Chapter 76: Chapter 35

Seijirou walked into the living room, the weight of the day—and the weight of his mother’s startling "gift"—settling heavily on him.

He sat down on the expensive leather sofa, rubbing his forehead with two fingers, trying to process the surreal scene.

In front of him, sat his mother, Hakari, still in her immaculate business suit, looking utterly pleased with herself and smiling—a chilling, triumphant smile that only amplified her cold beauty.

Two feet behind her, standing rigidly, were the two new additions to his household: Himejima Haruka and her mother, Yuko, both clad in the formal, black-and-white maid attire.

Seijirou fixed his gaze on his mother.

"Why," he began, his voice laced with annoyance, "did you think it was a good idea to give me a maid? I can manage on my own."

Hakari scoffed, rolling her red eyes dramatically. "Please, Seijirou. If it wasn’t for that girl, Suzune, occasionally cleaning up for you, this house would be a biohazard junkyard already. You can barely manage to put your own laundry in the basket."

"I don’t need some maids," Seijirou insisted, emphasizing the plural.

Hakari’s smile widened, becoming predatory and conspiratorial. "Ah, but they aren’t just some maids, are they? They are a full mother-daughter pair of maids! They can cook, they can clean, and more importantly, they are completely indebted and subservient. They can warm your bed, entertain you, and fulfill whatever strange desires you might have. Isn’t that what you like, Seiji?"

Seijirou stared at his mother, his confusion evident. "Huh? Who gave you that idea?"

Hakari leaned back, crossing her legs, a look of profound patience settling on her face. "Don’t be coy, dear. I know about your... affairs. Specifically, your little arrangement with that girl Suzune and, quite recently, her mother, Aiko."

"How do you...?" Seijirou started, a rare moment of surprise showing on his face, but Hakari cut him off with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Details are irrelevant. What is relevant is that you could have simply told me you had an Oyakodon fetish," she chided him lightly, as if discussing his favorite flavor of ice cream. "I would have already found you a discrete, high-quality couple of mother-daughter pairs, saving you the trouble of seducing a single mother and potentially upsetting a political alliance."

Seijirou opened his mouth to deny the fetish, to deny his mother’s invasive knowledge, but ultimately closed it.

Does he have an Oyakodon fetish? he wondered. Maybe. After all, he felt a strange, undeniable excitement just thinking of sleeping with a daughter, and then immediately heading to her mother next, feeling the thrill of the forbidden doubling the pleasure.

And just thinking about both mother and daughter was incredibly thrilling.

Oh wow, he really does have an Oyakodon fetish.

Hakari continued, oblivious to his internal debate. "These two women, Haruka and Yuko, have been handed over to me by a recently dismissed subordinate who had the audacity to steal from the company. They are his compensation, so to speak. Consider them as your property now—a very convenient, self-cleaning, high-utility property."

Seijirou stared at Haruka, who remained a statue of stoic emotionlessness, though he noted a microscopic tremor in her lower lip.

He then glanced at her mother, Yuko, who looked utterly destroyed, sad and melancholic, but was forcing herself into a gentle, subservient smile as she waited for her fate.

He sighed, realizing the full extent of his mother’s ruthlessness and his own unavoidable complicity. "And if I still refuse them? If I insist I don’t want them here?"

Hakari gave a cold, nonchalant shrug, her eyes gleaming. "No problem at all. I would simply have to repurpose them."

"Repurpose?" Seijirou frowned.

"Yes. I would probably give them away to one of my business partners to sweeten a deal, or perhaps loan them to one of your father’s political rivals to gather some influence or information. There are plenty of wealthy, lonely men who value such... unconventional compensation."

Seijirou watched Haruka and Yuko.

Upon hearing his mother’s casual words—a direct threat of being passed around and exploited—both women visibly trembled, their control failing for a brief moment, but neither dared to speak or object.

The choice was clear: acceptance meant that these two girls could at least maintain some dignity, and refusal meant certain, immediate degradation for the two women.

Seijirou finally gave a decisive nod, the subtle flick of his hand confirming the transaction. "Fine. I will take them in."

Hakari looked immensely pleased. She stood up smoothly, adjusting her suit jacket. "Excellent choice, Seiji. Now, I need to go. I certainly don’t want to be here when my son decides to initiate the ’friendship of thighs’ with his new maids."

Seijirou felt his cheek muscles twitch slightly at her crude choice of words, but he knew better than to comment.

He stood up politely. "Have you already eaten, Mother? You can stay and eat here."

Hakari waved her hand dismissively, already walking toward the door. "I appreciate the offer, but I have already dined. I still have something important to do this evening—arranging the political fallout from a certain embezzlement case. I will leave you to get acquainted with your new staff. Enjoy your gift."

And with that, she swept out of the house.

Seijirou watched the door click shut behind his mother.

The silence that fell was thick and heavy, saturated with the recent, brutal transaction.

He slowly turned his attention to the two women standing before him.

"Sit down," Seijirou ordered, his voice flat, gesturing toward the twin armchairs positioned opposite the sofa.

Haruka and Yuko obeyed instantly, moving with an unnerving, synchronized subservience.

Haruka sat stiffly, her back straight and her expression blank.

Yuko sat more cautiously, her movements betraying her emotional turmoil.

Seijirou regarded them, his posture still relaxed but his mind sharply analytical.

He bypassed the formality and went straight to the crux of the matter.

"Haruka," he began, "tell me what got you into this situation. Every detail."

Haruka, still maintaining her impenetrable stoic facade, recited the facts as if reading from a police report. "My father, Himejima Sukamu, was discovered to have been embezzling funds from Madam Kageyama’s company for the past decade. To avoid justice and secure his own freedom and financial comfort in a foreign territory, he signed over all his remaining assets—including the legal custody of my mother and myself—to Madam Kageyama. This arrangement absolved his debt and is how we ended up here."

Seijirou nodded slowly, taking in the clinical summary.

He sighed, feeling a profound, chilling sense of inevitability.

Haruka’s route played out exactly as it did in the game, he realized, a sigh of helplessness escaping his lips.

In the original narrative, her father’s villainy was the catalyst for her despair, making her vulnerable to either the player’s redemption or a darker fate.

This world is seriously fucked up, he thought, annoyed by the predictability of the tragedy.

Well, whatever. Everything already happened. He couldn’t change the past, only manage the present and the future.

Just then, he recalled the exciting conversation with Touka at the abandoned building.

He had forgotten to mention to his mother his plans on starting a legitimate entertainment business.

He dismissed the thought. Hakari would find out soon enough; it didn’t matter right now.

He focused back on Haruka. "Do you still want to go to school?"

Haruka replied instantly, still staring straight ahead. "Madam Kageyama informed me that my status is entirely dependent on your command, Kageyama-sama. If you desired, you could order me to remain here and simply serve you for the rest of my life. She left the decision to you."

Seijirou considered the request. Haruka was an excellent student and a valuable piece of the class dynamic.

Keeping her confined would be a waste of resources and potentially raise unwanted questions.

"No," he decided. "You will follow me to school tomorrow. We are classmates, and it would look odd if you suddenly vanished."

He then turned his attention to Yuko. "Your mother can handle the housework alone, correct? I’ll need her here during the day."

Yuko, relieved that her daughter was not being confined, nodded repeatedly, her gentle blue eyes earnest. "Yes, Master Seijirou! You can absolutely rely on me. Housework is what I’m best at. I will ensure the house is spotless and your meals are prepared exactly when you need them."

Seijirou stood up, signaling the end of the uncomfortable interview. "Good. Then I will take a bath now. I expect dinner to be ready when I’m finished."

With that, he turned and left the living room, heading towards the bathroom, leaving the two maids alone in the silence of the massive house.

Yuko stared at his retreating back, her expression shifting.

She hesitated for a moment, listening until the sound of running water could be heard from the bathroom.

Then, her tear-streaked face became rigid with a sudden, fierce determination as she gently placed a trembling hand on Haruka’s shoulder.

’At least my daughter can still continue her studies,’ she thought fiercely. ’That devil Hakari may have stolen my freedom, but she will not take Haruka’s future.’

Her duty was clear: ensure the house was perfect, placate the young master, and, most importantly, protect her daughter from the dark fate Hakari had so casually laid out for them.

She was a maid now, but she was still a mother, and a mother’s resolve was a frightening thing.