This was the first time Chihaya Tetsuya had ever dined in such a high-class restaurant, and it was also the first time he had systematically learned the table manners for high-end occasions.
From posture to the arrangement of cutlery, the different ways to eat different dishes, and even having to remember the specific glasses for different drinks—
"This is much more complicated than I imagined."
Tetsuya gave his very frank impression.
"Do people in high society have to eat so exhaustingly every day?"
"Of course not every day is this tiring."
Togawa Sakiko shook her head.
"Generally, you only need to be meticulous to this extent when meeting an important guest for the first time, or when dealing with a more traditional and old-fashioned prestigious family. In other situations, you just need to follow the most basic etiquette... well, of course, there are also those broad-minded people who don't care about these things at all."
"I see."
He nodded.
"But it's still possible that I'll need it someday... In that case, I'll have to remember it well."
"That's right! You'll be able to use it when you become a top designer, Onii-chan!"
Chihaya Anon crossed her arms and nodded in deep agreement.
Seeing Anon's detached attitude, Nagasaki Soyo couldn't help but lecture her.
"If your companion at that time fails to display the same level of etiquette, it will greatly lower people's evaluation and impression of Tetsuya. So, as his younger sister, you should also learn it properly. Or... are you planning to leave all those occasions to someone else?"
"Eh..."
Anon thought for a moment before replying.
"If I'm leaving it to you, Soyo, as his consultant, that doesn't seem so bad, does it?"
"You can't be serious... you'd rather be left at home alone than use your brain for this?"
"Well, I just hate atmospheres that are too serious."
"I can't believe you."
Anon's laziness left Soyo speechless, and Sakiko was stunned by Anon's "wasteful" behavior.
(Is she... serious? To give up that position to someone else so easily?)
Were this person's feelings for him really what she thought they were? Was that sense of unease she felt just now merely her imagination?
Or perhaps... she already possessed so much that she could afford to be this wasteful?
...
Just thinking about this possibility, which made her grind her teeth with jealousy, Sakiko felt the long-awaited high-class French cuisine in front of her instantly become tasteless.
Although this resentment wasn't enough to make her forget the injustices of the world or the fact that haste makes waste, the human heart still needed time to process a change in mood.
(I want to enroll in [Filia] soon... I want to quickly become a designer who can stand on her own.)
Sakiko thought to herself as she watched Tetsuya listen intently.
...
"...Are you still worried about them?"
"..."
Wakaba Mutsumi, whose eating pace had been slowing down, first pursed her lips slightly before speaking.
"Please... don't tell the Togawa family about Sakiko."
"Why?"
Her mother asked the natural question.
"Although she did leave the Togawa family of her own will for the time being, her actual identity is still 'the Young Lady of the Togawa family.' You should understand the consequences if she's really used by someone with ulterior motives, right, Mutsumi?"
"They... are not those kinds of people."
Mutsumi, who almost never went against others' wishes, explained to her mother with all her might:
"They won't use Sakiko. On the contrary, everything they've done has been to support her—"
"That's also a problem, you know."
However, her mother, a famous actress and a woman of age, was not easily swayed by this rare display of courage.
"After all, I was against Sakiko leaving the Togawa family with her father in the first place. I admit that the Togawa family's educational policy was indeed a bit harsh for her, but that doesn't mean she can gamble with her future and make such an irresponsible decision."
"..."
Mutsumi fell silent.
This child, who had not yet touched the future, did not know how to argue against this adult who used the future as her reasoning.
She knew that her mother didn't dislike Sakiko, and was even genuinely considering what was best for her. The problem was that her mother's ideas were the complete opposite of what Sakiko was striving for.
In the eyes of this successful adult, abandoning a wealthy family background for mere dignity and self, and falling into her current state of working part-time while studying, was an undeniably willful and childish act. Especially after hearing that Sakiko had become a designer's apprentice, her opposition had become even more resolute—
"You know, don't you, Mutsumi? She could have had a much higher starting point than this."
Her mother said in a calm tone, cutting the steak in front of her into bite-sized pieces with her knife and fork.
"Even if that child is a genius in all aspects, how long do you think it takes to go from an apprentice to the owner of an entire brand? If she hadn't been so willful, she could have easily gotten her own fashion studio as soon as she graduated from school. Well, it would take some time to learn the basics of fashion and management, but for her, it would certainly not be a problem."
"Even so... Sakiko has already made her resolve."
Mutsumi couldn't refute her mother's words, because with the Togawa family's wealth and background, they could indeed provide her with a starting point that most people would struggle a lifetime to reach.
But, just as she had thought from the beginning, that wasn't what Sakiko wanted!
"No matter the outcome, she is prepared to take full responsibility for her own choices, so—"
"...Mutsumi."
Her mother shook her head, calmly interrupting her before she could finish.
"You seem to have a very big misunderstanding about what it means to 'take responsibility'."
"Eh?"
"Taking responsibility doesn't mean [the courage to face whatever happens]. It means [the strength to bear the consequences no matter the situation]."
Under Mutsumi's blank stare, her mother lectured her for the first time in a long while:
"This world isn't so gentle that courage alone is enough to make up for everything. That's why I say her choice is 'irresponsible'."
"..."
Mutsumi was speechless.
Whatever her famous actress mother said could be taken as the righteous argument of a successful person, and her rich life experience gave her words a weight that was difficult for a child to refute.
However, fortunately, this mother's confidence was not overbearingly absolute, so she left a little room for concession.
"Of course, it's not fair to completely dismiss that child's choice so rashly. So... Mutsumi."
"...Yes."
"Please invite Sakiko... and that designer friend you mentioned so emphatically, over to our table."
Her mother said.
"I'd like to have a little chat with the two of them."