"Right? If we didn't keep him in check, things would really get out of hand."
Rize Amaha remarked.
"Rize, Touka, what are you two chatting about?"
Just then, Hairu Ihei walked over.
Having vaguely heard them talking about Byakuya, Hairu approached out of curiosity.
"Hairu, we were just talking about Byakuya fooling around."
Touka Amaha smiled.
"Huh? Byakuya-senpai does that?"
Hairu tilted her head.
"What do you mean 'does he do that'? Hasn't he always been like this?"
Touka Amaha immediately countered.
"I don't know about that. I think Byakuya-senpai is wonderful."
Hairu said with a smile.
"Alright... it's my fault for bringing this up with you..."
Touka wasn't sure whether to call Hairu an airhead or naively innocent.
"Touka still can't handle Hairu, as always."
Rize Amaha teased.
"I can't help it. I'm worst at dealing with her type."
Touka held her forehead.
...
Meanwhile.
Matsumae, Kaya Irimi, and others were seated at the same table.
Matsumae and Kaya happened to be sitting next to each other, and with nothing else to do, they started chatting.
"Matsumae-san came to Byakuya's wedding too."
Kaya gently swirled the wine glass in her hand.
"Of course. After all, it's the Master's wedding."
Matsumae said expressionlessly.
"After this wedding, doesn't Matsumae-san feel any flutter in her heart?"
Kaya suddenly asked.
"...What flutter? I don't quite understand what you mean, Kaya-san."
Matsumae's expression remained unchanged.
"To put it another way, Matsumae-san must have reached marriageable age by now, right?"
Kaya said directly.
"..."
Matsumae fell silent for a moment. "Isn't Kaya-san the same?"
"I'm already past my prime. No one would want me."
Kaya said self-deprecatingly.
"Kaya-san clearly looks quite young, and when it comes down to it, you're not that much older than me, are you?"
Matsumae turned to look at Kaya.
"Before... Byakuya told me that if I didn't mind, he would be willing to marry me."
Kaya began to reminisce. "Actually, I was the one who made a joke to him first. I didn't expect him to take it seriously and actually say he'd marry me..."
Matsumae's gaze flickered slightly. "Isn't that a good thing? The Master is such a good person."
"But I don't really want to compete with Touka and the others. I feel like I should voluntarily step aside."
Kaya's expression showed some hesitation.
The reason she hesitated was precisely because she couldn't bear to give up.
"What's there to compete about? The Master and his wives seem to get along quite harmoniously to me."
Matsumae said flatly. "Since Kaya-san is so indecisive, why not just go all in and push the Master down? Then you won't have to hesitate anymore."
Kaya was momentarily stunned. "...Matsumae-san, that's quite a bold suggestion."
"Although I don't have experience in this area, if I were Kaya-san and had received the Master's promise, I definitely wouldn't care what Touka and the others think anymore. After all, one more or one less wife at the Master's side doesn't make much difference."
Matsumae spoke frankly.
She always said shocking things in a completely flat tone.
"..."
Hearing this, Kaya pondered for a moment. She seemed to sense something.
Then she suddenly asked without warning, "If Byakuya really said something like that to Matsumae-san, what would you do?"