I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Seeing Kinoshita Mai, who was clearly heartbroken but was trying her best to hide it and prevent her sadness from showing on her face, Kiryu's wrinkles twitched slightly, and his expression was gradually dominated by a sense of helplessness.

"Um... Mr. Kiryu, is there anything else you'd like to say, or anything you'd like to add? If not, I'll take the shopping basket back to the kitchen..."

"Young Master," Kiryu interrupted Kinoshita Mai, "Although the Lord will not be able to come to Edo to see you for the foreseeable future... the Lord still cares about you and loves you."

"I feel very guilty for breaking my promise this time, so as to make amends, I am sending you a new set of clothes."

"New clothes?" Kinoshita Mai opened her red lips in a daze.

Kiryu smiled and gestured with his chin toward the vegetable basket in Kinoshita Mai's hand. "Open the basket and take a look inside."

Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Mai quickly opened the basket in her hand, and saw a tightly wrapped and neatly arranged oil paper package at the very bottom of the tofu, eggplant and other ingredients.

Kinoshita Mai carefully took the oil paper package out of the basket, then looked at Kiryu with her eyes and asked: May I open it?

"Of course," Kiryu nodded, answering with his expression and gestures.

Kinoshita Mai swallowed hard, then carefully opened the oil paper package, her movements as gentle as a professional archaeologist surveying ancient sites.

In a moment, the contents of the oil paper package—an exquisitely crafted red kimono made of high-quality materials—were exposed to the air and to Kinoshita Mai's eyes.

Even a complete novice who knows nothing about clothing can easily tell that this red dress is anything but ordinary.

Anyone with even a little knowledge of fashion would be utterly astonished upon seeing this gorgeous red dress.

The fabric used is top-grade silk produced in the Jiangnan region of Tang Dynasty. The entire piece, including details such as the collar and cuffs, is embellished with gorgeous gold and silver threads, and decorated with patterns of white flowers and pink leaves, making it truly dazzling.

Kinoshita Mai remained silent... or perhaps she was too overjoyed and excited to speak.

She silently lifted the red kimono with both hands, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a shimmering, glassy light.

Even though she didn't say a word, her joy and love for the red Wu-style dress were evident.

"The lord knows you like red, so she specially picked out a red Wu robe for you."

Kiryu added with a timely smile.

"Besides this new outfit, the lord also wrote you a letter."

Kiryu reached into his pocket and pulled out an unopened envelope.

Seeing this, Kinoshita Mai no longer cared about admiring the kimono in her hand. She hurriedly took the letter from Kiryu, then quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

The paper is clean, and the handwriting is beautiful.

The letter didn't contain a long passage; it only contained a few simple sentences:

[

Respectfully submitted:

O-Mai, by the time you read this letter, you should already know that I am unable to go to Edo for the time being.

I broke my promise and failed to keep my agreement. I am very sorry.

I hope my gift can soothe your disappointment and dissatisfaction.

Although we are separated by distance, I have been following your experiences and performance after you went to Edo.

According to Kiryu, you've made great progress and are no longer that gloomy girl who was afraid to even talk to strangers. I'm very pleased.

You did a great job, keep it up!

We will meet again sooner or later, I promise you.

]

At the very end of the letter, Kinoshita Mai's grandmother's name was written: Rin.

"grandmother……"

Kinoshita Mai read the contents of the letter over and over again many times.

As she moved, she gently bit her lower lip.

As my eyelids blinked, a thin layer of mist gradually appeared.

At that moment, she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be more content on the back of the letter.

She immediately turned the paper around and took a closer look—

[I almost forgot to mention, I heard you've found someone you like. When I come to Edo to see you later, please bring the man who's so lucky to be liked by my granddaughter. I want to have a good chat with him.]

The words "exchange and exchange" are written in deep, heavy ink.

It's clear that the person who wrote this letter used considerable force when writing these words...

However, Kinoshita Mai didn't notice this small detail—she was too busy being shy and blushing.

"Grandma... wants to see Qingdeng...?"

Crimson clouds flew up onto Muxia's dancing cheeks.

She muttered to herself as she awkwardly covered her face below the bridge of her nose with the letter.

—If Grandma saw Qingdeng, what would she say to him...?

—Will Grandma like Qingdeng?

—If I said I wanted to marry Qingdeng, would Grandma agree?

As Kinoshita Mai was lost in her own thoughts, Kiryu suddenly raised his gaze, glancing abruptly at the shop door not far away. After a moment, he asked in a teasing tone:

"Young Master, did the Lord write anything in his letter that made you very happy?"

Startled by Kiryu's question, Kinoshita Mai put down the letter in her hand and stuck out her cute little tongue at Kiryu.

"I'm not telling you~~ Mr. Kiryu, since Grandma sent me a letter and new clothes, you should have taken them out sooner..."

Before she could finish speaking, Kinoshita Mai pouted her lips in dissatisfaction.

Kiryu chuckled mysteriously a few times.

"Young Master, actually... I have another surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Kinoshita Mai perked up, forgetting her dissatisfaction, and quickly asked, "Did Grandma send me anything else?"

Kiryu shook his head: "No. The only things the lord sent you were this letter and this garment."

"To be honest, this 'surprise' was something I prepared on the spot. I didn't expect him to come back so quickly, nor did I expect to run into him on my way home."

"'Him'?" Kinoshita Mai's curiosity and anticipation deepened visibly, eventually reaching an unbearable level. "Mr. Kiryu, who exactly is this 'him' you're talking about?"

Kiryu, in a very mischievous manner, kept everyone in suspense and didn't answer immediately, deliberately remaining silent.

Only after he had whetted Kinoshita Mai's appetite to its absolute limit did he slowly raise his head, face the shop door behind Kinoshita Mai, and shout loudly:

"You can come in now!"

Before Kiryu could finish speaking, a deep, booming voice rang out from outside the shop:

"They finally called me in! My legs were going numb from standing outside!"

"Huh?" Kinoshita Mai was stunned for a moment, then reflexively looked behind her.

At the same moment that Kinoshita Mai turned her head to look back—whoosh—the wide shop door was pulled all the way down in one go, but not much light penetrated into the shop.

Because there is a huge body that is much taller than the 1.8-meter-high door frame, standing behind the door.

The light outside was completely blocked by the giant's enormous body.

"Young Master, it's been a long time."

The giant ducked under the doorway, casting a tender and nostalgic gaze upon Kinoshita Mai.

Like Kiryu, the giant's face was marked with the signs of age, making him appear to be around 90 years old.

Her long, white hair, reaching her waist without a single streak of color, was roughly tied up with a rope and casually draped behind her head.

Standing nearly 1.9 meters tall, his height creates a striking contrast with Kinoshita Mai, who is only 1.5 meters tall, creating a unique "giant and elf" effect.

Kinoshita Mai seemed unable to believe her eyes.

She stared blankly at the giant for a moment.

In the next instant, emotion caught up with reality—

"Mr. Makimura!"

Kinoshita Mai opened her arms and threw herself into Makimura Yahachi's arms.

"Young Master, you've grown quite a bit taller."

Makimura gently supported Kinoshita Mai's back with one hand and affectionately rubbed her head with the other.

"Mr. Makimura!" Kinoshita Mai lifted her little head from Makimura's arms, looking excitedly at his aged face, which had hardly changed compared to a year ago. "Why did you come to Edo?"

“It’s a long story.” Makimura released Kinoshita Mai. “Come, sit down. Let’s have some tea and talk slowly.”

Having said that, Makimura plopped down next to Kiryu and then, without any politeness, yelled at him:

"Hey! Kiryu! Go get some tea! It's because you insisted on 'giving the young master a little surprise' that I've been standing outside for so long, I'm so thirsty! I've done so much, it's not too much to ask you to get me a cup of tea, is it?"

Kiryu smiled and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"That's not excessive. Okay, you sit here, I'll go to the kitchen to make you some tea."

Just as Kiryu was about to get up, Kinoshita Mai beat him to it.

"Making tea is a small matter, I can take care of it! Mr. Kiryu, Mr. Makimura, please sit here! I'll be right back!"

Kinoshita Mai didn't give Kiryu and Makimura any time to react. After speaking, she rushed excitedly towards the kitchen.

Makimura wanted to advise Kinoshita Mai, "Kiryu has already promised to make tea for me, so let him go to the kitchen and do it himself," but before he could say anything, Kinoshita Mai's figure had already disappeared from his sight.

“Young Master has not only become more beautiful, but also more energetic.” Makimura smiled.

Kiryu gave a bitter smile, a mixture of emotions:

"It's all thanks to that man. The power of love is truly not to be underestimated..."

"That man? Oh, is that the Tachibana Aoto you mentioned to me before?"

Kiryu nodded silently.

Seeing Kiryu nod, Makimura immediately grinned widely.

"Kiryu... no, Kuro, how often does that Tachibana Aoto... come to the Senjiya?"