The awkward atmosphere inside the carriage slowly dissipated with the sound of the cable car starting up, replaced by the majestic snowy scenery outside the window.
The red cable car climbed slowly, unfolding the buildings of Otaru beneath the thick winter clouds tinged with dusk.
“Wow—”
Kaori Onishi let out a soft exclamation, her emerald eyes reflecting the view outside.
The storm of confessions seemed to have temporarily shifted her attention.
She instinctively took out her phone to take a photo, but glanced at Yuki Asahi sitting beside her, and her movements stiffened.
Her fingers unconsciously gripped the phone case.
In the end, she simply looked silently out the window.
“So beautiful, just like a movie.”
Yamanoi Yayoi echoed her exclamation softly.
Saori Saiyonji’s face was pale, not daring to glance outside at all.
Jiang Jian Yue looked at him in confusion.
Is he afraid of heights?
She subconsciously reached out, wanting to pat his shoulder in comfort—but on second thought, she remembered she should be careful not to touch others casually.
Yuki Asahi’s mind was completely absent from the scenery.
Kaori Onishi’s passionate confession still echoed in his ears.
But what unsettled him even more was Jiang Jian Yue’s meaningful gaze as they brushed past each other moments ago.
The instigator, Jiang Jian Yue, seemed much calmer.
She leaned against the seat back, her red eyes gazing through the cable car window at the cityscape below, gradually bathed in a faint, warm glow.
She took out her camera, adjusted the settings, and snapped a few shots of the view outside.
The lens swept over everyone in the carriage: Kaori Onishi’s slightly lonely profile, Yamanoi Yayoi’s worried eyes, Saori Saiyonji’s fear, Koji Hattori’s forced nonchalance as he observed the surroundings…
And the boy’s tense profile and tightly pressed lips.
She paused, not pressing the shutter, just watching quietly.
“Isn’t this… one of the filming locations for that popular drama before? The one Sato Ken starred in?”
Koji Hattori tried to break the silence, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Mm.”
Jiang Jian Yue replied lightly, acknowledging.
She knew which drama Koji Hattori was talking about.
But she didn’t have a deep impression, since the director’s portrayal of Chinese characters felt a bit shady.
“Wow! Really?”
Yamanoi Yayoi was drawn in, temporarily distracted from her concern for Kaori Onishi.
As the cable car reached the mountaintop, the sun, shrouded by clouds, finally sank, plunging the world into blue hour.
As if someone had flipped a switch, the lights of Otaru City flickered on, one by one.
Tiny orange-yellow halos spread beneath the blue night sky, resembling countless scattered diamonds, making the snow-covered buildings gleam like crystals.
In the distance, the city’s nightscape curved along the coastline, the daytime’s cold melancholy replaced by the brilliance and gentleness of night.
The entire city seemed infused with vitality, radiating a fairytale glow in the cold winter.
“So beautiful…”
“So lovely.”
Even Kaori Onishi, heavy-hearted, couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
The scene before her eyes held a soothing magic.
“Mm! It’s amazing!”
Yamanoi Yayoi nodded vigorously—being able to go out together with everyone was the best part.
Yuki Asahi was also stunned by the sudden beauty of the night view, momentarily forgetting his troubles, his mouth slightly agape.
He instinctively looked at Jiang Jian Yue.
He found her also staring intently at the lights, the brilliant starlight reflected in her red eyes.
Without realizing, he stared blankly until Jiang Jian Yue seemed to sense his gaze, turning her head slightly.
Only then did he hurriedly look away, his ears burning.
Jiang Jian Yue said nothing, just raised her camera again and pressed the shutter at the blue-toned nightscape.
This time, she didn’t avoid anything, capturing the winter night’s lights—bearing moments of rest and complicated relationships—onto the memory card.
“The last kiss carried a faint scent of cigarettes, bitter and heartbreakingly fragrant…”
Koji Hattori suddenly began to sing softly, gripping the railing tighter.
It was Hikaru Utada’s “first love.”
“At this time tomorrow, where will you be, and who will you be thinking of?”
Yamanoi Yayoi’s delicate voice blended into the song.
“You are always gonna be my love…”
Saori Saiyonji naturally joined in.
Though his face was pale from fear of heights and his singing was a bit off-key, his pronunciation was very standard for a Japanese person.
“Even if I fall in love with someone else in the future…”
Kaori Onishi didn’t sing but murmured along with the lyrics.
Yuki Asahi was utterly confused—huh? What? How does everyone know this song?
“I’ll remember to loovee… You taught me how… You are always gonna be the one…”
What surprised him even more was that Jiang Jian Yue opened her mouth and sang the next three lines with deep emotion—and she didn’t stumble over the lyrics at all!?
The others noticed this as well, turning shocked gazes toward Jiang Jian Yue.
W-What?
I’m the KTV song king, okay!
Jiang Jian Yue adjusted the scarf around her neck, a bit embarrassed as she turned her face away.
“This is the first time I’ve heard senpai sing.”
Kaori Onishi murmured.
Sinking into sadness from the lyrics, she suddenly moved to Jiang Jian Yue’s side.
“It sounds so good⑧, it’s like heaven~”
Unbelievably beautiful.
“Ojou-sama… to think you can say… no, sing such fluent words?”
Koji Hattori was a little shocked.
After joining the staff, he had asked Akimoto Miki, and was told Ojou-sama used to speak even less and rarely interacted with others; only recently had things improved.
***
They made a brief stop at the mountaintop observation deck.
The wind was bitterly cold, but the night view was vast and spectacular.
Everyone took quick photos as mementos, the atmosphere lightened after their impromptu chorus.
On the return cable car, the dazzling night view gradually sank and faded away.
Inside the carriage, only Kaori Onishi and Yamanoi Yayoi chatted about drama plots.
Koji Hattori’s gaze was fixed on his phone screen, a sense of dread creeping into his heart.
He looked up at Yuki Asahi’s back.
Crap!
He lowered his head, quickly sending an explanation to Morita Ao—just a misunderstanding, everything’s cleared up now!
But Morita Ao’s reply was a bit cold.
“But it’s also true that Ojou-sama still hasn’t confirmed her relationship with Yuki-kun. As long as there’s a possibility, Master of the House won’t be at ease.”
What’s the rush?
Koji Hattori pressed his lips together and sighed.
After getting off the cable car and returning to the freezing outdoors, everyone bundled up and prepared to take the car back to the inn.
Yuki Asahi had drunk too much water and said to everyone, “Sorry, I’m going to the restroom.”
“Okay, hurry back.”
Koji Hattori replied immediately, his tone casual, while discreetly giving Yuki Asahi a meaningful glance.
Yuki Asahi quickly walked to a nearby public restroom.
After finishing up, as he washed his hands, he heard footsteps behind him.
He looked up and saw Koji Hattori enter through the mirror—and close the door behind him.
In the cramped space, only the two of them remained.
Koji Hattori walked to the sink, turned on the tap, but didn’t wash his hands.
Instead, he lowered his voice, speaking rapidly with an unprecedented seriousness.
“Yuki-kun, can I have a moment?”
“There’s something very important that Morita Butler asked me to relay to you.”
Yuki Asahi paused in the middle of drying his hands, a sense of foreboding rising within him.
“Morita-san? What is it?”
He turned around to look at Koji Hattori.
Koji Hattori took a deep breath, his gaze sharp.
“This is very important—it concerns Ojou-sama’s future.”
“Morita Butler wants me to tell you: Master of the House requires you to officially establish a romantic relationship with Jiang Jian Yue Ojou-sama as soon as possible.”
“Wha…?!”
Yuki Asahi was stunned, his heartbeat skipping, almost thinking he misheard.
“You didn’t hear wrong.”
Koji Hattori cut off any possible questions, his tone resolute.
“No matter what method you use, whether it’s a shotgun marriage or a quick engagement… anyway, establish the relationship—the sooner, the better!”
“…Why?”
Yuki Asahi couldn’t understand the sudden, almost absurd order.
“This is too…”
“Because Master of the House absolutely will not allow Ojou-sama to be a lesbian!”
Koji Hattori’s voice dropped even lower, tinged with urgency and helplessness.
“The events at noon today… I reported them to Tokyo… and things have become a bit complicated and messy.”
“Master of the House is now extremely concerned about Ojou-sama’s sexual orientation. He cannot accept the future heir choosing same* **.”
A chill crept up Yuki Asahi’s spine, rising all the way to his brain.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say the events at noon were all a misunderstanding, wanting to say Senpai wasn’t into girls, wanting to say their relationship hadn’t reached that level at all…
But all the words stuck in his throat, leaving only a buzzing confusion.
“Sorry! Even if I didn’t report it, ‘they’ would have.”
Koji Hattori patted his shoulder firmly.
“‘They’ refers to the secret guards following the group.”
Due to the “qualification certification conference,” DRG personnel had been sent to Japan.
Koji Hattori only knew of their existence, not their identities.
“Remember!”
Koji Hattori’s grip on his shoulder tightened.
“This is the final warning!”
“Master of the House said, if you can’t do it…”
He paused, his eyes complicated.
“He will arrange a ‘suitable candidate’ to become Ojou-sama’s fiancé.”
“That person will return to Japan soon.”
Fiancé?
Arrange?
Suitable candidate?
These words hit Yuki Asahi like a heavy blow.
Overwhelming pressure and the humiliation of being treated as a tool to solve a problem washed over him.
His face turned ashen, fists clenched unconsciously.
“My message is delivered.”
Koji Hattori looked at his pale face and sighed, his tone softening.
“But… you don’t need to worry.”
“I’m on your side, Yuki-kun.”
Koji Hattori said quietly.
“You’re too timid right now. As a man, you should be more assertive.”
“Assertive?”
Yuki Asahi was puzzled.
He felt he was already being proactive enough.
“Just kiss her directly—she can’t handle it.”
“Huh?”
Yuki Asahi felt this plan was unreliable.
“That’s about the gist. You need to act like a man—a real man.”
Koji Hattori analyzed.
“You’re too soft. With Ojou-sama’s personality, she’ll only see you as a child.”
Recalling a past conversation where maid Meko analyzed Ojou-sama, Koji Hattori boldly concluded.
“You need to be aggressive! In short, you can’t be as passive as you are now!”
“Think it over, Yuki!”
Eh kinda toxic but it’d probably work against her. As she said before, two bottoms don’t usually work well, but that’s just because she herself wouldn’t work with a bottom