Spring Blooms When I'm With You

An hour had just passed but to Tsubaki, the flow of time was frozen. Each of Mr. Souma's bold revelations cast another layer of paleness to her face. By the time he finished, Tsubaki had already lost the composure she emboldened herself with earlier.

Tension and uncertainty lingered in between her brows.

"After I've told you everything, what do you think of the matter?"

The man curved up his lips and drew a long yet crafty smile. Mr. Souma didn't look a little bit ashamed of what he had revealed to her.

Tsubaki lowered her eyes. She saw the tips of her fingers trembled. She wanted to clench her hands but even the mundane action felt heavy to her. The furious pounding of her heart sent ringing noises to her mind.

This man... Had easily revealed everything to her as if all of her searching this time was a joke to him.

Tsubaki forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths. As time passed by, she slowly regained her senses. Bit by bit, Tsubaki lifted up her eyes until they met the man's delighted ones.

"Because I wasn't who you expected, you left me alone five years ago?"

"Since the result was as I expected, I decided to just let you live your life," Mr. Souma leisurely sipped the remaining tea in his cup. He put stress on his first sentence, "I've always thought you're Takahisa's daughter but, if in a slight chance that you're my brother's... Anyway, the car accident wasn't something I planned. It just, it helped in the process."

Tsubaki's pupils dilated as cold fury spread in every inch of her body.

This man's careless way of speaking, especially when he casually touched on the subject of the car accident that claimed her one-year worth of memories had deeply infuriated her.

He acted as if there was no one got sacrificed in the accident!

Although if it was true that he wasn't involved in it, it was heartless for him to say something like that!

"How could you... Do you hate my mother just because of that? And even trying to kidnap my sister? You've even planned to abduct me!"

"Tsk, I was just being benevolent to you," Mr. Souma clicked his tongue, "And, here's my advice for you."

Mr. Souma didn't give her a chance to refute as he continued.

"Leave your husband. If you don't want the same tragedy to occur, go far away from here. Do you think you two could overcome the differences in your statuses?"

While Tsubaki tried hard battling with her inner self to not just blindly lashing out to this cunning man, a commotion came from the door of the drawing room. Both Tsubaki and Mr. Souma turned to look at the door. The sound of people's shouting became clearer the moment the door was abruptly opened from the outside.

"Tsubaki!"

A figure dashed in. Tsubaki was startled to see the familiar figure.

"Aunt... Shiori."

Mrs. Souma's face flushed red. She strode toward Mr. Souma while staring daggers at him. The fiery stare could easily send someone's goosebumps up.

"What are you doing? Threatened her to bring her here?"

In the face of his sister-in-law's rage, Mr. Souma was as languid as ever. He curled up a mischievous smile.

"I've just invited her for tea to discuss the events of the past. Didn't she go here and there just to know the truth? Yours truly just wanted to help her to achieve her dreams," Mr. Souma calmly placed down the cup of tea on the table, "My dear sister-in-law, why don't you join us too?"

Mrs. Souma ignored the man's words. She spun her heels, turning toward Tsubaki. The fury reflected in her eyes was quickly replaced with concerns.

"Tsubaki, are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Mrs. Souma assessed Tsubaki's condition. Even when Tsubaki told her that nothing happened to her, the older lady still looked worried.

Mr. Souma clicked his tongue, "Why do you look so worried? You make this fuss as if I brought her here to harm her."

"Shut your mouth!" Mrs. Souma snapped back.

Tsubaki quickly stood up from the couch. Her hands inadvertently grasped Mrs. Souma's arms. She urgently said, "I'm really alright, Aunt Shiori. Your brother-in-law really didn't do anything to me."

Although the man's story had invoked deep disgust from the depth of her heart, Tsubaki still said so. She just didn't want the older lady to be too caught up in this matter.

"Let's go," Mrs. Souma painstakingly drew a deep breath to calm herself. She took a hold of Tsubaki's arm, "I'll bring you out of here."

"My house isn't an enemy fortress for you to speak like that," Mr. Souma laughed in glee.

Mrs. Souma once again ignored him. She immediately led Tsubaki out of the room. Kenzou swiftly followed from behind with his eyes darted around them, to make sure Mr. Souma's bodyguards won't hold them back from leaving.

Maybe because of the presence of the mistress of the household, no one dared to stop them.

...What was that?

But, her illusion was shattered when the man suddenly shouted.

"Remember of my advice!"

Tsubaki gripped her fists tight.

Once they stepped on the ground, Tsubaki released a long and suppressed breath. Her gasps were audible in the yard. All of the tension started leaving her body as she could see the vast sky in front of her.

The time she spent inside the room had been suffocating her.

"Tsubaki! You don't look alright!"

Mrs. Souma was quick to gently pat Tsubaki's back. Distress clouded her eyes as she carefully looked at the young lady's ash-stricken face. From the moment she stepped inside the room, her gaze quickly saw how Tsubaki had almost lost her composure.

"Aunt... Let me sit down..."

Tsubaki helplessly held on to Mrs. Souma's arms again. Mrs. Souma gave a glance to Kenzou and two of her own bodyguards. She carefully brought Tsubaki to sit inside the car that had been waiting for them.

Once Tsubaki slumped at the backseat, she immediately closed her eyes. The words of Mr. Souma kept on ringing in her ears. No one knew how badly she was affected by his confession.

Mrs. Souma uncapped a bottle of water and handed it to Tsubaki. Tsubaki accepted it with a weak thanks. She downed the water until the last drop. Only after that did her face started gaining color.

"Aunt... How did you know I'm here?" Since her mind began to clear up, Tsubaki asked the question she hadn't had the chance to ask.

Mrs. Souma heaved a heavy sigh, "Your husband contacted me. He said you were brought to Souma household."

Surprised, Tsubaki froze before a faint tinge of warmth dispelled the last bit of her anxiousness.

"Ren? My husband... he contacted you?"

Mrs. Souma gave her a firm nod. She continued to explain, "The only one that would daringly bring you here is Hisato. That's why... I knew you were with him."

Tsubaki closed her eyes. She pinched the space between her brows. If possible, she wanted to retreat to somewhere else to hide but, everything had been laid out by Mr. Souma. If she did that, the cunning man would openly mock her for her cowardness.

As Tsubaki and Ren came to an agreement, she wanted to end all of this before their wedding.

"Aunt, I want to ask you a few things."

When Tsubaki opened her eyes and met Mrs. Souma's anxious gaze, she had pulled herself up. Even though her face was still a bit pale and her voice sounded weak, they couldn't deter her resolution.

Mrs. Souma pursed her lips. She concernedly looked at Tsubaki, "Did he... tell you everything?"

Tsubaki gave a little laugh. The sound of it as if she was belittling herself.

"I have never thought that... all this while, he was laughing at my foolishness," Tsubaki swallowed a bitter smile. Her eyes drifted past the trees and sky outside the car windows, "All of the confusion I have for what happened to my parents and to myself five years ago, he easily told me. And, the things that happened to my late sister, was due to him too."

Mrs. Souma couldn't refute it since it was the undeniable truth. From her guilty look, Tsubaki knew she too had known of her brother-in-law's involvement in this matter.

"Aunt," Tsubaki lifted up one of her palms and placed it on Mrs. Souma's hands. When she resumed her words, there was pleading in her voice, "Could you answer my questions? Maybe it is silly of me but, I still want to hear it from you."

From how Mr. Souma spoke, each of his words spoke volume. The details of each event coincided perfectly with the bits she knew. Only after listening to him did Tsubaki finally get to piece the puzzles into a picture.

Knowing that she couldn't dissuade Tsubaki, Mrs. Souma sullenly nodded. She whispered, "Ask. Just ask what you want to know. Since... it has come to this, there's no use hiding it anymore."

Tsubaki curved up her lips, faintly giving Mrs. Souma a grateful smile.

"Before that," Tsubaki cast a glance at the sky once again, "Please bring me away from here."

Mrs. Souma agreed. She instantly instructed the driver to drive the car out of the Souma's courtyard. As the car left the yard, Tsubaki raised up her eyes and stared at the four-story building.

A silhouette of a man was standing by the windows.