All Is In Sight
Answering the call after the fifth ring, Johannes had to hold the ear piece far away in order to save his hearing. It was late evening for him right now, so whoever was calling with such urgency needed to calmly explain to him the happenings which was so needed to be addressed.
"Riccardo left apologizing? It must have been a bad time for him to have arrived unannounced. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WASN'T ANY ISSUES?"
Of what Johannes knew, Sedrick had always seem to attract problems. He was an oblivious trouble magnet, somehow a trait he inherited from his father. The only issue Sedrick was to be worried about, though, was pushing Daisuke Kaido's patience too far.
"You're seriously considering that he may have overheard a joke and took it as a serious family matter. What—and he thinks that Yanagi would dare go through with it. The two are childhood acquaintances. They're best of friends!"
However, Daisuke was not just worried on Johannes' behalf; from what subtle hints he could gather from his daughter, Yanagi was deeply hurt when he left her. Maybe she wouldn't admit it, but the reality was that she held Sedrick Rutabaski in high regards. Who wouldn't be affected after waiting for their friend all day?
"Look, just don't worry about my end of things. Riccardo is just paying his respects, though he perceived wrong. You just got to make something clear to me: did that guest of yours have any idea how important Sedrick is and why he's regarded as such to you?"
. . . . . . .
"No. Hayate was a bit intrigued but he soon took his leave once understanding that what he said of Yanagi was sensitive to his ears."
In his hands were a bouquet of roses which Hayate had brought with him as a token of congrats upon the princess' graduation. It became clear to Daisuke now that Hayate was in fact, a man who fancied the beautiful Boruvian princess; the fact he left rather abruptly without bothering to continue the conversation must have been shame in appearing in the same room with his target of affection.
There simply wouldn't be much of an issue to arise from these facts. Not as long as they both respected their boundaries as they had shown just recently.
"Otou-san." Broke the train of thought as he imagined several outcomes he would have been fine with. Though it was greatly approved by him, he knew none would get passed his daughter's stink eyed gaze of disappointment. She'd most likely end up an iron lady at this rate!
"Y-yes?"
"I need to get a drink. Want me to drop off the children at the temple along the way?" She began, awaiting for any form of response from her father. Daisuke didn't, however, which led to her taking his silence as a form of approval. At times when she acted so uptight like this, it made him tensed as he worried his daughter would make all the effort for her graduation party go to waste as it was no longer going to have the surprise impact.
Well, it would have been, had he not notice that Yanagi was hiding her troubles. A drink, she so claimed to want. She wanted to ease her nerves, reconsider the facts so as to benefit from a clear mind. Maybe she was much more affected than he initially believed. Whatever the case was, Yanagi simply did not leave for the sake of sake.
"You have a visitor, young mistress."
"Calling me by Chandler would suffice as well, Haruto."
"As you so wish, young mistress." Replied the family butler of a generation prior—back when she still retained the proud Matsuoka name. He still insisted on the formalities he used when she was a child, much to her displeasure and still a method in which Haruto was testing her husband Jack. Even though they were already a family, her parent's butler would not submit to an outsider that he perceived the Matsuokas wouldn't approve.
"Yanagi? It's been so long. How has school been?" Kaede started, then offered her a seat alongside her on the divan. With her was the young angel known specifically as her daughter—Clarinda Amaya Chandler—whom of which the young mother of twenty-three was trying to make her fall asleep.
"Graduation is over. I'm now well accredited to do as I want with my studies."
"Congratulations!" Her friend immediately began. It was rather subtle, but Yanagi had seen it as Kaede was keeping a facade. She remained well restrained, keeping her cool as she kept Amaya calm. Rather natural to nurture one's child as best as possible, even though they found themselves sick with the thought of envy. "I don't suppose your father now requires you to marry, seeing as schooling is finally over. Eighteen years, Yanagi; nearly two decades straight of education, and it seems life won't be slowing down for the slightest."
"About that..."
"What's this? You're father finally has the guts to look you in the eye and demand you do as he says? What have you done that caused this, hmm?"
"No, I haven't done anything that displeased him," 'Not to my knowledge...' "I'm just as surprised as well as he is, but apparently I have a suitor that left him speechless."
"This means he is well impressed! Oh, Yanagi. We'll both have competent spouses and live together as best friends. Maybe our childr—"
"Shut it, Kae-chan. I never actually gave such a future any consideration. This is a person I've never been acquaintances with. Perhaps our parents known one another, but I don't much of anything other than his name and profile. How can you be so inconsiderate when you protested arrange marriages back in high school?"
She shouldn't have touched upon that topic. Never had Yanagi wanted to bother her old friend, the rebel princess of the Matsuoka family. Kaede was essentially an adolescent who hated formalities, a direct contrast towards Yanagi's insistence on having those she looked down upon refer to sharing a casual conversation with her an honor.
She used to believe that the high nobility were unsavory individuals of little respect; that they took little regard of the lower classes and left them to suffer from death, maladies, and taxes. Kaede never knew that her parents did not accept such generalized perceptions as part of their profile. They were a family of old money—at least from the Era of the retrogressive war. What fate befell upon them the night she spent away from their home once again as she usually done while she was in her final years of high school was unfortunate, but also an eye-opener as Kaede learned that her parents were beloved among the community.
Nothing like she believed them back when they were still alive.
"I still hold up to my principles, Yanagi. It just doesn't hurt to honor my parents' memory." She answered. Subconsciously holding her daughter closer, she began constructing a final statement to finish the conversation, but decided on holding out on it. Why would she burden her friend with demanding responsibilities if she should support her as due part of being her mature, sister-like friend?
No, she wouldn't expect her to make the decisions so easily; it just wouldn't be a genuine thing. Instead, Kaede smiled at her, emitting a radiance of maternal love, and hoped that the best would befall upon the girl. "Now, now... why don't you go spend some time with your family. Forget of what I was saying, and focus on what you have, not what you desire to have that's not in the immediate future."
"...sure thing, Kaede-chan."
Since his observations were satisfactory for the Jeung-Chi patriarch, Hayate was well rewarded for his discovery of a usable lead. They needed leverage for negotiations, but simple ramblings that were not grounded in stable logic and realistic evidence was out of the question!
What Hiro knew, thanks to his son, was just how responsive father and daughter were to one another. A relationship like any other, with obligations that they fulfilled.
Obligations they could exploit...
"But, it isn't right—"
"WHAT IS RIGHT IN THIS CONTEXT DOES NOT MATTER." Hiro countered immediately as his son defied his orders. Sure, his mother raised the boy to be a man of honor, but that would easily botch one's life plans—finding themselves dying in the gutters in the end. Hiro would have none of it!
"That is to say, being too open of your intentions, your interests... they won't want to involve themselves. You'll appear too needy, and be disfavored."
"Then what is it that I must do, father? I'll get right on it as you need me."
The old man smirked. Hayate was finally opening up for manipulation, becoming of use to him as he desired. How he longed for the opportunity ever since his wife intervened with the boy's life path and sending him off to a normal school. Well... it did help in subtle manners... and even brought his and Daisuke's children to know of each other. 'Hmph. She did do me well after all that I had to await. Ijiwaru onna...'
"Hayate. You said to me earlier in your reports that Yanagi had a friend. A youth from the west?"
"Riccardo Rutabaski. He's been in military academy since age fourteen. He's also visited Boruvia over the years, but I don't see him anything problematic."
"Foolishness." Hiro cried out the insult. "If he's visited before, and had spoken—as well as travelled to the Emperor's home—then he will be an issue for you to worry." Especially once he considered how Hayate's report illustrated the scene as Yanagi had been devastated by his departure. They were likely an item. A grave fault to simply dismiss, but not something he couldn't handle.
"Adeul. My will... your wish... all is in sight."
