Not long after Lin Jiuan and Aoi entered the bedroom, Rin peeked her head out from the end of the hallway. She tiptoed to the bedroom door and pressed her ear against it. She was very curious. How exactly did Lin Jiuan plan to make her father change his mind and let her sister stay? She was also curious about the illness he was treating for her mother.
Just as she started listening, Sakura's voice sounded from beside her.
"Sister?"
Rin jumped, turning to see Sakura standing nearby, watching her. "What are you doing?"
Rin placed a finger to her lips, then pointed at the door and whispered, "Mother and Lin Jiuan are in the room."
Hearing this, curiosity also appeared in Sakura's eyes. She also wanted to know how her brother would convince their father to let her stay. The two sisters exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other. They pressed their ears to the door, side by side, listening to the sounds within.
Lin Jiuan lay in Aoi's embrace, his head resting on the very comfortable pillows beneath her loose clothing.
"Mrs. Tohsaka, what's this about Sakura?"
Hearing Lin Jiuan mention her younger daughter, a shadow of sorrow crossed Aoi's blissful face. "The specifics... you wouldn't understand."
"How can I understand if you don't tell me?" Lin Jiuan bit Aoi in dissatisfaction. "Are you going to tell me or not?!"
"You little rascal."
Lin Jiuan hadn't used much force. It didn't hurt Aoi much; she just lovingly stroked his head. "Alright, alright. To put it in terms you might understand... Sakura has a very strong talent in a certain area, no worse than Rin's. To not let her talent go to waste, Tokiomi has always wanted to have her adopted by another family in this field. The Matou family is that family."
"Their family's history is as long as the Tohsaka's, and they have many assets, but they lack an heir. If Sakura is adopted by them, after the Matou family head passes away, Sakura will inherit the family's legacy."
"So, do you want Sakura to be adopted?"
Aoi's expression grew even more somber. What mother would want her child to leave her? To her, the Holy Grail and the Root were meaningless. A comfortable material life was enough; she didn't ask for more. "This is Tokiomi's decision. As his wife, I can only support him."
"I asked if you want it," Lin Jiuan said, biting her again, this time with a little more force.
"Oof," Aoi cried out softly. She shot a resentful look at this little troublemaker who had no sense of tenderness, and whispered, "I don't."
"Then all you have to do is tell the head of the Tohsaka family that you firmly disagree."
"I can't." Aoi's face showed a deep-seated fear of the unknown. The education she received from a young age and her years of obediently following her husband made it so she couldn't even imagine defying him. "I can't do it."
"Don't you love Sakura?" Lin Jiuan's words were blunt, speaking to a woman who had already fallen to a certain degree. "Besides, the Matou family doesn't seem like a good place, does it?"
Aoi nodded, biting her lip. Though she was a normal woman, she had heard things about the Matou family—that many of its members were not quite normal. She had once seen the Matou patriarch visit their home. He looked like an old monster, very frightening. Sakura had been so scared she couldn't sleep well for days. If Sakura really had to move in and live with him...
"But... but Tokiomi won't care about my feelings." Though tragic, Aoi knew her place in her husband's heart. To him, she was merely a tool for continuing the bloodline. She had been raised to accept this. Just as she never dared to defy her husband, she had never complained about her role as a 'tool'... until now.
"The Tohsaka head may not care about your feelings, but what about Rin?"
"Rin?" Aoi shook her head. A mother knows her daughters best. She knew both their personalities. Her eldest was independent but craved her father's approval and would never anger Tokiomi. Her youngest was submissive, cast from almost the same mold as herself. "Rin won't oppose Tokiomi's decision, even if it means sending her sister away."
"Rin won't defy him over just one sister leaving," Lin Jiuan argued. "But if you and the Tohsaka head were to truly argue, to the point of divorce... at that point, would Rin still stand by and watch her mother and her sister leave her?"
A flicker of excitement appeared in Aoi's eyes, quickly followed by a wave of fear. "I... I don't dare."
"You don't dare?" Lin Jiuan sneered. "You don't dare to defy the Tohsaka head, but you dare to do this to me?"
"Eh?" Aoi froze, weakly saying, "Wh-What thing?"
"Stop deceiving yourself." Lin Jiuan felt like a villain from the Uchiha clan right now. He smirked coldly. "Mrs. Tohsaka, you wouldn't want your husband to find out what you've been forcing me to do, would you?"
Aoi was stunned, then panicked. "N-No, you can't!" She shook her head frantically, looking at Lin Jiuan with pitiful eyes. "I'm sorry, please don't tell on me, okay?"
Lin Jiuan kept a straight face. "If you don't want me to tell on you, then do as I say."
Hearing there was a way out, Aoi breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as if a thought struck her, her eyes lit up and she asked weakly, "Then... if I do as you say, can we... continue this in the future?"
Is that the only thing on your mind?!
"If Sakura can stay, yes."
"Then can we..."
"Don't push your luck!"
"Okay, okay. Don't be angry, Jiuan." Aoi didn't mind. The fact that he was willing to not expose her and continue being with her was enough to satisfy her. She hugged Lin Jiuan tightly. With a blissful expression, she said, "I'll do as you say!"
After resting in bed with Aoi for a while, Lin Jiuan left her bedroom while she went to the bathroom to shower. As he was sneaking back to his own room, a girl's voice suddenly stopped him.
"Lin Jiuan."
The sudden voice made him jump. He turned and saw the sisters, Rin and Sakura, standing at the corner of the hallway, watching him.
"What are you two doing here?" Lin Jiuan's scalp tingled. Damn it. They didn't see me selling my body for Sakura's sake, did they? Or did they just see me coming out of Aoi's room? Or do they just want to know how I plan to make Sakura stay?
"Thank you." Rin suddenly bowed deeply to him.
Lin Jiuan: "?"
Sakura looked even more moved, on the verge of tears. "Onii-chan, thank you."
Lin Jiuan: "?"
Rin: "Um, I'm sorry. I misjudged you before. About Mother... if you really don't want to, I can talk to her for you?"
Lin Jiuan: "?"
Seeing Rin, who couldn't bear the shame after saying that last sentence, leave while dragging a reluctant, backward-glancing Sakura with her, Lin Jiuan was utterly baffled.
Wait. You heard everything?
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