Chapter 41: When I listened to my childhood friend’s “side story,” it was worse than I expected

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Translator: Soafp

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Late July, one day—

Mira Takayashiki paid a visit to Taizo Takayashiki, the head of the Takayashiki family.

Mira was a relative of Rua and the mentor of Kazu Suzuki. She had known both of them since they were children, and upon hearing that the two had “cut ties,” she wanted to know the reason.

They met in the spacious drawing room of a luxurious mansion next to Teikai Academy.

Taizo sat in an opulent sofa like a throne, his aged body sunk into its cushions.

Rua, with a bored expression, munched on some Godiva chocolates and leaned back against her pet lion as if it were a couch. Mira couldn't help but think, What is this, a manga rich girl trope?

“It's been a while, Mira. How is Kozo?”

“I’m doing well, Your Grace~ Thanks to you, his business seems to be going smoothly~”

Mira's grandfather, Kozo, was Taizo's younger brother. He oversaw the financial division of the Teikai Group and held great influence in the business world. Even he, however, dared not oppose Taizo—the head of the family wielded absolute authority in the Takayashiki clan.

Taizo doted excessively on his granddaughter Rua, the daughter of his eldest son, Teizo.

As a result, the family’s hierarchy had become a twisted structure of “Rua > Taizo >>>>>> everyone else.”

The Takayashiki family held enormous sway in the country.

In other words—this selfish, spoiled, blonde piglet girl was, for all practical purposes, one of the nation’s rulers. That wasn't even an exaggeration. There had even been an incident where the Prime Minister was replaced simply because Rua had said, “I hate that guy's face~ I don't wanna see him on the news~ Grandpa, do something~?”

“That's good to hear. So, what brings you here today?”

“You already know, don't you~? It's about Kazu Suzuki~”

Mira glanced toward Rua.

“What's up, Miracchi? You got something to say to me?”

Even though Mira was ten years older, Rua spoke to her like that.

“I heard you said something pretty awful to Kazu-kun, didn't you, Rua-chan~?”

Rua flinched. Her pet lion growled, sensing the change in her demeanor.

“What's going on, Mira? Tell me.”

“I asked Kazu-kun why the two of you stopped talking. He said Rua-chan told him this—”

“And?”

“‘It's bad enough we're childhood friends. Ew lol.'”

Mira made sure to include the “lol” part in her quote.

Taizo stroked his white beard and sighed deeply.

“Rua. Why would you say such a thing? No wonder Kazu got upset.”

“T-That's not it! I was just trying to tease him a little… I didn't mean it!”

“Why would you tease him like that~?”

“Because! As soon as we got to high school, Kazu started saying things like, ‘I want to be more outgoing, I want friends, I want a girlfriend'!”

“And? What's wrong with that~?”

That sounded like a perfectly normal wish for a high school boy.

Rua shook her head furiously.

“Even though he has me! Even though he has me, okay!? What's this ‘I want friends' crap!? He's got the world's cutest Princess Rua, and that's still not enough!? And now he wants a girlfriend too!? Does he think I'm a joke or something!? I'm worth like a hundred million beautiful women all by myself!!”

She was so worked up that her spit flew all the way to where Mira was sitting. Even the lion slinked off into a corner of the room. That's how intense her rage was.

“That's just completely unreasonable~”

Mira looked helplessly toward Taizo.

Surely, now was the time for the family head to step in with authority and put his idiotic granddaughter in her place—

“Hmm. Rua makes a valid point. Kazu is at fault.”

“……”

Ah.

This is hopeless.

“B-But listen~ If you want to make up with him, Rua-chan has to be the one to apologize first~”

“No way!”

“If you don't, Kazu-kun might end up with another girl~?”

“No way!!”

She adamantly shook her head.

“Miracchi, you're the top of the Elite Ten, right? Kazu's master, right? Then go and do that thing and make it all right again! Stop being stubborn and tell Kazu to apologize to cute little Rua-chan! Make him say, ‘I really love you, Rua,' and kiss her or something!”

“…A kiss might be a bit much…”

That was some next-level selfishness.

At this point, there was no getting through to Rua.

“You still haven't given up on making Kazu-kun Rua-chan's husband, have you~?”

“Of course not. A talent like his is exceedingly rare. I absolutely want him to be part of our family. That's why I assigned you to train him in the ways of kingship.”

Stubborn old man, Mira thought.

Both the grandfather and granddaughter were equally obsessed with Kazu.

“In any case, Kazu-kun's ‘brainwashing' has been undone. Second term is going to be quite the ordeal~”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he's been deliberately getting straight C's all this time, right~? From elementary school until now, he's been purposefully scoring average. He'd predict the average score on every test and get exactly that score. Isn't that just insane?”

That kind of control over performance was—

More impossible than getting straight A's.

Now that he no longer had to hold himself back because of Rua—

In both academics and sports, things were going to get wild.

At Teikai Academy, a school filled with students of exceptional talent—dubbed “Genius Academy” by some—

A student beyond even genius-level would suddenly emerge.

And not among the scholarship students. From the general pool.

The faculty would be in chaos.

Many of the geniuses would likely have their pride shattered. Perhaps some already had.

“And to top it off, Kazu-kun is ridiculously popular with girls. He's been a total heartthrob since he was a kid! How many girls have we had to transfer out just because they fell for him? Rua-chan knows, right~?”

Indeed.

The Elite Ten were tasked not just with guarding Rua, but also with monitoring Kazu. Whenever a girl showed romantic interest in him, she would be swiftly removed. Her father would suddenly be transferred to another branch, and off she'd go.

Kazu had no idea about any of this.

That's why he still thought, “I'm not popular.”

But from now on?

Will the brilliant and beautiful girls at school really ignore Kazu once they see who he truly is?

“Hmph! Of course not! He's my Kazu!”

“Indeed. A true emperor, worthy of inheriting the Teikai Group.”

The two of them looked strangely proud.

Yup. Totally hopeless…

(I'm done caring about this~)

Just what kind of uproar would Kazu and Rua cause in the second term—

Mira couldn't help but feel sorry for the students of the Genius Academy.