......

Regarding someone's plea for help, Saito Yoshitaka slightly tilted his head. After assessing him, he withdrew again, still looking indifferent, seemingly not intending to lend a hand.

Yet, she slightly turned her gaze, glancing at another black-haired girl right beside her, who seemed like her own reflection; her long-lost sister.

She didn't care about what her father just said because it was indeed the truth; she originally had the chance to become the new Lord of Mino, but ultimately she chose to give it up.

Unlike the suspicion and alienation in real history, Saito Dosan was quite attentive to his daughter, the only bloodline left by his beloved, before Hidechika's return. Before making any decision about the country, he would always seriously seek her opinions, as this family business was originally supposed to be hers.

This was true when investigating that person from Owari, and it's the same now when making the decision to choose this person, all results of her nodding in agreement, indicating no objection or opposition.

Saito Yoshitaka now hasn't changed his mind, just purely curious—curious about what his long-lost sister would do, curious about how they met each other, curious about what kind of story it was... Of course, beyond curiosity, there is also a subtle psychological influence.

Because the twins look so alike, facing each other is like looking into a mirror, one inevitably gets the feeling that the person opposite is no other person, just the reflection of oneself. Thus, such a scenario occurs—

As if seeing oneself in a mirror, about to walk together with a stranger...

This strange psychological feeling is hard to avoid; her sense of disharmony is so strong that despite her outward calm, inwardly she naturally cares.

However...

Hidechika just blinked, looking a bit unsure of what to do. Even when meeting the pleading gaze, she hesitated a moment but ultimately did nothing, as she couldn't speak, and also felt it hard to express any opinion on such matters.

If the younger sister doesn't care and has no thoughts, then the sister is the same, or perhaps she has another reason, which is... she doesn't have much tangible feeling.

After all, family reunion and father-daughter recognition is a very brief matter; Hidechika hasn't yet integrated into the new family environment so quickly and still feels unaccustomed and uncomfortable with Saito Dosan's enthusiasm. How could she naturally consider Mino as her own?

Thus, the girl feels completely detached. Even when her father hands over the family business to this person, she has no opinions, since the sister who has always been by her father's side has no objections; what view could she have...? As for the father mentioning that this person should take good care of her and Yoshitaka, Hidechika also finds it normal.

Neither she nor her sister has any intention of inheriting the family business. The aging father, with waning energy, can only entrust it to someone else. Meanwhile, he hopes that person, considering this favor, would take care of his daughters in the future, such a thing—

Even to the naive Hidechika, it feels entirely acceptable, just an ordinary matter.

So calm, does that mean she has long been determined...?

Looking at his sister's calm and indifferent appearance, Saito Yoshitaka couldn't help but ponder this in his heart.

Facing such a matter without any naivety, resembling Saito Kicho quite a bit; when that half-sister from a few years back was getting married, she was also like that, with a graceful and unreserved demeanor, showing no shyness or awkwardness.

Noticing the sidelong glance from beside her, Hidechika also tilted her head, looking curiously at her familiar yet unfamiliar sister, not understanding why she was looking at her that way.

Saito Yoshitaka gently shook his head, retracting his gaze, and said nothing.

......

Returning to the other side—

Seeing the silent interaction between the identical sisters, Gu Mo couldn't help but tug his lips, wondering why they were only looking at each other.

If Saito Yoshitaka ignored him, that was understandable—they weren't familiar with each other. But how come even Ah Xiu accepted it so calmly... Wait, wait! Could it be that Ah Xiu didn't actually understand the father's final words either?

With this thought flashing through his mind, Gu Mo suddenly felt he'd grasped the crucial point and then felt a headache coming on.

The girl likely hadn't thought this far herself. She's indeed clever but isn't familiar with human interactions, lacking such complex thoughts. Many times, she only understands surface meanings, interpreting things literally...

Yet Saito Dosan overlooked this fact and presupposed that it was the case. When speaking about the current matters, perhaps Hidechika didn't truly understand his meaning, so her reaction caught by the father's eyes, further reinforcing his conviction that this was indeed the case...

Gu Mo, having vaguely figured this much, felt uneasy. It's all like a tangled mess of threads, with everyone involved, and only he could see the thread's end.

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