The study, Toyotomi Clan Grounds.
Winter sunlight filtered through the gaps in the window lattice, scattering flecks of light across the floor. The charcoal fire burned brightly, driving away the lingering morning chill. Sakura Haruno sat in a guest chair beside the desk, holding a cup of hot tea without drinking it. Her eyes kept straying toward Toyotomi Yinglang, who was reading files across from her, but she hesitated to speak.
Since that night, her position within these clan grounds seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
The servants looked at her with a little more respect, and Liuli's attitude toward her had shifted from scrutiny to a teasing sort of closeness. Yet she herself still did not know where she stood.
A maid? A disciple? Or... she did not dare think about it.
After a moment of silence, she finally gathered her courage and ventured, "Yinglang... big brother."
Even she found the address awkward. Calling him "my lord" felt too distant, while simply calling him "Yinglang" seemed insufficiently respectful. She had heard Liuli call him "Yinglang" in private, naturally and with the casual ease of an old married couple. But she could not do that. Her relationship with him was nowhere near that point.
Toyotomi Yinglang looked up from his files and glanced at her calmly. "Hmm?"
"You..." Sakura Haruno hesitated. "How old are you this year?"
The question had lingered in her mind for a long time. His conduct, his cunning and methods, and that night... that practiced command of everything had all made her think he was at least in his twenties. Sometimes, she even felt he was more inscrutable than many veteran ninja in their thirties or forties.
Toyotomi Yinglang set down the files and leaned back in his chair, the faintest hint of a smile