Chapter 248: I'll Never Be Able to Marry Now!
"Onii-sama?"
Ayaka's senses were sharp, and she instantly caught on to her brother's unease.
"Why don't you show your flower arrangement to old Madam Furuta as well?"
Ayato waved a hand lightly, pretending nothing was wrong, then lowered his gaze to resume the pile of paperwork he had left unfinished.
But his words made Ayaka pause in surprise.
Madam Furuta, the Kamisato clan's housekeeper, had served three generations of clan heads. She was the most senior retainer in the Yashiro Commission.
Yet… didn't she have nothing to do with ikebana? Why would her opinion matter here…?
And then—through that instinctive bond that only siblings shared—Ayaka understood. Without another word, she gathered up her flower arrangement and left the study.
When she returned a short while later, Ayato had already scoured every corner of the room, ensuring that not a single blue wildflower remained.
"Onii-sama… what's going on?"
"Look at this."
He didn't launch into an explanation right away. Instead, he handed her the photograph.
"This is…"
Ayaka's fan snapped open to cover her lips, the gesture of a noblewoman masking her surprise.
Because the truth was… she had been secretly raising this very kind of wildflower.
All her elegant talk of aesthetic philosophy earlier? That was just cover. In truth, she had simply seen a group of ordinary girls outside the city tending to flowers, and a thought had struck her:
'Why shouldn't I, too, try something so simple and girlish?'
After all, she was always "Lady Ayaka"—the refined Shirasagi Himegimi. There were so many things "Lady Ayaka" was not supposed to do.
"…This photograph came from the Guuji herself."
Seeing her reaction, Ayato was certain now—these blossoms Ayaka had been hiding away were the very same forbidden wildflowers.
So he explained everything. The Guuji's warning. The Ausbilder's strange authority. His own firsthand encounter.
But the more he spoke, the stranger Ayaka's expression grew. Awkward. Flustered. Even… guilty.
Could it be…?
"That… Onii-sama, you mean… these flowers are the Ausbilder's eyes and ears?"
"I cannot yet say if he can see through them. But I am certain of this much—he can hear through them. And what's more, he can use them to travel across Inazuma at will."
This, he knew from experience.
The moment he finished, Ayaka's entire face turned crimson. Steam seemed to rise from the top of her head.
"…You didn't… do or say anything too… inappropriate in front of them, did you?"
His voice wavered with unease.
Ayaka's fan snapped higher, covering her face completely. If not for the fact that her brother was standing before her, she might have bolted from the room on the spot.
For the truth was this: as the eldest daughter of the Kamisato clan, as the Yashiro Commission's princess, Ayaka had been raised since childhood to embody grace and propriety. Every detail of her life was governed by etiquette.
Yet deep down, what she longed for most… was to laugh, to play, to be a girl as ordinary as those she sometimes glimpsed in the city streets.
At night, alone in her room, she shed the mantle of the perfect noble lady. It was in those moments that her true self slipped out.
And after raising these little wildflowers… she had taken to confiding in them. Pouring out her secrets, her frustrations, her dreams.
In just a handful of days, she had told them nearly everything.
Now, the thought struck her like a bolt of lightning.
'If the Ausbilder truly heard all that…!'
'I'll never be able to marry now!!'
Ayato: "…"
"…As for this ability to travel anywhere at will," he muttered faintly, "Sayu has mentioned something similar before."
To ease his sister's embarrassment, Ayato deliberately shifted the conversation, steering it toward the intelligence Sayu had brought back.
That child had been under the Ausbilder's wing for quite some time, yet the information she carried home was frustratingly sparse. Still—there were bits of value.
For instance…
"No matter how far I run, no matter how fast, he always shua—pa—yaa! drops down from the sky and smashes my head into the dirt!"
"Clan Head, that man is a complete sadist! He clearly has the ability to grab me the instant I run, but he just lets me keep going, all the way until I nearly reach the ship. Then—wham! He comes crashing down, snatches me, and drags me back! He may not have tortured my body, but my heart? My heart is traumatized! I need a leave of absence—I need rest!"
That was what Sayu had confessed to him during one of their talks.
At first, Ayato had thought it no more than a child's excuse—her way of evading responsibility, afraid he might scold her.
But now… looking back, it seemed painfully real.
Even Sayu, with her mastery of escape and concealment, was utterly outclassed by the Ausbilder's strange authority.
Especially when he recalled her second point.
Yes, perhaps the Ausbilder did have a twisted streak, toying with her this way. But the fact he never acted immediately… it must have been because the little blue flowers weren't nearby at first.
Only once she strayed into an area where they grew did he swoop down and seize her.
And Sayu had told him something else, too.
Once, she had asked him directly why he always caught her.
His reply had been maddeningly simple:
"Because you always run toward the ship."
Just a short remark, but one that betrayed his greatest weakness.
He had intended it as mockery—chiding her lack of imagination. But didn't it also imply… that there were flowers planted near the Shuumatsuban's ships?
Yes. That had to be it.
"…Onii-sama, should I… dispose of the flower now?"
Ayaka's hands trembled around her fan. She wanted nothing more than to cast those blossoms away immediately. What had once been a girl's innocent pastime had now become her worst nightmare.
"Not yet. If we act rashly, it will only alert him."
From today's encounter, Ayato was certain—the Ausbilder did not yet know that the Guuji and he had uncovered the truth of his authority.
If they destroyed the flowers too soon, it would raise his suspicions.
But seeing his sister's pained expression, Ayato knew leaving things as they were would only torment her further.
Then… perhaps…
After a moment's thought, he beckoned her closer, leaning in to whisper a plan into her ear.
"Onii-sama… is this really… okay?"
Ayaka clutched her fan tightly, her face tinged with unease.
"Don't worry. This is the perfect solution."
Ayato rubbed at his temples. In truth, he wasn't sure himself if it was "perfect"—but it was the best he could come up with.
Ten minutes later, a Yashiro Commission deputy rode out from the estate atop the Commissioner's own prized steed, galloping at full speed.
The factions secretly watching the Kamisato household immediately sprang into motion, their networks whirring as they scrambled to discover the reason for such urgency.
Yet in the end, the truth left them baffled.
For all their efforts, they discovered that what had been sent out at such haste was… a single flower arrangement.
A simple ikebana piece.
And the recipient? None other than Thoma, currently "on business" at Ritou.
The official explanation: Lady Ayaka, wishing to thank Thoma for his devoted service, had gifted him her latest work.
The spies could only shake their heads. So this is the extravagance of the great clans…
And so the matter was set aside, unheeded.
. . . . .
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