Chapter 232: A Story Where Everyone is Happy
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 232: A Story Where Everyone is Happy
"Alright. This is perfect."
It was a weekend morning.
Tojo Karen was checking her outfit in the full-length mirror in her room.
Compared to a year ago, when she had no interest in dressing up, no one could deny that her feminine charm had skyrocketed.
To complete her look, Karen slung a cute handbag that matched her light, flowing dress over her shoulder, applied a pink tint to her lips, and stepped out of her room.
Waiting for her right outside the door were her biological father, Tojo Naoto, and his right-hand man, the elite yakuza Director Sento Osamu.
"Daughter, where are you going all dressed up like that? A date, perhaps?"
"...Did you seriously wait here all this time just to ask me that?"
As Karen stared at him with an incredulous look, Tojo Naoto cleared his throat with a loud 'Ahem!' and corrected her.
"Just that?! For a father with a daughter, what could possibly be more important than this!"
"Then you have nothing to worry about. I'm just meeting up with friends today."
"...Is Kim Yoo-Sung one of them, by any chance?"
At the question, which seemed to imply he already knew everything, Karen's face flushed as she retorted.
"It's a girls' day out, you know?!"
"Ah, well then, that's fine."
As if finally realizing his worries were for naught, Tojo Naoto waved his hand and turned to leave.
Sento Osamu, who had been standing behind Naoto, pushed up his glasses with his middle finger and spoke to Karen.
"Then I shall take my leave as well, Young Miss. I wish you a pleasant weekend."
"......"
Seeing Sento's unnecessarily elegant demeanor for a yakuza, Karen almost lost her composure, but she decided to hold it in and let it slide, just for today.
It seemed far more wholesome to go and chat with the other girls as soon as possible rather than waste time here.
A moment later, Karen glanced down at her wristwatch to check the time and gasped in surprise.
"Ah! It's already so late!"
In a manner unbefitting her delicate outfit, she bolted out the front door and sprinted toward the bus stop.
*
Kishimoto Rika.
The only daughter of the manga artist Kishimoto Souji and the cosplayer Kishimoto Maria.
Her stunning looks were renowned back in her hometown of Shizuoka, and even in Tokyo, with its much larger population, her charm was in no way outshone.
When she walked around town with Kim Yoo-Sung, no one dared to approach them easily. But when she went out alone, she was often scouted by entertainment agencies or approached by guys trying to pick her up.
Although Rika showed outstanding prowess among her peers, she still couldn't hold a candle to Kumiko, the granddaughter of a major corporate chairman.
Beauty, grace, and top grades.
The student council president, Saionji Kumiko, was a perfect woman straight out of a manga.
Even Rika, who had rarely met anyone more exceptional than herself in her entire life, had to acknowledge Kumiko's superiority the moment she saw her.
That was why Rika came down from her room in an outfit she'd put even more effort into than usual.
Seeing her, Maria, who was watching TV in the living room, asked.
"Daughter? Are you going on a date or something today?"
"No! I'm meeting friends!"
"Really? It just looks like you put a lot of effort into your outfit today."
"You must be imagining things!"
Rika smoothly deflected her incredibly perceptive mother's comment and headed for the front door, then paused to ask.
"Mama, back when you were dating Papa, what did you do if a rival appeared?"
Maria, who had been roaring with laughter at the TV, waved her hand dismissively as if it were nothing.
"Rivals? I eliminated all of them."
It was a chillingly bloodthirsty answer, but for that very reason, it was all the more reassuring.
"I'm heading out!"
Tucking her mother's advice away in a corner of her heart, Rika set off for today's meeting place.
*
Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova.
Sasha, for short, was a natural-born predator.
Having strongly inherited her father Ivan's blood, she had, since childhood, obtained anything she desired by any means necessary.
That was why this current situation was so unusual.
To think she would be sharing the one she had marked as her own with others.
"I'm leaving now, Boris."
"Yes, Young Miss."
Getting out of the car in front of the tea house, their meeting spot, she waved goodbye to Boris and entered the shop with a blank expression.
"Welcome! May I have the name for the reservation?"
"Saionji Kumiko."
"Right this way, please."
Following the staff member's lead to a private room deep inside the tea house, Sasha thought to herself.
'It can't be helped. Judging by Kim Yoo-Sung's personality, he won't give up on that woman, the president, so easily.'
If plunder were an option, she would have done it.
But knowing it was impossible, Sasha had obediently joined this gathering.
However, if Kumiko, the host of this meeting, ever showed an opening, Sasha was always ready to sink her fangs into her without hesitation.
'I'll be waiting, President.'
*
The Kim Yoo-Sung Harem.
It was a small group whose ultimate goal was, quite literally, to build Kim Yoo-Sung's harem.
The group's president was Saionji Kumiko, Kim Yoo-Sung's current girlfriend and the one in the main wife position.
Originally, as the winner of the long heroine race, she had no intention of sharing Kim Yoo-Sung with anyone else, but—
Because of Kim Yoo-Sung's boundless stamina, Kumiko had no choice but to relinquish her possessiveness.
'I expected as much, but they're still hostile toward me.'
She surveyed the members present at today's meeting.
Tojo Karen, whose father was the boss of the Toseikai, the largest yakuza organization in the country.
Kishimoto Rika, the daughter of Kishimoto Souji, one of the top five most influential manga artists in Japan.
And Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova, the biological daughter of Ivan Romanov, the head of the Easter Egg Company, a global arms corporation whose influence abroad overwhelmed even the Saionji Group.
Her own background as a direct descendant of the Saionji Group was formidable, but the three people before her also came from backgrounds that were anything but ordinary.
'In a way, you could call it Yoo-Sung's good fortune.'
To be loved by girls with such outstanding abilities was something impossible for an ordinary person.
And now, two more people had been added to the roster.
"I never imagined you liked Yoo-Sung too, Yukika."
"...Kumiko."
Her classmate and the captain of the kendo club, Fuma Yukika.
But her true identity was the sole heir to the Fuma ninja clan.
Kumiko knew that Yoo-Sung was close with her, but she never thought Yukika harbored romantic feelings for him.
"And you must be Ms. Li Meiling, was it? I've heard much about your fame as a martial artist. Welcome to our group."
"It's a pleasure."
This was a woman whose existence Kumiko hadn't even known about.
But when she heard that she was another mentor-like figure to Kim Yoo-Sung, she had gladly accepted her into the group.
She figured that a world-class martial artist like her would be able to last quite a while against Yoo-Sung.
The group's membership had now grown to six.
There were still elements of instability, but to paint the big picture Kumiko envisioned, she needed the help of many people.
The first step was—
"First, thanks to the help from Ms. Karen and Ms. Sasha, we've succeeded in lobbying for the 'polygamy' bill. If all goes well, I believe we can get the bill passed in the National Diet within two to three years."
As she gave the regular report, the members each showed their own reactions.
Karen and Sasha nodded as if it were a matter of course, while Rika looked as if she couldn't believe it was actually happening.
And then there were Yukika and Meiling, who had just joined and looked like they had no idea what was being discussed.
As the host, Kumiko kindly explained to the two of them.
"The ultimate goal of this group is to persuade Yoo-Sung to naturally accept the formation of a harem. To do that, we first needed to overhaul Japan's marriage laws. If I had proceeded alone, it would have taken several more years at least, but thanks to the behind-the-scenes help from Karen and Sasha, we were able to legislate it quickly."
"Does that mean polygamy will become legal in Japan?"
"That's right. Once this bill passes, we won't have to immigrate to the Middle East or be branded with the stigma of being 'mistresses.' Everyone in the harem can obtain the equal status of 'wife.'"
"...That's incredible."
Yukika voiced her honest impression.
And for good reason. Kumiko's method of handling things was something an ordinary person could never even conceive of.
To try and change the laws of a country just to share one man.
It was truly the scheme of a madwoman.
"Fufu, you can praise me more. It took quite a bit of effort, after all."
A round of applause rained down on the boasting Kumiko.
Next, the meeting moved on to the next item on the agenda.
"Our school's cultural festival, the Towon Festival, is just two days away. Let's review the plan one more time."
As Kumiko said this and snapped open the fan she always carried, Minami, who was standing behind her, pressed a button on a remote control.
Beep!
A projector screen silently descended from the ceiling.
Presently, a date course that Minami had planned jointly with her older brother, who had not yet come up from Kyoto, was displayed on the white screen. She could feel the three key players in this operation gulp.
Minami spoke with a smug expression.
"Let me repeat myself. All you have to do is follow this plan."
If they did—
"Kim Yoo-Sung will gladly accept his harem."