Chapter 197

Then I’ll take my leave.” After offering two solutions, I chatted briefly with Kaguya Shinomiya, and then excused myself after she finished her strawberry milk.

“Well, take care. I was quite happy to meet you, Miss Shinomiya, today.” Shinomiya Kaguya didn’t say anything more and turned to leave the restaurant, while I continued to sit in my seat, waiting for someone to arrive.

I didn’t have to wait long. About ten minutes after Kaguya Shinomiya left, a young man with black hair, a bob, wearing light-colored sunglasses and dressed in a butler’s uniform came to me. He was the master who had been keeping his eyes on me ever since I entered the restaurant.

“You were just meeting with Lady Shinomiya, weren’t you?” The question was phrased as a question, but the tone was one of certainty.

“Yes, that’s right. May I ask what you need?” I looked at the person who had finally appeared with great interest, without any dissatisfaction with her attitude.

“It’s not convenient to talk here, come with me.” This upscale restaurant belongs to the Shinomiya family, so it’s better not to talk here just to be on the safe side.

“Okay.” I shrugged and agreed to the request. The bob-haired boy seemed a little surprised that I agreed so readily, but he quickly turned around and led the way away. I followed behind him and walked two blocks to a secluded coffee shop.

“So I agreed to your request to change the location for our discussion. Shouldn’t you show some sincerity in return? Otherwise, there’s no point in this conversation.” After sitting down in a corner of the coffee shop and ordering two coffees, I began to speak.

“What sincerity?” The bob-haired boy sitting opposite frowned. Sure enough, there was a reason why this person had followed so easily.

“It’s not easy to break the disguise right now, but at least take off your sunglasses, miss.” I could tell at a glance that the handsome young man with the bob haircut was actually a girl. I could see through even Yukiko Kudo’s disguise with ease, let alone this girl in front of me.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand. You can take off your sunglasses, but you can’t just say your gender.” Hayasaka Ai’s heart skipped a beat. Had her carefully prepared disguise been seen through? Or was the other person just guessing and testing her?

“Since you’re not even offering this much sincerity, Miss, let’s end this conversation here.” With that, I stood up and prepared to leave.

“Wait a minute…” Hayasaka Ai’s voice, which she had deliberately kept low, returned to normal. The girl hadn’t expected that her disguise, which she had specially gone to the clothing store for, would be seen through so easily. It seemed that this young man was really not simple.

“Are you satisfied now?” Hayasaka Ai took off her light-colored sunglasses, revealing her bright sapphire-like eyes. Apart from her eyes, even with makeup covering them, the girl’s feminine charm was immediately apparent after removing her large sunglasses. No wonder she needed to wear large sunglasses to conceal her beauty.

“It’s alright, but it would be best if you could change your makeup and the male butler’s uniform disguise as well,” I said, sitting down again and looking the girl up and down.

“I’ve already taken off my sunglasses, so don’t worry about anything else. That’s not the point of our conversation.” Putting aside the fact that it’s a coffee shop and changing clothes isn’t really convenient here, even if it were possible, Hayasaka Ai had no intention of changing back into her everyday clothes.

“So, what would you like to talk to me about, young lady? Since you asked about Lady Shinomiya before, what you want to talk about must be related to her, right?” I didn’t insist that the girl change back into her clothes, believing that I would have the opportunity to see her dressed normally in the future.

“Did you agree to the engagement you discussed with Miss Shinomiya before?” Earlier at the upscale restaurant, Hayasaka Ai could only watch Kaguya Shinomiya and the young man in front of her from afar; she couldn’t hear what their actual conversation was about.

But Hayasaka Ai, who had always been by Kaguya Shinomiya’s side, knew that Kaguya would definitely not agree. So the problem was left with another person, namely the young man sitting opposite her.

“Miss, you’re from the Shinomiya family, aren’t you?” Not many people know that I met with Kaguya Shinomiya. Only Emi Yazawa knows about it on my end, and probably not many people in the Shinomiya family know about it either.

“That’s none of your business,” Hayasaka Ai scoffed, clearly unwilling to reveal more information.

“It can’t be just me answering your questions, can it? It’s fair if we each answer one question, how about that?” Now that the girl is initiating the conversation, the initiative should be on my side.

“I am a member of the Shinomiya family. What is your answer?” Hayasaka Ai thought for a moment, and it was obvious that she could answer the question.

“I agree.” I told the girl the result of the meeting without any attempt to hide it.

“How could you agree!?” Although Hayasaka Ai had anticipated this outcome, given that Kaguya Shinomiya’s previous reaction suggested that the meeting would likely not go as she wished, the girl still couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and raise her voice slightly.

“Isn’t Miss Shinomiya good in every way?” I countered the girl’s question with a straightforward retort.

“Of course, that would be great…”

“Isn’t it normal for me to agree?”

“You two have only met once, and you’ve already agreed to such an important matter as marriage after just one meeting? Do you even know Miss Shinomiya?” Hayasaka Ai slammed her right hand on the table to emphasize her presence. “I think you’re only attracted to Miss Shinomiya’s looks.”

It wasn’t until the girl’s fair hand landed on the table that I noticed she had light blue nail polish on her fingernails, which gave her hands an unusual allure.

“Being attracted by appearance is still attraction, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.” I would never say that appearance doesn’t matter. After all, I have ways to tame even the most wicked women. I can accept some beautiful female villains without any fear.

“You…you’re so shallow!” Hayasaka Ai didn’t expect the other party to admit it so directly, leaving her speechless.

“I’m so sorry for being so shallow. So, Miss, have you finished saying what you wanted to say?” Half of my gaze was still on the girl’s delicate hand that was slapping on the table. Her slender, fair fingers and light blue nails were quite a perfect match.

“I hope you can refuse the engagement with Miss Shinomiya.” Perhaps noticing my gaze, the girl lowered her right hand from the table and spoke each word clearly.

“Oh? Why would I do that?” The girl’s words were somewhat expected, and I wasn’t surprised at all.

“Didn’t Lady Shinomiya disagree with this engagement, and…” Hayasaka Ai swallowed back the words she was about to say.

Hayasaka Ai originally planned to use her disguised teenage identity to pretend to be the person Kaguya Shinomiya likes in order to force her to back down, but she didn’t expect to be exposed right away. Now that she has revealed that Kaguya Shinomiya has someone she likes, how should she answer if she is asked who it is? Should she tell him or not?

If she spoke out, what if the young man in front of her or the Shinomiya family turned against her? Hayasaka Ai didn’t believe that the person Shinomiya Kaguya liked could withstand the attack of the Shinomiya family or the person in front of her, whose power was probably equally strong. How would she explain that to Shinomiya Kaguya?

Even if I don’t tell them, wouldn’t they investigate if they found out? They could easily guess by just looking into which male students Kaguya Shinomiya is close to at school.

Furthermore, Kaguya Shinomiya herself has never admitted to this, so it’s unlikely she has revealed that she has someone she likes. Therefore, how can we expect Ai Hayasaka to say the second half of her statement?

“And what?” Seeing the girl’s hesitant expression, and considering Kaguya Shinomiya’s previous behavior, I think I guessed what the girl wanted to say. No wonder Kaguya Shinomiya was so resistant back then. But this doesn’t affect me at all, or rather, it’s even more exciting?

“It’s nothing, but can’t you at least respect Miss Shinomiya’s wishes?” In the end, Hayasaka Ai still felt that it would be better for Shinomiya Kaguya to say that she had someone she liked herself. But that would leave her with few options, so she could only try her best to persuade her verbally.

“Miss, as a member of the Shinomiya family, you should know that in large families, there are some things that are beyond one’s control.” As soon as I said this, the girl’s expression seemed to stiffen. I had said something similar to Shinomiya Kaguya before, but the girl’s reaction was even stronger than Shinomiya Kaguya’s. Could it be that I touched a sore spot for her?

“That’s why…” Hayasaka Ai paused for a moment before speaking again. As a double agent, she naturally understood, but it was precisely because she understood that she said, “That’s right, that’s why I don’t want Lady Shinomiya to be forced to follow the arranged marriage.”

“Not bad, not bad at all. It seems you’ve chosen the latter between the Shinomiya family and Miss Shinomiya. I believe Miss Shinomiya will be happy with your choice.” The Shinomiya family’s decision contradicted Kaguya Shinomiya’s wishes. For someone from the Shinomiya family to persuade her to give up the engagement was clearly siding with Kaguya Shinomiya, which meant going against the Shinomiya family’s decision.

“You…” Hayasaka Ai always had a feeling that the other party had seen through her. From the beginning of her pretense to now, even though she was the one who took the initiative to talk to him, she was subtly in a passive position.

“But there’s one thing you’ve overlooked: why can’t you respect my wishes?” I said to the girl, shrugging my shoulders.

“Huh? I don’t know you well, of course I’ll choose Miss Shinomiya…” Hayasaka Ai’s voice trailed off as she realized she seemed to have fallen into a trap the other person had set.

“I believe you’ve already realized, Miss, that your answer serves as my answer.” I’ve only just met these two girls today, so some concessions are acceptable. But why should I be the one to make concessions with girls who aren’t familiar with me, like Yumiko?

“So I only said I hoped.” At this point, Hayasaka Ai knew that this conversation was almost doomed to fail. She wondered if the young lady had felt the same way when she faced this guy before.

“I’m sorry, I have to disappoint you, Miss.” Since she hadn’t agreed when she met with Kaguya Shinomiya before, she naturally wouldn’t suddenly change her mind now. “But don’t be discouraged, Miss. I’ve already provided another solution to Lady Shinomiya. You can ask her about it when you get back.”

“I’m not discouraged. Even if you don’t agree, I’ll find a way to solve it.” A solution? The only solutions Hayasaka Ai could think of besides persuading the young man in front of her were persuading the head of the Shinomiya family, but that was easier said than done, especially for a maid like her. It would be better to continue thinking of a solution from this young man.

“Really? I look forward to seeing how you do.” I wasn’t annoyed by the girl’s words at all; instead, I nodded to her.

In the end, the girl still failed to achieve her goal. Hayasaka Ai paid for her coffee and walked out of the coffee shop. Honestly, that guy actually wanted her to pay the bill, saying that since she invited him, she should pay for the coffee. He had no manners at all. And he still wanted to get engaged to the young lady like that? Dream on.

Hayasaka Ai thought to herself, but when she recalled that meaningful look in his eyes at the end, she had a bad feeling for some reason. So the girl shook her head and put the inexplicable feeling aside. How could she be afraid before the battle even started?

The girl’s thoughts were racing. She took a taxi back to the Shinomiya mansion. She wanted to go find Shinomiya Kaguya immediately to ask about the details of their meeting and what solutions she had mentioned, but she had something to do before that.

“Knock knock,” Hayasaka Ai knocked on the door of the office of Shinomiya’s eldest son, Shinomiya Hiromitsu. He usually handled matters that needed to be taken home, including reporting on Shinomiya Kaguya’s situation, here.

“Please come in.” A cold male voice rang out. Hayasaka Ai pushed open the wooden door. In the spacious room, Shinomiya Kaguya’s older brother, Shinomiya Kimi, was sitting in a chair at a distance.

“How did the meeting with Kaguya go?” Shinomiya Hikari asked without even looking up, continuing to look at the documents in his hand.

“I was just watching from afar, so I don’t know the specifics, but the two of them didn’t seem to have a good time together.” Hayasaka Ai told him what she had seen on the surface, but kept the details of their private meeting to herself.

“That’s a good sign. Not bad, you can step down now.” Throughout the entire process, Shinomiya Hikari didn’t even glance at him, treating him like a prop that could be tossed aside at will.

“Then I’ll take my leave.” Hayasaka Ai withdrew and closed the door. She wasn’t surprised by Shinomiya Hiromitsu’s attitude at all, because that was just how he was. Most people were just tools to him, and she herself was a maid he had placed next to Shinomiya Kaguya to monitor her.

Without a doubt, Shinomiya Hikari is far worse than the young man she spoke with not long ago, and how much better is she, working under him and secretly reporting information about Shinomiya Kaguya?

That’s why she was hurt by those words and couldn’t control herself. Because she understood this very well, Hayasaka Ai clenched her small fist and showed a determined look on her face.

Hayasaka Ai was determined to help Kaguya Shinomiya, so after finishing her report, she went back to her room, changed into a long maid outfit, and immediately rushed to Kaguya Shinomiya’s room.

Hayasaka Ai knocked on Kaguya Shinomiya’s door and waited for a while without hearing a response. Just as Hayasaka Ai was about to leave, thinking that Kaguya Shinomiya wasn’t in the room, Kaguya Shinomiya’s voice came faintly through the door, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, young lady.” Hayasaka Ai stopped turning to leave and said to Shinomiya Kaguya inside the door.

“Hayasaka?” Kaguya Shinomiya, who was in the room, could be heard to breathe a sigh of relief. “Wait a moment, I’ll open the door for you.”

Then, Hayasaka Ai heard a soft clicking sound gradually approaching and getting louder, followed by a click from the doorknob. It turned out that Shinomiya Kaguya had locked the door. No wonder she had asked her to wait a moment.

“Come in, Hayasaka.” Kaguya Shinomiya opened the door and let Hayasaka Ai into her room. The girl looked around to make sure no one was there, then closed and locked the door again.

Just as Hayasaka Ai entered the room and was about to speak, she was interrupted by Shinomiya Kaguya, who pounced on her and hugged her slender waist. Then, she looked up at Hayasaka with teary red eyes and said, “Waaah, Hayasaka, please help me.”

Hayasaka Ai wasn’t surprised by Kaguya Shinomiya’s behavior. Although Kaguya Shinomiya usually presented herself as the icy Kaguya in front of others, she wasn’t actually like that. Of course, this had improved after she joined the student council.

Moreover, having lived with Kaguya Shinomiya since childhood, she had often offered Kaguya advice and strategies, especially after Kaguya joined the student council. Therefore, Hayasaka Ai was already used to this situation, but this time the problem was much more serious than before.

“Don’t worry, I’m here to help you, Miss.” Hayasaka Ai reached out her slender white right hand and patted Shinomiya Kaguya’s head.

“I knew Hayasaka was the best to me.” Although the two were master and servant, Kaguya Shinomiya never treated Hayasaka Ai as an outsider. To her, Hayasaka Ai was like her own older sister. Even though she sometimes complained about Hayasaka Ai’s unreasonable demands, she would still help her in the end.

“Alright, now tell me what happened. Tell me about your meeting with that person and what happened after you came back.”

“Um.”

Hayasaka Ai and Shinomiya Kaguya sat down on the bed together, and Shinomiya Kaguya first told Hayasaka Ai about what happened during their meeting that day.

“Is that guy serious?” Hayasaka Ai frowned slightly. It was normal for the first suggestion to persuade the head of the Shinomiya family, but what was with the second suggestion to defeat her? If it were said in an arrogant tone, it could be said that the other party was being arrogant, but from Shinomiya Kaguya’s description, it sounded more like a tempting offer, especially since additional reward conditions were added later.

“I think so,” Kaguya Shinomiya said somewhat uncertainly.

“Let’s put that aside for now.” Hayasaka Ai felt that trying the first solution was more reliable than the second. “Young lady, have you met with the main family since you returned?”

“I’ve met her before.” Mentioning Kaguya Shinomiya’s delicate shoulders slumped weakly, and she looked at Ai Hayasaka with teary red eyes, just like when she first entered, seeking help.

“What’s wrong?” Just by looking at Kaguya Shinomiya’s expression, Ai Hayasaka knew that the meeting between the young lady and the head of the family had not gone well, and was even quite bad.

“Before I returned, my father ordered the maid to wait at the door. As soon as I returned, she took me to see him. As soon as we met, my father asked about the details of the meeting.”

“I told my father the truth about the outcome of the meeting. After all, I could call the other party to confirm, so there was no point in lying. In the end, I expressed my disagreement.”

“My father only said one sentence: You are the daughter of the Shinomiya family, so even if you deny my wishes, and…” Shinomiya Kaguya paused here, as if what happened afterward was the reason for her panicked plea for help.

“Furthermore, Father said that since the other party has agreed, there is no time to lose, and the engagement date has been set for a week later.” Kaguya Shinomiya put her hands behind her head, bent her legs, and placed her delicate white feet on the edge of the bed, burying her head in her knees.

A week later? The urgency of the timeframe was beyond Hayasaka Ai’s expectations. She had thought that such an important matter would be handled more carefully, and that it was more common for it to be a month or even two or three months later, giving them a longer time to deal with it.

With only a week left, persuading the head of the family to cancel the engagement is extremely difficult, judging from his rejection of Kaguya Shinomiya. Especially under such tight time constraints, it’s no wonder Kaguya Shinomiya is so flustered.

“What should we do, Hayasaka?” Kaguya Shinomiya raised her head again, her small, round toes clenching as she hoped that Hayasaka Ai, who always helped her come up with ideas, would come up with a good solution.

I don’t know either. Hayasaka Ai didn’t have any good ideas at the moment. This was different from anything before. The difficulty was on a completely different level. But faced with Kaguya Shinomiya’s request for help, Hayasaka Ai, who had always doted on her as a troublesome younger sister, couldn’t say such a thing.

“It seems that the head of the family has already made up his mind about the marriage agreement. Once the other party agrees, he will finalize it as soon as possible. It’s probably not something that can be resolved in a short time.” Hayasaka Ai’s brows were tightly furrowed, clearly indicating that this plan was not optimistic.

“Mmm.” Her father’s unequivocal denial made Kaguya Shinomiya realize that persuading him would be more difficult than she had imagined.

“In that case, we can only try to approach it from another angle.” Hayasaka Ai recalled the young man she had met that afternoon; at least he seemed like someone she could communicate with further. “Do you have any information on the person you met with today, Miss?”

“Yes, when I came back to see my father, I took some documents back under the pretext of getting to know him.” Kaguya Shinomiya got out of bed, put on her pink cotton slippers, and walked to the desk in the room. “I was looking at these documents before you came, Hayasaka.”

Kaguya Shinomiya picked up the documents from the table and returned to the bedside. She then handed the documents to Ai Hayasaka, who reached out her slender hand, painted with light blue nail polish, to take the documents from Kaguya.

Hayasaka Ai flipped through the documents in her hand. There was very little personal information about this person named Ken; most of it was information about the group behind him. It took Hayasaka Ai about ten minutes to get through the documents.

“I think we can continue our efforts to see if we can persuade the head of the family,” Hayasaka Ai said, putting down the documents in her hand.

“Sigh, so Hayasaka, you also think that second solution is almost impossible?” Kaguya Shinomiya had already read the information beforehand, and even read it twice in case she was afraid she had misread it. After confirming that it was correct, she was stunned. This was why she didn’t open the door for Hayasaka Ai immediately in the first place.

“If what that person meant by ‘defeating’ was defeating their entire group, then that’s indeed impossible.” It wasn’t that Hayasaka Ai was trying to boost their morale, but based on the data, it was clear that even if the Shinomiya family were included, let alone the two of them, it would be difficult for them to achieve this.

“But perhaps defeating them means more than just defeating the group behind them.” Even so, Hayasaka Ai didn’t hold out much hope for this. Who would throw away one of their greatest advantages to compete with someone else, unless there was some special reason?

“So we can still try to contact them and find out more about the situation. I’ll handle this. You, young lady, will continue to try to persuade the head of the family.” Due to the difference in their status, it would be almost impossible for Hayasaka Ai, as a maid, to persuade the head of the Shinomiya family. It could only be left to Shinomiya Kaguya.

“Is everything alright, Hayasaka?” After reading the information, Kaguya Shinomiya realized that the other party was no ordinary person. Someone who could control such a large corporation could not be a simple person.

“I’m not going to do anything, I’m just asking him some questions. Even if he’s the head of a big corporation, he can’t just do whatever he wants. Is he going to eat me?”

Hayasaka Ai didn’t tell Shinomiya Kaguya about her conversation that afternoon, since that might expose that she was spying on her. With that in mind, Hayasaka Ai became even more determined to help Shinomiya Kaguya.

“I understand. Anyway, Hayasaka, you need to be careful. I’ll try my best to persuade Father.” Kaguya Shinomiya clenched her little fist to encourage herself, and at the same time, she encouraged Hayasaka Ai.

Hayasaka Ai gave a silent “hmm,” hoping things would turn out well.

The two young ladies of the Shinomiya family are troubled by their engagements, while the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, who is also troubled by the same person, is taking action.