The Rolls-Royce Phantom, like a silent steel beast melting into the night, glided smoothly into Seiji Fujiwara's residence.
Passing through the massive iron gate, the car moved slowly along a meticulously trimmed tree-lined drive.
Outside the window stretched a courtyard as vast as a park.
A distant fountain, lit up, scattered diamond-like droplets of water.
Every tree, every inch of lawn, gave off a stifling perfection built up out of money.
Kaguya Shinomiya sat in the back seat, her face expressionless.
But the fingers resting on her knees, faintly clenched, betrayed the unease inside her.
This wasn't her first time visiting the residence of a top-tier magnate.
But for some reason, Seiji Fujiwara's estate gave her an entirely different feeling.
There wasn't a trace of "home" warmth here.
It was more like a cold, heavily guarded fortress.
Or rather, the carefully constructed lair of an apex predator.
...
The car finally came to a stop in front of an imposing main building.
A bodyguard in a black suit opened the door for her.
"Miss Kaguya, please."
Kaguya stepped out of the car.
At the entrance stood a row of maids in matching uniforms, waiting in silence. Each of their faces wore a standardized smile.
The lead maid stepped forward and gave her a slight bow.
"Good evening, Miss Kaguya. The master is already waiting for you."
"However, before you meet the master, we need to ask you to bathe and change first."
"Bathe and change?" Kaguya's brow furrowed slightly. "I'm only here to deliver some documents."
"Those are the master's rules." The maid's face still wore that impeccable smile. "Every guest who comes to visit must do the same."
A wave of offended anger rose in Kaguya's chest.
A demand like that was practically the treatment given to a "thing" about to be presented, not a "guest."
But her refined upbringing kept that anger from showing on her face.
She only gave a cold nod.
"Lead the way."
Kaguya just wanted this unpleasant procedure over with as quickly as possible. Deliver the documents and leave at once.
...
The bathroom's luxury exceeded Kaguya's imagination.
The entire space was large enough to be a small reception room.
The floor and walls were laid with a single uncut slab of Alpine white jade.
Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling window, a Japanese garden full of zen tranquility was bathed in soft light.
A massage tub big enough for seven or eight people was wreathed in curls of steam.
Beside it sat dozens of varieties of high-end toiletries from all over the world.
"Miss Kaguya." The maid set a fresh change of clothing on a nearby rack. "Your attire has been prepared for you."
"While you bathe, we will wait outside the door. Please call for us whenever you need anything."
With that, the maid bowed and withdrew, gently closing the door behind her.
Kaguya stood where she was, surveying the vast, lavish bathroom, her impatience growing stronger.
She stripped off her school uniform, folded it neatly, and set it aside.
Then she stepped slowly into the tub.
The warm spring water enveloped her body in an instant.
It was the kind of comfort that could intoxicate anyone.
But Kaguya only felt an inexplicable irritation.
She rushed through the wash.
Then she changed into the clothing the maid had prepared for her.
It was a pure white dress, without any unnecessary ornament.
The cut was simple, yet it traced the developing curves of a young girl's body to perfection.
The moment she put on the dress, that ominous feeling in Kaguya's chest surfaced again.
This dress...
It was too form-fitting.
Carrying her unease with her, Kaguya stepped out of the bathroom with a sour expression.
Outside the door, the maid stood in exactly the same posture, still waiting silently.
When the woman saw her emerge, a complicated look of pity and envy flickered across her face.
But it was gone in a flash.
"Miss Kaguya, please come with me."
The maid led the way ahead in silence.
Kaguya followed behind her, gripping the briefcase of "important documents" tightly in her hand.
Soon, though, she realized something was wrong.
The maid was not leading her toward the first-floor study or reception room she had pictured.
Instead, they were walking along a long corridor laid with thick carpet, heading deeper and deeper into the heart of the main residence.
Priceless works of art hung along both sides of the corridor.
But Kaguya was in no mood to admire them.
Her heart was sinking, bit by bit.
Because the end of this corridor led to the private living quarters of the master of the house.
It was the direction of... the bedroom!
Kaguya's steps slowed.
"Excuse me..." Her voice carried a tension she hadn't even noticed in herself. "Where are we going?"
"To see the master." The maid's reply remained brief and standard.
"Why... are we going to the bedroom?"
"The master is waiting for you in the bedroom."
The maid's answer struck Kaguya's heart like a heavy hammer.
Her face went a little pale.
Kaguya stopped, turned, and tried to leave!
But the two other maids standing behind her stepped forward without a word, blocking her path.
Their faces still wore smiles.
But in Kaguya's eyes, those smiles looked so cold, so ill-intentioned.
"Miss Kaguya," the lead maid turned and made a polite gesture of invitation, "the master doesn't like to be kept waiting too long."
...
In the end, Kaguya was "escorted" to the front of a heavy door.
Her heart had climbed all the way up into her throat.
The maid gently pushed the door open.
"Master, Miss Kaguya has arrived."
Then she stepped aside.
Kaguya stood at the threshold, drew a deep breath, and forced herself to stay composed.
She told herself that perhaps Seiji Fujiwara just had some odd habit of conducting business from his bedroom.
Yes, that had to be it.
Kaguya clung to that hope and stepped into the room.
But the moment the scene inside came into focus, her mind went blank.
The room was spacious.
The decor was the kind of understated, masculine luxury.
But none of that was the point.
The point was the man standing at the center of the room, wearing nothing but a bathrobe, his back to her, drying his hair.
And the fact that, the moment he saw her enter, the man casually pulled the bathrobe off his body and tossed it onto the carpet.
Naked.
Just like that, without a care, he exposed his powerful, perfectly sculpted body, like a statue out of ancient Greece, completely to her view.
"Aah!"
Kaguya let out a startled cry.
She whipped around, covered her eyes with her hands, her pale cheeks flushing crimson.
"You... you shameless pervert!"
The blood rushed straight to the top of her head.
In her seventeen years of life, she had never seen anything so... so indecent!
But what answered her was a soft, amused chuckle.
"Pervert?" Seiji Fujiwara's voice drifted leisurely from behind her. "Miss Kaguya..."
"Receiving a 'gift' that's been delivered right to my doorstep, inside my own bedroom."
"That hardly counts as perverse, does it?"
"A gift?"
Kaguya froze.
She dropped her hands from her eyes and spun around, glaring at the man who was walking toward her step by step.
"What nonsense are you talking about! I'm here to deliver documents!"
She held up the briefcase in her hand, as if presenting evidence that could prove her innocence.
"Oh? Documents?"
Seiji walked right up to her and took the briefcase from her grasp.
Then, in front of her, he tossed it casually onto the floor.
"The Shinomiya Family went through all that trouble to deliver you to my bedroom."
His gaze swept brazenly up and down Kaguya's body, almost tangible.
"Do you really think what they sent over were documents..."
The corner of his mouth curled into a mocking arc.
"...or you?"
Kaguya's body trembled violently.
She stared at the man before her in disbelief.
No...
Impossible!
Grandfather... the family... how could they possibly...
"You... you're lying to me!"
Her first reaction was to run.
She spun around.
But when her hand gripped the doorknob, she realized the door had already been locked from the outside.
She rattled the handle.
No matter how hard she pulled, the door wouldn't budge.
A cold terror shot from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head.
Kaguya pounded the door with all her strength, shouting:
"Open the door! Let me out! Somebody!"
But no matter how she cried out, there was only dead silence beyond the door.
It was as though the whole world had narrowed down to her, and the man behind her.
"Don't waste your energy."
Seiji's voice rose once more.
"Even if you shout yourself hoarse, no one will come."
He walked calmly to the liquor cabinet on the side of the room and poured himself a glass of red wine.
Then he leaned against the cabinet, as if watching an interesting stage play.
"That said," Seiji swirled the glass in his hand, his voice carrying a hint of demonic temptation, "I'm willing to give you a chance to confirm it for yourself."
"You can call your family."
"Ask them whether they sold you to me or not."
Kaguya's shouts cut off abruptly.
She turned around, watching Seiji warily.
Her eyes were full of suspicion, fear, and one last ember of hope refusing to be put out.
"Of course I will!"
Kaguya pulled the SIM-less phone out of her handbag.
She quickly slid the SIM card back in.
Powered it on.
The screen lit up.
Signal at full bars.
Keeping a wary eye on Seiji, her back pressed tight against the door, she dialed Gan'an Shinomiya's number.
The phone rang for a long time.
"Hello."
From the other end came a voice she knew better than any other, hoarse and commanding.
"Grandfather!"
The moment she heard it, Kaguya cried out urgently:
"Grandfather, save me! I've been locked up! In Seiji Fujiwara's bedroom! He..."
But before she could finish.
The voice on the other end cut her off.
"Kaguya, play your part well."
"Maintain the relationship between our Shinomiya Family and Mr. Fujiwara."
"Do not disappoint me."
With that, the other end hung up without a shred of mercy.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Listening to the busy tone in her phone, Kaguya stood frozen in place.
The color drained from her face at a visible pace.
The phone slipped from her hand.
Her heart sank along with it.
"Well?"
Seiji approached her with a smile, wine glass in hand.
"Do you believe it now?"
His face wore the cruel pleasure of a hunter watching his prey make its final struggles in the trap.
Kaguya remained in that same posture, unmoving.
"No..."
Her lips trembled, producing a sound that was almost inaudible.
"It can't be..."
"I'm... the Shinomiya Family's... heir..."
Her voice was full of confusion and bewilderment.
In all of her life up to this point, the name "Kaguya Shinomiya" had stood for absolute power and glory.
She was the cherished pearl of the Shinomiya conglomerate, the heaven-blessed daughter who drew every eye.
She couldn't understand, couldn't accept, that she would be treated as a piece of merchandise, a "gift" used to curry favor, and handed off by her family so easily.
"Heir?"
Seiji's laughter grew more amused.
"Little Kaguya, you're too confident about your position."
He walked up to the girl, reached out, and tilted her smooth chin upward, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"As far as I'm aware, the head of the Shinomiya Family has never, in any public setting, acknowledged your status as 'heir.'"
"Your position within the Shinomiya Family is awkward and delicate."
"To put it bluntly, you're nothing more than a girl of ambiguous standing, one who can be sacrificed at any moment."
"Do you really think that old fox Gan'an Shinomiya would offend me over a little girl like you?"
Seiji's words drove into Kaguya's heart like a series of sharp blades, without mercy.
"No... you're lying!"
Kaguya flared up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
She slapped his hand away with force and warned him in a tone full of bluster:
"I'm warning you! Don't touch me! My position is different! Don't get too carried away!"
"Different?"
Seiji reached out again without concern.
This time, his movement carried no gentleness at all.
He seized Kaguya's slender wrist and pulled, dragging her whole body into his arms.
"Ah!"
Kaguya let out a startled cry.
She tried to struggle, tried to escape.
But the gulf in physical strength made every act of resistance futile.
She was like a fragile lamb pinned beneath the paws of a male lion.
She couldn't move at all.