The Gemini Princess wants me to confess my feelings!

Late at night, at the Mori family home.

Shimizu led Kirihara Akira to the door of the lady's study. The loyal old maid was as strict as ever, but strangely, she didn't use her signature reprimanding tone. Instead, she spoke with a strange, almost conciliatory concern: "If you are tired, you can go and wash up first before coming back. The lady can wait."

"This sudden gentleness is a bit hard to get used to..." Kirihara Akatsuki muttered to herself, smiling as she said, "Thank you for your concern. I'm not very tired, and I've already washed up and changed my clothes."

"Mm." Shimizu nodded.

Upon opening the door, Kirihara Akira saw the lady sitting on the tatami mat, grinding matcha. Without looking up, she said, "You've come. Please sit down."

Good evening, Madam.

Kirihara Akira sat down opposite the lady. The lady was gentle and kind, and her well-maintained skin glowed slightly under the light.

The two fell silent for a moment.

Kirihara Akira looked around, taking in the environment of the study.

The decor is antique and elegant, with books neatly stacked on one wall, most of which show signs of having been read.

He would sometimes glance at his wife, then look away before it would seem impolite.

He felt that the woman in front of him was indeed worthy of having given birth to twin sisters; even in her old age, she possessed an exceptionally beautiful appearance and a profound depth that had been cultivated over time.

After a long pause, the lady finally raised her head and asked Kirihara Akira, "Is there anything you want to ask me?"

The opening was neither proactive nor did it set a tone; it was very much in the style of a lady.

Kirihara Akira decided to get straight to the point, saying, "Did you invite me into your home to use me as bait?"

Such a direct question sounds like a disrespectful provocation.

The lady was not angry; it was not just a facade, but a genuine sense of peace, tinged with a hint of regret.

She held a small bamboo whisk and kept drawing circles at the bottom of the bowl, releasing a rich aroma of matcha.

"I'll answer your question with two questions," the lady said. "Do you think I would bring you into this house based on feelings alone?"

Kirihara Akira lowered her head and pondered the question for a moment, but couldn't quite figure it out. Was this considered an admission?

He carefully considered his words before replying, "We haven't seen each other for many years. To talk about feelings might be a bit of a stretch, wouldn't you say?"

The lady did not answer, but instead asked, "My second question is, do you think I need to use the Mori family's reputation for the purposes you've described?"

These two questions are actually two perspectives on the same issue.

Kirihara Akira remained silent, feeling that her answer must have been too impolite.

The lady, with the magnanimity of an elder, smiled and said, "There's no need to worry about so much."

Kirihara Akira replied decisively, "No, your reputation should be of paramount importance to you."

After asking the two questions, the lady stopped what she was doing and asked, "Would you like to try some?"

Kirihara Akira looked at the matcha in the bowl and said, "I'd better not, I'm afraid I'll have trouble sleeping if I drink too much."

"Hmm." The lady didn't press the matter, and began to explain the reason for the previous questions: "You answered both questions wrong."

"Please enlighten me, Madam."

The lady said, "Of course I care about family traditions and everything that aristocrats should have, but you need to understand that we are not gangsters. Only gangsters care about face. The essence of caring about face is to earn everyone's respect."

But we are different. We have a family history, a history that wasn't built on the charity of some important figure, either then or now.

"The most important things are the inheritance, knowledge, the past, the lessons and emotions that have happened in this family, and those are worth protecting with our hearts."

The lady said, "So you answered the first question wrong too. You treat me as a person without feelings and completely rational, which is the biggest misunderstanding in itself."

Kirihara Akira couldn't help but ask, "Can I take that you brought me to the Mori family out of a sense of obligation?"

"Your parents and I have a connection. Although my father often criticized their private morality when he was still alive, I still think that the years I knew them were the happiest time of my life."

Kirihara Akira then said, "So that's why you gave them that leather bag, so they would have something to protect themselves?"

This trap question plunged the atmosphere in the study into a freezing state.

However, the lady quickly and gently brushed away the frozen fog herself.

She said, "Kid, don't be so cunning."

"I was wrong." Kirihara Akira lowered her head insincerely and said, "I really want to know how my parents got into trouble with them."

The information Hino Harufumi gave him was rather vague, with only one piece of information being particularly important: "My parents once spent several days at a casino owned by the Yamaei-kai and lost a huge debt that they couldn't repay even if they sold themselves into pieces."

The debt collectors relentlessly pursued, harassed, and monitored them day and night, almost driving them to the brink of despair, when someone intervened and saved them.

After speaking, Kirihara Akira paused for a moment, wanting to see the lady's reaction.

However, the lady did not respond.

Kirihara Akira had no choice but to continue: "It is said that someone intervened and negotiated with the yakuza, negotiating the elimination of those terrifyingly abnormal interest rates that made one's scalp crawl, and paying off all the principal and part of the premium. After that, the yakuza quieted down."

"However, the peaceful days didn't last long. My parents, who were free of debt, spent one night accumulating debt again."

"They are probably the luckiest gamblers in the world. After going through a second cycle of debt and being driven to desperation, someone was still willing to step in and help them out. However, this time, instead of giving them money, a middleman gave them a brown bag."

"Nobody knew what was in the bag, but shortly after they got their hands on it, they died, and I almost died too."

The woman looked at him and slowly said, "So you believe that I did it."

Kirihara Akatsuki shook her head and said, "It's precisely because I believe you didn't do it that I dare to ask you this question directly... If you were the murderer, wouldn't it be suicide for me to so arrogantly confront you like this?"

The lady looked at him, laughed, and said, "Jingzhi told me you were very clever, but now it seems you're actually cunning."

Kirihara Akira smiled sheepishly.

The lady abruptly asked, "Where is Hino Harufumi?"

Kirihara Akira shook her head: "I don't know."

"Didn't you hear all this from him?" the lady said casually.

"I don't know why he was willing to tell me these things," Kirihara Akatsuki said, half-truthfully. "I had contact with him before, but he didn't open up at the time. It wasn't until late last night that he called me and told me that he had compiled some information that I wanted to know into data and wanted to give it to me."

The lady stared at him, her sharp eyes seemingly piercing through him.

She said, "Are you saying that person wasn't you?"