After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Turning to look at Toyokawa Yuu, who was leaning against a tree trunk and seemed extremely reluctant to sit next to him, who was reeking of alcohol, Toyokawa Kiyoshi skillfully tore open the pull tab of the can and poured out all the liquid inside in one gulp.

"Why are you here? According to the old man's original plan, you should have started appearing in front of Xiangzi after she went to university."

Crushing the empty beer can in his hand, Toyokawa Kiyoshi's voice was as calm as the evening breeze blowing around him.

He precisely tossed the crumpled wine can into the nearby trash can, the metal clanging crisply in the bin that had already been emptied that evening.

He was waiting, waiting for Yuu Toyokawa's reply.

Kiyoko Toyokawa always knew that the Toyokawa family might expel him from the family, but they would never give up on Shoko, the only legitimate heir.

That's why he can be so carefree and decadent, disappointing his daughter time and time again.

Compared to staying by her good-for-nothing father's side, inheriting the Toyokawa family business seemed like a more promising path for her.

However, the boy who appeared before him now was an exception.

Logically speaking, the old man named Toyokawa Sadaharu shouldn't have released Toyokawa Yuu so early.

He had always been wary of the Toyokawa family's dark side, so he dared not reveal the husband he had prepared for Xiangzi too early.

Before he was expelled from the family, he had never even allowed Yuu Toyokawa to set foot in the Toyokawa family mansion.

Naturally, Toyokawa Shoko had no idea of ​​Toyokawa Yuu's existence before this, and neither she nor her deceased wife had ever seen the boy more than a few times.

"I didn't realize that. I thought you had completely given up. It turns out you still have the most basic thinking ability left."

Looking at the man in front of her, who reeked of alcohol but seemed quite lucid, Toyokawa Yuu was slightly surprised.

He knew that Toyokawa Kiyoko was not a complete waste. Someone who could catch the eye of that old man Toyokawa Sadaharu, marry into the Toyokawa family, and even be considered for training to manage the family business, could not be a complete scoundrel.

But, surprisingly, he switched between being completely drunk and sober so quickly...

This guy must be quite capable, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to lose such a huge sum as 168 billion.

“You haven’t answered my question yet, Yuyu.”

Toyokawa Kiyoko didn't seem to care much about Toyokawa Yuu's sarcasm.

From the day he married into the Toyokawa family, many people disliked him, and various overt and covert attacks came one after another. In the end, they even set up a scheme worth 168 billion to kick him out.

In contrast, he could even take Yuu Toyokawa's weak sarcasm as praise.

"Why is the old man releasing you from England so early? What are his plans?"

put......

Such an adjective made Toyokawa Yuu frown; he didn't like it.

It sounds like I've always been kept in captivity.

Although, judging from the current situation, the reality is probably not much different.

"Who knows? I guess they want Xiangzi to settle down quickly. After all, even the idea of ​​me becoming Xiangzi's band's manager and finding a chance to ruin the band so she could go home was arranged by that old guy."

Yuu Toyokawa looked into the depths of the forest, making irresponsible guesses.

After all, there's nothing he can do now except speculate.

Toyokawa Sadaharu clearly wouldn't allow himself to go back and interfere with the Toyokawa family's business. In his eyes, he was an assistant prepared for Toyokawa Shoko, and it was impossible for him to act independently without Toyokawa Shoko.

However, if we destroy Ave Mujica now and force Toyokawa Shoko to return to the Toyokawa family, wouldn't that just bring us back to the dead end ten years later?

"Take a guess, Qinggao. You've known that old guy for a long time, what do you think he's up to?"

Looking at Toyokawa Kiyoko sitting on the bench, Toyokawa Yuu's eyes held a hint of encouragement.

If I can get some information from this drunkard, I won't be completely clueless when I return to ten years in the future.

"I don't know. If I could have guessed, I wouldn't have been scammed and kicked out of the Toyokawa family."

Shaking his head dejectedly, Toyokawa Kiyoshi covered his face in pain.

Clearly, being expelled from the Toyokawa family was a significant blow to this son-in-law who had always strived to be worthy of Toyokawa Mizuho.

Not only did all his past efforts vanish, but it also meant that his deceased wife had married the wrong person.

For Kiyoyuki Toyokawa, this was tantamount to the complete negation of his past life.

"Yuyu...can I ask you for a favor?"

The man's dejected voice leaked from between his fingers, tinged with unspeakable unease and trembling.

Seeing that Toyokawa Kiyoshi had just cheered up for a short while but suddenly became dejected again, Toyokawa Yuu frowned in dissatisfaction.

He seemed determined to get to the bottom of things at the police station, but he backed down after only a short while.

Communicating with such a capricious person can be quite tiring.

“Take Xiangzi away from me. Take her back to the Toyokawa family. Staying with me will only ruin her future.”

It felt like he had to exert a great deal of effort to squeeze those words out of his trachea. Toyokawa Kiyokazu felt that his feelings at that moment were even more complicated than the ingredient list of that can of beer.

Reason told him that Xiangzi could only live a better life by leaving him.

Emotionally, he also didn't want his daughter to continue suffering with him, who had become so disillusioned.

However, when he actually said those words, he felt extremely reluctant.

After all, she was his daughter, the fruit of his love with his deceased wife.

That's why he was so agitated when he heard at the police station that Yuu Toyokawa planned to take Shoko away.

But in the end, he still said the rest of what he wanted to say.

"She is the rightful heir of the Toyokawa family and shouldn't be allowed to rot and stink in that rented room. I... can no longer be a good father. I've thought about kicking her out, but I can't bring myself to do it..."

Leaving himself was indeed the best choice for Xiangzi.

"So you're saying that all your decadence this year was just an act in front of your daughter, to make her disappointed in you so you could go back and inherit the family business?"

Looking at Toyokawa Kiyoko, who was sitting in a chair covering his face, Toyokawa Yuu frowned deeply.

He began to suspect that Toyokawa Shoko's personality—that she couldn't get excited unless she was scolded—was inherited from Toyokawa Kiyoko.

Even their self-righteous act of thinking they're doing something for others is exactly the same.

However, he doesn't want to swear right now.

If the person sitting dejectedly on the bench is Toyokawa Shoko, Toyokawa Yuu would be happy to engage in a lively oral exercise with her, exchanging opinions intensely.

He knew that although Toyokawa Shoko was willful and sometimes a bit soft-hearted, she was also quite resilient in certain aspects.

At least when she's motivated to win, she'll really show extraordinary drive and try to prove herself right.

But the man in front of me...

I've tried to provoke, encourage, and mock... Each time it had a slight effect, but it was like a drop of ink in a water tank, quickly diluted and disappeared without a trace.

This man may have really been broken down. He only reacts when Xiangzi is mentioned, but he quickly falls back into a slump.

"Whatever you want. If you think it's okay if Xiangzi doesn't live to see the next ten years, I have no objection."

Although she had already given up hope, Toyokawa Yuu decided to give him one last pep talk before leaving.

If Toyokawa Kiyotaka has truly lost all his spirit, then let's consider this as one of the alternative methods to control Toyokawa Shoko in the future. I wonder how much tolerance Shoko will have for her decadent father.

"What did you say?"

As expected, his arm was grabbed once again.

But this time, Toyokawa Yuu no longer had much expectation for the man in front of her.

Who knows how long this stress response will last?

"Xiangzi's maternal grandmother was only around forty years old when she passed away, and Xiangzi's mother, your deceased wife, was only just over thirty years old when she passed away. According to this decreasing trend, it is not certain whether Xiangzi will be able to live peacefully for another ten years."

When irresponsible speculation reached Toyokawa Kiyoshi's ears, he gripped Toyokawa Yuu's hand even tighter.

Are you cursing Xiangzi?

"It's just a guess. The only direct bloodline of two generations died one after another, and you, who should have been the guardian before Xiangzi succeeded to the throne, were also expelled from the family... There are quite a few beneficiaries, I can't even count them all, maybe I'm one of them."

Yuu Toyokawa pried open the hand that was gripping hers. She looked at the man in front of her, who had been numbing his senses with alcohol and had always given up thinking, and suddenly a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

This time it seems like there's a chance?

But then, Yuu Toyokawa thought that this guy in front of her was simply insane.

He neglected his daughter for a whole year, making her go to school, work part-time, and take care of him all at the same time. Anyone with a weaker constitution would have died suddenly in that dark rented room long ago, but he never showed the slightest sign of cheering up.

Now that he's heard his daughter might die, he's become so anxious.

Yuu Toyokawa found himself unable to understand Kiyoko Toyokawa's thought process. This man, who was described as "too honest" by both Sadaharu Toyokawa and Minami Mori, was even more incomprehensible to him than that old woman, Minami Mori.

He wasn't that he couldn't understand Toyokawa Kiyotaka's current mindset, but he simply couldn't comprehend how his mindset could have changed so drastically in such a short time.

Why did you go early?

"No...no, the old man would never lay a hand on Xiangzi. If Xiangzi is gone, the heir can only be adopted from the branch family. He's probably too old to have time to train someone new, so he can only choose someone already in the family. But such an heir is unlikely to be on his side."

His eyes, which had been clouded by alcohol, now held a thoughtful glint. Although he had been kicked out of the Toyokawa family, he was not entirely unaware of the power struggles within.

Rather, it is precisely because he was kicked out that he has a deeper understanding of it.

Ultimately, it can still be described as outsiders being in power.

With three generations of only children, and two of those generations dying young, power naturally fell into the hands of him and sons-in-law like Toyokawa Sadaharu.

However, in order to prevent his descendants from finding out that the power had been completely taken over by the branch families when they grew up, Toyokawa Sadaharu was the type of person who would rather cultivate loyal outsiders in the company than rely on branch family members.

For decades, the fact that a son-in-law, an outsider by blood, has been in power suggests just how intense the power struggles within this family must have been.

Now, Xiangzi is also a girl, and her mind is not on the family business. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be taken over by Toyokawa Yuu in the future.

He's another outsider by blood, so it's highly likely they'll continue to use Toyokawa Sadaharu's methods...

Given this, it wouldn't be surprising if the divided families, who have been starving for decades, took some extreme actions.

After the idea popped into his head, Toyokawa Kiyotaka thought about it more and more and it seemed more and more likely.

Previously, I was influenced by the idea that "Xiangzi is the only legitimate heir and no one would dare to harm her." Now, a new idea has suddenly appeared in my mind, and I find it increasingly terrifying to think about.

He grabbed Toyokawa Yuu's shoulders with both hands, and the nauseating smell of alcohol hit him, but Toyokawa Kiyoko's eyes were unusually serious.

“Youyu, you must go back to the Fengchuan family immediately and start taking over the business from the old man. He is of a certain age and his health doesn’t last much longer. Before Xiangzi truly realizes the situation, someone must stabilize it for her.”

"Impossible. Do you think that old man would let someone who hasn't even developed feelings for Xiangzi go back and take over the family's power? I'm afraid I'll be restless before the family division even starts causing trouble."

Meeting Toyokawa Kiyokata's gaze, Toyokawa Yuu could barely suppress her sneer.

Was it because he didn't want to become the head of the Toyokawa family? That old man, Toyokawa Sadaharu, was even more wary of him than he was of the branch family. He directly exiled him to Shoko's side and sent Mori Minami to lead the charge.

Yuu Toyokawa didn't believe that Minami Mori's actions of openly and secretly trying to sabotage Ave Mujica were unsupported by anyone.

So many years have passed, and he doesn't believe it's a coincidence that he only started working on it after his daughter formed a band.

It's possible that they wanted Wakaba Mutsu to give up singing and pursue acting, but that's definitely not their only purpose.

In Toyokawa Sadaharu's plan, perhaps he didn't need to be loyal to him; it would be enough if he were loyal to Shoko.

What annoyed Toyokawa Yuu even more was that his goal had been achieved, but not from his current plan, but from the dead end that Toyokawa Yuu would face ten years later.

“You’re right. In the old man’s eyes, you’re not trustworthy yet… Are we going to tell Xiangzi about these things? No, she shouldn’t have these worries at her age. Damn it, isn’t there anyone else to choose from?”

Seeing Toyokawa Kiyoshi's thoughtful and self-talking demeanor, Toyokawa Yuu suddenly found it somewhat amusing, but the smell of alcohol on him forced her to suppress her laughter.

He himself is the source of Toyokawa Shoko's biggest worry right now, yet he still has the audacity to say such things.

However, judging from his current state, he should still be of some use. At least he won't suddenly abandon me halfway through, causing me to fail at the last minute.

Compared to those who suddenly change their minds halfway through a project, those who abandon the project midway through, doing more harm than good, are far more infuriating.

"The candidate? Aren't you the one?"

Looking at the man in front of her, Toyokawa Yuu, suppressing the strong smell of alcohol emanating from him, spoke softly.

“You have indeed been expelled from the Toyokawa family, but your blood ties with Shoko cannot be severed. If you grit your teeth and want to fight your way back, it shouldn’t be impossible.”

The boy's voice carried a hint of inexplicable persuasion; he had found the weakness in this man who, after his dejection, seemed indifferent to everything.

We don't expect this to make him completely obedient and invincible, but at least one thing is certain.

This guy named Toyokawa Kiyoshi can finally be used.

"Anyway, you and I are pretty much like stray dogs now. Why don't we try to burn ourselves out for Xiangzi, like you tried to do before... Anyway, stray dogs don't need tombstones, they just need to run wildly until they rot."

Even with his weakness of "honesty," the fact that he was allowed to marry into the Toyokawa family at least shows that his abilities were recognized by that old man, Toyokawa Sadaharu, and that he was worth cultivating.