That setting wasn’t even in the settings book.
It just makes me feel awkward.
“Yeah. The sound is really nice.”
“Right? Kim Deok-Sung, I thought you would appreciate the elegance of Shishiodoshi.”
Rin smiles.
Crap.
She hooks her arm around mine.
I can feel the soft, plush sensation of her body against my arm.
I think I told her not to do this.
[Partner. This guy. I’m jealous.]
But seeing Rin smiling happily makes it hard to say anything.
Well, it’s better than when she was crying after that nasty comment earlier.
“Let’s go, Kim Deok-Sung. I want to show you another place.”
Led by her hand, we leave the mess of the garden and arrive at the kendo dojo.
In the spacious dojo filled with shinai, bogu, and dummies, it was just me and Rin.
Thud.
The dojo door closes.
She releases my arm.
“I’ve been training in the Shinozaki Ildoryu in this dojo since I was young.”
Rin touches one of the fallen dummies.
It’s not an unfamiliar background.
I’ve seen this dojo in flashback scenes in animations about Rin’s past.
“The only thing I could do in my family was training. It was a terrible past. This dojo was like shackles to me in a family that felt like a prison.”
Rin speaks softly, touching the wooden swords and kendo protective gear placed in one corner of the dojo.
“My older brothers… were jealous that I, an orphaned adopted child, was chosen as the heir of the family over their own blood. Lord, no, my father never gave me a word of praise. ‘Don’t be satisfied. Train until the day you erase the name of the sword master. There’s no rest…’”
I know all this backstory.
It’s all in the original Volume 2 and the character profiles in the settings book.
It should have been nothing to me.
“Maybe because of that environment, I might have held onto inferiority complex. Bonaparte… Kurosawa… and you, who defeated Bonaparte. The truth is, the one I should have really resented was someone else. It was embarrassing.”
Rin’s gaze turns towards me.
Her eyes calm down.
She bites her lip.
“But you… saved me… I, who felt inferior and acted rudely, a hopeless girl with fake temptations… freed me from this prison.”
Her gaze is fixed on me.
[… …]
The Black Prince is silent.
Why is this normally loud guy quiet at a time like this?
I let out a sigh.
“The one who fought Ichiro wasn’t me; it was Kurosawa. So don’t have any delusions.”
Hearing my words, Rin laughs.
She laughs.
“What are you laughing at?”
“If I know you, I expected you to say that. You’re just not honest.”
“What?”
One step.
Rin steps closer to me.
Her large chest wrapped in a kimono, her navy blue eyes resembling the night sky, and her navy ponytail fill my view.
“Even if it’s just a misunderstanding, it doesn’t matter. Kim Deok-Sung. I… I…”
Rin’s navy blue eyes tremble.
“I will strive wholeheartedly so that you can like me… I will become a virtuous wife worthy of your side, not just in body but in heart as well!”
I was about to say, “Is this another wife joke?” but my lips wouldn’t move.
“So wait for me. I’ll work harder to become a more… ideal wife.”
As she speaks, Rin’s cheeks blush pink, making her look strangely beautiful.
Caught up in her serious demeanor, which is different from usual, I couldn’t lash out at her as I always had.
What stood before me was not the light novel character Shinozaki Rin, but a living human being, Shinozaki Rin.
I couldn’t speak carelessly.
“…Alright, do as you wish.”
That was about all I could say.
“I understand.”
Rin, hearing my response, approaches me with her arms crossed and smiles.
I couldn’t refuse her crossed arms again this time.
The most dangerous person.
Shinozaki Mansion.
The enticing garden, the gazebo.
Through the glass windows, the tatami room overlooks the pond.
Rin, dressed in a blue kimono, sits alone, sipping matcha.
The quiet gazebo with its beautiful scenery is one of her favorite spots in the mansion.
A smile adorns Rin’s lips.
“Kim Deok-Sung…”
She whispers his name.
Thump.
Rin’s heart races.
“Heh…”
Rin bites her lip.
Her face flushes red.
Memories of the day flash through her mind.
The Shinozaki twins.
The twins who were consumed by feelings of inferiority for not being chosen, always belittling her.
She could only endure their bullying and insults.
After all, she was just a tool of the family.
She couldn’t rebel against the twins, who carried the true bloodline of the Shinozaki family.
In this vast mansion, there was no one who was on her side.
Even after being freed from her fate as a tool, nothing changed.
The learned helplessness and oppression kept her down.
‘Once again, I’ve been saved by you.’
Rin takes a sip of the matcha.
A bitter taste lingers on her lips.
Creeeak.
The sliding door opens.
“Miss.”
A middle-aged maid enters, dressed in a kimono with a white apron.
“What, what’s the matter? Head Maid?”
The head maid, responsible for managing everything in the Shinozaki mansion in place of the late mistress, appears before her.
She is also Rin’s teacher, helping her with her skills as a lady.
Startled, Rin’s face turns red.
“Did your date with the one you admire go well?”
“Y-Yes… I-I’ve declared my intentions.”
Rin lowers her head, fiddling with her empty teacup.
“I-I’ll become a virtuous wife…”
Remembering her confession at the kendo dojo, her heart flutters.
Her face burns with heat.
Virtuous wife.
The term echoes in her mind.
The words her father spoke in the garden surface in her thoughts.
‘If, if I really become his wife…’
If she truly became his wife as her father said, and if he were to become an adopted son of the Shinozaki family, that would be the name Kim Deok-Sung would carry.
Rin stood before an endless tapestry of imagination unfolding.
Her and him, clad in kimono, performing a traditional wedding at a shrine.
In the garden, wearing yukata, they feed koi fish while enjoying tea together, listening to the sound of the water.
Sharing a night in her room······.
As Rin imagined these scenarios, her face flushed crimson.
“Ugh······.”
She bit her lip.
‘Ah, two kids would be nice, right? For the Shinozaki family line, we need successors, it’s important······. Ideally, one boy and one girl······.’
Unconsciously, she stroked her belly over the blue kimono.
In her mind’s eye, she saw herself in a yukata, carrying her son on her back, holding her daughter’s hand, gazing at that scene as a perfect housewife.
Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump.
Rin’s heart raced, threatening to burst.
Clatter.
The head maid filled Rin’s teacup with tea and asked, “What was his reaction?”
Rin snapped back from her daydream at the maid’s question.
Embarrassment washed over her.
“W-Well······.”
Her earlobes turned crimson with shame as she lowered her head.
“He said······ to do as I wish.”
An ambiguous answer that was neither a rejection nor an acceptance.
But that alone made Rin happy.
‘So I still have a chance, even a mess like me······.’
She hadn’t fallen behind in the competition.
One day, she would surely win his heart.
“He seems indecisive. Or maybe, knowing what kind of person he is from you, it could be a deliberate answer······.”
“N-No! He’s just being cautious, he······.”
Rin waved her hands at the maid’s words.
“Are you that enamored by Kim Deok-Sung?”
“Yes.”
Rin nodded.
Her dark blue eyes settled into calm determination.
“He’s definitely a bad man······ but also the one who saved me, the man I’ve fallen for. I······ want to be his woman. Even if not as a main wife, being a concubine would be fine······ I just want to stay by his side in any form, as a woman.”
She was smitten.
Since returning from Kyoto, Rin’s feelings for Kim Deok-Sung had grown like an avalanche.
At this point, it was almost uncontrollable.
The declaration she let out at the kendo dojo was a kind of gamble she couldn’t contain.
‘I thought he would turn me down······.’
He didn’t refuse.
A small smile graced Rin’s lips.
“Then I should work harder on my feminine charm. My lady.”
The head maid’s voice reached her ears.
Rin lifted her head.
She clenched her fist tightly.
“Feminine charm······. Yes. Until I truly become the perfect wife, I’ll be counting on you, head maid.”
With those words, Rin turned on her phone.
The screen displayed a photo of her with Kim Deok-Sung at Kiyomizu Temple.
Rin caressed the phone’s screen.
‘Just wait, Kim Deok-Sung.’
I’ll become the perfect wife that you’ll fall for.
With that thought, Rin smiled.
*
After that peculiar atmosphere at the kendo dojo, nothing much happened.
Just drinking tea with Rin and having dinner together.
When the time ended, Rin let me go without any fuss.
Thanks to that, I was able to return to the dorm before it got too late.
[Partner. You really did it today. Impressive.]
As soon as the Black Prince stepped out of Shinozaki Mansion, he started chattering again after being quiet for a while.
‘What did I do?’
[No, nevermind. Just don’t make my sister cry.]
“Got it. Anyway, don’t make my little sister shed tears of blood.”
Seriously, what a foolish personality.
Ignoring the Black Prince’s nonsense, I ascend the dormitory stairs.
Arriving at the door, I press my student ID against the door lock.
With a beep, the door opens.
By now, there shouldn’t be anyone around…
“Hey, isn’t that the young lady, Han Seo-Jin?”
The Black Prince’s voice echoes in my head.
Thud.
The door closes.
Tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
I see Han Seo-Jin’s back, rapidly typing on her laptop at an odd speed.
“What is she doing?”
The Black Prince asks.
Right.
I’m curious too.
What on earth could have her so engrossed that she doesn’t even notice my arrival?
Should I take a look?
As I silently approach her from behind, a shocking scene unfolds before my eyes.
“Current World Situation Chaotic Because of Kim Deok-Sung! Why K-Hero Kim Deok-Sung Is Praised Overseas?! The Majesty of K-Hero Kim Deok-Sung, Recognized More Abroad Than in Korea!”
Han Seo-Jin seems to be editing a patriotic YouTube thumbnail with dazzling hand movements, gleaming gray flashes indicating she might be using effects.
What the heck?
So she’s editing a nationalistic YouTube video?
“I didn’t expect to find you creating something like this, Seo-Jin,” the Black Prince says in a slightly surprised voice.
I totally agree.
I had speculated that Han Seo-Jin wasn’t entirely normal, given her occasionally fanatic gaze and excessive nationalism.
But I didn’t think she was running a patriotism YouTube channel.
“Hey, what’s this…?”
“Welcome, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung.”
Before I could finish my sentence, Han Seo-Jin stands up from her chair and bows politely.
She’s dressed in her usual black suit.
Her expression is as unwavering as ever.
“Uh… that… um…”
What should I even say?
I’m flustered.
Words escape me.
Despite my bewildered reaction, Han Seo-Jin continues speaking in a serious tone without batting an eye.
“Oh, do you mean the video production? This is part of my job. Promoting the achievements of the esteemed Mr. Kim Deok-Sung within the country. I’m delighted to do it.”
A hint of joy even seeps into her tone at the end.
Seeing her gray eyes burning with an unexplained desire leaves me speechless.
“Isn’t that young lady probably the most dangerous among the women around my partner?”
I can’t shake off the ominous feeling that the Black Prince might be right.
Perhaps she is even more dangerous than a light novel heroine.
Swoosh.
Han Seo-Jin approaches me.
Her pretty face comes into view.
“Is there a problem, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung?”
Even after being caught doing her patriotic YouTube thing, she remains so composed and brazen.
I’m the one feeling flustered.
Did I do something wrong? I don’t think so…
Is this what true madness looks like?
“Uh… so… um… the patriotic YouTube channel—were you making it all by yourself?”
I finally manage to open my mouth and throw out the question.
“Not entirely. I operate about thirteen channels. Since you are a national hero, even excluding my channels, there are plenty of videos on YouTube about you, Mr. Kim Deok-Sung,” Han Seo-Jin states deadpan.
Well, that makes sense.
But I didn’t expect the person directly managing it to be right here.
Thirteen channels, no less.
“Speaking of which, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
