Chapter 103: Aftershock

The heavy silence continued. When we returned from the Takatsukasa family’s party, the whole family looked at each other and sat down.

“Did you know of this?”

My mom glared at dad with a sharp glint in her eye and asked that. Thinking normally, this was something that my dad would propose. 

“What!? N-No, no! I didn’t know. Really. I first heard about this tonight.”

My dad, maybe because he was scared of my mom, flinched and answered. He was probably lying. He didn’t look particularly surprised at the moment of the announcement. It was quite surprising for the Kujou family, though…

At that time… Mrs. Konoe had declared Ibuki and I to be “official marriage candidates” in the last minutes of the party. Of course, this was the first time my mom and I had heard of it. I didn’t know what Mrs. Konoe was planning with that announcement, but it was nothing but trouble for me. In the first place, the fact that Ibuki and I had become marriage candidates was…

But that was all the announcement was. It hadn’t said “Their engagement is confirmed!” or “Their marriage is confirmed!”. All the announcement had said was that we were marriage candidates… that was Mrs. Konoe’s superb plan.

If she declared engagement or marriage, both families had to agree. If one family said that but the other disagreed, the arrangement couldn’t go through. Far from it; the family would be laughed at for making such a stupid announcement.

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Mrs. Konoe made those calculations and so made the announcement at that party.

Those hearing the announcement assumed that discussions had progressed because it was so grand and official and announced during that party.

It was hard for the Kujou family to protest because the decision was one-sided and didn’t require their consensus. If they did strongly protest, that would destroy the Konoe family’s reputation, so it wasn’t a good plan. The Kujou family could only remain silent.

It was a perfect plan. I didn’t know if Enju thought of it, Mrs. Konoe plotted it, or someone put it into their heads, but… the one thing I did know was… those who attended today’s party would think that Ibuki and I were pretty much fiances.

This was the worst… this was growing to be like the game. No, the positions were reversed, though? But in the end, the future where Lady Sakuya and Ibuki were marriage candidates was unchangeable.

Such a forceful method was unlike Mrs. Konoe… and a sudden development that even my own parents didn’t know of… it was all too strange. Could something like this happen normally? If the Konoe family were to use such a forceful method and look down on the Kujou family, they’d be suffering losses. But why were they still so forceful?

Was it because there was some chance of success? Or a reason why they had to proceed so forcefully?

…I didn’t want to consider it, but maybe… no matter how hard I worked… it’d progress the way the game did…

I thought that was impossible. No, I wanted to think so. It was true that past developments were far from what had happened in “Blooming Flowers in Love”. Even so… it was like a sudden development had happened to get the world back to how it was in-game…

“Brother… were you aware of Konoe-sama and Takatsukasa-sama’s plan?”

I asked my brother, who was looking down and hadn’t said anything since earlier, a question. My brother was the only one who wasn’t surprised at that time. Instead, he laughed. Maybe my brother had a role in this incident? If he hadn’t, it was strange for him to be that calm.

In the first place, my brother kept quiet about Momiji being his partner. I felt that I was suddenly unable to trust him.

Up until now… I thought of my brother, Yoshizane-kun, as someone who was on Lady Sakuya’s side no matter what. Maybe Yoshizane-kun still considered himself to be on her side. But… in the end, was what he was doing good for me, no, Lady Sakuya?

What Yoshizane-kun thought to be good wasn’t necessarily going to be good for Lady Sakuya. Even though he didn’t have ill intent… even though he didn’t have any animosity… there was a large possibility that what he’d do wasn’t going to be good for Lady Sakuya in the end.

“Huh? No, I didn’t know.”

“Then… Then why! Were you! Laughing calmly! When everyone else was surprised!?”

I raised my voice to my brother, who answered that he clearly didn’t know, then slammed the table, stood up, and glared at him.

That was too suspicious. My mom, dad, all the rest of us, and me were all surprised. Regardless of whether you were for or against it, anyone would be surprised after hearing something like that so suddenly. Even so, my brother wasn’t surprised at all and laughed instead. Putting aside whether he was for or against it, he wouldn’t be surprised at all if he knew something beforehand, right?

“I didn’t know that announcement would be made today. But I knew that Ibuki-kun liked you, Sakuya, since long ago. And I knew that Konoe-sama was also quite interested in you. That was why… I thought something like that might happen. That’s all it was.”

“――gah!?”

My brother said that so smoothly… and so naturally… and blood started rushing to my head. It did make sense. Maybe he expected something like that to happen. But… it came too smoothly. It was like an excuse he prepared beforehand to prove his innocence.

“Then! Why did you keep silent about bringing Momiji as your partner today!? Was it not an act you had decided on from the beginning as you were aware of what Konoe-sama and Takatsukasa-sama were planning!?”

Yoshizane-kun didn’t mean anything bad. Maybe he was really worried about Lady Sakuya. But he didn’t think of the possibility that his actions would trap Lady Sakuya in a troublesome position.

No… I couldn’t tell people who didn’t know about the game “Love Flowers” to predict how risky becoming marriage candidates with Ibuki would be. I knew that. I knew that, but… if they did unnecessary things, I’d be troubled. If they at least consulted me, that’d be another thing, but I didn’t want people to act on their own without my knowledge.

And… for some reason, I suddenly couldn’t trust Yoshizane-kun anymore. His keeping silent about Momiji was one cause of my distrust. That alone would be enough, but he was also the only one who calmly received the marriage candidate announcement which cast extra suspicion on him.

“I wasn’t the only one who knew of Momiji; mother and father knew as well. And no one knew about the marriage candidate thing. It was just that… I thought that Ibuki-kun would someday chase after you, Sakuya. That’s really all it was.”

*bang*!

…I hit the table. I then ran off and burst into my room. Momiji, who usually accompanied me to my room, wasn’t there.

Why did my parents and my brother keep quiet about Momiji? If they didn’t want me to tell anyone, couldn’t they have just told me and then said “Don’t tell people until the day of the event”? Was I the type of kid to spill secrets that easily? Was I that untrustworthy?

Couldn’t he have just said that he predicted that the Konoe family would make a one-sided marriage candidate announcement, so that was why he wasn’t surprised? My brother was clearly close to Ibuki and Enju. He was clearly trying to promote a good relationship between Ibuki and I.

Was the compelling force of the world trying to set the world back to how it used to be because I acted differently than in the game? Or did Yoshizane, who was Lady Sakuya’s brother and friends with Ibuki, think that it’d be good for Lady Sakuya and Ibuki to get married?

I didn’t think that he was trying to unify the Konoe and Kujou families because both families staying close would be more advantageous for him when he succeeded the Kujou family. I doubted he’d go that far.

But… what my brother thought was good wasn’t necessarily good for Lady Sakuya and I. That was why I wanted him to discuss with me when he was going to do something. I wasn’t going to refuse and deny anything and everything. I’d accept what should be accepted.

My brother was probably unrelated to the marriage candidate discussions. But since he’d broken my trust once like this… everything he did would seem suspicious. 

I… was definitely an unlikable child. My brother may have really not known. There may have been some reason why he didn’t tell me about Momiji. Even so, I…

　　～～～～～～～

The party ended on Saturday night, and after Sunday, I went to the academy on Monday morning. But the atmosphere today seemed different.

Lately, I’d become accepted by the people around me. When I greeted people, most would reply to me, and there were many times when they greeted me before I greeted them. But today, everyone was looking at me and whispering. 

Of course, they probably weren’t blaming me like before. I knew what they were talking about. The rumour that had spread on Sunday… about Ibuki and I’s engagement.

Everyone wasn’t gossiping because they had ill intent or were taking the news badly. It was just curiosity. And if the Konoe and Kujou families—two leaders—got engaged, it’d have an unfathomable influence and impact.

They greeted me normally, but… it was quite stressful to have people whispering about my relationship with Ibuki. I didn’t know if they thought I couldn’t hear or if they were letting me hear on purpose, but… no matter where I went, they were just talking about Ibuki and I…

It was fine for now. Many people were still responding curiously, or rather, they were gossiping just out of curiosity. But… if it progressed like the game, people might start to criticise Lady Sakuya. That was scary.

I had to… I had to do something to clear up these rumours…

But if I outright refuted them, that would harm the Konoe family’s reputation. The Konoe family had anticipated this and made the official announcement in a place like that. If you were calling it a good move, that was true, but… wouldn’t such a forceful approach make the other party resist even more…?

Also, weren’t there people against… me tying the knot with Ibuki and so being tied to the Konoe family>

“Greeti-…”

“Sakuya-sama!”

“Sakuya-chan!”

“Woah! Wait! What is it?”

When I was about to enter the classroom… Azami-chan, Satsuki-chan and the others suddenly sprung on me. They then took both my arms and dragged me into the classroom.

“This!”

“Uwah…”

On the blackboard that everyone dragged me to… was my poster, ripped up and with all kinds of indelicate insults like “Die!” graffitied on it.