While being especially clingy as well as not having any breaks in the flow of her thoughts, I got to know a lot of what Mizuki was refraining to tell me.

Theres about what happened to her after I cut her off that shes refusing to tell me. Her various ruminations about our past and current relationship. Her plan for me, and us. And lastly, every thought and idea shes keeping inside her pretty little head be it positive or negative.

Through those murmurings of hers, I got to understand more of her motivation for staying with me and how much I mean to her.

And truthfully, Im extremely flattered and ashamed at the same time.

It made me pause and think about what her future would be if I didnt enter her life.

Obviously, in her perception, its a positive one but outside of it, her family as well as those from the main branch saw her stagnating. They found that the sudden change in her goal of latching onto a powerful man to make her own path to success made her slow down to a crawl.

W-what do they know, Ruki? This is my own life, I decide who I will be with and how I will accomplish it. If they want me to pay them for raising me then so be it I will do so in the future. They can write that as my debt for now Theyll be regretting that decision if they see your capabilities. I, too, am always in awe at how you do things. You can think unconventionally so with you and me as a tandem, we can topple even an empire

Thats just one of her unrestrained ramblings. Taking out the key points in that, her family mustve known that shes already in a relationship with someone or perhaps, they already know about me but given her ability, they havent messed with me yet or they dont have the guts to do so. Furthermore, just like with Aoi and Ria, this girls confidence in me is surprisingly high And surely, its not the only three of them. They all believed in my abilities.

As much as I didnt want to be pressured by how high the confidence they had in me, its hard to resist after being made aware of it. Better use it as a motivation than letting it weigh on my or their shoulders.

In any case, thats just one of her ramblings. Whether she would remember everything she said or not, I have no idea. I would honestly answer her if she asked me about this though.

Ten minutes after that, the girl finally ran out of fuel and fell asleep comfortably. Although I was the one who actually sweated with what I did, seeing the girl gradually calm down from my warmth was enough reward for me.

I then stayed close to her for ten minutes more before I silently got off the bed.

Thank you for coming here, Onoda-sama. You can leave ojou-sama to me With her words and tone filled with genuine gratitude, Suzuki bowed to me. She then handed me a towel to wipe myself off and asked me to take off my shirt so that she could dry it off.

Well, its Suzuki the uninterested so I didnt think twice about giving her my shirt. Besides, if I let it dry on me, that one would surely lead me to catch a cold.

By the way, Suzuki-san, have you called the school? I asked when she returned after putting my shirt in the machine.

Yes. I notified them about it and they said they will arrange a make-up exam this weekend.

I see. Thats great. Mizuki being sick today was unexpected. From what I heard from Suzuki and Mizuki herself, it must be because of how shes still overworking herself until late at night

I already reminded her not to but shes just inherently hardworking. Most likely, those were the days when she couldnt sleep properly. Its like a habit for her now. Habits were always hard to break. I could only hope that my reminders and scoldings would do their job.

With nothing else to do but to watch over the girl, time quickly passed and my time to leave soon arrived.

After handing me my shirt, Suzuki lowered her head once again

I will have to apologize, Onoda-sama. I will not be able to send you to school.

What are you saying? Its fine. Im also going to ask you to stay here and look after Mizuki. Let her eat what I bought, alright? Let her stuff her mouth with her favorite meat buns. Also, please update me about her status.

I understand, Onoda-sama. If I may, can I also ask you for a favor?

Favor from Suzuki? This is new But I could somehow guess what shes going to ask it concerns Mizuki, of course.

Sure, as long as its something I can accomplish, I will not let you down.

Then, Onoda-sama. Please do not confess to ojou-sama if she asked you about her dreamy ramblings.

But you know it, Suzuki-san. I cant really lie to my girls. Can you give me a valid reason?

Onoda-sama should also know that Ojou-sama is a very confident woman. If she finds out that all her thoughts and ideas are already leaked to you, shell lose her confidence.

You know I can just cheer her up.

Im afraid its not that easy You heard what happened after that day, one year ago.

Ah I see. That might happen again, huh?

That day was the day I cut Mizuki off From what I heard from Mizuki earlier, she broke down because she thought I dumped her for being useless to me. Her confidence went to an all-time low that when the new school year started, she resorted to accepting a confession from someone. But the guy was widely different from me so instead of regaining her confidence, she just lashed out at the guy, scaring him enough to avoid being on her path.

What actually led to her return to her usual self was Akanes invitation.

Precisely. Suzuki curtly nodded.

I understand. Ill keep it to myself. Its for Mizukis well-being, after all.

You have my utmost gratitude.

For the third time, Suzuki bowed to me and this time, it was almost a 90-degree angle. It went to show how much she cared for Mizuki.

No. I should be the one to thank you, Suzuki-san. Thank you for being with her all this time I wont repeat the same mistake as before so I hope you can also help me when it comes to Mizuki.

After a bow, I stretched a hand to the woman in a butler suit. She stared at it for a moment, perhaps wondering what that meant. A thin smile then bloomed from her face and grabbed my hand.

If thats the case, youll have my assistance Onoda-sama. However, please take this as a warning. Ojou-sama is my benefactor. I live for her happiness.

The thin smile on her face gradually turned a little cold. I guess shes someone who wouldnt hesitate on destroying me for Mizukis happiness.

Well, for me, knowing that Mizuki has someone like Suzuki-san at her side, I can rest assured that shell be well-protected.