Yoshiyuki obtained a glowing recommendation from Nakamura-san despite the pending approval from Miss Nanjou. He also didn't bother to wait before he packed up and caught the afternoon ferry back to Otou-san. The boat bounced along on the mildly rough sea as he considered his next step. Certainly not back to Grandma. He'd probably get a room in a smaller hotel near the harbor until he could board the ferry to Yokohama, and maybe move on to Sapporo as originally planned. Only then will he text Grandma he had changed jobs.

But what about the university? She'd been counting on that. Shall he enroll in some countryside college and pass it off as uni? Maybe resignation was a bit rash—but is he going to put up awkwardly with the shadow of a broken relationship just to get the opportunity back? In any case, he'd already fallen out of the heiress's favor, so all of that was likely moot by now. All on top of pangs of longing for her. What an absolute moron.

Congratulations, Yoshiyuki. You just ruined your life again. Fallen, indeed.

#15. On Our Own

There was no ferry for two days now. Only a cruise ship sailed by, calling first at Piazza before proceeding to Otou-san. Nakamura-san will be swamped with work again. Poor lady. He would have crossed back over right now if guilt was his only consideration. A ferry wasn't likely in two or even three days given that both cruise and ferry normally didn't berth together at the small Otou-san harbor to avoid overcrowding the port with passengers. His pocket money is dwindling. He wasn't so sure about the supplies he brought over from the hotel, either. If this keeps up till the end of the week he may be forced to hang around Yokohama for another few months before moving on somewhere suitably distant. The room rate in this hotel was atrocious considering the much cheaper quality.

On the fourth day the cruise arrived on Otou-san shortly before lunch. He spent yet another dreary afternoon face down in bed, fending off thoughts of Anna. Maybe he should just stow away on this blasted ship tying him down to this island. If he was smooth enough it wasn't impossible to blend into the crowd going back on board, backpack and all, he'll just have to remain hidden for… Weeks? Tch. Shall he present himself again as an employee and work his way up to… captain?

Well, to be sure, a captain wasn't just "another employee;" maybe he could be a better fit to Anna this time…

"…"

He dismissed the idea with a forced chuckle.

At length he decided to lounge around at the lobby for a change (a little "Anna break," as he put it) before tourists flooded in for the evening. It was desolate at this hour, almost like a private room, with the desk officer being the only staff in sight at the moment. She was talking to a man in denim boxers and he thought to join into the conversation.

"Even the middle school is stalling," said the man. "There are only seventh graders right now. Everybody I talked to said they might send their children to relatives in the mainland rather than to Nankaisei."

"As they've always done," sighed the officer. "Truth be told this Nankaisei only got big because of the settlers."

"Closed in two years, huh?"

"Nankaisei?" said Yoshiyuki. "Is this for real?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" said the man. "At this point there are no freshmen, and the second-years comprised a single class, the third years two."

He was shocked. No freshmen? Didn't the Nittas say something like that to him? But if so he probably thought it was just hearsay. When was the last time he was on Otou-san again? "I'm a bit out of circulation lately. Maybe I should get a Kyunins Gazette."

"I'll send you a copy tonight with the dinner," smiled the officer. "Nankaisei is always is the news, sometimes front page, sometimes no, but it never disappears."

As the day cooled down and the visitors began to pour in, he retreated to his room to try some bland TV. He tried a game show, and finally settled on some anime. He had long since lost his interest in the stuff, but this was better than being alone with your thoughts… at least until he got zoned out, which for him took mostly an hour or so.

Maybe he should just go out an get the gazette himself. News of the outside world would probably be a potent distraction.

At around six a knock came at the door. Dinner's a little early today. "Come in," he called out. The door opened—and his blood curdled at the sight of her.

"I'm here to fetch a runaway employee," said Anna.

Before he could even react she had already dropped her backpack and rushed to him, pinning him to the wall by his shoulders and pressing her lips hungrily into his. "I missed you so, darling," she breathed. She kissed him again, now more tenderly, more thoroughly, and he gave in, melting into her embrace and relishing the feel of her everywhere, savoring everything about her, her hair, her cheeks, her neck… They were stopped by passing footsteps outside, and she hurriedly went back to the door. After closing it she listened in for a few more tense minutes and then she sighed heavily.

They gazed at each other from across the room, still disheveled from the passionate display, and she walked back to him and smoothed him, pecking his lips a few times more. "You're so lovely," she said with longing in her eyes. "Such an absolute fool I was to push you away… Darling…"

"…"

"I have lost too many people already. You're right, I have you, I don't need the club. It's never coming back. I can't change the past, and I want to start over… with you."

"I…" he stammered, "this… this is too much. This is a little too much. Princess…"

"I'm not a princess! Look at me. I'm only Anna now. Your Anna. Yoshiyuki, when was the last time I let my heart decide? You are mine. From now on nothing else matters." She caressed his hair again. "My Yoshiyuki. My fallen prince. Isn't that so sweet to hear, my dear?"

"I've resigned already."

"I'll never accept your resignation! You're Piazza property, remember? You're Anna Nanjou property."

"…"

"Let's go someplace before we return to the hotel, shall we?"

At the back of his head he was about to say, "But where even?!" Instead, he nodded at once. He also wanted this. "Do you know a place?'

"Hai. It will be just us, without the world. Living together."

They resumed their passion briefly before Anna took her stuff and carefully slipped out of his room. "Six A.M." she said from the door. "At the bus stop."

Theirs was no bus, though. Anna got themselves the costly rental van. At full speed it took only thirty minutes to cover the distance on the winding wooded road to… a familiar place.

Yoshiyuki looked around taking in once again the manor house—the old dormitory of Kanako and the Kubo sisters. He marveled at how it looked much the same as when he first came here, even for a split-second seriously expecting Kanako to open the door for them… but a large padlock was at the door. Speaking of which, how…?

Anna held up the keys. "This place is actually owned by my family. We even stayed here for a number of years when I was small. The loveliest house of all, if you ask me." She stepped forward to the door and touched it lovingly. "Poor thing don't deserve to be empty at all."

Stepping into the expansive lobby, they dropped their luggage only to kick up a misting of dust onto their hems. A thin screen of it has settled everywhere. "It's been some time since the Kubo sisters left," said Anna. "Would you mind helping me here?"

"I'll get a mop." He proceeded upstairs, where he saw one of the bedrooms unlocked. Checking inside, he found it bare and also dusty, including the bed. There's no way they'd settle in for the night in this. But there were fresh bedsheets and all in the cabinet, so he chucked the old sheets into a laundry basket before starting the tedious cleanup. At the end of it, over an hour later, everything including the ceiling and windows were done, if still bare. He hoped the princess wouldn't mind too much.

Returning downstairs, however, he was startled to find Anna on a chair in an apron and holding a huge duster, wracked with coughing. "You OK, hon?" he said rushing to her.

She coughed some more. "Isn't it obvious?" she reprimanded him hoarsely. "I thought you'd assist me. You said you'll get a mop."

Sigh. "Anna, first things first. We have to fix the very place we're going to sleep in, don't you think? You can leave the lobby for now, we're not having any guests, are we?"

She only replied with more coughing. Oh, man. Why did he even argue? She probably just wanted him around, within no more than five feet of her. He knocked himself on the head for letting her highness lift a finger. "Come on, the room's done. I'll get breakfast."

He only had some noodles and veggies as well as a small bag of rice when he left the hotel, so he turned to Anna's luggage in the next room to rummage for something she might like. OK…? Hmmm, there was… Skittles? There were all sorts of pricey confections and other high-end snacks, and these took up so much space the only actual meal around were some cans of cream mushroom soup. He let his head hang, but still he must get something to the ailing princess at once so he took the cans so he can produce the quickest chow he could manage.

When he finally got the soup to her, though, she only stared. "Is that all?"

He was befuddled. "Well… you're the one who brought it here."

She made a small face. "That's what the maids eat most of the time."

"Then why did…?" This was getting more confusing.

"I was in a hurry," she reasoned rather lamely. "And… I had to look the part of of a tourist so I… I brought the candy along."

But nobody's gonna inspect… Sigh. Whatevs. "I'm going to make us a proper meal. Rice… Soba… What would you like? Can you wait?"

She groaned uneasily. Was that meant to stand in for a less ladylike stomach growl? Man… Oh. Wait a sec. "How long are we supposed to stay out here?"

She only looked away. "I plan for us to live with an auntie of mine in Kobe. She dotes on me. She can give us a part of her estate for our support."

"But you said we're returning to Okaa-san."

"You think we can just walk right back into the hotel in this?!"

"Wha—" She's right. They're basically on the run.

"And chill out, will 'ya?" she added irritably. "I have both a checkbook and a debit card; my personal accounts hold more than ten million yen. I got us covered."

"You think we can just walk right back down to downtown in this?!"

"Wha—" He's right. They can't exactly write a check against the trees here—"Hey, you're hogging my lines!"

He stood up. "I'll get lunch in a jiffy. Try that soup, even a bit."

He came back an hour later with a steaming tray for two. But Anna was already fast asleep—with the bedside table littered with empty packets of those tourist "candies," and the soup still untouched. Sigh. He took one of the sweets. "I guess I'll have one of these for dessert."

Anna remained in bed for most of the day while he tidied up the lobby and did the laundry. Tired at the end of the day he checked on her one last time and tucked in early for the night. He set the alarm for five-thirty the following morning.

He got up on time and immediately went to shower and dress for today. He then thought to check on Anna again and ask if she'd like some hot choco.

But she wasn't there. So she's OK now? The bed was done nicely, too. She must have gone to the shower already while he dressed. Satisfied, he went outside to begin work on the lawn. It was already bright outside but there was no sunshine. He went round to the tool shed behind the house. Mowing would be a good place to start; the grass had already grown up to his knees in places. He found an old mower which had to be pulled with a cord. This he did, but the thing only sputtered haltingly before it went dead. Successive pulls failed to bring it back to life. He checked the tank—low. Oh well. He made do with a large pair of shears. He wasn't sure he'd finish in a week with this; probably they'd have already left for Kobe if Anna was urgent enough. Such lovely weather, he thought looking up at the sky. It promised to be cool and overcast the whole day. Maybe he'll spend the whole afternoon out here, as well, to quicken the pace of the work.

He was surprised to find Anna crouched down and partly hidden in the grass, in that same loose-fitting shirt he saw her wear at Nanaka's. "Yo," he called out approaching her. He squatted down with her and saw that she was filling something with garden soil. A tree stump? It was rather large; it can seat two people skin-to-skin. The inside must have decayed and hollowed out, certainly it can serve as a flower bed.

"Can you help me with this, Yoshiyuki?"

"Are you really alright now? You might get sick again."

"That was dust. I'm perfectly fine with soil."

"Uh-huh? Well, if you say so…"

"I can do this whole yard in three days if you'll let me."

"Ooh…" He whistled. "Didn't know you're into gardening. That's some pretty heavy stuff."

"Yoshiyuki…" she growled.

"Whoa, whoa… O-OK, I'm sorry! Not underestimating you or anything. But let me help you."

"You think all the greenery at the Mystic was done by the house help?"

Really? "I-I didn't say anything."

"Humph." She resumed the task. "If you have something to do indoors I'll be fine now."

"No, I'll help. I meant to do the lawn, anyway."

They went on preparing the bed for planting. Finally, he moistened the soil with a sprinkler whilst she opened a packet of daisy seeds. "But I must start with this," she said.

"Hm?"

"This was a magnolia tree. Did I mention we lived here before? I was maybe six or seven. The estates on Okaa-san were already there, it was already making money as an exclusive resort, but we couldn't move there just yet for some reason.

"Anyway, I had a happy time here. We only had eight servants in all at that time and weren't that rich, but Pa and Ma and I played here at the garden every morning. I've loved the magnolia the first I saw of it, that and the azalea bush.

"Papa always picked the magnolias when he made bouquets and wreaths for me. The tree never seemed to run out of blooms. But my homeschool tutor—she was my favorite—she never approved of picking the flowers and just told me to appreciate them while on the tree. We two played games and learned lessons together with Pa and Ma, all under the shade and the blossoms of this tree.

"At some point before we moved, everybody disappeared. The tutor was sent away. Both Pa and Ma were at Okaa-san. Not that I feel bad about moving, no, but somehow it felt like there was a gap in my memory. I don't even remember who of the servants I was with between when my tutor left and when I moved to Okaa-san…

"Remember how sometimes you'd forget something in your pockets and it ends up being tossed into the laundry and washed out of recognition?

"It's like some kind of legend to me now. I wish I knew… Sorry. Did I talk too much?"

He had been listening intently the whole time. "No, it's alright. I'm just worried. You were crying."

"Huh?"

"Your voice was shaking. I don't know, it just sounded like that."

"Oh," she said finally giving way to a few tears. "Sorry. Did it bother you?"

He gathered her in his arms and kissed her hair tenderly. "I don't mind. You know you can talk to me as long as you like and I won't mind."

She let him wipe away a few that had slid down her cheeks. "Thank you, Yoshiyuki. Seriously, thank you."

They finished planting the flower bed before settling down for breakfast.

At around four Yoshiyuki left behind a sleeping Anna and went out to look for some radish for tonight's dinner. There must be somebody with a farm around here. He began to walk down the highway in the direction of town. The roadside lampposts gave him a sense of reassurance that civilization is never far away. He can just take his time. The mountain breeze was cool, even frigid sometimes, a refreshing change from the humidity down at the coast; the scent of vegetation soothed him as did the occasional bird calls.

He had been walking by himself for some time now. In the quiet solitude his mind began to drift a little. He'd probably slip into the harbor unnoticed this weekend for some stuff they didn't have; a quick round of shopping will do. Otherwise, they can stay up here for up to a month. He wasn't really in such a hurry to move on to Kobe.

In fact it was much better if they let a week or two pass before they can both venture down into port in case a search for them was going on right now… Say, Anna so far never mentioned exactly when they were going to leave; she said she'd contact Auntie, and that's it. How long are we supposed to stay out here? he had asked her, but right now there was nobody to address that question to… but himself. She should have told him before they came here. She didn't have a plan. They really might as well shack up in the dormitory for a month.

He must have covered a couple of miles already, but the road remained empty. Of course, the bus only plied this part of the highway twice a day, in the morning before school, and late in the afternoon just after school… right about now. Say, shouldn't he be off the road in case somebody in the bus recognized him? They were on the run, they were supposed to be incognito. But there was nobody. Who could possibly…? The sunset glow drenched everything, the sunset highlighted the treetops… in fact there was nothing but trees. No farms. He had been walking and walking and walking and there was nobody. Why is he still out here? Are they actually staying out here for a whole month? Or perhaps a whole year? His head kept stewing in his thoughts while the silence numbed his senses and his feet kept on walking… right until it got dark, and suddenly the lampposts all lit up at once. He yelped. Who did that? Was there someone around? But that's silly, of course the switch for all that was downtown… but why was there no bus? It should have passed by ages ago? Or did he just not notice, deep as he was in his reverie? Did somebody see him already? What was going on? He stopped and hurried back to the dorm, past all those lampposts lined up like dead cadets. There were no more trees, only darkness, and those lights all in a row, just like that time he ran down the coast road to Rikako's… At the end of the trail, however, was not an abandoned bungalow, but a manor house whose downstairs was lit up invitingly for the night, and at the door, there stood the woman he loved.

"Yoshiyuki, where were you?"

"…"

"I've been looking for you all over the house."

"Sorry," he panted. "Tried to look for veggies."

She threw him an incredulous look. "Please don't leave me like this again."

"Sorry. You were asleep."

"Yoshiyuki," she said uneasily. "I feel like Papa is right here in the house, he's looking at me."

Why shouldn't she think that? They've been here, after all. "I'm sorry. Come on, let's make dinner."

Yoshiyuki let Anna finish with the bathroom and as soon as he heard her door close, he went out. He thought to take a dip in the warm tub rather than shower quickly, to ease his nerves after that walk outside, but he worried that she might feel lonely again waiting for him. He finished in twenty minutes.

Entering her room, he was pleasantly surprised by the nice aroma. Anna had sprayed something. "Did you like it?" she said reading his mind. She was also talking about the fine curtains, the carpet, the lovely pillows. He obviously didn't check that part of her luggage.

"It's fantastic…"

She giggled sweetly and put her arms round him. Her skin was incredibly supple. "This is as much as I can do for you for all the trouble."

She made it sound so little, but…

Everything about her teased him.

The voice in which she said it wasn't so apologetic, either.

Anna pressed herself against him. He felt those curves. She buried her face in his neck. He smelled that hair. "Could you please turn the lights off, dear?"

He reached for the switch. As soon as it went dark they embraced more tightly and she nibbled his ear playfully. "You're mine," she whispered in that ear. "I want you so much I can eat you alive." Nibble.

She led him to bed onto which they both toppled. The kissing was intense. Now he wrapped around her so tightly he seemed bent on killing her.

They paused for a bit to catch their breath and regard each other. The longing in their eyes was unbelievable."Yoshiuyki…" Her voice trembled with that same longing. She reached down to unzip his pants.

She suddenly gasped.

"Anna…?"

"Yoshiyuki…" she said, now uneasy. "Please hug me."

"…"

He resumed his python embrace on her and she caught his lips once again. Whatever made her hesitate, it was nothing now. They have each other.

"…"

A blinding flash of light came from the window.

The door was kicked open, and more lights appeared from there. What was happening?! No idea, but whatever it was it's happening fast. The mean tore Yoshyuki away from her. "No!" she screamed. "Yoshiyuki!"

"Don't go…"

"Yoshiyuki…"

She burst into tears. It's all over now. Other hands dragged her to her feet. Next thing she knew her mouth was gagged—

His eyes flickered open, but vision remained blurry for about ten minutes. As soon as his sight resolved itself he quickly looked about him. Wait, this place, it's… He's still in the dorm. He was downstairs at the lobby. A bunch of guys have blindfolded him as they carried him away, and somebody punched him in the gut. He thought he's been abducted—Oh. His hands were tied behind him to the back of the chair. Tch. Well, to be sure, this place was as remote as it gets, still a perfect hideaway. This was the tradeoff in choosing a refuge when running away, if the place you picked was too secret and you were found out, they can do just about anything and they won't be found out. Who were they running away from again? Ah, that's right, Anna's folks. So this is their doing? Drat. He should have known the dorm wasn't so secret to begin with, they've been here. They must have figured out there weren't many places in the islands she knows about. And Piazza had a connection of some sort to the cruise; Anna would be found out if she stayed any longer there. She must have been taken back to Okaa-san. And he… what will they do to him?

He was jolted from his thoughts by somebody dragging another chair on the floor. From behind him came a man in a jacket and jeans. He set the chair down right in front of him and sat face-to-face—right away he knew this was Anna's father. He still looked reasonably young, probably just into his fifties. There was only a thin screen of facial hair, but the muscles behind his undershirt were unmistakable.

"I'm sorry we had to make it like this," he began. "I did not want to pursue the two of you openly. You can just imagine the commotion."

"Where… Where is she… sir…?"

"Hm? Are you her guardian now? Just because you had her for a week or so?"

"…"

"I heard from Nakamura-san you've just resigned. Were you preparing for this?"

He felt the embarrassment burning in him. "We had a fight."

"You quit a stable job at Piazza Hotels just because you had a fight with Anna? I find your work ethic highly questionable."

"If I can't get along with my boss, I don't see why she would tolerate me anyway."

"But she did tolerate you." He lit a cigar, and puffed. "Tolerated you enough to run away with you. Tell me, boy, whose idea was it to take a trip?"

He didn't want the blame to fall on Anna. "It does not matter, sir, I will be held responsible in any case."

"Answer the question, boy."

He winced. "She… She came to me."

"So my hunch is correct." He laughed in Yoshiyuki's face. Lucky devil, you! You managed to make a hotel heiress your loyal lackey. You must be so proud of yourself."

Stung by this, he said, "Pardon me, sir, I never saw it like that. I love her. Even when I thought I'll never see her again, I loved her."

The man's lips set in a thin, flat line. "Love…" He puffed on the cigar. "Loved her enough to set her down on the path to lower her place in the eyes of the world, never mind me or her mother."

"…"

"But I won't blame you too much. In order to elevate oneself, one has to put someone else down."

"Sir—"

"That's how it works in the world. Though I'll have to ask you this: Are you serious in taking on a Nanjou? There are plenty of well-to-do beauties out there, maybe you just overdid it a little. Let me ask you again, are you sure you want Anna Nanjou?"

"I want her," he declared immediately. "I never wanted anyone so badly in my life."

Nanjou's face went blank as he finished the cigar. He then stood up and motioned a nearby bouncer to untie Yoshiyuki whilst he doffed his jacket and shirt. His brawny frame glistened with sweat. "Alright. You want her? Put up a fight. You good with brawling, boy?"

He jumped to his feet in alarm knocking down his chair. "Sir, I-I don't… Do we need this?"

"I want this. Come on, throw a punch."

"Sir, please no—"

A hard blow landed on his jaw.

Yoshiyuki staggered back reeling from the pain, but he had enough presence of mind to dodge the next one. And the next. He kept dodging and dodging, not wanting to actually strike the man he seriously considered to be his father-in-law. But he needed to stop him. He wasn't much of a match boxing with someone this muscled, but he wasn't exactly a pushover, either. He backed himself to a corner and let the man charge at him. He caught the man's next punch by the wrist, and then the other, and then quickly locked the back of his knee against his… From there it was just a matter of staying power. He gave the man a very hard time, saw himself through the thunderous roars, and in the end, Mr. Nanjou relented. "Medic!" he yelled hoarsely.

A pair pulled Dad away while another took Yoshiyuki. They both limped back to their chairs exhausted, where they were treated. Anna's father stared hard at Yoshiyuki, but the fury was no longer there. After a while, "So… You refused to hit me… huh?"

"…"

"You think you can convince me like that?"

"I don't…" Cough. "I don't know, but what I've said… is what I've said… sir…"

Bitter chuckle. "Let me tell you something… It does not matter… if you love Anna or not, in the end… you will still get everything she has. But being rich… It's not the status. It's not the luxury. I… I became rich in order to survive."

He only threw him a wild look, unmindful of the small faces he made from the sting of the alcohol. What's this about now?

"Your wealth will not matter as soon as you have it, anyway. There will always be others who are bigger than you who'll want to step on you. And your peers will always look for ways to one-up you. Once you get to the top, it's an endless struggle to stay there."

"…"

"This is the world you're entering if you insist on Anna Nanjou."

"Sir, I've said I wanted your daughter regardless of status. When she came to my hotel room that day, she said she was no princess, and I loved her still. We do not have to live like what you're thinking."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "But I have no other child. What about Piazza?"

He clammed up. Sure, he meant what he said, but… Is this what he was trying to tell him?

Anna father has fallen into deep thought, and after a while, he gestured to the (bouncer), who went off… to fetch Anna from upstairs.

As soon as she saw her Yoshiyuki she rushed over and hugged him. "Papa," she said, hurt, "Did you really have to do this?!"

"You really do run to him first, though the both of us were in a fight. I'm really nothing to you now."

She fell silent. "It's not like that," she mumbled.

"How long have you known him, woman?"

"He was with the club when they visited back when they're at Nankaisei, don't you remember?"

"And then? Say, you were at the board, right?"

"That's of no consequence. Yoshiyuki is a good man."

"What about your childhood friend, Anna? Isn't this the house we both shared? Do you even disregard the very roof that now stand over our heads?"

Memories came back to her. She couldn't answer, save for a bitter, "You were the ones who left me, Papa. Everybody leaves me. That's how it was… my whole life!"

"So that's why I have become such a great enemy to you now, is that it?"

Yes, she silently replied, yet this was the same man who made her happy, who held the key to her golden childhood, even now. She can't make him her enemy.

"Since things have turned out like this, I believe this is the right situation to tell you everything. You see, I have meant to turn over ownership of the hotel to you as soon as you turned thirty, regardless of whether your mother and I were still alive.

"I don't want you to remain sheltered by my presence for too long. Besides, I'm not sure if you'd want me or your mother around after this.

"Let me first tell you how I met your mother.

"I was a hired gun in my younger days.

"My own mother was a Frenchwoman who had met my father in Japan. After she moved back to France with him they settled in Arles but could hardly find employment, so they ended up running a small bakeshop. The university I went to looked down on me as a product of a mixed marriage, so I gave up my dreams to be a lawyer and when came of age joined the army as a common serviceman.

"No sooner than I joined were we sent overseas to the African Sahel. One time we had a firefight with some rebels and afterwards my squad lost contact with the others. So we later decided to trek to Senegal and from there back to France. We got to Dakar and somehow I was left behind.

"From there, I hired myself out to private armies down the West African coast just to get by. Upon reaching Nigeria I joined the security detail of a mining and oil company. They were satisfied with me enough to later assign me to their operation in Kuwait.

"The apartment there, I shared with a young woman who was along with her parents a refugee from a family conflict. We, both outcast, found common cause, fell in love, married. The year after, Anna, you were born.

"Eventually, your mother's family won in court their part of the clan wealth, including a small real-estate company that managed a small hotel chain, Piazza.

"Shortly after we won the case, we moved to this very house, as your mother and I were interested in acquiring property in nearby Okaa-san. We knew that it would be an enormous boost to Piazza. So we waited, and waited, made do with a manor house and a few servants, watched over you as you grew up the first seven years of your life.

"As soon as we acquired the Okaa-san property, I began to disappear from your sight.

"I was intensely focused on building the exclusive resort, and then laying the foundations of the main hotel. At the same time I was looking after the other Piazza hotels abroad, not that there were many, but they were also growing fast in those years. There were also other business matters that increased our profits even more, with the help of your Auntie in Kobe.

"In those years wealth flooded into our family on a scale not even your mother had dreamed of. Overwhelmed, she lost herself in gambling with other rich families and mostly leaving you with the servants. I don't know whether she had rigged the games, no one ever produced any evidence, but she won the majority of bets and gained even more money, as well as other concessions—sensitive information, for one—and one time, even the daughter of the losing party, the one given you to play with while she played with her own people."

Anna closed her eyes in shame. She had wished nobody would mention this particular episode, certainly not in front of her Yoshiyuki.

"I thought a little absence was worth it to ensure the survival of our family. When I found out what you and your mother have been doing, I realized I've downplayed how badly things can go. From there I resolved to focus my presence on the hotel here, with you, and I meant to hold on to you until you're thirty, as I've said. But now, you have crossed a line, Anna. You did this."

"Papa, it's not what you're thinking. I still love you."

"Taking a man and going off with him without telling me, you're saying you're done with me."

"Papa," she sobbed. "No…"

"If you insist on living with your man, I can hand over Piazza to you both right now, and you will attend all of the meetings and deal with all of our business partners, and try to count how many people you can actually trust.

"I am tired. I want to rest from all that even now. But I wanted to make sure you're ready. And now you act as one who can stand on her own. So be it."

The couple stiffened. Somehow, being disowned from your inheritance felt easier than this.

"But if you want to truly protect him, I can show you a way."

"Who exactly are these people we're up against, Papa?"

"Shall I bore you by reciting them all? Let's begin with the closest—your mother."

Gasp.

"She thinks this will be the best for you and our family, but she never did tell me until I found out recently. I guess she wanted you to get to the point where it will be impossible for you to refuse."

"She wants to marry me off?"

"To an Eastern European prince. She's a stickler for prestige, and I don't blame her, she's after all distantly related to ancient royalty. The both of you are actual princesses."

Their eyes widened. All of those affectionate epithets… they were real?"

"And why shouldn't she? Being outcast at one point, of course she'd want to regain her glory before her clan, surpass it, make connections and announce to the world that we can't be touched. But some of those connections can be really unsavory, and I'm not sure you can handle them just yet.

"I think you should spend more time studying abroad."

Anna tightened her grip on Yoshiyuki's hand, and so did he. "And Yoshiyuki?" she said.

"I'm certain your mother will not approve of him."

He felt his heart sink into his stomach. "And you, sir? Do you… Do you approve… of me?"

The man only gave a distant look as though seeing miles beyond him. "I do not want a ruckus in my own family just because of you. My wife can be very feisty if she wants to."

Anna turned round and wept in Yoshiyuki's arms.

"I will try to defuse the situation quietly if you'll let me. Minase-san, please keep your distance."

He snapped his fingers and the bouncer re-appeared. Anna was eased out of the dazed Yoshiyuki's embrace, but she held on weakly, her hand sliding helplessly down his arm, and then his hand, and finally the tips of his fingers.

And then they are parted.

The guy escorted her back upstairs as she wept loudly. As soon as her last echoes have faded, Dad said, "Nakamura."

To Yoshiyuki's surprise, his old boss emerged out of the shadows. She went to him and embraced him, replacing Anna."Mr. Nanjou, sir!" she beseeched. "Please forgive Minase. He's a good man. He was only caught up in his passion."

"These people are always caught up in their passions."

"Mr. Nanjou!"

"How did he perform?"

"Very, very well, sir! I have seen really hard workers, but he's the most diligent I've known. His attention to detail is unmatched, almost like a woman's."

"And you plan to send him to a university?!"

She faltered. "Uh… I-I am eyeing a place in Osaka. It's said to be the best in the country when it comes to business management."

"Harvard Business School."

"Eh—?"

"You haven't heard of that?"

"Ah… N-No, I-I mean yes, sir, yes! But…"

"Make him a little more acceptable…" He turned to go. "Just in case…" His footsteps echoed coldly as he faded into the shadows. Nakamura hugged him again. "Look at you, son! Come on, let's get back to the office, I'll have your pay in full! Be grateful to Mr. Nanjou—He intends to advance you, maybe you'll be General Manager!"

But he was still dazed. Now, however, for an entirely different reason.