Tokyo Soft Rice King.

Then she pinched the back of Kuroba Akira's hand and said with a hint of reproach.

"I'm very curious. I want to know about your past, Mingjun, and I also want to know why Granny Kobayashi calls you 'Shiroko'. I want to know everything about you."

Don't even mention you, I'm curious myself... Kuroba Akira thought to himself.

Kuroba Akira said this while massaging Shion's absolute territory (touching her thigh).

"Actually, I was a little curious... but considering that your past experiences might not have been pleasant, I didn't press the issue."

"What a gentle and wise ruler..."

"Rather than saying I'm gentle, I'd say I feel the choice is yours. You can speak if you want, or not if you don't. I hope someone will listen to you, and I'll be your listener."

"Hmm... I think Father must have told you, Mingjun, today about the reason I ran away from home."

"No, he didn't. He also didn't tell me about your past, saying that your mother would tell me herself if she wanted to."

"Oh, I see. My father is very gentle... Compared to my two previous fathers, he's so much better..."

"Yes, although I only met him once, Uncle Hong is indeed a very responsible man."

"In that case, I will tell you about my past experiences from my perspective."

"I will listen carefully."

“Actually, when I was little, my family was a very ordinary family. My mother was a full-time housewife, and my biological father was an ordinary office worker. The three of us lived a very happy life... at least that's what I thought. Then one day, my biological father suddenly asked my mother for a divorce.”

"Why... do you have another woman outside?"

"Yes, that's the reason he filed for divorce, and my mother agreed. At the time, I couldn't understand why my parents could divorce so readily, as if all the happy days before were just an 'act'..."

In other words, the collapse happened in secret, without the children knowing.

But this was something that young Shion could not understand.

Why did her parents suddenly get divorced when everything seemed fine? She didn't understand, and that's why she couldn't let it go.

"And my mother remarried very quickly. It was as if she had erased all memories of her first husband from her mind. She turned around and married another man, and they acted just as loving as ever."

"Auntie probably did this to forget her previous man... although it seems a bit frivolous to you, Ziyin."

"At the time, I didn't understand at all, so I secretly went to see my biological father without my mother's knowledge. And guess where I met him, Mingjun?"

"Hmm? Could it be at his new house?"

"No... Actually, my biological father... became a monk."

"Huh?! He became a monk! What the heck! Has he seen through the illusions of the world?!"

“I was also very surprised. After pressing him repeatedly, I finally got the real reason for my parents’ divorce from his helpless expression. Actually, my biological father did not cheat on me. As I grew up, he could no longer treat me as his daughter. When he realized this, he could not bear to look at me with any other eyes than his daughter, so he decided to divorce my mother and become a monk.”

"Uh…"

Kuroba Akira suddenly understood why Shion's mother was afraid that Shion would steal her man.

No matter what, this kind of worry is a bit excessive. Being afraid just because the daughter is pretty seems a bit like paranoia.

But now we know the reason: it's because it 'has already happened once'.

"So actually, my mother lost her husband because of me, and the reason she readily accepted the divorce was because she knew that her husband no longer loved her."

"It's amazing that your aunt accepted it so readily..."

"At that time, I realized that my mother was love-struck. Since her husband no longer loved her, she thought she could just find another man who would love her."

"Well, I guess this is also a sign of inner strength..."

"However, it seems that my mother has no taste in men. Her second husband was a scumbag. He wanted to send me to sleep with a big shot in the entertainment industry so that I could make a name for myself... My mother refused and broke up with him."

"Great! Auntie did a wonderful job!"

Since she's not his biological daughter, he can just use her however he wants... What a bastard.

"After that, in order to raise me, my mother decided to stop relying on men and start working. That's when she met my current father, Mr. Kazuhiro Murasaki... He not only helped her get rid of her second husband who was still harassing her, but also accepted my mother and me. I am really grateful to him."

"Yes, I'm very grateful to him, otherwise I wouldn't have met you, Ziyin."

"Yes, my stepfather dotes on me and treats me like his own daughter, and I can tell he has no ulterior motives towards me..."

After all, he saw his own reflection in Ziyin, so he certainly wouldn't have any malicious intentions.

"To be honest, if I hadn't met my stepfather, I might have thought all men were bastards who only thought with their lower bodies, and I probably wouldn't have believed you, Mingjun, and left with you."

Wow! Thank you so much, father-in-law!

Not only did it cure Ziyin's mother's obsession with love, it also helped Ziyin regain her trust in men!

"But then that thing happened... My mother wanted to have my stepfather's child. She believed that the child was the crystallization of the love between husband and wife, but my stepfather didn't agree. He was probably worried that my mother was getting older and that having another child would put a lot of strain on her body. But in my mother's eyes, there was no 'guarantee'. As a result, she said that because she was jealous of me..."

As a mother, she said the one thing she should never have said to her own daughter.

“She cried and said to me, ‘If only I hadn’t been born…!’ That’s when I realized I had to leave this family.”

However, Akira Kuroba already knew that this was just a performance for Shion, and he believed that Shion's mother would not really have such thoughts.

“But after leaving home, I had nowhere to go… At that time, I even thought to myself, it would have been better if I had never been born.”

"That's not true."

"I know, I don't think that way anymore..."

Ziyin closed her eyes and smiled happily.

"I am so lucky to have been born into this world, to have met a wise ruler, to have fallen in love with a wise ruler, and to have things I want to do..."

"I'm glad you understand..."

"So, Mingjun, I want to see my mother. I want to tell her in person that I have someone I like."

"Yes, I'll go with you. Let's find some time to go see her together later."

"Hmm... I like you the most, Myungjun."

"So...would you like a reward?"

"Is that okay? I've only gotten the role... I haven't earned any money yet?"

“I want to reward you. I want to reward you every time you succeed, because that’s a reward for me too.”

"But if that's the case... I really won't be able to live without you, Myo-jun, will I?"

"Then just don't leave."

"That's true... So I'm really going to cling to you like this for 'a lifetime'?"

"Just to my liking."

'I want Ziyin to always love you…'

Okay, I will.

No matter how heavy your feelings are, or how suffocating your love may be, I will accept them all.

I won't let you break, Shion.

Chapter 277 My Exclusive Angel of Comfort

Immediately after the cultural festival comes the tense and exciting... midterm exams!

At the end of October, the midterm exams for the second semester were approaching.

Originally, this had nothing to do with Kuroba Akira, who didn't study, but he was begged and warned by Kobayakawa-sensei that if he continued like this, he would definitely have to come to school for make-up classes during the winter break, and Kobayakawa Motoko, who was his homeroom teacher, would also have to come to school with him.

Because Kuroba Akira already had a 'previous record', when he first transmigrated in the first half of the year, he didn't even have a language system, let alone high school knowledge, so he was helpless when it came to exams and ended up failing several subjects.

So during the summer vacation, Akira Kuroba actually came to "stay in jail" for two weeks. However, since Akira Kuroba came to the school library every day anyway, coming to catch up on lessons was just a side thing.

However, Kuroba Akira doesn't want to go to jail again this winter break. Even if there's nothing to do, he doesn't want to come to school, so he can only start cramming for exams now.

Of course, it's impossible to get him to study diligently. After all, the catch-up isn't just half a semester's worth of knowledge, but rather making up for all the previous foundational knowledge... then what's the point of studying!

If there were any cheating-related talents, Kuroba Akira would definitely borrow them, but unfortunately, he hasn't seen any cheating-related talents, so here we'll have to borrow the talents of the class president and Shiori.

With an A in academic ability and a B in memory, I can improve my memorization skills. Then I can ask the class monitor to outline the exam scope for me. After that, I can memorize all the questions that I can answer by rote memorization. That should be enough to pass the exam.

Because the passing score for exams in Japan is not 60 points, but 33 points, and there are quite a few multiple-choice questions, it's not difficult at all if you have normal intelligence and are willing to spend more time.

Although passing with a low score is quite embarrassing in Hibiya High School, a high school with a strong emphasis on college entrance exams, and Kuroba Akira is expected to be ranked last when the results are released, in stark contrast to the class president who is ranked first, he doesn't care. As long as he passes, that's all that matters.

During lunch with the class monitor, Kuroba Akira asked her to help him with his studies, and the class monitor readily agreed.

"I understand. I will tutor Mingjun. Let's go to the club together after school."

"Oh, this is a great help."

"This is what I should do, come on~ ah~"

"what……"

Kuroba Akira ate the food being fed to him, but he felt something was off. It was a lovingly prepared bento box made by the class monitor, but it tasted like cardboard.

The main issue is that when he woke up in the morning, he was still holding Ziyin in his arms, and now he's at school acting like a loving couple with the class monitor, which creates a strange sense of distance between them.

It's like being at a lively party and feeling like an outsider, with the laughter and joy around you seemingly separated by a pane of glass, making it impossible to truly connect with others.

Akira Kuroba felt that this was most likely a mental barrier he had erected to prevent his own heart from collapsing.

People will find a legitimate reason for themselves when they do bad things; this is actually an instinctive form of self-protection.

Just then, Anri Hitomi suddenly leaned close to Kuroba Akira and asked a question.

"My wise ruler, does being with me make you feel uncomfortable?"

"what?!"

The class monitor's question almost made Kuroba Akira's heart stop, but when he turned to look at her, he saw not sadness or grief on her face, but a caring smile.

Kuroba Akira scratched his cheek and said something he didn't mean.

No...

"Don't lie to me, I can tell, and I'm the only one who will 'absolutely stand by your side, Myeongjun,' so you don't need to worry about my feelings. Just tell me your 'true feelings,' okay?"

Even if you say that…

Aren't we dating in secret?

Do you expect me to tell the class monitor that I was hugging another woman this morning?