"Mother, why did you decide to accompany me? I thought you did not want to come to the Tsurugi estate ever again?"
Lord Helios Argis was someone who lived for the betterment of the Divine Guild. He had been born as a weak baby, a cursed half-breed between a Divine beast and a human.
As such, his family had shunned him since birth. His life had been nothing but tragedy after tragedy.
But it had all changed the day Lady Suzuki had taken pity on a ten-year-old and adopted him into her ever-growing family.
Lord Helios Argis was no one special but Lady Suzuki had made him feel special. That was why, when Lord Tsurugi had asked him to marry Yoko Tsurugi, Lord Helios Argis had felt stumped but he had agreed in the end.
It was a well-known fact that Lady Suzuki did not like the Tsurugi family's ways and how they had risen to power but she never spoke up on that topic when asked outright.
Even Helios, a person reared by Lady Suzuki, was unable to discern how she felt about the Tsurugi family.
Was she fond of them? Resent them?
So when he decided to accept the engagement offered by the Tsurugi family, he did not consult her and did so in secret.
But it had not mattered at all. In the end, Lady Suzuki had found out about the engagement and decided to tag along.
'Why is she here today? She never interfered in any of the other sibling's marriages before. She was also not interested in my affairs before today. What makes today special?'
Since Helios could not figure these questions out, he decided to ask Lady Suzuki outright. His adopted mother had always liked directness even when he was a kid.
"Does a mother needs a reason to accompany her son to his would-be fiance's house? But if you need a reason so badly, then consider my company as a bi-product of my fear."
'Fear?' Helios was not even aware her mother had such a word in her vocabulary.
Anyone who knew the head of the Divine Guild knew her to be a shrewd lady. She was someone not even the other leaders tried to go against.
And it was not like Lady Suzuki's reputation was built upon a house of cards. On the contrary, it was a path her adopted mother had carved out of blood and tears.
"Mother, is there something for me to fear at Lord Tsurugi's house? He has been good to me this far and I feel like I can trust him."
Still, Helios trusted his feelings and he wanted to believe in lord Tsurugi who had begged him to take Yoko as his wife.
The lord had been so worried about how meek and timid Lady Yoko was. Such a lady would not survive the court politics and power struggles most families tended to fight with.
Helios himself knew that he was Lady Yoko's best option to be able to live a normal and carefree life.
"If you feel like you can trust Lord Tsurugi then I will trust your judgment. But Helios, you have been softhearted ever since you were a kid. It would break my heart to see your trust being broken. So let me be a loving mother and do this for you."
Whatever Helios wanted to say to his mother died on his tongue. What could he even say in this situation that would not insult Lady Suzuki?
He had no other choice but to fold in front of her.
"By the way Helios, have you ever seen a beast that had been tamed?"
Helios jerked his head up as soon as he heard that question. Her mother's fondness for tamed beasts was known far but her dislike for the beasts tamed by the Tsurugi family was apparent.
Not many people knew this but Helios knew his mother was also capable of taming the beasts. But he had never witnessed her in the company of beasts she had tamed.
But Helios had seen a few of the tamed beasts Tsurugi family kept.
"I have seen some when I went to visit the Tsurugi family once. The current Lord Tsurugi forbade me from near them. He said it was because he was trying to make the beasts more friendly to outsiders. Why? Is something wrong?"
For some reason, Lady Suzuki had a bitter smile on her face at his answer. It confirmed Helios's suspicions that his mother knew about the Tsurugis but she was unwilling to answer him.
"It's nothing, just a strange rumor I heard a few hours ago. Apparently, the Tsurugi family is keeping a very rare 'beast' hidden in their house but it recently went out of control. I wonder how they will try dealing with this situation."
'A rare beast?' If something like that was the case then there was no way this information would have remained a secret.
Knowing Lord Tsurugi's nature, he would have boasted about this rare find all over the world. He would have even gotten the media involved in this.
This had to be a riddle. Although Helios could not figure out his mother's words, he still felt like he had to answer her.
"Mother, sometimes you speak in riddles and make my head hurt. No matter how rare a beast Lord Tsurugi got his hands on, if it went out of control then he has no other choice but to kill it."
"Pfff..hahaha...pfff."
Helios had no idea what happened. One second, Lady Suzuki was normal, the next second she had broken out into a fit of laughter.
This change was too sudden and out of the blue for Helios.
"Mother, what is wrong? Are you alright? Did I say something funny?"
For some reason, Helios's words caused Lady Suzuki to break out into an even bigger fit of laughter. The voice that was muffled before suddenly rang out into the car.
"Oh, you precious fool. You truly are too soft for this world of ours. Do you think a beast that had been cornered would die just like that? No, it would struggle and put up a fight, and then it would aim to kill."
His mother stopped her laugh and her amused expression turned into a solemn one.
"And it will also be at that moment when the beast will be the most dangerous. So Helios, do not be a fool and chose the losing side."
Helios had more questions than answers once her mother was done speaking. He had so many thoughts and questions spinning inside his mind but his mouth refused to cooperate with him.
And when Helios looked at Lady Suzuki again, her eyes had a strange light in them that made him afraid to open his mouth.
He suddenly pitied Lord Tsurugi. The poor man had no idea what was about to hit him next.
The Tsurugi mansion was right in their vision now and Lord Helios suddenly felt his brain stop working. He had a bad feeling about his upcoming meeting.
___________________________
Sakura had assured her father that she had a plan but in reality, it was hard for her to come up with anything.
In the first place, the success of this arrangement depended on how well Yoko behaved in front of Lord Helios.
He was a timid man and he had only heard about Lady Yoko so far. Sakura had done her best to manipulate what information he received about Yoko and she had formed an image in his mind.
Everyone knew that Lord Helios was a soft-hearted fool. He would try and help anyone in need of his help. And that also included a fragile lady in need of a partner.
But now that Yoko had changed all of a sudden, she was no longer the meek prey that Lord Helios needed to protect.
If Yoko opened her mouth in the meeting and let her true personality shine, then all their hard work would be for nothing.
'I need to think of a way to get Yoko to behave this time. Should I drug her? Or curse her? No, there is a chance that I will be discovered.'
Sakura's mind was moving a mile per hour. Her father had already gone ahead to take a bath.
"Lady Sakura, I have some urgent news for you. Lord Helios has arrived but he's not alone. Lady Suzuki was spotted leaving his car along with him and Lady Yoko is nowhere to be seen."
Sakura felt her heart drop to her stomach as soon as she heard those words. Just when she thought that the situation could not get worse, this happened.
'Did someone curse us? What is this situation we are facing? Why is this all happening all of a sudden?'
No matter how much Sakura rattled her brain, she could not find what was so different about today that caused to change.
"What should we do, Lady Sakura? Lady Suzuki is not someone we are ready to welcome just now. Lord Tsurugi hasn't dealt with the problem of the wild animals yet! And Lady Yoko's abrupt shift in mood would be noted right away. What do we do now?"
The guard was entitled to feel fear. The circumstances were quite bad. Sakura was unable to give up though. She had to maintain her composure and figure this out.
"Listen, tell the staff to stay calm and receive our guests in the central inner courtyard. I will inform the situation to father myself. As for Yoko, please find her and bring her back as soon as possible."
There was too much to do and not enough time. But still, Sakura had to prioritize her workload. Doing too much at once would hinder any progress they were about to make.
So it was better to target one problem at a time. And the most urgent one was the arrival of Lady Suzuki.
Once the guard was gone, Sakura felt her body stagger.
"Sakura, is something wrong?"
Her father returned in time to see her fall apart but Sakura considered her options. And she came up with one solution to use this to her advantage.
"Father, we have another problem. Lady Suzuki decided to accompany lord Helios to our home. We cannot avoid her now."
"But why? What happened?"
"I don't know but I think a brilliant man like you can make use of this opportunity to further your standing and drag Yoko out of the race forever. Please follow my lead for now and do not make a mistake."
Sakura had considered her options carefully but she still felt like she was being backed into a corner.
But if she did not do anything then they were finished.
So if a little flattery got her the desired result, then Sakura would do that. Her father was a fool but he was also easily controlled with a few well-placed words.
"Ah, what a smart girl you are Sakura. Of course, we should make use of this opportunity if we can. Now tell me, what have you planned?"
The more Sakura heard her father speak, the more certain she was that she made the best choice for herself.
"Of course father....."
Sakura narrated her plan to Lord Tsurugi and the more she spoke, the more her father smiled.
It only took a few minutes to discuss what to do but it felt like a lifetime to Sakura.
"Of course! Why did I not think of that before? You are a genius Sakura. Now, let's go and visit our guests. We should not keep them waiting for long."
Sakura followed her father with a happy smile toward the central courtyard.
Lady Suzuki and Lord Helios were seated in the open garden and Sakura could not help but pause at seeing them.
For a second, Lady Suzuki's eyes met hers and a chilling smile took over the divine leader's lips. It was such a knowing and chilly smile that Sakura felt her heart freeze.
"Ah, my lord and my lady, it is so nice to see you both. Please sit down and enjoy the tea."
Her father's words caused Lady Suzuki's attention to stray away from Sakura and onto himself.
'How could a father not recognize what kind of danger he is in? Does he not see how dangerous Lady Suzuki is? He wants to fight this kind of woman?'
But none of her concerns reached her father. He kept on speaking to Lord Helios, ignoring Lady Suzuki.
And finally, it happened. Lady Suzuki opened her mouth to ask the critical question.
"Cut to the chase. Where is young Lady Yoko? We are here to see her, not to chitchat."
And the real battle had begun at last.