"Then thank you very much!"
Minamoto Mai Zuo bowed sincerely in thanks.
"Miss Fu Hua, you must have already noticed that Hikari likes you, right?"
"...?"
Fu Hua blinked, somewhat puzzled.
"I never expected Hikari to meet someone she liked so quickly. He even rejected the marriage arrangement I made for him because of you, Miss Fu Hua. He's reached the point where he refuses to marry anyone but you."
"????"
Fu Hua stared at Minamoto Mai Zuo as though she had seen a ghost, wondering if her ears were broken.
Th-that little guy liked her that much? She had not noticed at all! Was there some mistake? She had saved him, and instead of thinking about repaying her kindness by becoming her disciple, he wanted to marry...
"Still, hearing that you like her too puts me somewhat at ease."
"..."
Hey, hey, was that the kind of "like" she meant?
And besides...
"She?" In Japanese, "she" and "he" were different. Could it be...
"That's right. Minamoto Hikari has always been a girl. He simply never realized that he was female rather than male."
Before Fu Hua could ask, Minamoto Mai Zuo answered directly. His adorable son... had been a girl from childhood to adulthood. It was only because of the education he received from a young age... that he believed he was a boy.
"I have wronged him. I couldn't give him the life he was meant to have and instead needed him to obtain the position of young lord as a man and inherit the Minamoto clan."
Minamoto Mai Zuo had always felt deeply guilty toward his daughter. Because of his own selfish desires, he had set him on a life path that had never belonged to him.
"Why? Why did he have to pretend to be a