Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Saving Shizune
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Fudahara Residence.
With nowhere else to turn, Shizune ended up calling the only guy her age that she knew.
Her heart pounded as she dialed, and her vision blurred with tears.
Ring... ring...
The call connected, and a familiar face appeared on the screen. A handsome man with sharp features. It was Yu Sanghyeon.
Shizune, who was normally hopeless with gadgets, had accidentally started a video call.
But she was such a tech noob that she'd never even properly used SNS before. Thinking it was just a regular call, she held the phone to her ear and spoke.
"Ahem, uh, um... L-Lord Sanghyeon? Can you hear me?"
-Splashhhh...
Water sounds came through the phone. He was probably in the shower. Even so, Yu Sanghyeon focused on the call without a care.
-"Huh...? I can only see your ear. Haha, even your ear's pretty cute."
"E-eh? What do you mean by that?"
-"Oh right, Lady Fudahara... you're hopeless with tech, aren't you? Heh heh... This is a video call."
Flustered by his voice, Shizune looked down at the screen. It was just a reflexive move in her panic, but the front camera captured her red eyes and trembling shoulders perfectly. Her tear-streaked cheeks were visible on his end too.
-"Whoa? Have you been crying?"
"Ah...!"
Realizing too late, Shizune hurriedly tried to turn the phone away, but it was no use. Shame and frustration washed over her as she bowed her head.
"I'm sorry... I just... It's been so overwhelming..."
Yu Sanghyeon's wet face hardened.
His heroine was crying. Her eyelids were puffy, her cheeks even more so.
No words were needed.
He grabbed a towel right away.
-"...Give me five minutes, guys! I gotta..."
Click.
"Wha-what? L-Lord Sanghyeon!?"
The night air was chilly under the full moonlight. Near the Fudahara house, beneath a streetlamp, Shizune stood alone. She wiped her eyes with one hand and looked up at me.
"Lord Sanghyeon..."
Her voice mixed relief and fear.
"What happened?"
I asked without catching my breath. She bit her lip for a moment, then poured out everything she'd been holding back in a quiet murmur. What happened in the parlor, what kind of scum Sato Yusuke was, and how she hadn't given in.
Damn it all.
That psycho was even crazier than I'd thought. A textbook sociopath chaebol heir straight out of a movie. The funny part? Sato Industries wasn't even a big corp—just a mid-sized company. Sure, it was solid, and as the son of a Tokyo business owner, he'd lived comfortably, but for a second-gen from a small firm to act so untouchable? The guy had to be a massive narcissist.
"...So Father is out there alone right now..."
Her shoulders started shaking as she talked about her dad suffering.
"...It's all because of me. Since I wouldn't kneel, his workshop might get cut off... I'm scared. So scared. Sob... Hic... sob..."
Her voice grew tiny in the darkness.
When a woman's crying, a man's got one job.
I pulled her into a tight hug!
"Eek!?"
I stroked her hair and said,
"You did great, Lady Fudahara. I'm so proud of you. Must've been tough holding out alone, huh?"
She looked up at my face. Her white hair and red eyes made her look like a rabbit. A ridiculously mature one.
"Even in that situation, you didn't break. That's true samurai spirit. I'm proud."
"Sob... L-Lord... Sanghyeon...!"
Squeeze!
Even the most grown-up woman has a girl inside, they say.
Maybe my gentle tone cracked her dam, because she clung to me so tight her huge chest squished flat against me.
Then, a voice that shouldn't have been here rang out.
"Eeeeek! Sanghyeon's cheating!!"
"Gah!?"
Shizune jolted away in shock at the shrill woman's voice from behind me.
I turned to see Harumi charging at me like a bullet. Why the hell was she here out of nowhere?
"Miss, how'd you get here?"
"How'd I get here!? I sensed you with my Sanghyeon radar and followed!"
Harumi twirled her pigtails like antennae.
Did she really have that...?
This was kinda creepy.
They say women have animal instincts, but did she somehow sense me going wild in a 3P beast session with Ren and Saki?
Grip!
"Sanghyeon's mine! Ugh, get lost, you boob bunny!!"
This little miss had a hidden fighting cock streak. She went after every girl near me. If she knew Ren and Saki were right now blissfully asleep with their wombs full and sloshing with my seed, she'd lose it.
"B-boob... bunny? Wh-what vulgarity from a lady's mouth! A woman's breasts are for nurturing children properly...!"
"I don't care!! Big boobs win everything!? I can feed babies just fine too! Anyway, quit stealing my man! Scram!!"
"S-stealing!? How dare you! Lord Sanghyeon and I are merely... uh..."
Shizune's excuse grew feeble as she realized we'd just been hugging. Before Harumi could rampage more, I hugged her lightly from behind to calm her.
"Now now, miss, be good? No fighting, okay?"
"Urk... Yeah..."
Snapping to at my words, she toned down her breast-ripping fury and behaved.
So obedient. Cute.
"Anyway, what were you two talking about? I saw you hugging! Lie and I'll punish you!"
Grrrrowl meow!
"Lady Fudahara, mind telling Miss Harumi the situation?"
Harumi didn't know before, but now that she'd properly inherited the company, she was pouring all her smarts into management studies. She'd lacked knowledge till now, but she was brilliant.
She might even have an unexpected solution.
"Uh, um..."
But Shizune hesitated a bit.
It was airing her dirty laundry, after all.
I gently took her hand and persuaded her.
"Miss Harumi looks like this, but she's super sharp. Let's consult her."
"Hoo... Is that so? She doesn't seem reliable..."
"What!? Hey!"
These two had some chemistry. Fun.
They seemed to have gotten a bit familiar now.
I briefly explained Shizune's plight to Harumi. About the trash Sato Yusuke, and how things escalated during his tutoring. But as she listened quietly, Harumi frowned at one part.
"Hold up, what'd you just say?"
"Pardon?"
"What industry?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nooo! You said some industry just now."
Why's she like this?
"Sato Industries. The prime contractor for Fudahara Workshop. They buy brushes and inksticks from Shizune's dad."
Harumi's face suddenly stiffened oddly. She crossed her arms, tilted her chin up, and nodded.
"Knew it. It was on the partner list I saw before. Sato Industries is one of Tachibana Trading's primary contractors."
"Eh?"
Shizune's eyes went wide.
Harumi shrugged.
"No idea what balls those punks have to pressure Boob Bunny's workshop. And what? Threatening to void the contract through the prime? Pfft. Forgot who the real prime is?"
This time, even hearing "boob bunny," Shizune didn't snap back. This messy mess might have its fix in this little girl's hands.
"I'm Kanemochiru Harumi, owner of Tachibana Trading. We don't need filthy scum like that."
Her eyes gleamed coldly.
Memories of Kenji's crap flashing back? Her gaze held near-hatred.
I calmly stroked her head to settle her emotions. Getting too heated was bad for mental health and could botch things.
"Hehe."
Shizune's face flickered with faint surprise and hope as she watched Harumi purr under my touch.
"This little miss is really the head of such a huge firm...?"
"Jeez, believe it or not! And me and Sanghyeon are a CEO couple."
"Hm. I've heard of that concept. Fascinating."
"I'll transfer my shares to you soon too."
I hated company stuff anyway.
"Huh? Whyyy?"
"Planned it from the start. Doesn't change me marrying you and living happily, so no worries."
Harumi rolled her eyes thoughtfully, then shrugged it off with a smile.
"Anyway... solving this'll be easy. With you and me teaming up, squashing those thugs is nothing."
"Yeah."
Shizune stared at me with a wildly pounding expression.
Not love—probably just the situation feeling like a dream.
She'd called to vent her woes, and boom, the master key to fixing it tagged along.
Let's go. Time to crush them.
And save Shizune for good.