SCIAW: Chapter 203/204

Chapter 203 : Scumbag

The next morning, the cruise ship was still en route to Tokyo Port.

To ensure a safe and stable voyage, the ship's speed during the night hadn't been particularly fast, maintaining a steady, optimal pace.

Thanks to the cruise ship's stability, the calm sea, and the quietness of the rooms, everyone onboard had a pleasant night.

"…"

Kaguya sat up in bed, but there was no one else in the room.

"Hayasaka?"

No response.

"Fujiwara-san?"

Still no response.

That left the just-awakened Kaguya feeling a little strange. She tilted her head, trying to rouse her foggy mind and figure out where the two had gone. Her body stayed frozen for a long time, her brain seemingly caught in a delay.

After five minutes, Kaguya finally straightened her tilted head and turned to look out the white window.

"Is it already morning?"

The bright light outside helped bring some clarity to her groggy mind, and her vacant expression began to fade.

"It's already the second day…"

Kaguya clearly remembered everything that had happened yesterday.

She had officially confessed to Ren. And not only that, but the confession was witnessed by everyone.

After that, she fainted during the exercise, likely because of Hayasaka's dimension-shattering ability. When she regained consciousness, she was already back in her room.

"Yes, I confessed to Ren."

But because those people had interrupted at the time, she never heard his answer.

Thinking of this, Kaguya dropped back onto the bed.

She started tossing and turning restlessly.

"Hayasaka... ugh, she's not here."

Whenever she ran into trouble, her first instinct was still to rely on the all-capable Hayasaka.

But the moment she called out her name, she remembered that Hayasaka wasn't in the room.

She looked at the large clock mounted in the center of the room.

It was 6:04 AM—early morning. Normally on weekends, she'd still be enjoying the warmth of her bed.

Kaguya recalled that Hayasaka always started her duties early, so she probably had already gotten up.

"I remember Ren works on weekends, but he usually wakes up a little later."

In order to better understand Ren, Kaguya had investigated his entire daily routine beforehand.

He wakes up about an hour later on weekends than on school days. That means, based on his past habits, he probably wasn't up yet.

With that in mind, Kaguya was now fully awake.

She genuinely cared about the answer to her confession. Only by hearing it could she confirm whether or not they were officially dating.

Yes, at this moment, Kaguya wasn't even sure whether she and Ren were in a relationship, since she never got a response.

All of a sudden, she sprang up from the bed.

She walked barefoot into the bathroom, washed her face, brushed her teeth, then changed into an outfit different from her usual attire. She tied her long hair with a ribbon and stood in front of the full-length mirror. Her appearance was no different from her usual refined look.

"Well, I'm ready."

After confirming her appearance in the mirror, she took a deep breath and stepped out of her room.

The rooms assigned to their group were located fairly close together, as expected for a group booking.

However, since Ren was the only boy among them, his room was slightly separated from the girls' section. Still, it was only a short walk away.

Kaguya took a deep breath and gently knocked on Ren's door.

She made some quick mental adjustments while waiting.

But when the door opened, her composed smile instantly vanished.

"…Hayasaka? Why are you in Ren's room?"

The one who opened the door was none other than her maid, Hayasaka Ai.

She wasn't dressed like a proper maid at all—she was in a nightgown.

"There are a lot of reasons. Miss Kaguya, you should come inside first so we can talk."

Seeing Hayasaka's face full of things left unsaid, Kaguya momentarily held back her questions and entered the room.

Inside, Ren was seated on a single sofa, while Chika was lying on the bed. The scene looked rather complicated.

However, factoring in Hayasaka's earlier words, Kaguya didn't immediately assume anything inappropriate had happened. She just found it strange that all three of them were in the same room.

Seeing the confusion on Kaguya's face, Hayasaka closed and locked the door behind her before stepping forward to explain.

"Miss Kaguya, a lot happened last night."

"First of all, Miss Fujiwara got the diary. Of course, so did I."

To lend weight to her explanation, Hayasaka pulled out her diary and showed it to Kaguya.

"The second batch?"

Kaguya blinked, surprised by the diary in Hayasaka's hand. Then, with a calm look, she turned toward Chika, who was still sleeping on the bed.

"So… what exactly happened with Fujiwara that resulted in you and Ren being in the same room?"

"Yes."

With Hayasaka's confirmation, Kaguya gave a slight nod. That explained why Chika, a girl, would be in Ren's room.

"Miss Fujiwara took the same power system drug as Ren. Unfortunately, what didn't happen to Ren… did happen to Miss Fujiwara."

"Because of the side effects, Miss Fujiwara was frightened once."

"If no one is around her, her emotional state becomes unstable. So, for now, she needs someone to stay with her."

That side effect is way too intense…

Kaguya was a little stunned, but when she saw Chika curled up on the bed with a frown on her face, she couldn't help but feel worried.

Normally, she found Chika annoying and troublesome. But still, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

"Is Chika okay?"

"She's fine."

Hayasaka looked at Kaguya. She hesitated briefly, unsure if she should say more. But considering Chika's behavior later would be impossible to hide from Kaguya anyway, she went ahead and added,

"But since she was frightened, she still needs someone by her side for now."

"And Miss Fujiwara is a little... clingy."

As she said that, Hayasaka subtly glanced over at Ren, who was sleeping on the sofa.

In an instant, Kaguya understood—and the concern on her face vanished in a flash.

Sure enough, this woman is still a scumbag!

(To be continued.)

Chapter 204: Kaguya’s Complaints

Although she was fuming over Chika's shameless behavior deep down, Kaguya didn't actually say anything out loud.

She understood how unusually optimistic Chika was—always smiling, and not in a fake way. She genuinely radiated cheer and positivity.

But now, even someone like her had completely collapsed emotionally. That alone showed how serious the mental shock must have been.

The last time Chika had such a reaction was when Ren had exposed the ugliest aspects of human nature to them.

Everyone had thrown up back then—Chika, the eternal optimist, included.

And this time... it seemed even more serious than that.

So, fine. She'd let it go.

"Then what's with your appearance right now?"

Kaguya understood the general situation, but she still couldn't ignore the fact that Hayasaka was dressed in a nightgown.

"Because it wasn't appropriate for Ren and Miss Fujiwara to be left alone in the same room. If you walked in and saw just the two of them, it could've caused a huge misunderstanding. So, I took the initiative to stay with them."

"As for the nightgown... well, I need to sleep too."

"You wouldn't want me to stay up all night, right?"

Then, Hayasaka leaned in closer.

"Besides, if I sleep with her, she won't drag Ren into bed."

How could that woman possibly do something like that!?

Kaguya felt Hayasaka didn't understand Chika well enough. She was just about to retort when.

"Miss Kaguya, yesterday Miss Fujiwara told Amamiya that he perfectly fit her criteria for a potential partner."

That one sentence made Kaguya choke back the words stuck in her throat.

This was the first time she'd heard something like that.

"She actually said that?"

"Yes."

"…"

Kaguya's expression stiffened. She really hadn't expected that Ren would meet all of Chika's criteria for a partner... Wasn't she just spouting nonsense?

Hayasaka added at just the right moment.

"From my observation, she wasn't joking."

"She said she likes hardworking boys. But because of her family background, she rarely sees guys who are truly hardworking."

Kaguya completely understood that statement.

The Fujiwara family's situation was even more complicated than that of a major conglomerate. As a politically entrenched family, they operated under a special set of conditions, and there were naturally many restrictions in place.

The key part was what Hayasaka had said—Chika likes hardworking boys?

Seriously, that requirement alone eliminates almost every guy in Shuchiin.

From what Kaguya knew, among the boys in Shuchiin, there were almost no ones like Junin who truly embodied "hard work."

Most of the mixed-grade students were hardworking by default—after all, that was how they got into Shuchiin. The most typical example was Shirogane Miyuki.

He was the epitome of a hardworking student.

Kaguya inhaled deeply, trying to calm the stuffiness building in her chest.

"Then why not President Shirogane?"

"Because... something about his vibe feels off."

"So... Ren's vibe is 'right'?"

That sentence came out with a lot more grit in her voice.

In response, Hayasaka pointed to her own face, then pointed to Ren sleeping on the sofa—making Kaguya instantly understand the real reason.

Oh, I get it! So aside from the "vibe," it's also about the face, huh?

In her mind, she subconsciously compared Ren and Shirogane's faces.

Yeah, it's true—Shirogane, who's always buried in studying, constantly has dark circles under his eyes. Definitely a minus.

Ren might look sleepy at times too, but at least his dark circles weren't as extreme.

Objectively speaking, Ren really did have a much better-looking face than Shirogane.

...Fine, whatever. It's all a matter of time.

Their fates were already entwined anyway. Chika getting the diary too made it inevitable she'd grow attached to Ren.

Now it's Chika… and also Sonoko... and probably more to come.

From that perspective, Kaguya actually felt a bit more at ease. At least Chika's case wasn't completely incomprehensible.

Having adjusted her emotions, she now more or less understood the situation among the three people in the room and what had happened yesterday.

"Hayasaka, what happened outside while I was asleep yesterday?"

"Miss Kaguya, here's what happened..."

Hayasaka gave a brief explanation of yesterday's events, especially regarding the Hatamoto family, the bloody drama within their ranks, and how Hatamoto Natsue had ended up becoming one of Ren's followers.

"So it was part of the preparations Ren is making for the future?"

Kaguya nodded slightly. She didn't fully understand the reasoning, but since it was part of Ren's long-term plans, then it should be fine. Perhaps he intended to take care of the Hatamoto family later.

But speaking of the Hatamoto family, she still couldn't help but feel exasperated.

"That Hatamoto clan isn't even that large, yet they're a mess."

"And this Hatamoto Ichiro is totally unhinged. Just because the old man forbade close-relative relationships, he wanted to personally stab his grandfather to death over it. Doesn't he realize who's responsible for his cushy life right now?"

She hated her own father deeply, and yet even she never considered killing him.

She still had some sense of shame.

Even though she once considered using force when she gained power, she never thought about wiping them all out.

And this guy? Just because the old man rejected close-relative marriage, he actually tried to kill him?

Wow. Real "filial" behavior.

"As expected from someone born of close-relative marriage... his very existence proved the old man was right to ban it."

Hayasaka had the same opinion.

"Right now, it feels like only the puppet monarchy still wants to maintain that filthy bloodline."

Keep the royal blood pure? That's the root of why these so-called royals are all brain-dead.

Kaguya couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Hayasaka agreed completely.

Although cousin marriage wasn't legally banned in Japan, anyone who went through with it obviously had something wrong in their head.

In the end, children born from close-relative marriages nearly always ended up with genetic defects.

In a conglomerate family, the point of marriage wasn't to preserve the bloodline—it was to exchange genes efficiently. Like a political marriage.

(To be continued.)