The door opened again.
This time no older man entered with attendants and formal gifts. A single young woman stepped into the office. She moved with quiet, controlled steps, shoulders straight, posture balanced in a way that immediately caught Minato's attention.
There was training in the way she carried herself—disciplined, but not rigid. Her body was athletic without being overly muscular; lean strength showed in the clean lines of her arms and the steady way she placed her feet.
Minato's gaze sharpened with interest.
Mikasa noticed the change in his expression at once. A familiar, faintly resigned thought passed through her mind. Another one. She had seen this reaction before. She had felt it herself.
Minato had a way of looking at a woman that made resistance feel temporary. He was skilled at everything that mattered in that regard—conversation, presence, and especially the more physical ways of making a woman forget her own arguments.
Even after marriage, even after telling herself she would keep her distance, she had eventually given in. This girl, who clearly had far less experience, would not last long.
Mikasa could not even bring herself to blame her. It was simply what happened around him.
The young woman stopped a proper distance from the desk and bowed.
"Lord Minato. My name is Cha Hae-In. I have come to request that you take me as your concubine."
The directness of the statement made the room quieter for a moment. Minato's face remained composed, almost stoic, though something attentive settled behind his eyes. Internally he was pleased by the straightforward approach, but he gave no outward sign of it.
"Why?" he asked. "Most people who come here offer daughters as political gifts. You are offering yourself. I want your actual reason."
Cha Hae-In kept her head lowered for a second longer, then raised it and met his gaze cleanly.
"Previously I was engaged to the twenty-third son of the former Daimyo. That engagement ended with his death. I know my father will arrange another match soon—someone who can bring him status and advantage. When I asked him who he had in mind, he showed me the man.
He is the same type as the previous one: soft, idle, always surrounded by women and parties, with no real responsibilities. I told my father I refused to marry someone like that.
Then I asked him whether becoming your concubine would be an acceptable alternative. He agreed immediately.
He said if I could manage it, it would benefit our family greatly, and I would avoid the marriage he had planned."
She bowed again, deeper this time, a full ninety degrees.
"So I am here to request it directly."
Minato studied her.
"You say you do not want that man because he is not a good person. What makes you believe I am any better? I already have multiple women. I am still accepting more. In that respect, how am I different from him?"
Cha Hae-In did not hesitate.
"You may not be a good man."
At those words, Mikasa's mouth twitched. A small, almost invisible smile appeared before she could stop it. Minato noticed. Without looking away from Cha Hae-In, his hand moved under the desk and gave Mikasa's thigh a sharp, warning pinch. She shot him a quick, irritated glance but said nothing.
Cha Hae-In continued, voice steady.
"But you are a competent one. In a matter of days you took control of the entire country and changed how power actually works here. You are not cruel for entertainment. You absorbed the previous imperial forces instead of purging them. When riots started against your takeover, you handled them without mass executions. That tells me you avoid unnecessary bloodshed when you can. And…" She paused only briefly.
"You are far more handsome and more manly than either of the men my father chose. Those are my reasons."
Minato was quiet for a moment. The praise landed more effectively than most of the flattery he had heard that day, precisely because it was delivered without excessive sweetness.
"All right," he said at last. "I accept you as my concubine. I expect you to perform your role properly."
Cha Hae-In's eyes widened. For a second pure relief and happiness broke through her composed expression.
She almost jumped in place before catching herself, remembering where she was and who she was speaking to. She forced her posture back under control, though the brightness in her face remained.
"Yes. Thank you. I will."
"Go tell your father the arrangement is accepted."
"Yes, Lord Minato."
She bowed once more, then turned and left the office at a pace just short of running, clearly eager to deliver the news.
The door closed.
Mikasa spoke without looking up from the notes she was already making.
"You don't even spare the young ones, do you?"
Minato leaned back in his chair.
"What do you mean by 'spare'? I'm doing her a favor. She gets out of a miserable marriage, her family gains standing, and I gain a woman who at least had the spine to walk in here alone and ask directly."
Mikasa gave a short, noncommittal sound and continued writing.
"If you say so."
Minato watched the door for a moment longer, then glanced at his secretary.
"You're irritated."
"I'm working."
"You're also standing close enough again."
Mikasa did not move away, but she did not look at him either.
"There are still names on the list."
"I'm aware."
He reached out and gave her ass a slow, deliberate squeeze through her skirt, the same way he had several times already that day. Mikasa's jaw tightened slightly, but she remained where she was, pen still moving across the page.
"You're impossible," she muttered.
"And yet you're still here."
She finally shot him a sideways look, equal parts annoyance and reluctant familiarity.
"Unfortunately."
Outside the office, the next petitioner was already waiting. Inside, the quiet tension between Minato and Mikasa settled back into its usual rhythm, while somewhere down the corridor Cha Hae-In hurried to find her father with the first real choice she had been allowed to make.
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