. The slight distortion in our vision caused by the seal is something we can accept. What everyone resents... has never been the seal itself."
In a flash, Hinata remembered that question again: What exactly had killed Hyuga Hiashi?
She had thought the answer was the Caged Bird Seal. Now she wondered if the real cause lay deeper, and if the divide between the branch and main families had begun much earlier.
For most members of the branch family, the Caged Bird had some positive value. But what about the Main Family?
"Does the Main Family really need the Caged Bird?"
Hinata couldn't help murmuring the question aloud. It was as if she were asking Kiyonari, yet also asking herself.
Kiyonari tilted his head back to look at the moon and sighed. "I'm not part of the Main Family. How would I know? I'm afraid... only you, Lady Hinata, can find the answer."
"Me?" Hinata lowered her head, unconsciously twisting her sleeve between her fingers. "You believe in me that much, even though I can't even..."
Her voice cut off. A black notebook with a gilt cover suddenly surfaced in her mind. She might not be able to do it alone, but if she used that...
"I believe in you because you're already thinking about this, aren't you?"
At that moment, Hyuga Kiyonari's voice suddenly grew solemn, a rare earnestness in every word.
Rather than saying Hyuga Hizashi hated the Main Family and the Caged Bird because he had seen Hyuga Neji's extraordinary talent, it would be more accurate to say he hated that he wasn't part of the Main Family. He, and all of them, resented the fact that they weren't the ones standing above everyone else and giving orders.
They didn't hate the system itself. They hated the Hyuga Main Family. Even if they rebelled, nothing would change. After all... no matter who held the rope, the rope would still be there.
Neji Hyuga's experience had already proven that, under the Caged Bird's control, the branch family could do nothing but stew in resentment. If anything was to change, the Main Family itself had to make it happen. Hadn't Hyuga Hiashi done just that?
It was no exaggeration to say that if Hinata could break free from her old way of thinking, she would become the savior of the entire branch family. She was the only one in the whole Hyuga Main Family so kind—so kind that she was almost naive.
"We're here."
Kiyonari suddenly stopped. The streetlamp ahead illuminated the sign above the Main Family estate's gate. "See you tomorrow."
"Mm, see you tomorrow!" Hinata nodded firmly, as if making a promise.
After saying goodbye, Hyuga Kiyonari eagerly opened the system and began reviewing his rewards.
[Act One: Meeting in the Snow] [Completion: Complete] [Rating: C] [Evaluation: Although the script was brief, the leads' excellent performances still brought its content to life, making their first meeting restrained yet moving. As the opening of a series, this act has fulfilled its purpose.] [Calculating...] [Correction Points gained: 100. Keep up the good work.]
A C rating was within expectations.
The script was short, lacked grand set pieces, and had virtually no plot twists. To stay true to his character, Kiyonari had also kept his own role quite restrained, only hinting at many things.
There were flaws, and there were limitations, but overall, Hyuga Kiyonari was quite satisfied.
After looking into it, he found that there was already a lot he could do with these hundred Correction Points.
For example, he could erase the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead. But that would only make him stand out, without offering any real benefit. Besides, his current situation wasn't urgent, so he could invest those Correction Points elsewhere.
Turn Hinata into a genius, too?
Perhaps not a genius in the truest sense, but a hundred Correction Points would be more than enough to help her master a certain skill quickly and become a "genius" in people's eyes.
Or... he could bring in a new lead.
Before you continue