Sogo Doma felt insulted. That damned Hijikata actually dared to threaten him? Was there anyone in this world who could make him back down?
There was no such person! Wasn't it just helping the old man find another good match? Wasn't it just making Kaguya Shinomiya become a mistress?
What was there for him to fear?
"Emmm..." After yelling inwardly for a while about how he had never known what backing down meant, Sogo said seriously, "If that really doesn't work out, we can switch to Taihei. Don't get me wrong, I just think Taihei fits girls' standards better..."
"Does this count as chickening out?" Having finally caught Sogo's
"weakness," or rather, "opening," Toshiro the Tax Thief instantly emerged...
"How can this be called chickening out? How can family marriage alliances be called chickening out?" Naturally, Sogo Doma would never admit it. "Strictly speaking, I'm considering the bigger picture. A marriage alliance isn't making enemies..." He really wasn't backing down; he was merely afraid of trouble, that was all!
"Making enemies?" Before he could finish, Toshiro Hijikata looked utterly baffled. Not only Hijikata—even Utaha Kasumigaoka's eye twitched. The matter had not even begun, yet Sogo had already thought of making enemies?
For a moment, she did not even know how to mock him... In truth, Utaha Kasumigaoka had been holding herself back. Thanks to this country's "unspoken rules," where "male superiority and female inferiority" still existed, women had to show men respect and leave them some face once they stepped outside, even if they held considerable status at home... Of course, in this country, most women did not hold much status either at home or outside it. After all, Yamato nadeshiko and all that~!
"That's not what you said just now, Sogo." While Utaha Kasumigaoka endured in silence, Toshiro the