Unfortunately the calls from her family weren't over. This was the last thing she needed before the big day.
Naoto finally made the finishing touches as her suit for the wedding finally came in. The suit jacket and the shirt was hung up on the other manikin next to her cloak as her trousers were in the glass cabinet, already pressed and creaseless, ready to be worn for the big day. She couldn't help but smile at how they came out, only two more components for it to be finished. With only three weeks left until the ceremony, Naoto's work desk was finally clear, she managed to finish the rest of the administration for the Estate and now had a clean slate running up to the wedding.
The only thing there was the pile of papers related to the wedding. As well as some notes from herself and Souji on what needed to be done at short notice. Her grandfather was recently over to finalise some preparation with Souji's legal work for the family, their will status changing with his arrival into the family. Souji spending a bit more time than usual together with her grandfather
She was just about to grab the notes for today when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Reaching in she pulled it out and looked at it. She snorted seeing who it was before shook her head.
Answering it by swiping it upwards she put her phone to her ear.
"Hello there… Naoto speaking…"
The high spirited yet rough voice came through from the other side.
"Hey there Naoto-chan, how's all the preparation for the big day?"
She gave a small smile, knowing the guise of this call.
"Hello there uncle Ryusuke, we're almost done with it all."
She heard him hum over the call,
"So I wanted to ask about the lucky person. Father hasn't really gone into details, I was hoping I can have some information on him before I see him. I don't want to seem like a complete stranger."
Naoto could only raise her eyebrow as what he was saying.
"That's pretty upfront Uncle but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But I've told you everything about him already, as much as I'm willing to give anyway."
"You always seem so cagey about him. I'm wondering if there is something that you don't want us to know about him?"
Naoto leaned against her desk as she looked up at the ceiling for a moment, looking for strength.
"I'm cagey about him because I know from the experience from our work that privacy is really important. Also I don't want to go through all the stuff I went through with Grandpa all over again."
She heard him scoff, the guise already broken from what he was in this conversation for.
"Well because of certain agreements with certain people, it's not like we can get information from said sources anymore."
The Sleuth kissed her teeth for a second.
"I'm sorry I did this without your consideration." Naoto told him, sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"I was hoping that we would be consulted about everything well before the marriage date. Or preferably before the engagement was even proposed. This is against Shirogane protocol, are you aware of that?"
Naoto sighed.
"Yes Uncle. I do."
"Everyone else had to go through the same thing, you may be the heir but it doesn't mean you can skirt the rules-"
Naoto cut him off.
"Grandpa did all of the background checks necessary like he disclosed. I would just prefer to have less people around Souji, he does work with the Estate anyway so it's not like he's not trustworthy."
"Which I'm still absolutely against,"
She couldn't help but groan.
"You may act like that but we are only following Father's wishes about keeping away from him and his family information. I'm not really sure why he's special, we should know what we are dealing with."
Feeling the bubbling rise of her temper, Naoto did her best to push it back down.
"It's not that he's special, I would just rather not have him deal with that. It's not like I like doing this, working with Grandpa to get his approval was difficult…"
"What do you mean by difficult?"
She hesitated for a minute, a small crack forming in the wall around her fiancé.
"Is there something we don't know?"
"It was just emotionally hard; you know what Grandpa is like."
He didn't sound convinced, as far as he was aware from what his Father and Yakushiji said, she was as tough as they came. Even when they saw each other, she always gave off the aura of someone always in control.
"I do but normally the rest of us are there too. But something doesn't seem right; does this Seta person know something about you that we don't?"
Naoto blinked in surprise.
"Are you saying that I'm being blackmailed?"
He sounded dismissive about her feelings on it.
"Well you hide him from us. You are talking about the emotional turmoil working through Father with this. Even you must admit these are the signs of it? If this is the case, then maybe you aren't fit to be the heir to this family if this is the best defence on the simple request of having more information on the person you are marrying. This affects all of us."
Naoto held back slamming her hand into the table.
"How dare you-"
"You can't afford to be compromised at all. If I have to press on with Father about this without yourself or his consent then maybe. But as Enji-kun said, you and the family's safety is first. I have no idea how you have managed to rope Father into whatever nonsense you are playing."
This time Naoto didn't hold back, her fist smashing against the wooden table.
"You wouldn't dare come in and insult my partner's integrity and then question my ability as heir which I have earned. You may be my Uncle but don't dare talk to me like this!"
She heard him scoff again but his tone never wavered.
"But I am your elder. I know you've been taught by Father and taught well but you still lack our experience in things. The fact you are losing your cool with me under my criticism of your partner is concerning. Again if you had nothing to worry about you would ask Father to either unseal his documents or allow us to look into him ourselves."
'Don't bite, don't bite, don't bite…'
She took a deep breath.
"No, I stand by what I said. I must admit, I would have reconsidered if this conversation was more civil." Her eyes narrowed as her voice got firmer, "As far as I'm concerned I have done all the work necessary to get this wedding approved. I'm sure if you can have a normal conversation with Souji you will grow to like him like Grandpa, Yakushiji-san and Goto-san."
There was a slight pause,
"We'll soon see about that. We will still attend the ceremony since we are here to support you, that's the main thing. But I just wanted to say that the concern is really getting to us."
The Sleuth just sunk into the chair.
"I'm sure, trust me it's getting to me too. I hope to see you at the wedding. Make sure you say hello and send my love to the family."
"I will, I hope things will be different on the big day so we can all sleep easy. Send my regards to your partner."
He said flatly with that the phone went dead. Closing her eyes, she dropped her phone on the desk before her shoulders slump. She wasn't going to show him weakness, not this close to the wedding. She was committed to keep Souji away from them at arm's length to protect him from their brand of paranoia.
The wedding is only three weeks away, she could do this.
