My love index is at its maximum.

Tsukasa Tazaki handed her the bouquet of flowers: "Do you like white roses?"

Kana Shimamoto gently inhaled the fragrance of the flowers.

This is a flower that symbolizes purity, romance, and nobility in courtship.

While the plum blossom possesses a noble and elegant character, it is perhaps less impressive when it comes to love.

"I like it." Shimamoto Kana gave an affirmative answer, a gentle smile playing on her lips.

At this moment, she exuded a girlish innocence and charm. Tsukasa Tazaki gazed at her affectionately, his fingers gently stroking the slender, snow-white neck that peeked out from her collar.

“You look beautiful in this kimono,” he said again.

Her elegant posture, the way she speaks, the trembling of her lips—every little detail exudes a gentle beauty.

In an instant, Tazaki Tsukasa recalled her dazzling figure that afternoon in Kamakura. If one were to use plum blossoms as a metaphor, she would be a cluster of plum blossoms leaping and dancing wildly.

"Okay, I got it."

Kana Shimamoto drawled out her words and gently pushed his shoulder away: "Hurry back, it will be troublesome if someone sees us."

Let's go together.

"I can't leave so soon..."

Tsukasa Tazaki opened his arms and pulled her into his embrace, whispering, "Then I'll go with you to take a look."

“No, that won’t do.” Shimamoto Kana shook her head decisively, holding a white rose in one hand and gently stroking his cheek with the other: “How’s evening? That restaurant from last time…”

"Sneaking around is not what I want."

Tazaki Tsukasa smelled the faint fragrance emanating from her body and unconsciously increased the pressure on his hands. "If this is still just a cover-up, then why should I endure so many beatings from my tiger at home?"

Kana Shimamoto's smile vanished, replaced by an unusually serious expression: "Are you still half asleep or what? Do you know what you're saying?"

“I’ve never been so clear-headed,” Tazaki Tsukasa said. “Just keeping it from Hoshino-sensei and spending only a week with you in Kamakura has been agonizing for me every single moment. Now I want you to put yourself in danger with me. I can’t do that, and I can’t laugh and flit around with different women every day while you’re not free.”

Kana Shimamoto stared intently at him, the sunlight filtering through the leaves falling on his snow-white neck, casting a soft glow, and making his updo hair appear even blacker and shinier.

“I can’t let you stay in this cage any longer.” Tsukasa Tazaki kissed her neck as if to leave a mark, burying his face deep in her fair and warm skin. “Gentle in nature, sexy in body; Shimamoto-sensei, with a story and depth, deserves a brighter future.”

"Your hair will get messed up..." Shimamoto Kana tilted her head back slightly.

Tazaki Tsukasa had no choice but to become more serious, putting his arms around her back and saying, "I used to always ask you when you were going to get a divorce, but now it's time to say something more responsible—please let me help you get a divorce."

With goosebumps rising on her skin, Kana Shimamoto shook her head with difficulty: "I can't live without it."

Her tone was bitter, but she still wore a gentle smile, a smile that seemed like a distant memory, almost unreal.

Takashi Tazaki loved her smile so much that he immediately said, "Japanese marriage law stipulates that marriages entered into through fraud or coercion are invalid and have no legal binding force. The parties involved do not have the rights and obligations of spouses."

“It’s no use saying all this!” Shimamoto Kana said earnestly. “So many years have passed, the evidence has been completely destroyed, and there is no way to prove that I was coerced at the time.”

"Aren't the witnesses still there?"

Kana Shimamoto shook her head again: "Even if I said it, the judge wouldn't accept it."

“Indeed,” Tsukasa Tazaki said with a smile.

"That's right."

"But I understand your heart very well."

"What is it?"

“A sense of weakness,” Tsukasa Tazaki said, “a feeling of being helplessly led by the nose by a behemoth.”

"perhaps."

Tsukasa Tazaki continued, "You usually drown your sorrows in alcohol during those times, right?"

“Not bad.” Shimamoto Kana nodded silently.

"Then..." Tsukasa Tazaki asked, "wouldn't it be possible to let the behemoth tell the truth itself?"

"...?" Shimamoto Kana looked at him in surprise, her beautiful, deep cat-like pupils widening to their maximum: "He's not crazy, how could he say it out loud?"

"Leave it to me." Tazaki Tsukasa held her voluptuous body, his heart overflowing with affection. "On the way here, all the customers we passed were saying that Mrs. Shimamoto was wearing a plain kimono, so elegant, with her intelligent and dashing husband standing beside her. They really envied this well-matched couple. At that moment, I wanted to beat them all to a pulp, you know?"

Kana Shimamoto smiled calmly: "Jealous?"

"It's not just jealousy, it's downright envy." Tsukasa Tazaki hugged her even tighter. "The intelligent, beautiful, well-mannered, and incredibly gentle Kana Shimamoto is mine. Why should she have to swallow her pride and be a model couple with someone else!"

"Just hearing your words is enough." Shimamoto Kana obediently rested her cheek against his chest, her mind filled with indescribable sweetness and happiness.

"not enough."

I'm afraid you'll act impulsively.

“I already have a plan.” Tazaki Tsukasa’s tone carried a hint of desperation. “I truly understand your many moral concerns. But please trust me, leave all the burdens to me, and just enjoy the romance, okay?”

Warmth gradually seeped into her body, and Shimamoto Kana said nothing more. In her heart, the boy had always possessed a maturity and composure far beyond his peers. Since he said he had a solution, she chose to completely trust him.

It doesn't matter if we fail...

Kana Shimamoto had prepared for the worst. No matter what the consequences, with him by her side, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Yes, there's nothing to be afraid of. Such a wonderful feeling is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so why not steel yourself, savor the feeling of being pampered, and fall down together with abandon!

A sudden gust of wind swept through the courtyard, rustling the plum trees.

I heard footsteps nearby.

Kana Shimamoto instinctively pushed away Tsukasa Tazaki's chest with her hand, but as soon as she exerted force... she was pulled back into his arms.

"..."

"No need to hide."

His voice was steady and firm, carrying a reassuring power.

Kana Shimamoto buried her face deep in his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist as if she had given up all hope.

White roses fell to their feet, gently caressed by the breeze, pure and elegant, without a trace of dirt or filth.

The footsteps approached from afar, then suddenly stopped as if they had witnessed something extraordinary, and three seconds later they hurriedly ran in the opposite direction.

Kana Shimamoto's delicate, girlish hands gently gripped his shirt: "Everyone saw it, can you let go of me now?"

"Wait a little longer." There was an undeniable forcefulness in Tazaki Tsukasa's voice.

"You can be really domineering sometimes..." Shimamoto Kana protested verbally, but her body remained pressed tightly against him as if she were being sucked in.

Tazaki Tsukasa gently kissed her cheek, his gaze lingering on her round, adorable pink earlobe. "I'm very good at reading women's minds; I didn't know it wasn't a talent. With you, I need to be a little assertive, to put your mind at ease. As for Hoshino Hanami, I need to be a little more subtle, constantly bringing her something new..."

Why do I get the feeling that you're so smug?

"Is there?"

"Of course, your smirk is practically reaching your eyes!"

"Okay, I'm just so proud of myself." Tsukasa Tazaki laughed heartily. "Hoshino Hanami and Shimamoto Kana are both mine. If I told anyone, the whole world would envy me. How could I not be proud?"

"Tazaki Tsukasa, you've done so many bad things!" Shimamoto Kana smiled as she looked at the blue sky above the plum tree, her expression serious: "If you keep being this scumbag, one day your tiger will stab you to death with a knife."

"Haha, let's not talk about that now." Tsukasa Tazaki let go of her and brushed the bits of grass stuck to her bottom with his hand: "Are you ready? Let's go out together."

Feeling Tsukasa Tazaki's hands rubbing against her through her clothes for a while, Kana Shimamoto placed her hands on his shoulders, her deep, captivating eyes staring at him for a long, long time.

"Thank you!" she said earnestly.

Tsukasa Tazaki replied, "You're welcome."

"As long as I keep following you, I won't be afraid at all, no matter how bad or dark things are."

"Isn't that simple?" Tsukasa Tazaki said. "You'll follow me for the rest of your life!"

"Really?"

"Heaven and earth bear witness."

"Yes, I understand." Shimamoto Kana tiptoed and gently pressed her cheek against Tazaki Tsukasa's cheek: "I like you."

This gesture and confession were absolutely wonderful; they were so heartwarming that they made my chest tighten.

The sky darkened slightly, dark clouds drifted in from the direction of Tokyo Bay, and a few crows flew by from the east, indicating that the oppressive weather was about to be broken.

The typhoon is about to make landfall.

Kana Shimamoto bent down to pick up the white rose, held it in both hands, and looked towards the door: "Let's go home and never step into this yard again."

"Which house?" Tsukasa Tazaki asked.

"Your home!"

Tsukasa Tazaki thought for a moment and asked, "Should we go buy some things for the night first?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Shimamoto Kana scolded with amusement. "How could I let you succeed so easily? Let me observe a little longer."

"I saw it all just now."

"Eh?"

"When you were using your hand just now, were you thinking about me...?"

Faced with his affectionate yet playful gaze, Shimamoto Kana's face flushed instantly, turning as red as the autumn maple leaves on Togetsukyo Bridge—a shy yet captivating red.

Tsukasa Tazaki smiled knowingly.

No further questions were needed; a woman's blush spoke volumes.

On their way back to the front hall, all the guests and servants they encountered automatically and consciously made way for the two of them, keeping close to the corridor. Only after they had passed did murmurs of surprise and confusion begin to circulate.

"what's the situation?"

"The governor is gay, it was just announced in the news."

"So, that boy was Mrs. Shimamoto's kept relative?"

"You brought them all home..."

"Face-to-face NTR, how exciting!"

Walking back to the front hall, it was still full of guests. The ladies were all wearing kimonos, while the men were wearing either kimonos or suits.

An elderly man with a full head of white hair, dressed in a black and white twisted kimono, sat upright to the side. His turbid eyes, full of authority, noticed the arrival of Tsukasa Tazaki and called out to him directly, "Come here, let's talk."

Everyone's eyes turned to the doorway.