Morning Intermezzo

When they returned to the villa, it was around 7.30 in the morning. They spent quite a while on their trip.

Leaving their trip to the bakery aside, he spent quite a while in the bookstore.

Still, on their trip to the bookstore, Roberta often asked him about the emperor and the empress, who often appeared in the bookstore.

Frankly, he must admit that this country's emperor and empress were unique. Their bloodline had never disappeared, and it continued to exist until now, which was kind of amazing somehow.

While in the process, the country wasn't controlled by the emperor but by a military leader. However, the emperor continued to exist in this country even if their role was just a ceremonial symbolic role.

"Is the emperor really the descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu?" Roberta asked curiously. While their beliefs were different, she couldn't help but be curious whether the emperor was the descendant of the goddess.

However, Shishio could only show a wry smile and just shook his head since the emperor had existed since 660 BC. Obviously, when technology wasn't so developed at that time, their belief in inexplainable things was firm.

The people in the past were also different from today since the emperor in the past was so worshipped and revered. They might not hesitate to kowtow and think of the emperor as the descendant of heaven.

However, this country might follow the example of China since, in traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heaven and the autocrat of all under Heaven.

The influence of china on this country was rather massive, and it wasn't until the 19th century, when the Black Ship incident happened, that the West started to influence this country.

Anyway, talking history aside, he didn't expect Roberta to have such an interest in such a thing. It might be because she had spent most of her time on the battlefield that she didn't have time to put interest or a hobby, so she showed interest in history, or maybe it was all because of him.

If someone else talked about this, she might dismiss it directly since, in her heart, the most important thing was him.

"Shishio-sama, Master has asked about you before."

Roberta suddenly remembered and told Shishio.

"Master?"

Shishio knew the master in Roberta's mouth was his grandfather.

"What did he ask for?"

"He wondered whether you were going to come back to Kyoto on the Obon."

"That's all?"

"Un."

"Well, I will go back."

"I see." Roberta nodded and asked, "Should I tell Master?"

"No, my father or mother should have told my grandfather. You don't need to think too much and enjoy this trip with me."

"Okay." Roberta nodded with a gentle smile.

Shishio suddenly thought about his grandfather and wondered why he suddenly called Roberta. While he knew that the one who employed Roberta was his grandfather, it was already impossible for him to let go of Roberta.

However, he also didn't think his grandfather's purpose was Roberta.

'Well, it should be me.'

He knew that his grandfather must be asking about him, and maybe, it was related to his participants in the "Kengan Match" last time.

While his participation in "Kengan Match" was so sudden and abrupt, without a doubt, it brought a storm to that organization since the unbeatable Katahara Metsudo had been defeated.

Katahara had reigned as the chairman of the "Kengan Association" for so long, and his throne had been stable, but because of his previous loss, he knew that it was time for everyone to show their fangs.

According to his estimation, it should be one year later that everything would be settled.

However, there might have been speculation that his grandfather might have called Roberta because he was worried about him.

Frankly, even if his family was one of the nobles during the Empire of Japan era and also one of the famous samurai clans, even from the Heian period, they were still easy and relatively relaxed in nature. They had never sought much, only enough for a comfortable life, and the accumulation of all of that had made his family quite rich.

Still, the comfortable life of a noble and a peasant was different, so it was natural they made a lot of money.

However, compared to other families, his family was only average.

Yet it might be because of this that his family line could continue till now when many of them were dying or extinct because of time.

Well, partly, he also knew because his family was quite lucky that they had chosen the right person to follow, so their development of his family had always been so smooth, but they also knew where to stop, so they wouldn't attract anyone's attention.

Being low-key was the best.

"Shishio!"

When they returned to the villa, they saw Hina lying on the rattan chair lazily. She opened her eyes and waved her hand excitedly like the tail of a puppy who saw its master. She dashed toward him and asked, "Where have you been?"

After a tough workout, Hina was hungry, but she wasn't good at cooking, and the fruits in the fridge couldn't help but appease her hunger. It was impossible to wake Ayaka and Hiratsuka of her problem, so she decided to wait outside, wondering where Shishio and Roberta were.

Still, Hina thought that they were probably doing something naughty on the side of the forest, but she decided to keep it in her heart since it was impossible to say something like that out loud.

Leaving Hina's rude imagination aside, Shishio showed pieces of bread and books he had bought.

"We have just gone to the bakery and bookstore before. If you're hungry, how about you eat some? I have heard the croissant is good, especially the truffle one."

"Bread!"

Hina was full of excitement and took the paper bag while dancing in a random manner.

Shishio and Roberta looked at Hina helplessly. This woman should be older than Ayaka, but why did they feel she was like a little girl?

However, Shishio must admit she was cute. "Alright, wake up Shizuka and Ayaka first. I will take a bath in the meantime." His body was quite sweaty. While it wasn't a problem, he was quiet.

"Un!"

Hina nodded and walked inside the villa with the bag of bread.

Shishio also thought of taking a bath, but Roberta suddenly said, "Do you need my help, Shishio-sama?"

"..."

Shishio must admit this trip was good.

---

While sleepy, they ate the bread peacefully with a smile.

Some had coffee, and some had tea.

While it was summer, the temperature of Karuizawa was cold, especially in the morning, so a warm drink was nice.

Still, it was easy to tell one's personality in the morning.

Out of four people, Roberta and Ayaka were undoubtedly the most diligent, considering they had changed their clothes and appeared tidier than most.

However, Ayaka didn't have Roberta's stamina, so she was quite tired after the last night, and the hangover also didn't help. In the end, she could only have a lazy ponytail draped over her shoulder.

Frankly, Ayaka's hairstyle was his favorite hairstyle since this was the most used hairstyle for housewives, and frankly, he really wanted to marry her now.

On the other hand, Roberta's hairstyle wasn't bad since it felt like he was riding on a horse for some reason.

While Ayaka and Roberta were good, Hiratsuka and Hina were the worst. Their hairs were messy, and they hadn't taken the time to care for themselves. It was enough to tell that they had just woken up.

Yet it might be because they were natural beauty, and even if they didn't wear make-up, their skin was nice and beautiful, so even if they were quite messy, they were beautiful without a doubt.

However, this didn't surprise him since Hina and Hiratsuka were careerwomen.

If Shishio didn't have a system, they might tell him to become a household husband since they wanted to be taken care of by him.

The four of them had their charm, and somehow it was hard for him to go out since he wanted to spend more time in the bedroom.

Still, when he looked at Hina, he suddenly thought of Rui.

When Hina moved to the apartment he bought, Rui mostly stayed in Hina's apartment or his apartment instead of her parents' house.

He suddenly thought about what had happened to Natsuo.

Suddenly he felt Natsuo Fujii and Aki Shiina weren't that different from each other since the girls they were crushed by living in the same house.

However, unlike Aki, Natsuo was the step-sibling of the Tachibana siblings, so Shishio had never thought to push him away from his house. After all, it was impossible, at least for now. Instead, he took Hina and Rui away from that house and let them live with him.

On the other hand, he might realize that his action toward Aki was too much, considering Aki was just a middle school student. Yet unlike Rui and Hina, who could move in from his apartment, Ayaka couldn't do that, so he was thinking of moving Aki away by causing trouble for his parents' business.

However, he hadn't done that since he thought it was better for Aki to stay, considering Aki also triggered his system.

In other words, Aki was harmless, especially since it was so easy for him to play with Aki's emotions.

Instead, he thought Aki might be able to give him a surprise, a good one, of course.

"What are we going to do later?"

Shishio looked at Hiratsuka and asked, "I plan to visit the church. What do you think?"

"Church?" 3x

Not only Hiratsuka but Hina and Ayaka also reacted, and somehow their faces were slightly reddened.

"......."

Shishio thought that they had misunderstood him.