Ever since that day when she’d unknowingly opened the door to the small room in the shop—doubling as a storeroom—without realizing someone was inside, and had been caught off guard by the sight of that breathtaking, almost unreal body.
The astonishing image captured in that instant felt as if it had been carved into the depths of Rika Kawasaki’s mind with a knife, never to fade.
Rather than fading with the passage of time, it replayed itself over and over in her mind as if some hidden mechanism had set it on an endless loop, coming alive with clarity every time she closed her eyes or let her mind wander.
That blindingly white skin in the dim light, those smooth, resilient lines of the body, the corner of the eye moist with shock at being glimpsed—every detail remained vivid.
Truthfully, before that unexpected encounter, Rika Kawasaki had never found herself interested in exploring the existence of men.
Her heart was a barren wilderness, untouched and unplanted.
It wasn’t due to any flaw or deviation in her own nature.
xxRather, the deeper reason lay in the consistent and frankly disappointing impressions left on her by the typical male figures she had encountered since she was old enough to understand the world around her.
Foremost among these negative examples was her own biological father.
In Rika’s eyes, he was a man who had all but abandoned any responsibility as a “Father,” cold and distant, and equally unfaithful in his role as “Husband.”
Looking closer, it seemed that many couples like her mother and father—Wife and Husband who had built their success from nothing, working hard together—were often unable to escape a pitiful pattern once they achieved fame and fortune.
Once they had acquired far more social clout and wealth than during their early days, they would sharply notice that, at some point, they had become surrounded by young, attractive people—at least, outwardly far more dazzling and enticing than their own spouses—gathering around them like bees drawn to nectar.
Men and women alike, driven by primal instincts and swelling vanity, found it nearly impossible to resist the allure of these “Professional Lovers,” whose greatest asset was their appearance and whose entire ambition was to climb into the beds of the powerful, hoping to leap into a higher social class.
After all, their original spouse, regardless of their own looks, could hardly compare to these “Professional Lovers,” whose sole capital was their beauty and whose entire goal was to ascend the ladder by seducing someone of status.
Even if a spouse’s youthful looks once rivaled the best, after ten or twenty years of weathering life’s hardships together, the marks left by time and toil became unmistakable.
How could they compete with those in their prime—twenty-year-old lovers bursting with vitality and hormones?
Thus, these Wife and Husband duos who’d started from scratch often ended up in improper relationships with the young lovers who flocked to them after their success.
But divorce was rare.
The main reason was that their achievements were the result of both partners’ efforts, their interests and reputations so tightly entwined that splitting up would lead only to mutual harm—even threaten the very foundation of their enterprise.
Such a loss was something no shrewd businessperson would ever risk.
Furthermore, in most cases, both parties in the marriage already knew the truth—and, in an unspoken agreement, tacitly allowed or even encouraged each other’s dalliances.
After all… it was highly likely that they themselves had already joined the same game, each playing their own part and maintaining a rotten balance of mutual noninterference beneath the façade of family harmony.
Rika Kawasaki’s parents were the very embodiment of this kind of relationship—a living example that shattered her childhood fantasies of love and marriage.
Years ago, they had started from a tiny Kawasaki Family Izakaya inherited from their elders, tucked away in a corner of the old street.
With boldness, sweat, and a little help from the times, they’d built up a massive Restaurant Group spanning several cities, amassing a fortune many envied.
Yet, as in so many stories, once they reached the pinnacle of success, the two seemed to reach a dirty understanding. Both maintained several steady, young lovers outside the family.
They treated their physical and emotional betrayals as a harmless diversion, something successful people simply did.
At just ten years old, Rika Kawasaki had stumbled across the sickening truth by chance.
It was at a Banquet. Hoping she would get used to mingling with the so-called upper class and build connections with other privileged children early on, her parents had brought her along.
The Banquet was relatively private in nature, so everyone had brought their children to let the next generation of Inheritance meet, get acquainted, and continue their families’ relationships.
But Rika Kawasaki found she had absolutely nothing in common with those elegantly spoken, well-mannered children.
Most of their parents were not the “first generation” who’d created their wealth.
Their families’ fortunes and social standing had been built up over generations, forming a solidified class.
For these Old Family lineages, amassing more wealth was no longer the main goal. Instead, they invested heavily in cultivating their heirs’ overall quality, etiquette, and worldview.
So the children’s conversations revolved around which picturesque corner of Europe they’d skied in on their last family trip, which Master had tutored them in some rare and expensive instrument, or what extravagant Gift their parents had given them for their birthday.
To Rika Kawasaki, it was all like a fairy tale.
She had barely heard of such things, let alone experienced them. How could she possibly find anything to talk about with these children, who seemed to live in a parallel world?
She could only stand silently in a splendid corner, feeling the invisible wall separating her from the rest.
Thankfully, the Banquet had a fine selection of exquisite desserts, fruits, and brightly colored drinks—plenty to satisfy a child’s palate.
Bored out of her mind, Rika Kawasaki spent almost the entire Banquet absentmindedly stuffing herself, using flavors to stave off the tedium and sense of alienation. It wasn’t quite unbearable.
Halfway through the Banquet, after drinking too much juice and soda, Rika Kawasaki soon needed to use the restroom.
Her parents had warned her in advance: after the Banquet, they would come find her, but until then, she was not to disturb them while they discussed business with the adults.