'Is he dead? Not breathing anymore, so he's dead, right?'
"Really don't know what's good for you. I clearly came up with a brilliant idea to save you, and yet you chose to seek death yourself."
Looking coldly at Natsuki Kazuto as his breathing gradually faded away, Natsuki Akito's face was full of sneering mockery.
Although this differed somewhat from the plan he had originally thought out, this was fine too.
'With Kazuto dead, Miyuri-nee will belong to him, Natsuki Akito, alone.'
'A good death. A really good death!'
Natsuki Akito's hand gripping the syringe trembled slightly, his face twisted with ferocity.
———
Inside the spacious luxury mansion of the Yoshizawa family—
Yoshizawa Eigen quickly dialed a number and put the phone to his ear.
But even after it automatically hung up, no one answered.
Unwilling to give up, Yoshizawa Eigen dialed several more times in succession, only to find that there was still no answer.
"Damn it, is that Doctor Takamura dead or something? Why isn't he answering the phone at all!"
Although his tone carried anger, there was a faint hint of worry in Yoshizawa Eigen's eyes.
After putting down his phone, he immediately summoned his subordinates and asked the black-clad henchman, "Get in touch with Daimoto. Ask if the task I gave them has been taken care of. Why haven't they come back yet?"
"Yes!", Hearing Yoshizawa Eigen's order, the henchman quickly replied.
Daimoto was the leader of their group of thugs. Early this morning, he had led people to carry out the operation to capture Miyuri together with Doctor Takamura.
Not long after, the henchman hurried in holding a black device that looked like a walkie-talkie and said to Yoshizawa Eigen, "Lord Eigen, we can't… can't get in touch with the boss."
"Hm? What about the others Daimoto took with him? Try contacting all of them. Find out exactly what happened!", Yoshizawa Eigen roared.
"The others… the others have all been tried. We can't contact any of them," the henchman replied helplessly.
Including Daimoto, dozens of skilled fighters had all lost contact?
Cold sweat broke out on Yoshizawa Eigen's forehead, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably.
Whether it was Doctor Takamura or Daimoto's group of thugs, in short, everyone he had sent to make a move on Miyuri had suddenly become unreachable. Yoshizawa Eigen didn't think this was a coincidence.
Most likely, this group of people had all been taken care of by someone else.
Just like the group of hooligans he had previously sent to investigate Miyuri, all of whom had disappeared.
This was completely beyond his expectations. It was unbelievable, even downright terrifying.
According to the information he had gathered, Miyuri was just a nurse with no background at all, even working at the hospital he owned.
But how could such an ordinary little nurse swallow up the people he sent one after another?
Was she a black hole? Swallowing people up so easily.
It was simply like some monster lurking in the abyss, unfathomably deep.
'Just who exactly is backing Miyuri?"
To be able to silently deal with so many people he sent out, without letting a single bit of information get back.
The Yoshizawa family's influence in Ino Town was definitely not weak.
Aside from the largest power in Ino Town, the Jinno family who controlled the shrine rituals, what other force could do something like this?
'No, even the Jinno family might not necessarily be able to do it!'
Just as Yoshizawa Eigen was feeling uneasy, his eyelids twitching wildly, a subordinate suddenly ran in from the doorway.
"Natsuki Akito is back," the guard reported.
"Let him in," Yoshizawa Eigen said.
With permission granted, Natsuki Akito immediately rushed into the living room.
Seeing Yoshizawa Eigen sitting upright in the seat of honor with a majestic expression, Natsuki Akito said excitedly, "I've already followed your instructions and injected my brother with that drug and killed him. Lord Eigen, can you bestow Miyuri-nee on me now?"
In Natsuki Akito's view, Yoshizawa Eigen was powerful and influential, able to do whatever he wanted in Ino Village.
So he firmly believed Yoshizawa Eigen's earlier promise that as long as he killed Natsuki Kazuto, Miyuri would be given to him.
But seeing the longing look in Natsuki Akito's eyes, Yoshizawa Eigen frowned deeply, a surge of anger suddenly rising in his heart.
"You've already killed your brother? Then didn't you see your sister-in-law?", Yoshizawa Eigen asked in a deep voice.
"No. Isn't Miyuri-nee at work?", Natsuki Akito looked puzzled, not understanding why Yoshizawa Eigen would ask this. Wasn't his sister-in-law's whereabouts completely under the other man's control?
"Then where's your brother's body? Did you bring it over, or did you bury it?", Yoshizawa Eigen asked again.
"Ah? I… I forgot! The body is still at home. I forgot about it! I'll go get it right now!"
Only then did Natsuki Akito come back to his senses at Yoshizawa Eigen's reminder, immediately turning to leave.
But Yoshizawa Eigen stopped him, "Wait. You don't need to go. I'll send someone to help you take care of it. Don't worry."
"Oh right. Considering how well you handled this matter, I've decided that in addition to the reward I promised you before, I'll give you an extra reward."
As he spoke, Yoshizawa Eigen stood up and walked toward Natsuki Akito.
Hearing this, Natsuki Akito was overjoyed, "Thank you, Lord Eigen! What are you planning to give me… uh… what are you… uh uh uh…"
Before Natsuki Akito could finish his sentence, his eyes bulged as he violently spat out bright red blood.
Lowering his head with difficulty, he saw a dagger deeply plunged into his chest.
The stab was extremely precise, able to stop his heart from beating as quickly as possible.
Such professional technique was absolutely impossible without frequent killing.
The one holding the dagger was none other than Yoshizawa Eigen, who had just walked up to Natsuki Akito.
Looking at that dignified face, Natsuki Akito's eyes were filled with confusion.
Until the moment he died, he still couldn't understand why Yoshizawa Eigen, who had just praised him and smiled at him, would suddenly kill him.
"What a fool."
Pulling out the dagger and letting Natsuki Akito's blood-soaked body collapse onto the floor, Yoshizawa Eigen wiped the blade with a cloth, his face gloomy.
————
The reason Yoshizawa Eigen killed Natsuki Akito was simply because the man was too stupid, so stupid that he couldn't stand it.
When he sent Natsuki Akito to kill Natsuki Kazuto, he had also intended to test the person backing Miyuri.
But since Natsuki Kazuto had been so easily killed by trash like Natsuki Akito, then the ones who silently dealt with his people definitely weren't him.
Originally, he had planned to make further use of Natsuki Akito. Given his relationship with Miyuri, he could have been used as a chess piece. But Natsuki Akito was truly too stupid.
Being provoked a little and then turning his hand against his own brother was bad enough.
After killing someone, he didn't even bother to cover it up and instead rushed over to claim credit. Truly stupid and vile.
More importantly, through questioning and observation.
That idiot Natsuki Akito seemed completely unaware that Miyuri had power backing her, and even asked him to give him Miyuri, his sister-in-law.
Stupid to the extreme. Just looking at him made Yoshizawa Eigen angry.
So in order to avoid this idiot exposing him and letting the people behind Miyuri know that this matter was related to him, Yoshizawa Eigen decisively eliminated him.
After a round of probing, and after the people he sent to make a move on Miyuri were lost one after another, Yoshizawa Eigen was now one hundred percent on guard against Miyuri and the people behind her.
———
[Yoshizawa Hospital]
The registration area in the front courtyard was bustling with patients coming and going.
But the back courtyard was quiet, as if there was no one there.
Only in the medical storeroom that stored medical equipment and drugs was there some movement, with two people pressed tightly together.
Miyuri lowered her head and looked at Hikari, who was pinned beneath her, gradually coming back to her senses.
"Aunt Miyuri, are you feeling better?", Hikari asked.
"Hik… Hikari-kun?", Miyuri blinked her big eyes, then suddenly cried out in pain.
As the sensation of her whole body feeling like it was falling apart kept washing over her, scenes of the earlier madness flooded back into her mind.
Even though she had always harbored some longing for that kind of thing, and had long had special feelings for Hikari, she still hadn't expected that something like this would happen between them.
That damned smoke Doctor Takamura had released was far too powerful.
So in the end, she couldn't hold back for a moment. In her confused state, she had actually taken the initiative to pin down Hikari, and then...
Miyuri held her forehead. Looking at Hikari's face below her, youthful and even a little boyish, a trace of guilt couldn't help but rise in her heart.
After all, she was several years older than Hikari, and had always regarded herself as his elder. She had even been engaged to someone else.
Yet now she had taken the initiative to push him down, doing something like an older woman preying on a younger man.
Even if it was actually an accident, it was still a bit… too shameless to face anyone.
"Hikari-kun, I'm… I'm sorry!", Miyuri covered her burning, flushed cheeks and apologized softly.
Then she stood up, planning to run away and avoid things for a bit.
But she had only gotten halfway up when she discovered her legs were sore and numb, with a burning pain constantly surging up.
Letting out a soft moan from the pain, Miyuri involuntarily collapsed back down again.
Hikari immediately reached out to catch her and soothed her, "Aunt Miyuri, don't rush. You were exhausted just now. Rest a bit first."
Hikari could roughly guess what Miyuri was thinking and understood that she felt embarrassed to face him and wanted to avoid things for the moment.
But she had been far too worn out after being poisoned just now. Forcing herself to stand up would be very difficult and bad for her body. It was better to rest.
And once again back in Hikari's arms, Miyuri suddenly felt a familiar sense of warmth and security wash over her. Her body seemed to hurt less, and she subconsciously stopped struggling.
She raised her head, her beautiful eyes fixed on Hikari's face, countless words filling her heart.
But in the end, what came out was only an apologetic sentence, "Hikari-kun, I'm sorry… I actually did something like that to you… I… I really am a shameless aunt!"
Although Miyuri had helped reward Hikari many times before, she still didn't want to cross that line.
The fact that she was already engaged to someone else was one reason.
But more importantly, she didn't want to hold Hikari back. After all, there was a gap in both their identities and ages. She felt that it was really too much, too unfair to him.
So even though she thought about such things every night recently, she had never put them into practice. She hadn't expected an accident to shatter everything.
Seeing the guilt-filled look on Miyuri's face, Hikari also understood her thoughts.
While reaching out to massage the purplish bruised areas on her body, he comforted her, "It's okay, Auntie. I don't mind. After all, it was just an accident. And since it's already happened, there's no need to regret it."
"And didn't Auntie also say at the time that you liked me, that the person you liked most was me? Since it was with someone you like, doing that kind of thing is fine too, right?"
Hearing Hikari's words, Miyuri's pretty face flushed slightly. "Th… those kinds of things said at that time can't be taken seriously!"
Otherwise, would she be Hikari's daughter or something? Honestly!
Hikari pressed on, "Then Auntie, do you mean you don't like me at all?"
"Li… like! I like you! I do!", Miyuri said quickly, even adding a few extra words for fear that Hikari might misunderstand.
"What kind of like?", Hikari continued.
"It's the kind of like a woman has for… for a man," Miyuri said softly, her face red.
"Not the kind of like a little sister has for her brother, or a daughter has for her father?", Hikari smiled.
"You're awful!", Miyuri shyly tapped Hikari's chest, "N… not familial love. Auntie's feelings for you are… lover's… a lover's kind of like! Auntie admits it, okay!"
Miyuri also knew what answer Hikari wanted, and why he wanted her to say it out loud herself.
Even though she was extremely embarrassed by these words, under this young man's questioning, Miyuri's mouth still uncontrollably spilled out every answer.
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