Opening the villa door.
Ren saw a beautiful girl with flaxen hair cascading down her back, wearing a Sobu University uniform, standing at the door soaking wet, her eyes vacant.
Only now did Ren realize it had started to drizzle outside at some point.
Taking a step back, Ren left enough space for the girl before him to enter the entryway. "Hello. May I ask what this is about?"
Putting aside the "toy" his father mentioned for the moment, Ren asked why she had rung the doorbell.
The rain outside wasn't heavy, but judging by the girl's appearance, she had clearly been in the rain for a long time. It didn't look like she had knocked presumptuously just to seek shelter from the rain.
"Hello. May I ask if you are Ren Katsuragi?"
Mahiru Shiina bowed politely to Ren, then asked for his name as if to confirm something.
"I am. And you are?"
It was getting stranger.
"My name is Mahiru Shiina. I am your... fiancée."
Towards the end, Mahiru Shiina steeled her resolve and finally said it.
"..."
Ren fell silent.
Fiancée? How did he not know he had a fiancée? But the other party had found his home and specifically asked for his name; it didn't seem fake.
Toy... arriving soon... fiancée...
Connecting the content of his father's call just now, Ren figured it out instantly.
This girl before him probably had some family issues and was "bought out" by his father with money to be his toy.
But buying a person to be a toy for his son...
You couldn't exactly tell the person directly, "Go be a toy for my son."
Therefore, "fiancée" became a very suitable excuse.
Seeing Ren fall silent, Mahiru Shiina didn't have any intention of speaking either. The two of them just stood there blankly in the entryway.
Before coming to find Ren, Mahiru Shiina had sat on a swing in a small park for a long time.
Her mother had suddenly called her today. To be honest, she was quite excited when she picked up the call, but her mother's words made her mood plummet to rock bottom.
"Mahiru, Mom found a good family for you. From now on, you will live with your fiancé."
Sayo Shiina's command-like tone on the phone, followed by her hanging up immediately after speaking, caught Mahiru completely off guard.
Raindrops pattered onto Mahiru's body. The warning signals from her body finally brought her back to her senses.
Mahiru walked home like a walking corpse.
Click... click...
The key couldn't open the door. No matter how she tried, it wouldn't open.
She called the landlord to ask, only to be told that her mother had contacted the landlord this morning and canceled the lease on the apartment she was currently living in.
Using this method to force me to go to that so-called fiancé's house?
Mother, if you really wish for me to do this...
In the end, Mahiru chose not to defy her mother's coercion. In this wretched state, she arrived at Ren's villa door and rang the doorbell.
Ren, having figured everything out, was somewhat speechless at his father.
What era is this? Still trafficking humans?
Aren't you afraid of breaking the law...
But on second thought.
It seems my family is the law in Japan...
"Come in. Go take a bath."
Taking a pair of cotton slippers from the shoe cabinet beside him and placing them in front of Mahiru, Ren turned and walked toward the sofa.
Meeting a fiancée for the first time was indeed novel, but Ren wasn't interested.
Mahiru didn't respond to Ren, nor did she make any movement. It was as if...
Her heart had died.
Hearing no movement behind him, Ren scratched his head in distress.
What a mess.
Even he couldn't handle a fiancée popping out of nowhere. How could she handle a fiancé suddenly appearing?
Returning to the entryway, Ren scooped up the dazed Mahiru by the waist and walked toward the bathroom.
He didn't care at all about the rainwater dripping from her.
Entering the bathroom.
First, he turned on the heater, then started filling the bathtub with hot water until it was three-quarters full.
Only then did Ren turn off the tap. He tested the water temperature with his finger; not too hot, not too cold, just right.
Due to the heater and the hot water, patches of white mist began to appear in the bathroom.
"Time to come back to reality, my fiancée-san."
After doing all this, Ren came to stand in front of Mahiru, squatting down halfway to be at eye level with her as much as possible.
Although Ren hadn't fully accepted this fiancée who popped out of nowhere, the fact was she was his fiancée. This couldn't be faked.
Then Ren wouldn't leave her be.
"Fiancée-san, I'm going to count to three. If you don't come back to your senses, I, your fiancé, will bathe you personally."
Seeing Mahiru still unresponsive, Ren started counting down with a smile on his face.
"Three."
"Zero."
After saying two numbers, Ren made a move to grab Mahiru.
"Wait! Please... please let me wash myself."
Not expecting her fiancé to be so unconventional, Mahiru snapped back to reality and spoke quickly.
Seeing Mahiru recover, Ren made a gentlemanly inviting gesture, then opened the bathroom door to leave. Before leaving, he didn't forget to add:
"My fiancée-san, please help yourself."
In this warm space, Mahiru finally felt the discomfort brought by her soaked clothes.
The hot bathwater emitting steam in the tub beckoned to Mahiru like soul-hooking arms.
Mahiru took off her clothes and was about to step into the tub.
Knock, knock—
The knock on the door startled Mahiru, whose attention had been completely drawn to the tub. She retracted the fair little foot she was about to step into the water with.
"My fiancée-san, may I come in for a moment?"
Hearing Ren say he was coming in, Mahiru stepped into the tub without hesitation, hiding her entire body in the water, leaving only her head floating on the surface.
The already plentiful hot water in the tub overflowed frantically with Mahiru's entry.
"You may..."
Mahiru stared dead at the bathroom door with her golden eyes.
The bathroom door was pushed open from the outside. Ren placed a set of folded clothes on the changing cabinet next to the door.
"Fiancée-san, I don't have women's clothes here for the time being. Tonight, I'll have to trouble you to wear my clothes."
Ren left the bathroom again.
From opening the door to placing the clothes, Ren didn't turn his head toward the bathtub area inside even once.
Mahiru saw all of this.
Mahiru stared blankly at the closed door.
Before the villa door opened, Mahiru had guessed that her fiancé would be a middle-aged man at least a cycle older than her, with considerable family assets. Even worse, it could have been an old man.
After all, such things weren't uncommon in wealthy families. Their marriage wasn't for love; it was purely the result of an exchange of benefits.
After Sayo Shiina sold her off just like that, Mahiru felt she was exactly this kind of sacrifice.
The villa door opened, and she recognized the boy who appeared.
It was the honor student who stood on the podium at the school's opening ceremony today, and also the "school tyrant" who hung people on trees right at the start of the term.
She had thought there would be no intersection between the two of them...
The comfortable hot water in the tub warmed Mahiru's limbs and bones, which had been frozen stiff.
Withdrawing her gaze, Mahiru looked at her reflection in the water.
Is this my fiancé?
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