Chapter 276: Come to the Suou Family with Suou Yuki

Chapter 276: Come to the Suou Family with Suou Yuki

"Yuki-sama, you've returned... and this person is?"

( ╹ -╹)?

A beautiful woman with long, straight black hair, bearing the surname Kimishima, immediately bowed respectfully the moment she saw Suou Yuki step into the car—

But halfway through her greeting, she noticed the boy stepping into the car with Suou Yuki—

And instantly paused, asking in a puzzled tone.

Of course, she recognized Yukima Azuma.

As the head housekeeper of the Suou family, and the personal maid of the current family head,

This beautiful woman was thoroughly familiar with the profiles of individuals from the upper class.

And precisely because of that, she was surprised enough to speak up.

If the boy were just an ordinary person—

She would've easily turned a blind eye.

Not a word would be said.

After all, if he were just a commoner, even if Suou Yuki truly fell in love one day with him and decided to marry—

The man would only become a live-in son-in-law at best.

To the Suou family as a whole, it wouldn't really be a big deal.

But Yukima Azuma was the President of Laplace Corporation.

A person capable of exerting significant influence on the standing of the Suou family.

Moreover, rumors suggested that behind Laplace stood the Sawamura family—another ancient, noble household—openly backing it.

And now, their Ojou-sama was casually bringing him into the car like this.

If she was truly about to make their relationship official and bring him home to meet the family—

Then, as the head housekeeper, it was her duty to immediately report to the rest of the Suou household.

After all, this was a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for the Suou family's future.

"Azuma-onii-sama wants to go sightseeing in Gifu, and it just so happened to be on the way, so I invited him to hitch a ride,"

Suou Yuki replied casually.

Hearing that, the woman let out a sigh of relief.

Though it was clear the relationship between the young lady and that boy was far from simple—

As long as the young lady didn't explicitly say anything,

Then she—who wasn't a Suou by blood—need not concern herself.

Leave it to the family head to deal with.

Shortly after, Kimishima Ayano also arrived and quietly sat in the front passenger seat.

The beautiful woman started the engine and began driving toward Gifu Prefecture.

Looking at Kimishima Ayano sitting up front—

Yukima Azuma's eyelids twitched slightly.

Come to think of it, this personal maid of Yuki—

Had clearly grown stronger after three years of training!

And by "stronger"—

It wasn't a metaphor for some size or other—he meant literally.

Three years ago, this personal maid's presence was so faint, she was barely noticeable.

Now, thanks to her timeskip training, she was almost on par with the natural stealth of Kato "Hassan" Megumi.

Back on campus, with all the hustle and bustle, Azuma hadn't paid much attention.

But now, with only a few people around, Azuma noticed—the scent of Kimishima Ayano was beginning to fade.

At this rate—

Give it ten more years, and unless Azuma's shogi skills not level up any more—

He might genuinely lose the ability to detect the presence of this Hassan maid.

A true assassin.

Sensing Yukima Azuma's gaze—

Suou Yuki leaned close to his ear and whispered:

"Onii-sama, are you checking Ayano out?"

(˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)

Up front, both the beautiful woman and Kimishima Ayano's ears twitched slightly at the same time.

Σ(°△° ꪱꪱꪱ)

Yukima Azuma said nothing. Instead, he lightly tapped Suou Yuki on the forehead.

"I'm merely admiring her progress."

Suou Yuki clutched her forehead, pretending to be hurt.

As for Kimishima Ayano in the front seat—

She didn't react at all when the conversation was about her, but now she looked like she was about to leap straight into the back seat, and cut Azuma head out.

(◣ _ ◢)

But, a single glance from Suou Yuki instantly stopped Ayano in her tracks.

Then, she smiled with the charm of a mischievous little devil.

"If it's Onii-sama, even if you're interested for real, I wouldn't mind."

Yukima Azuma simply rolled his eyes in response.

He wasn't the type like some Young Master who wanted to claim every Jade Beauty as his own.

（￣へ￣）

Seeing that Azuma didn't even flinch—

Suou Yuki blinked a few times, looking like she was pondering something.

...

From Tokyo to Gifu—

Even though Japan isn't a big country, it's not exactly a blink-of-an-eye trip either.

Along the way, Yukima Azuma pulled a box from his pocket.

With just one glance, Suou Yuki recognized it—it was the very same box she had used to store a fragment of the Charlotte comet last time.

But when Azuma opened it—

Inside the box, the red comet shard was no longer there—

In its place was a radiant twin flower, bursting with color, two hues blending together in a stunning display.

Staring at the mysterious flower inside the box, Suou Yuki's eyes lit up softly.

( ߬⚈ o⚈ꪷ)

Even for a mischievous, clever girl like her—

At her core, she was still a maiden.

And what maiden could remain unmoved by the enchanting beauty of a flower?

Yukima Azuma gently placed the flower box into Suou Yuki's hands—

Watching her enchanted expression with a faint smile.

Taking the box, Suou Yuki inspected it from every angle, carefully turning it over again and again.

In the end, she even pulled out her phone and snapped a few pictures.

But throughout it all, she never once tried to take the flower out of the box.

Only after a while, still hugging the box in her hands, did she look up at Azuma and ask:

"What is this?"

Even though she simply found the twin flower beautiful and hadn't noticed anything particularly special—

Because Azuma had chosen to use that box—

Suou Yuki sensed that it must be something extraordinary.

Which was why, even though he had handed it to her—

She made no move to remove the flower.

"It's a very rare treasure. You can make a wish with it—chances of it coming true are a bit higher."

"If you like it, I can give it to you, but… you'll have to help me take care of it."

Yukima Azuma said with a smile.

The powers of Star and Lumine did, in fact, raise the chances of a wish being granted.

But according to those two chibi-brats—

They could only tweak probability to a very limited degree.

Even something with a high chance of happening wouldn't be guaranteed under their influence.

And anything with an extremely low probability? Forget about it.

Recalling that tsunami from back then—

All he could do was sigh: that was destiny's cruel joke.

Truthfully, even without Star and Lumine's interference, the odds of that tsunami were already quite high.

After receiving the Charlotte comet shard as a gift—

Yukima Azuma had been thinking about what to give in return to Suou Yuki.

It wasn't until he got his hands on this twin flower that a clear idea came to mind.

And at this moment—

Inside Azuma's head, Star was throwing a tantrum.

┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

They were gods, dammit! And now they were being offered to some girl as a gift!?

Lumine, as usual, remained silent and calm.

After hearing Azuma's explanation—

Suou Yuki smiled with pure, uncontainable joy.

She even looked so touched she might start crying.

She gently closed the box—

And handed it back to Azuma.

"Let's talk about it once we get out of the car, "

Azuma couldn't quite figure out what Suou Yuki was thinking—

But judging by her expression, she was clearly happy.

✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡

...

When the car finally arrived in Gifu Prefecture—

Before the household staff could even reach the car door—

Suou Yuki had already pushed it open, grabbed Yukima Azuma by the hand, and was dragging him straight into the mansion.

The sight left the maids and butlers of the Suou estate utterly dumbfounded.

After all, had their Ojou-sama ever acted like this before?

Normally, Suou Yuki was the picture of a proper noble lady within the Suou household.

Every gesture brimming with grace and poise.

She was the very embodiment of perfection.

But now—

Watching the boy being pulled along by their Ojou-sama, who refused to let go—

The maids exchanged glances, each one feeling the urge to let out a little hee hee of mischief.

Only to be silenced instantly by a single glare from the beautiful woman who had just exited the car—

They all snapped back to attention, dispersing and returning to work as if nothing had happened.

And once she had "disciplined" the maids—

That woman turned to look in the direction Suou Yuki and Yukima Azuma had just gone—

Her gaze slowly growing complicated.

A wish, huh?

It's already the 21st century, and a line like that still works on girls!?

And not just any girl—her Ojou-sama—a brilliant, sharp-minded young lady!

Seriously now... maybe divine intervention was real.