"Touma's mistress..." Lady Umaru gave an awkward laugh but did not say it aloud. After all, Kousei Arima seemed to hold Youko Touma in great esteem. If he found out that Onii-chan had talked her daughter into admitting she was a mistress, then...
"You mean Sogo-kun's standing in the music world is comparable to Youko Touma's?" Utaha Kasumigaoka was somewhat surprised. Though she believed her Sogo-kun lost to no one when it came to performing—and that piece he played in the little dark room was even more... Well, never mind that, but...
This was a country where seniority mattered enormously!
Even though she had written a book that sold several million copies, she still would not dare claim she could stand on equal footing with senior writers whose sales were lower than hers...
And that was one reason she could not refuse when Enako asked her to serve as a judge for the Houbun Competition. Though she complained about being treated as free labor, Utaha Kasumigaoka understood that her editor had asked her to be a judge for her own sake. With those credentials, even if her work slipped a little in the future, no one would look down on her.
"Eh, although Doma-senpai did study under Touma-sensei before, but..."
That made it even more impossible! In a country where seniority mattered so much, how could a disciple possibly surpass their master? Even if the disciple was somewhat more talented, those old fossils would never acknowledge it. After all...
"But Touma-sensei herself said that Doma-senpai had surpassed her long ago..."
Modesty. That had to be modesty, perhaps even...
"That statement was also acknowledged by many people in the music world..."
"Come to think of it, Touma-sensei only attained her current status because she taught Doma-senpai..."
Yukino Yukinoshita: "..."
How could