I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

If that's the case, even if the system hadn't been allowed to reclaim the emotions in the first place, wouldn't it have...?

It's as if I've come to understand my own heart, and it's also as if some restless feeling is sprouting and rising from the bottom of my heart, uncontrollably taking root and spreading.

Tenkuji Yu glanced around the table, then subtly looked at Yukinoshita Haruno, who was biting her lip and had a slightly subtle expression, before quickly looking away.

Just then, the petite, silver-haired nobleman also came over carrying the food.

Because she had been paying attention to her surroundings, before she stepped into the area of ​​influence, Yuu Tenkuji stopped being oblivious and turned to take the plate from her hand.

"Thank you, I'll take care of it."

“No, I’ll do it.” She shook her head, her tone calm but firm. “I’m a waiter, you’re a guest, I’ll serve you.”

“Okay.” Tenkuji Yu didn’t insist too much and quickly sat back down in her chair. Watching her place the food on the table with light and steady movements, she seemed to have more strength than she had imagined.

"There's more to come, please wait a moment."

With a slight bow, before turning to leave, Tachibana Kanade maintained a calm expression, but many doubts arose in his heart.

Why do all the other girls, except for Sora and Yu-senpai, have such strange expressions?

And the atmosphere is so dull. What's that thing on the table that looks like a project plan for?

Unfortunately, she's at work now and not used to getting to the bottom of other people's affairs.

So, despite her curiosity, Tachibana Kanade resolutely took a step forward and prepared to bring over the next dish.

"...Is it really necessary to go to such lengths to have your cake and eat it too?"

As Tachibana Kanade walked away, Yukinoshita Saori broke the somber atmosphere with a voice devoid of any emotion.

His tightly furrowed brows were pressed against the fan, and his icy, knife-like gaze bore a resemblance to Yukino Yukinoshita's... Perhaps that's how it was inherited.

They really are mother and daughter, aren't they?

"Sorry, I'm just that kind of troublesome guy."

Tenkuji Yu shrugged. He had said everything he needed to say, and there was no need for any pretense or probing now. So he asked her directly, "Also, do you think your daughter isn't worth my serious attention?"

"..."

The biting cold surged instantly, far surpassing that of the Ice Queen—this level could probably be called the Ice Goddess, right?

In short, it seems I've made my wife even angrier.

However, since things have come to this point, no matter how much he angers this woman, she probably won't be angrier than if he discovered that his daughter's boyfriend is a womanizer.

So to be honest, Tenkuji Yu is too lazy to care about her feelings now, and plans to say whatever he wants.

If someone really wants to oppose her being with Yukino, Mrs. Yukinoshita has countless reasons to give, and disrespectful words are no exception.

Yuu Tenkuji was completely unconcerned about the blizzard, but his girlfriend couldn't help but worry for him. She reached under the table, pinched his thigh, and whispered:

"Why did you deliberately provoke her? The fact that Mother is still sitting here means there's still room for discussion. If you leave in anger because of this..."

"No, don't worry." Tenkuji Yu said with a hint of helplessness.

"Then do something to put my mind at ease! You didn't even tell me about the project proposal. I'll settle the score with you later!" She pouted in dissatisfaction, lightly patted his thigh like an angry cat, and then gradually lowered her voice.

"If I could, I wouldn't want to fall out with my mother..."

“I’ve said it before, that’s not an option that will make you happy, so I won’t do it.” Tenkuji Yu gently patted her hand, then looked up at Mrs. Yukinoshita, whose expression hadn’t softened at all.

"I went too far just now, I'm sorry." After sincerely apologizing, he immediately added, "But your precious daughter is also very important to me."

Mrs. Yukinoshita raised an eyebrow, opened her fan to cover her lips, and adopted an expression as if she was ready to find fault.

"Really? How important is it?"

Without a second thought, Yuu Tenkuji immediately replied, "Spring cannot be without cherry blossoms, and autumn cannot be without maple leaves—that's how important it is."

"But cherry blossoms and maple leaves will wither sooner or later."

"As long as spring and autumn are here, she will still be here."

"Oh? You don't want her in the summer and winter?"

"Please give me some time to find the one that is in its most beautiful bloom."

"If it's not pretty, you don't want it? If you're old and past your prime, you won't look for someone else?"

"I couldn't run anymore at that time, and I ended up being buried next to her."

"You have a tendency to commit suicide for love? How can you make her feel safe like that?"

"...The following spring, I will crawl out of the soil, and I will see her in full bloom no matter how many times I have to."

"And then you're going to leave her alone for the summer and winter? You call it finding her, but do you understand her loneliness in the earth?"

Tenkuji Yu's lips twitched slightly as he couldn't help but glare at Yukinoshita, who was leisurely waving her cypress fan with a slightly smug expression.

I've never seen such a pretentious, pedantic person!

He was too lazy to keep up with this lady, so he unleashed his ultimate weapon—

“But my wife, I’m having an affair.”

So no matter spring, summer, autumn, or winter, we always have someone by our side!

"..."

The fan froze in mid-air. Yukinoshita's eyes widened slightly, completely shocked by Tenkuji Yu's bizarre thinking and shameless answer.

—I knew you might be shameless, but I never imagined you could be this shameless!

As for Yukino Yukinoshita, she had long since given up on acknowledging the two of them due to shame and a sense of powerlessness. She simply placed the food in front of each other with her fair and rosy face.

"...The more eloquent a man is, the less trustworthy he is; there is indeed some truth to this saying."

Mrs. Yukinoshita closed her fan, her elegant and refined face returning to calm, her tone neither cold nor warm.

She suddenly turned her head and looked at her other daughter, who had remained silent the entire time, eerily so.

"Yono, what do you have to say? Yukino has made a bad choice in men, insisting on being with this philanderer. You can't just stand by and do nothing, can you?"

"……Um?"

Startled by her mother's call, Yukinoshita Haruno snapped out of her reverie and lifted her head from the supporting hand.

He first glanced at his mother and Yuuki Tenkuji, then looked around the dining table, and then listlessly rested his head on his palm, just lounging there lazily.

She muttered under her breath, "It's completely different from what I imagined... As expected of Xiao Youyou, this little thing is really no problem for him."

Is this the power of persuasion? Or is it a victory for rational analysis?

Anyway, at some point, the atmosphere between them was no longer so tense, and some of them were even eating cake by themselves, seemingly not taking the previous confrontation seriously at all.

The two wives who should have been fiercely criticizing Yuu Tenkuji are now left with only their own mother struggling weakly, even reduced to needing their help... It's really hard to know where to begin complaining.

There's no way around it; after all, her little Youyou is the kind of person who's prone to surprises and is always 100% unpredictable.

Honestly, seeing her mother get refuted head-on for the first time, Yang Nai wasn't surprised at all; instead, she felt a sense of amusement, like watching a good show.

He even had a twisted sense of humor and wanted to say this to his own mother:

"Oh, Mother, weren't you going to make Yukino break up with him? How come you backed down after just a few words and pulling out a plan? Where did your usual authority and domineering attitude go?"

However, she wasn't mentally impaired; of course, she could only think about such things in her mind. She also deeply respected her mother and would never utter such disrespectful words.

"Hmm, what should I say..."

Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes and sighed silently under the expectant gaze beside her, which held a hint of urging.

Now, the mother has to take a stand and join her in condemning that despicable guy who'd rather have his cake and eat it too than turn back to his ex-girlfriend who's always waiting for him.

There's no need to hesitate about what to do anymore, right?

Yang Nai lightly scratched his brow, half-closed his eyes, and casually curled his lips, saying, "First of all, to be honest, your daughter was the one who actively became the third party."

Yukinoshita Saori: "?"

"You heard right, it was Tuanzi who started dating him first. If that silly Tuanzi hadn't suggested that the three of them be together, he probably wouldn't have actually cheated on her... That guy's moral fastidiousness and self-control are much stronger than you think."

Yukinoshita Saori: "??"

"Furthermore, although I personally despise philandering and womanizing guys, this isn't the first time we've seen this, is it? For example, the head of that family, didn't he marry three or four wives to have sons? You've gotten used to it, and when you attend high-society salons, you haven't heard anyone gossiping about their family, right?"

Yukinoshita Saori: "..."

Yukino sighed deeply, then suddenly sat up and looked directly at her mother, who was standing there in a daze.

"A toad trying to eat swan meat, a good-for-nothing trying to latch onto two powerful figures at once—of course, no one can accept that, and ridicule is to be expected… But look at your daughter's boyfriend. Does he look like a toad or a good-for-nothing? Neither. He even wrote a plan to cheat on her, and included an account balance that an average person could probably not earn in a lifetime."

She shrugged and continued calmly and methodically, "Talented and proactive, so what if he's a bit of a womanizer? Not to mention his damnly devoted love. There's this infatuated girl named Xia Chuan at school who keeps pestering him. She could just nod and they could sleep together, but he's as stubborn as a rock in a latrine and has refused countless times... Isn't that better than those big shots who treat women as commodities or production machines?"

During the pause in her speech, Yukinoshita Saori finally couldn't hold back any longer and, like an author who had been suddenly betrayed by a website, spoke incredulously:

"Yono, who exactly are you...?"

Not only her, but also the others, including Tenkuji Yu, who heard these words, couldn't help but look at her in surprise, as if they were seeing Yukino Yukinoshita for the first time.

"What, is it so strange that I'm speaking from a reasonable point of view? Or do you all think I only know how to contradict Yukino and Yuuyu? You bunch of unreasonable people!"

Yang puffed out her cheeks angrily, glared at them fiercely, and then said irritably:

"That's just how things are. If Mom were more cold-blooded and acted more like the head of a large family, and not always so concerned about her daughter's personal happiness, do you think she would care about such a small thing? She would have been calculating how to maximize Xiao Youyou's value long ago, who cares how many men you're seeing... It would be strange if she reacted so strongly."

"Me? You think I'm strange?"

Mrs. Yukinoshita widened her eyes and pointed at herself, no longer caring about maintaining a calm and elegant expression: "What's strange about me? Yukino is only seventeen years old. Isn't it normal that I don't want to hand her over to a two-timing scumbag?!"

“I didn’t say it was abnormal. We love our mom just the way she is~” Yang Nai quickly changed her tune to comfort her mother, and then added, “But on the other hand, apart from being a bit of a jerk, there’s nothing strange about Xiao Youyou.”

Yukinoshita Saori frowned: "Why do you say that?"

After thinking for a moment, Yukino looked at Tenkuji Yu and when their eyes met, the corners of her soft lips curved into a smile.

Without any hidden emotion, she simply smiled faintly and said in a relaxed tone:

"Born into an ordinary family, attending an ordinary school, with no special background... yet wanting the daughter of the Yukinoshita family to share a boyfriend with other girls. Apart from someone who is completely out of their mind or so arrogant that they should be sent to a mental hospital, I don't think anyone would dare to be so bold, right?"

"Moral customs, common sense, social status... all of these will become obstacles for him. Usually, he should admit defeat, give up, and make some choices that we think are smart."

Yang Nai smiled and tilted her head, asking him in her usual familiar tone, "Then why don't you do that?"

Yuu Tenkuji subconsciously replied, "If I were to refuse because it's the usual practice, I think I would definitely regret it."

"An answer that is not derived from one's own thinking has no meaning."