After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Metis's eagerness to try did not receive a response from Wakaba Muku.

She never intended to hurt anyone, even though there were some things she couldn't bring herself to say to Sōsei Nagasaki, which Sōko Toyokawa had asked her to tell.

But if having Metis do these things would deeply hurt Nagasaki Sose, then it's better to do it myself.

Things I don't want to do from the bottom of my heart, even just thinking about them, are so slow.

After Wakaba Mutsumi rejected Metis's proposal, the other three members of the band had already left the room.

For a moment, he was left alone with Nagasaki Sose, just like every time he had encountered her by the cucumber vines he had planted himself over the past year.

One was preoccupied with something, and the other was unwilling to speak; the atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.

"What's wrong, Xiao Mu? Didn't you have something to tell me? Well, I also have something I wanted to tell you."

In the end, it was Nagasaki Sase who took the initiative to speak.

Looking at the girl in front of her, who was as silent as ever but whose mental state seemed to belong to Wakaba Mutsu rather than Metis, the girl with azure blue eyes breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart.

Last time, Nagasaki Sase was really scared after realizing that Wakaba Mutsumi might no longer be Wakaba Mutsumi.

Friends who have gone their separate ways and missed each other may reunite, but if someone disappears altogether, the regret will likely become an indelible mark on your heart.

"Don't come looking for me again in the future."

Before Nagasaki Sosei could take the initiative to steer the conversation, Wakaba Mutsu spoke up quietly.

Her calm tone seemed to state a certain fact, making it unclear whether she was speaking from the heart or if she was in a difficult position.

"Don't bother Youyu anymore. Your presence is...very troubling for him."

In the end, he was unable to accuse anyone of anything too serious, and Wakaba Mutsu could even hear another version of himself laughing in his mind.

[Xiao Mu is such a fool. If Soyo would really give up because of such soft words, we wouldn't have been bothered by her for a whole year.]

"...Sure, but could you tell me why? It's true that Mr. Yu doesn't like me, but I think I can try to change his mind."

Nagasaki Sase's azure eyes turned serious for a moment, but he quickly narrowed them again.

He readily agreed, using a tone that suggested negotiation, but then threw the tricky problem back at Wakaba Mutsu.

"And Xiao Mu, why won't you let me come to you? Aren't we friends? And I still don't know... Xiao Mu, where did you move to after you ran away from home?"

Where do I live now...?

When this question was raised, Ruoye Mu's gaze instinctively darted away.

No matter how she explained, she knew perfectly well what kind of filter would be cast on the eyes of outsiders when a man and a woman of this age lived under the same roof.

So much so that if Toyokawa Yuu hadn't taken the initiative to bring Toyokawa Shoko to their home, she wouldn't have dared to tell Toyokawa Shoko where she was.

Naturally, it was even less likely that Nagasaki Sase would be told.

However, Nagasaki Sosei's voice did not stop despite Wakaba Mutsu's averted gaze.

The brown-haired girl stretched out her fingers and counted carefully, her expression becoming increasingly troubled.

“Since Xiaomu took leave, she has fallen behind in her studies. I originally wanted to go to your house to tutor you, but your mother said that Mr. Youyu took you away. Mr. Youyu is such a good person, he shouldn't do something to restrict your freedom, right? Or is it that…”

The deliberately sweet voice faded at that moment, and the smile on Nagasaki Sose's lips also disappeared.

"Would you mind telling me where you live now?"

After learning from Minami Mori that Mutsuka Wakaba had been taken away by Yuu Toyokawa and was no longer living at home, she had a suspicion in her mind.

In particular, after learning that this band called Ave Mujica had partnered with his mother.

She had heard from her mother that in the music industry, their company was just starting out and had no competitiveness against other related companies in Tokyo.

It's suspicious that such a popular band would approach his mother.

Unless, of course, the band that Yuu Toyokawa and Shoko Toyokawa belong to isn't as glamorous as it seems to outsiders, or they have ulterior motives.

Because it might involve her mother, she specifically investigated this popular band.

It was called an investigation, but for a female high school student, it was really just about searching for related rumors online. But she found some things that she had never paid attention to before.

168 billion...

The coincidental date, the enormous number, the commercial nature of the band... Nagasaki Sase quickly deduced something, and Wakaba Mutsumi's evasive attitude further confirmed her thoughts.

Although she did not want this idea to be proven true.

—If the engaged couple from the Toyokawa family were not well-off, it would be difficult to find a comfortable living area for the runaway Wakaba Mutsu that would match the Wakaba family's standards.

More likely, they simply didn't find her anywhere else, and she was probably just... settled nearby.

This is the fundamental reason why Nagasaki Sosei would rather put aside his obsession with Toyokawa Shoko than not get a clear answer from Wakaba Mutsumi.

"Xiao Mu, you...you're not living with Mr. You Yu, are you?"

Lowering her head, Ruo Yemu didn't know how to refute this question.

The meaning behind this attitude is self-evident.

"...Do you really know what you're doing? You're not going to school, letting Mr. Youyu take you away, running away from home while forming a commercial band...Does he really not have any bad intentions towards you?"

?????????

With a slight bite of his lip, Nagasaki Sase felt an urge to curse.

The young lady of Tsukinomori, the daughter of a family of entertainers, lives with a man of the same age, who even has a fiancée.

Doesn't Toyokawa Yuu, this "adult," know what the consequences would be if this got out?

"not like this."

What nonsense are you spouting!

Seeing Nagasaki Sase's certain expression, Wakaba Mutsu quickly spoke up to clarify, while Metis in her mind simply shouted angrily.

This two-faced girl could not tolerate Nagasaki Sose's slander against Toyokawa Yuu.

Suppressing her emotions, which were becoming somewhat out of control, and even wanting to directly seize control of her body to angrily rebuke Nagasaki Sose, Wakaba Mutsu didn't know how to explain the fact that they were living together, which the other party had already guessed. She could only start by talking about Toyokawa Yuu's character.

“Youyu is not only gentle and caring towards me like an older brother, but sometimes he is also as reliable as a father. He would never hurt me.”

His somewhat incoherent explanation caused Nagasaki Sase's face to darken.

Someone as reliable as a father...would never hurt you...

These words echoed in Nagasaki Sase's mind, tearing open a wound in his heart with a rambling, incoherent explanation.

Father... has never been a reliable thing.

With a dark expression, he looked at the golden-eyed girl who was trying her best to defend Toyokawa Yuu, completely disregarding his worries.

Nagasaki Sase took a few steps back, turned around, and left the room.

She could even say things like "a peer who is both an older brother and a father figure," so she knew she could no longer persuade Ruoye Mu.

Moreover, her two experiences at Asukayama had already made her understand.

Persuasion is useless.

"Xiao Mu..."

Before leaving, Nagasaki Sase turned around and took one last look at his former friend.

"You really don't know what it means to speak properly. You always make those kinds of noises that people don't want to hear."

Chapter 166 Sorry to keep you waiting.

In the restroom at the end of the floor, Yuu Toyokawa bent over the sink, the churning feeling in her stomach gradually subsiding with the act of dry heaving.

After turning on the tap and flushing the remaining traces in the pool down the drain, Toyokawa Yuu looked up at her somewhat pale face in the mirror, and even felt a little like laughing.

Is this... another form of socializing? Except that what was forcibly forced down her throat wasn't alcohol, but food that, in an objective sense, looked and smelled delicious, but in Toyokawa Yuu's mouth, was more difficult to swallow than poison.

But... I ate it.

Despite her reluctance, faced with Toyokawa Shoko's offer of food and the need to avoid being too impolite in front of her business partner, Toyokawa Yuu forced herself to swallow a few mouthfuls with a resolve almost stronger than when she set fire to the funeral parlor.

Of course, this was also partly because Toyokawa Shoko noticed that his expression was a bit off, so she immediately ate a few bites herself first.

On the contrary, Ms. Nagasaki seemed to be amused by this "intimate behavior between engaged couples" and gave a strangely ambiguous smile, as if she took the resistance on Toyokawa Yuu's face at the time as embarrassment and shyness.

In any case, the little incident caused by Nagasaki Sasuke's arrival should be considered over.

Yuu Toyokawa pulled out a tissue to wipe the water off her face, took a few deep breaths, and watched as her pale complexion gradually regained some color before turning and walking out of the restroom.

“I know you don’t like Soyo… but I didn’t expect you to react so strongly.”

Just as he stepped out of the restroom, his fiancée's voice drifted into Toyokawa Yuu's ears.

Toyokawa Shoko stood not far from the door, looking at her fiancé's face, which was no longer so pale. A hint of worry appeared in her amber eyes, but... unlike what Ms. Nagasaki had imagined in their private interactions, she didn't rush over to offer any comfort or concern.

She knew Toyokawa Yuu's attitude towards food.

But after what happened last time, they shouldn't be as resistant as before.

But when faced with the food brought by Nagasaki Sase, Toyokawa Shoko could sense that Toyokawa Yuu's disgust was far greater than ever before.

Sensing her fiancé's mood, Toyokawa Shoko didn't feed him much; most of the food ended up in her stomach.

She was just wondering why Toyokawa Yuu, who had clearly improved, was acting like this... Had something happened between the two of them?

“I hate her. Shouldn’t you be happy? At least there’s one less person like Xiao Mu who makes you jealous.”

She responded somewhat irritably to Toyokawa Shoko's words, as if she still harbored resentment towards the other party for feeding her earlier, and even directly pointed out some of her true thoughts.

The voice, which sounded like a complaint, made Toyokawa Shoko pause for a moment. She awkwardly looked away, but did not bring up the topic of Wakaba Mutsumi.

"If you hate Soyo's food so much, why didn't you just refuse me from the start?"

Toyokawa Shoko's eyes darted around; she knew she had made a mess of things.

Originally, I just wanted to show our intimate relationship in front of Ms. Nagasaki, an outsider, and assert my sovereignty over Yuu Toyokawa.

She was certainly able to maintain proper boundaries within the band, but as for what others thought... she didn't want Toyokawa Yuu's indulgence of Hachiman Kairin today to cause any unpleasant misunderstandings.

Even though she had long since stopped hiding her engagement, she still felt it wasn't enough; a strange possessiveness still lingered in her heart.

But she didn't expect that her actions would cause such discomfort to Toyokawa Yuu.

So why didn't you just reject me outright? I'm not the kind of person who has to watch you suffer.

Even if...

Recalling the feeling of feeding her fiancé in front of Ms. Nagasaki, Toyokawa Shoko gently placed her hand on her heart.

At that moment, she felt a subtle, yet irresistible joy and satisfaction.

Being able to display his ownership of Toyokawa Yuu in front of outsiders is certainly part of it, but more importantly...

When she realized that Yuu Toyokawa, despite feeling resistance and pain, did not refuse her actions, she felt an indescribable happiness.

She knew this was wrong; the relationship between an engaged couple shouldn't just be about tormenting each other. So she simply fed him a few times and then stopped.

Besides that, she was actually more curious as to why her fiancé didn't just reject her outright.

His gaze lingered for a moment on Toyokawa Shoko's slender, delicate hands, before Toyokawa Yuu finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth.

"Have I ever refused the food you fed me?"

Seeing the look of surprise and delight on Toyokawa Shoko's face after hearing her words, Toyokawa Yuu silently turned her head away, not letting her see her expression.

He had to be patient and accommodating, and he had to make Toyokawa Shoko love him from the bottom of her heart, instead of just having that strange dependence and possessiveness.

I have no way out. If a little bit of going against my conscience can make her develop in the direction I want, then even if I have to chew my tongue out, it's not a big deal.

"Since you hate Soyo, try not to have anything to do with her in the future. I've already asked Mu to warn her."

After a brief moment of elation, Toyokawa Shoko quickly calmed down, realizing that now was not the time to be complacent, but rather to share her arrangements for interpersonal relationships with the other party.

Since her fiancé dislikes Nagasaki Sase so much, her previous decision was undoubtedly correct.

When he heard that his fiancée had asked Wakaba Mutsu to warn Nagasaki Sōse, it was Toyokawa Yūyu who was slightly taken aback.

Does this kind of thing really have any real effect?

Rather, it might actually cause further injury to Wakaba Mutsu.

He was there when Metis clashed with Nagasaki Sosei in [RING] last time, and he knew that the troublesome guy's entanglement with Wakaba Mutsu over the past year had been too much of a burden for him.

Now that Metis is here, Toyokawa Yuu is not afraid that Wakaba Mutsumi will suffer a loss in front of Nagasaki Sase.

"It won't do any good. Nagasaki Sose's goal is you, not me. Contacting me is just a means for her to find you."