“Sorry, I’m sure Tumaru gave you a hard time.”

When Ryuto followed her out of the guest room under the surprised gazes of her servants, Ruri whispered gently to him.

When both of them left the guest room, Ruri had dismissed her attendants and Wuyi, just so she could chat with Ryuto alone.

Although she didn’t know what happened inside the guest room, Ruri wasn’t stupid – after some thinking, she figured that Tumaru must have provoked him.

After all, she was deathly aware of the restrictions placed on her.

Ruri has not had a single male friend ever since she was born.

In school, whoever tried making a move on her was given serious warnings or even threats.

Of course, Ryuto himself was threatened by the Koujirou family more than once or twice.

Being threatened was a common occurrence for him, though, so he never took them seriously.

Ryuto smiled a little upon hearing what Ruri said, and replied, “Actually, that old man just warned me a little. Just told me not to have any close contact with you, that’s it.”

Ryuto didn’t plan to backstab Tumaru, after all, he still owes him a favor.

“Really?” Ruri looked at him suspiciously. “How did you answer?”

“Do you really want to hear it?”

Ryuto smirked, covering his laugh.

“Come on, we’re technically business partners, there’s nothing that can’t be said.”

“Alright. I told him that I liked you and will definitely marry you in the future.”

As soon as he said those three words that rang in her head, she fell forward.

“W-what?”

‘I didn’t expect you to confess! What the hell do you mean by marry me?!’ Ruri thought.

Before she could hit the floor, a strong arm had lifted her up.

With Ryuto’s current Physique level, it wasn’t a problem to shield her from falling.

Although she wasn’t particularly petite, she was still light.

“That wasn’t because of your blood sugar, right?”

Ryuto smiled, whispering into her ear softly while holding her in his embrace.

Ruri felt her heart stop.

His warm embrace, his comforting masculinity, his firm shoulders, his firm chest…

The last time she fell into Ryuto’s arms, she couldn’t appreciate this masculinity since she was feeling dizzy…

This time, she was completely awake.

For the first time since she was born, she was this close to a man of the same age.

When she regained her balance, Ruri’s face was as red as a tomato.

Of course, she regained her composure in a few seconds.

Ruri turned around, hiding her face immediately, “Who gave you the right to confess to me?! You’re so shameless!”

“I didn’t confess though; I’m just telling you that’s what I told Tumaru.”

“Did you really tell him that?”

“Of course, from the bottom of my heart.”

Ryuto didn’t intend to hide his desires.

‘That’s right, I like you! What about it?’

After experiencing his head being chopped cleanly off his head, being shot through his chest, killing himself with a gun, castrated with a needle, Ryuto felt like he has nothing to be afraid of.

Ruri couldn’t help but sigh when she heard his answer.

It’s clear he didn’t know the consequences.

“Come with me, I have something important to tell you.”

‘What?’

Seeing her speed-walking away, Ryuto had no choice but to follow.

He never expected Ruri to give him positive feedback for confessing!

He felt like their relationship was getting better.

The two walked past countless corridors before coming to a courtyard, enclosed by a fence. A small shrine could be seen.

A pristine, white torii gate was built in front of the shrine, reminding visitors that wherever they’re about to enter is sacred and holy.

The zig-zag ropes made of straw clearly marked the boundaries, tied to the surrounding trees.

In the main hall, which wasn’t very big, there was a statue made of white jade. The size of the statue was made to scale with a human, and its pose was reminiscent of a dancer in the middle of a performance.

Ruri came to the front of the female statue and muttered, “This is the god that our family has worshipped for hundreds of years, Koujirou Numin.”

“She was the first witch of the family, right?”

“Correct. All female descendants of her come here to pray for an hour every day so that we are bestowed with spiritual power.”

“I see,” Ryuto replied.

“I think you should be spending more time on yourself, though. Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Ryuto was an atheist, so naturally, he didn’t believe in any gods. 

However, Ruri was born into this. He can’t do anything about it, so he retracted his statement.

Ruri nodded, “No. You’re right. I don’t know why I’m praying to this piece of garbage – a waste of time, a waste of my life. Am I not wilting by continuing this process and tradition every day?”

He never expected her to reply ruthlessly.