The meal is centered around a beef stew, with an array of well-balanced dishes. Not only does it look incredibly lavish, but it’s something a lone high school boy living alone could never put together.
In actuality, when Izumi is by himself, his meals tend to be quite simple and haphazard. But he was anticipating this visit…
“Thanks for the food!”
“You’re welcome. Please, eat up.”
He promptly takes his first bite. As always, the food is absolutely delicious. The flavors seem to soak into his very bones, rejuvenating him after his part-time job fatigue.
(Her cooking is always so amazing…)
Izumi leisurely ponders something that would likely cause an uproar if the other students at the academy heard it. Then, suddenly realizing, he hurriedly offers his thanks.
“I’m sorry to always trouble you like this. Especially when you’re busy with the student council and everything.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m just making a bit extra for myself.”
“But really, your family doesn’t mind? Aren’t they worried about their daughter living away from home?”
“Fufufu. I could say the same to you.”
“Well, I think our situations are a bit different…”
Izumi and Shiragiku.
Both born into families heading major corporations representing Japan.
At the same time, long-standing strategic partners in business.
Though their paths don’t cross at the academy, to put their relationship simply – they are each other’s betrothed, decided by their parents. Or bluntly put, Izumi’s fiancée. …No, now that Izumi is no longer the heir, would she be his “former fiancée?”
“Some guys in my class were talking about whether Shiragiku-san has a boyfriend or not.”
“Ah, so that’s what that chatter was about.”
“Ah…!”
Feeling like he touched a sore spot, Izumi awkwardly averts his gaze.
Shiragiku then playfully boops his nose with her finger and puffs out her cheeks in feigned annoyance.
“If you keep ignoring your onee-chan, I won’t cook for you anymore, you naughty boy.”
“My apologies…”
Izumi can’t help but let out an awkward laugh at her words, which clearly don’t reflect how she actually feels.
Seeing that she doesn’t seem genuinely upset puts him at ease, and with a hint of mischief, he asks:
“By the way, do you have a type when it comes to guys you like?”
“Let’s see…”
She sets down her spoon and gently smiles.
“Someone who never loses their childlike heart.”
“An answer that would thrill potential male leeches worldwide…”
She does go out of her way to look after her former fiancé’s meals like this. Izumi can’t help but wonder if she’s being quite serious…
As if reading his mind, Shiragiku gives him a sweet, melting smile.
“I’ll spoil you rotten too, Izumi-kun.”
“Not sure how to react to that one…”
Well, he is flattered, of course.
Even now that their official relationship has been nullified, he appreciates that she still treats him the same way.
That said, it would be going too far for a guy to totally lean on a girl like that. It makes his back feel a bit…itchy, so to speak. He is a teenage boy, after all.
(Oh, the food is getting cold…)
He had completely stopped eating. As he goes to take another bite of the beef stew, he feels Shiragiku’s gaze upon him.
“Say, um…”
She clears her throat purposefully before continuing.
“You’ve been eating so nonchalantly, but isn’t there something you should be saying?”
“Ah!”
So caught up in the conversation, he had neglected the most important thing. No matter how much he thinks the words, they’re meaningless unless spoken aloud.
“It’s really delicious!”
But Shiragiku seems unsatisfied, puffing out her cheeks at his rushed comment.
“How delicious, exactly?”
“Eh?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
Thrown by her unexpected response, Izumi is left stammering.
Shiragiku just stares at him intently. The pout on her face is reminiscent of an ordinary girl, causing Izumi’s heart to start pounding unexpectedly.
“Uh, well…”
Her expectant gaze sparkles brilliantly.
Flustered, he inadvertently averts his eyes.
“The, the best in the world, I’d say…”
“…!?”
Bull’s eye. It strikes Shiragiku’s heart directly.
For someone with a penchant for being doted on, having a younger guy blush and shyly lavish such praise is an absolute turn-on.
Twirling a lock of her tied-up hair with her finger, Shiragiku looks off to the side as she replies.
“Well, I’d be happy to cook for you every day, then.”
“Really? I’d be delighted, but I can’t keep imposing on you like that…”
“N-No, it’s fine. I’ll do it.”
“But still, I feel bad having you wait around for me on days I’m working my part-time job. You have studying and other things too. Next time, I’ll ask when I’m off from work.”
“Y-Yes, of course. Understood.”
After hurriedly finishing her meal, she says with a flushed smile:
“Well then, Izumi-kun. I’ll come cook for you again soon.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you very much. I’ll take care of the cleaning.”
Shiragiku returns to her room next door.
Alone in his room, Izumi looks down at the pot of beef stew and furrows his brow.
“But this amount, she really went overboard…”
Faced with a large family-sized pot, Izumi starts mentally calculating how long this would cover his food costs. “Probably about a week with these leftovers…”
Outside Izumi’s house door.
Shiragiku is beaming, her red face cupped in her hands.
(Yay! A great success again today!)
What she calls her “Visiting Housewife Strategy.”
Taking advantage of her former fiancée status to ingratiate herself into his life, a long game of domestic bliss. And it seems to be working – Izumi has completely opened up to her.
He’s a teenage boy, after all. Anyone would be delighted to be fawned over so attentively by a young lady. In fact, he wouldn’t have given her a spare key otherwise.
(There’s no chance for any other girls to get between us now.)
This all started back when they were in middle school.
Those around her only ever saw the “daughter of a global corporate empire.” The world viewed through that lens seemed drab and lifeless.
But Izumi was different. Perhaps jaded by the tensions of being the son of another business titan, or maybe it was just his innate nature. The bright, unguarded smile he showed is still burned into her memory.
Granted, she was his arranged fiancée by their parents’ design. But her feelings for him were unquestionably those of pure love.
Since being passed over as the heir, his persona has gained a bit of flirtatious. But she knows the real him is still that same sweet boy underneath, just putting on an act to keep others at a distance. She alone sees through that facade.
Izumi’s heart must be so weary.
For now, she simply wants to be there for him, to become the soothing presence his soul craves. And she is uniquely positioned as the only one who can truly understand his suffering.
She too is still beholden to her family’s affairs for the time being. For Shiragiku, a future with Izumi is her paramount mission that cannot be failed.
Until the day she can defy her father’s wishes, claim her family’s empire, and finally go to claim Izumi as her own—
(Someday, I’ll definitely make Izumi-kun mine, no matter what Father says!)
Clenching her fist tightly, she steels her resolve.
[Shiragiku Hakua]
Unrequited love history: [Over 5 years]
If one were to liken Shiragiku’s current situation to some kind of entertainment title premise, it might go something like this:
[The Ice Goddess Who Can’t Help But Spoil Me Rotten: Even Though I Was Disowned, My Former Fiancée Just Won’t Leave Me Alone!]
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