Koharu napped at Ren Katsuragi's feet, while Mochi and Candy stared at each other in Ren's arms.
Scrolling through the information on Mahiru Shiina collected on his phone, the smile on Ren's face disappeared completely.
Outrageous. Simply outrageous. Absolutely beyond outrageous.
Mahiru Shiina's parents were forced into marriage due to family interests. After a night of chaotic passion, Mahiru was conceived accidentally.
After Mahiru was born, she was thrown to the family servants to be raised by her parents.
Ren didn't want to read any further.
Disgusting profit-oriented concepts, disgusting parents. Just terrible.
Growing up without parental love, Mahiru thought that as long as she became excellent, she could regain her parents' love...
Tossing the phone onto the coffee table, Ren leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and sorted out Mahiru's current situation.
Wrong. Everything Mahiru did was wrong.
Only the crying child gets the candy. If you never cry and instead act perfectly, your parents will only feel more at ease about you, turning companionship into neglect.
Coupled with the fact that Mahiru's parents didn't love her...
Everything turned into.
Mahiru's parents regarded their child as a "commodity." The more excellent Mahiru became, the greater the profit she could bring to her parents.
In their eyes, Mahiru, who wasn't considered their child to begin with, became an excellent commodity that appreciated in value on its own.
Once such an idea took root in the minds of Mahiru's parents, they would treat her even less like their own child.
Ren understood his father's intention and knew why his father told Mahiru she was his fiancée.
Mine clearance. Retsu Katsuragi is clearing mines for Ren.
Clearing the mines that might explode in Ren's future harem.
Mahiru Shiina, who was "bought out" by Retsu from Sayo Shiina, would be the perfect candidate for the head of Ren's harem.
No background, no reliance, beautiful appearance, and excellent abilities.
After Mahiru became Ren's fiancée, the only person she could rely on would be Ren.
This also meant...
She would be obedient to Ren in everything.
Rubbing his throbbing temples, Ren suspected his old man had nothing better to do; otherwise, why would he pull these stunts?
Glancing at the clock on the wall.
Ren realized he and the three cats hadn't eaten yet, so he got up and walked to the kitchen.
After showering, Mahiru walked out of the bathroom. Her current attire was somewhat strange...
Inside, she wore a white T-shirt Ren had prepared for her, which belonged to him. Because Ren was too tall, Mahiru wore his T-shirt as if she were wearing a long dress.
If she pulled it down a little more, it would reach her knees.
Outside, she wore a bathrobe brought by Ren.
It was also very long—so long that Mahiru was dragging the bottom of the robe as she walked.
Looking toward the living room, Mahiru didn't see Ren but was attracted by the two kittens playing on the sofa.
Living alone, Mahiru had thought about raising a cat to accompany her lonely self, but it remained just a thought.
Mahiru was already lonely enough. Thinking that the cat would be left alone at home when she went to school, she gave up on the idea of raising one.
Just as Mahiru was entranced by the sight, Ren's voice rang out from behind her: "Want to pet them? My fiancée-san."
"Please... please don't call me fiancée-san."
Turning to look at Ren standing behind her, Mahiru bit her lip lightly and muttered softly.
They had just met for the first time today; who called the other person "fiancée-san" right upon meeting?
"Then how should I address you? Fiancée-san."
Ren felt that Mahiru looked quite cute like this and couldn't help but want to tease her. At the same time, he marveled inwardly at his father's viciously sharp eye.
Mahiru was too docile; she was on par with Airi Sakura.
"Shii... Mahiru. You can call me Mahiru, and I will call you Ren."
Mahiru originally wanted Ren to call her Shiina, but thinking that they were already in a fiancée-fiancé relationship, she didn't know if he would be unhappy if she asked him to call her by her surname.
For this reason, Mahiru chose to take a step back and let Ren call her by her given name.
"Okay, my fiancée-san."
Walking past Mahiru, Ren brought the bowl of noodles to the dining table and pointed to the empty chair beside him.
"Fiancée-san, would you like to have dinner with your fiancé?"
Sensing Ren's thick skin, which was thicker than a city wall, Mahiru felt discouraged.
She really couldn't do anything about Ren, and now she was living under someone else's roof...
The situation was pressing.
"Itadakimasu."
Sitting next to Ren, Mahiru clasped her hands together and said the customary phrase before beginning to eat.
Whether it was physical exhaustion or mental exhaustion, she was starving.
Delicious!
As soon as the noodles entered her mouth, Mahiru's eyes lit up.
She thought a young master like Ren would just cook casually—as long as it was edible—but she didn't expect his skills to be this good.
Ren wasn't in a hurry. He rested his chin on one hand, quietly watching Mahiru eat the noodles.
As expected of a child who was strict with herself, even when eating in front of outsiders, she habitually maintained her elegance.
"Please don't watch me."
"Okay, my fiancée-san."
Ren also began to deal with today's dinner.
Unlike Mahiru's elegance, Ren ate very quickly. In no time, he demolished a large bowl full of noodles.
"I'm done. Take your time."
Greeting Mahiru, Ren took the empty bowl off the table and walked to the kitchen. It was time to feed the cats.
Bringing the meat porridge, which was no longer hot, out of the kitchen and pouring food into three cat bowls, Ren called out to the living room: "Koharu, Mochi, Candy, time to eat."
Hearing Ren call out three pet names, Mahiru was confused. Aren't there only two cats on the sofa?
Moving her gaze to the living room sofa, Mahiru's expression stiffened.
A robust white tigress rose from the front of the sofa and walked toward Ren.
Mochi and Candy, who were still playing on the sofa, stopped playing. They obediently jumped from the sofa to the floor and followed behind Koharu, trotting happily.
"Just eat in peace. Koharu is very well-behaved."
Ren appropriately reminded Mahiru to relieve her extremely tense emotions.
Koharu walked up to Ren, rubbed her head against his thigh, and then walked to her large food bowl without looking at Mahiru once.
Candy, following Koharu, mimicked her, rubbing against Ren's leg before going to eat.
Mochi, the little glutton, wasn't so particular. She dashed straight for her small food bowl, only to be lifted up by Ren with one hand.
Tossing Mochi into Mahiru's arms, Ren stretched his waist. "My fiancée-san, please help me watch Mochi. She needs to lose some weight recently."
Ignoring Mochi, who meowed in protest, Ren walked toward the living room; he needed to rummage through some things properly.
Meow! Meow meow! Meow meow meow!
The cat cursed extremely filthily. Ren pretended not to hear, and Mahiru didn't understand.
Looking at the cute Mochi in her arms, Mahiru looked at Ren, who had his back to her walking toward the living room.
"Mochi?"
Mahiru softly called the name of the cat Ren had mentioned.
Meow?
Hearing the two-legged beast holding her call her name, Mochi stopped protesting, tilted her head, and looked at Mahiru with clear, large eyes.
Mahiru turned her head carefully. Seeing Ren rummaging for things in the living room without looking in her direction, she picked up a noodle from her bowl, placed it on the edge of the table, and fed Mochi.
Seeing the two-legged beast serving her, Mochi, being extremely human-like, stopped meowing and cooperated fully, eating the noodle Mahiru offered as tribute.
Noticing the anomaly coming from the dining table, Ren's movement of rummaging for things paused slightly.
Then, he continued searching.
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