The Gemini Princess wants me to confess my feelings!

Kirihara Akira had a rare good night's sleep.

He has a very strong mental fortitude; he can be called an iron man. Surrounded by cameras and listening devices, he lived there for such a long time as if nothing had happened.

But being exposed to others makes it hard to truly relax.

Last night, those devices were finally removed.

He slept until almost lunchtime, and when he woke up, even the rockery in the courtyard seemed more pleasing to the eye.

"Good afternoon, young master." A passing maid lifted her skirt and bowed to him.

"morning."

Even people seem to have become friendlier... Hmm?

Kirihara Akira glanced at the maid, secretly surprised. The servants in the house were not usually so polite. They would bow when they met, but their tone was just right, neither sarcastic nor overtly friendly, unlike the gentle and sincere tone just now.

"Please wait, young master." The maid bowed and said, "Mr. Hayato invites you to join us for lunch."

Kirihara Akira paused slightly, then said, "Okay."

From then on, the servants became much friendlier as they walked from the room to the dining table.

Although there wasn't much genuine respect in it, at least a friendly attitude was shown.

When Kirihara Akira reached the dining table, he understood the true nature of this friendliness.

The master of the house had already taken his seat at the table, while the loyal servants of the past knelt behind him.

Kirihara Akira glanced at Asahi Kasane, who remained kneeling, but showed no reaction. After taking her seat, she greeted each of them in turn.

Despite the ups and downs she had experienced, there was no trace of fatigue on her face today. She appeared completely at ease and everything seemed normal.

Mori Shizue remained calm and quiet, keeping her thoughts hidden deep inside, and it was impossible to tell how the recent family turmoil had affected her.

Mori Akari will not change much; she seems to be the embodiment of this timeless house.

For Kirihara Akira, the only variable in this family is Mori Hayato.

He didn't know Mori Hayato, but based on observation and intuition, he judged that this man was no ordinary person.

Even a man who seems extraordinary has to abide by the rules that Mori Akari set for this family: he must be quiet, composed, and calm during meals.

The family seemed to have met on a forum; there was no interaction, no communication, not even eye contact.

Since moving into their home, Kirihara Akira hadn't had dinner with them much, just because she felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere.

Perfect timing. Mori Akari didn't want him to sit at the table for dinner either; they were mutually disgusted. She wondered what he was up to today... Kirihara Akira could actually guess the gist of it.

The unsettling silence lasted for a long time before being broken by Mori Hayato.

He put down his knife and fork, looked at his wife, smiled gently, and said, "Are you calm now?"

Mori Akari remained expressionless, continuing to eat her lunch in small bites.

Mori Hayato said, "After all, he's an old man who's worked at home for so long, he's definitely put in a lot of hard work, and he grew up with Kiyoha."

The two were, of course, talking about Asahi Kasane, who was kneeling behind them.

Mori Akari remained silent, her stance unwavering. The elderly maid, Shimizu, chimed in, "But she was indeed involved..."

"She hasn't said anything yet," Mori Hayato interrupted. "She grew up with Kiyoha, she's a child we watched grow up, and it hurts me to see her so easily kicked out of the house."

Shimizu spoke humbly, a hint of helplessness flashing across her face: "It's not that we didn't give her a chance to speak."

Asahi Kasano's brow twitched.

At this moment, the older sister, Shizue Mori, who had been silent all along, suddenly put down her knife and fork, picked up a napkin, gently wiped her full lips, and then said to Kazusa Asahi, "I command you to speak."

Kirihara Akatsuki was surprised that it was the older sister who forced the younger sister's servant to speak.

On second thought, he realized that Mori Kiyoha probably didn't have much of a say now, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to say it herself.

Mori Shizue shed her natural scholarly air and surprisingly managed to conjure up a bit of the cold and aloof demeanor of a lady: "Silence can give you a bit of indifference and integrity, but it's also dangerous. Once you're kicked out of the house, how will those gangsters treat you, an insignificant little person who knows the truth?"

You might say you're not afraid, then go die, bearing the infamy of a traitor, carrying with you the hatred that Qingye, nurtured from infancy, has transformed into.

Asahi Kasano trembled slightly.

Oh, this quiet girl has such a fierce side.

Noticing Kirihara Akira's gaze, Mori Shizue blushed slightly and buried her head in her knees.

Mori Kiyoha lowered her eyelashes, hiding her complex emotions in her silver bangs.

Unable to hold on any longer, Asahi Kasano began to sob, knelt before Mori Kiyoha, and said haltingly, "I... I never intended to harm you."

Mori Kiyoha asked her, "Why did you cut off contact with me that day?"

Then, Asahi Kasano finally revealed everything that had happened the night before the incident.

The second young lady, Mori Aoba, gave the order to two trusted confidants.

To ensure that her two trusted confidants formed two separate security lines that would not interfere with each other, she deliberately kept the other's existence in the plan from her maids and bodyguards, which also served to prevent the two from colluding.

What she didn't expect was that the maid and the bodyguard had already worked together on something before this incident.

Asahi Kazusa didn't explicitly say what it was, but everyone present knew it was related to Kirihara Akira.

Naturally, Kurokawa, under the guise of "perfecting the Second Miss's plan," extracted information from Asahi Kasane and cleverly grafted the statement "notify Kawasaki if the Second Miss is in danger" onto "notify Kurokawa if the Second Miss is in danger."

Therefore, after not receiving any information from Mori Kiyoha, the first person Asahi Kasane notified was Kurokawa.

"Foolish," Mori Kiyoha commented.

Asahi Kasano lowered his head even further.

She didn't realize that with that scolding, the coldness in the room dissipated considerably.

At least for now, "stupidity" is much better than "disloyalty".

The situation is now quite clear: at this dinner table, the majority of people want Asahi and Kanade to stay, while only one person wants to kick her out—and that person happens to be the authority figure in the household.

The person in authority will not speak easily, as that would tarnish her dignity; she always has someone else speak for her.

The old maid, Shimizu, turned her gaze to Kirihara Akira, who was watching from the sidelines.

She asked, "What do you think, young master?"

"Me?" Kirihara Akira, caught up in the gossip, pointed to her own nose in bewilderment.

At the dinner table in this family, certain things are not allowed to be discussed openly. Even so, Shimizu maintained her composure and spoke in riddles: "She has also done some unforgivable things to you, you should have heard about them."

Without specifying the details, let's just talk about what was done. The details are left to the reader's interpretation; if they don't understand or misunderstand, it's the reader's problem.

Asahi and Kanade, who were behind him, were very familiar with this rhetoric. They gave a silent, cold laugh, which seemed more like a self-mocking laugh.

She was convinced that Kirihara Akatsuki would take advantage of her misfortune, but she didn't harbor much resentment. After all, she had set a trap for him first, so it wasn't surprising that she was being retaliated against. Even if this outsider young master was broad-minded, he had no reason to offend the madam for her sake.

The two sisters turned their gazes to Kirihara Akira, their eyes conveying the same underlying worry.

The two men's fathers were also looking at Kirihara Akira, but not out of concern; their gazes contained scrutiny and judgment.

The lady, on the other hand, was too detached, as if everything that was happening had nothing to do with her.

The family was fighting amongst themselves, and when it came time to make a decision, they had to ask an outsider for advice. They were really being unfairly blamed... Kirihara Akira sighed inwardly.

He put down his chopsticks and made his choice: "Those cameras in my room were indeed installed by her."

Just as I expected. Mori Shizue glanced at her younger sister, her expression bitter.

Shimizu smiled with satisfaction.

But the smile didn't last long; it immediately froze in a strange way.

Kirihara Akatsuki immediately said, "However, she got my permission before she started pretending."

"what?"