Keeping It Secret? Spotted!

Since he had been recognized so often lately, Natsume Chikage had put even more care than usual into his disguise today.

Unless someone stared at him closely, they would at most think he was a rather handsome passerby. They would never connect him to Natsume Chikage himself.

As long as he was not recognized, he was satisfied.

But the longer Matsuo Yuka looked at him, the more her heart fluttered.

She even felt that Natsume Chikage in disguise was incredibly handsome too.

Rather, seeing him like this gave her a fresh, novel feeling.

It was as though she had glimpsed another side of Natsume Chikage—a side she normally never got to see.

For some reason, her heartbeat quickened by several beats.

Soon, the two of them arrived outside Shimizu Bookstore.

The moment they got there, they noticed that the entrance was packed with readers.

The line was incredibly long, stretching from the entrance all the way to the end of the street. Even after turning a corner, its tail could still be seen.

Matsuo Yuka stood there with her mouth open for a moment. "Why are there so many people—could they all be your readers, Natsume?"

Natsume Chikage shook his head. "Probably not. You know my classmate Yukimura Suzune, right? She's a very capable author herself. Her new book is going on sale on the same day as mine, so some of them are probably her readers."

"Oh, right. I really did forget about that."

Matsuo Yuka patted her forehead.

Her mind had been entirely occupied by Natsume Chikage's Snow Country, and she had completely forgotten about the publisher's other bestselling author.

Yukimura Suzune was known as the genius literary girl of the Reiwa Era.

Her work Cicada Shower had won a major award like the Gunzo New Writers Award.