The three of them entered the residence together.
Along the way.
Mejiro Ramonu looked at how her little sister was clinging to Kuroha's arm as if she never wanted to let go, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Do you still need me to show you the way this time?"
"No, that won't be necessary. I've been here more than once. How could I not know the way?"
Kuroha shook his head with a smile.
After all, this was his mother-in-law's house.
If he still did not know the way, that would be far too embarrassing.
As he spoke, Kuroha patted Ardan's fair hand and looked at Ramonu.
"If you're not too busy, Ramonu, why don't you keep Ardan company first? I can go by myself."
"Fine, fine. Go on."
Ramonu did not refuse. She simply reached out and supported Mejiro Ardan.
The two Mejiro Uma Musume stood there, silently watching Kuroha walk away.
After Kuroha left, Mejiro Ardan seemed to finally relax. She could not help covering her small mouth and yawning.
"Mm... Then Ramonu-nee, I'm going to sleep for a while. Wake me when it's time to eat."
Looking at how exhausted her little sister was, Ramonu said helplessly, "You're this tired? Did you not sleep well last night?"
"Mm... Something like that."
The glass-like girl answered vaguely.
She could hardly say that she and Trainer had battled until dawn last night.
"Mm. Then I'll wake you when it's time to eat."
As she spoke, Ramonu carefully looked her little sister up and down, then teased softly, "Hehe. A married girl really is different. Ardan, you're becoming more and more graceful."
"That's too much, Ramonu-nee. It's not as exaggerated as you make it sound."
A little embarrassed by the praise, Ardan's eyes curved into crescents. Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she asked casually, "Speaking of which... your little sister is already married. As the older sister, do you have anyone you're interested in, Ramonu-nee?"
There was a hint of slyness in the glass-like girl's eyes.
In the past, it had always been Ramonu taking the position of an elder and educating her younger sisters.
Now, Ardan could use her status as someone who had gone ahead to poke at her older sister instead.
Ramonu's expression did not change after hearing that. She merely gave Ardan a calm look.
"No. How could I possibly have someone like that?"
Mejiro Ramonu.
As a Central Hall of Fame race Uma Musume who had retired less than three years ago, she was, when one counted the time, only one year older than Mejiro Dober.
Her actual age was probably not even twenty.
In other words, she was still as young as young could be.
At this moment, she was right at the peak of a girl's youth.
Because of that, Ardan's little ambiguous attack had practically no effect on her.
What college-aged girl would get anxious just because someone urged her to get married?
"Mm-hm~"
Hearing that, Mejiro Ardan neither agreed nor disagreed. She only smiled brightly and said, "Then Sister needs to work hard soon. Otherwise, in a few years, you might already be holding your niece~"
Ramonu glanced sideways at her little sister's flat stomach.
"You aren't even pregnant yet, and you already know it'll be a daughter?"
"Mm... I suppose it's... intuition."
Mejiro Ardan frowned slightly and replied with some uncertainty, "I feel like Trainer's and my first child in the future will probably be a race Uma Musume."
"Ahh~ When the time comes, what should we name her~?"
"..."
Looking at her little sister's face, which was filled with happiness, Ramonu shook her head helplessly and turned to lead the way.
But the instant she turned around.
A faint smile could not help appearing on that cool, beautiful face.
...
At the same time.
In a tea room deep within the corridor.
A noblewoman wearing a simple, elegant kimono, with a dignified face and the authority of someone used to standing above others, was sitting upright before a tea table.
With graceful movements, she was brewing tea.
The fragrance of tea slowly spread through the quiet room.
Just then, the door was lightly knocked, and a gentle voice came from outside.
"Mother-in-law, may I come in?"
Hearing that, the noblewoman's hands paused slightly in the middle of brewing tea. The corners of her mouth curved into a gentle arc, and she answered softly, "Come in."
The door was slowly slid open, and Kuroha stepped into the tea room.
His gaze first landed on Mejiro Hiryu, who was sitting before the tea table.
After giving her a slight nod in greeting, he keenly noticed that beside Hiryu, there were actually two extremely adorable little girls sitting properly.
Judging from the two little ones' appearances alone, they seemed to be about the same age as his Silence Suzuka, right around elementary school age.
The little girl on the left had long, curly brown hair.
Cute braids had been deliberately tied beside her two bouncy-looking horse ears, and a blue ribbon had been carefully fastened near her right ear.
A single ahoge stood high on top of the little girl's head.
Her expression had originally carried a trace of laziness.
But the moment Kuroha entered, she immediately perked up and blinked her deep golden eyes as she looked at him curiously.
As for the other one.
She was a little girl with long, straight brown hair and a pair of beautiful purple eyes.
Unlike the first girl, her ribbon was tied to her left ear.
When she saw Kuroha walk in, the little Uma Musume suddenly froze.
Then her body began to tremble, and her expression carried a trace of discomfort and nervousness.
Seeing this, Kuroha felt somewhat helpless.
Still, he walked over with a smile and sat down beside the tea table.
"Mother-in-law."
Kuroha first greeted Mejiro Hiryu. Then he turned his gentle gaze toward the two little girls.
"And... little Bright, little Dober, it's been a long time."
"Hehe~ Long time no see, Kuroha-nii~"
Mejiro Bright was the first to answer, her voice soft and adorable.
Mejiro Dober avoided Kuroha's gaze and replied in a stammer.
"Mm... L-Long... time no see..."
Her voice was as small as a mosquito's buzz.
Seeing Dober like this, Madam Mejiro glanced at her, shook her head helplessly, and poured Kuroha a cup of tea.
"Dober is still a little shy around strangers."
"It's fine. This is my fault for not coming often. Little Dober almost doesn't recognize me anymore."
Kuroha smiled. "Once I finish being busy during this period, I'll come back often to see her."
After saying that, he even winked at the little girl with purple eyes.
"Ah... Ah..."
This series of actions made Mejiro Dober raise a trembling finger to point at him, her lips quivering as she could not get a word out for some time.
Looking at her adorable little "stay away from me" expression, Kuroha could not help finding it amusing.
In truth.
Although Kuroha was the son-in-law of the prestigious Mejiro family, that did not mean he was very familiar with every branch of the Mejiro family.
On the contrary, within the vast Mejiro clan, there were only three branches he could be considered close to.
The first branch was naturally the one led by Mejiro Hiryu before him, whose direct line included Mejiro Ramonu and Mejiro Ardan.
The second branch was the one led by Mejiro McQueen's mother—Mejiro Aurora.
The third branch was the one that the two little ones before him, Mejiro Bright and Mejiro Dober, belonged to.
This branch was led by the mother of Mejiro Ryan, an outstanding Uma Musume of the same era as McQueen—Mejiro Chaser.
The three major branches led by Mejiro Hiryu, Mejiro Aurora, and Mejiro Chaser were the three branches with the greatest power and deepest foundations in the current prestigious Mejiro family.
At the same time, they were also the three branches Kuroha knew best.
That was because the heads of the three major branches were extremely close friends.
Because of that, their relationship with Kuroha had also become much closer.
A few months ago.
When he and Mejiro Ardan held their wedding, they had nominally invited the entire Mejiro family.
But the ones he had mainly cared about and focused on receiving were still the Uma Musume of these three major branches.
It was precisely through frequent contact during that period that he came to know the two little Uma Musume, Mejiro Bright and Mejiro Dober.
Then, after several meetings, Kuroha discovered something.
Mejiro Bright was still fine.
Although her personality was a little careless, and she usually carried a bit of self-paced laziness, she was very easygoing and had a good temperament.
Mejiro Dober, however, was the opposite.
Although this little girl had a sweet appearance, a strong personality, and worked extremely hard in all kinds of studies and coursework, she had been born into the Mejiro family, a top-tier noble clan that treated "social skills" as an essential requirement.
Yet she was completely bad at socializing.
She even had an extremely severe fear of the opposite sex.
That was right.
It was not ordinary social anxiety, but fear of the opposite sex.
As long as a male approached her, she would become extremely nervous and uneasy.
As for this innate psychological issue, since Kuroha had only met her a few times and they were not yet very familiar with each other, he temporarily did not know how to resolve it.
But that did not stop him from teasing this adorable little girl.
(End of Chapter)
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