Chapter 582

That night, Uesugi Muneyuki, exhaling white smoke from his mouth with more breath out than in, was practically dragged back to the villa by Asuka.

Meanwhile, Minami and the others had rested for a day and recovered their spirits; seeing Uesugi Muneyuki return in such a state, they couldn't help but laugh, thinking how hard he must have worked from the wheel battle the previous night.

Clever Asuka did not tell Minami and the others about Mai Xuejie's matter, after all, she had accepted favors from Mai Elder Sister—being human, one must have backbone!

Asuka thought to herself with smug satisfaction.

However, Minami Ojou-sama still noticed something amiss on Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Muneyuki, what exactly did you go out to do?" Minami Ojou-sama suddenly noticed that Uesugi Muneyuki's thigh had a "正" character written in marker: "You weren't supposed to take Asuka out to play, were you?"

"Well, we went out to play together, then we met Mai Xuejie, then we played a game together—then I lost, lost five times, and got a '正' written on me." Uesugi Muneyuki said with a wry smile, half-truth, half-false.

"Oh? Hehe~ Then I understand." Minami Ojou-sama thought that the woman named Shirakawa Mai was truly her mortal enemy!

I originally planned this scheme to mercilessly drain Uesugi Muneyuki of his energy so he'd have no excess left to go out and fool around, but I never expected his Mai Xuejie to also come to Karuizawa?!

This probably isn't a coincidence, is it?

Minami Ojou-sama let out a strange cry, furious and flustered.

Muneyuki is mine! He belongs to me alone! As the head of the Minami Clan, I can give him! You cannot take him!

But, Shirakawa Mai's status and power—indeed leave her helpless, this is someone even her father cannot afford to offend.

Uesugi Muneyuki feigned death, Eirina eager to try wanted to see if the Uesugi still had any left, Shiyuan responsible for stoking the fire, Asuka giggling as she reverted to being a submissive little bird, thinking Minami sister not bringing me truly deserves to be cuckolded by Mai sister!

After a while of impotent rage, the private French chef hired by the Imperial Household Agency arrived with a large quantity of ingredients; Minami Ojou-sama, seeing this, also thought it unwise to continue pressing the matter, hummed twice, then gestured for the other party to begin preparing the meal.

Apparently after sufficient exercise, the French feast that evening left everyone with exceptionally good appetites; combined with the superb culinary skill of the chef arranged by the Imperial Household Agency, this meal left everyone thoroughly satisfied.

After finishing dinner, everyone gathered in the villa to watch the famous Bosnian film "The Father and Son."

The film, adapted from the Bosnian novel of the same name, tells the story of a rifleman, Old Ni, who painstakingly raises his son Little Child, yet the son seeks no advancement, and Old Ni's hope that his son would become a dragon turns to nothing—"Cargo, what championship do you have?" In the film, the child pokes his head out from the washroom and loudly asks.

"Major"

~"

"Ah, me too, I also got a major~" the child immediately echoed.

Emerging from the washroom, the evil giant sweet potato Cargo was discussing with the Volga Demon King Little Hole, Cargo holding an oversized blast trophy: "This is what I just won—guess how much it's worth?"

The child impatiently squeezed in: "Four, four hundred thousand dollars?"

The evil giant sweet potato was left speechless, too lazy to bother with the child, and said to Little Hole: "You don't even see what championship this is? It's the Austin Major in the USA—five hundred thousand dollars!"

"Yeah, that's the price—I also won one at seehigh." Little Hole adult said calmly: "Back then I used an AK to wreck my older cousin's tactical board."

The child looked enviously at these two guys with trophies, then left dejectedly.

Returning home, the child said to his father Old Ni: "Hey, I want to win a major championship!"

Old Ni was stunned by his son's words: "What army?"

"Major!" the child shouted impatiently.

Father Old Ni completely didn't understand, so he could only go find his good friend, the barber Old Li: "Old Li, what championship is good, Iliya said it's like what, no seat like that?"

"Like that base? I don't have such a base championship—I only have five small championships." Barber Old Li said: "I checked, Iliya can win this, that is."

He pointed to the IEM inside the noble stand.

"Then, then I'll first take this IEM championship, let Iliya have fun, then go for the base championship?" Old Ni's expression was very excited.

Old Li looked at the IEM championship in the counter and thought, what era are these trophies from? At least ten years ago, so he sighed: "Take it."

Old Ni excitedly held up the IEM trophy and came out, just in time to meet the child: "Iliya, Iliya!"

"Salary, transfer fees all transferred, not used up, still returned a few butterfly knives and gloves, and—look, Iliya, I got you a medal! Look!" Old Ni excitedly tried to hand the IEM trophy to the child's hand: "IEM Dallas! Champion!"

"Not this one, I want major, major!" the child angrily pushed Old Ni away, caught up with the two people ahead, forming TOP3: "You better not suddenly take off your headphones and mess me up!"

"Who is that old man?" Evil Giant Sweet Potato Cargo asked, curiously glancing over.

"Unrelated!" the child said naturally, leaving only Old Ni standing in place, heartbroken and silent.

Indeed, it is a film with profound meaning, deeply significant.

Seeing this scene, Minami Ojou-sama felt like crying, and even Uesugi Muneyuki sensed Old Ni's heartache, while Mikoto also thought of Uesugi Kuninori's painstaking efforts and shrewd calculations, whose purpose was also to let the Uesugi lineage continue; the humiliation of forced childbirth also faded considerably.

Only Eirina felt great dissatisfaction toward Old Ni, thinking the main responsibility lay with him—clearly he doted too much on the child.

After watching "The Father and Son," everyone returned to their rooms to rest, and the night passed in silence.

I am the major championship divider line. The next day, Minami Ojou-sama formally announced that today was her home turf.

"Today Muneyuki has to drive me for a joyride, teeth chattering!"

Uesugi Muneyuki could only comply.

The two rented a canvas-topped car and began their joyride.

Karuizawa's summer is a poem composed of crushed emeralds and sunlight together. Tall larches and white birch trees intertwine into an endless dome, generously scattering coolness along the tree-lined boulevard, the air filled with the crisp scent of conifers, mingling with the faint, elusive fragrance of European hydrangeas drifting from distant villa gardens.

The rented elegant cream-colored vintage canvas-topped car slowly drove along the winding slope.

Uesugi Muneyuki drove the car, wearing a soft linen shirt, sleeves casually rolled to the elbows, revealing clear lines on his forearms—this composure and sharpness beyond his age was cleverly obscured by the Ray-Ban pilot sunglasses perched on his nose bridge, leaving only a slightly upturned corner of the mouth, revealing rare relaxation and the unique aristocratic气质 of his peerage lineage.

In the front passenger seat, Watanabe Minami extended her hand out the window, feeling the coolness of wind slipping through her fingers; she wore a pale yellow floral dress, its simple cut enhancing her skin that outshone snow, her gaze shifting between professional woman's efficiency and the playful charm unique to women in love.

"This is what a vacation should be—indeed, it's a world apart from Tokyo," Minami took a deep breath, sighing contentedly: "Muneyuki, look at that cloud—doesn't it look like a giant cotton candy?"

Following her finger's direction, Uesugi Muneyuki looked up: on the azure sky, the cumulus clouds were indeed fluffy and adorable. He chuckled softly, his voice sounding especially gentle in the wind: "Hmm. But compared to cotton candy, I think it's more like some kind of colony grown in a culture medium—very standard in form."

"Ah! Really!" Minami pouted and slapped his arm: "Tokyo University Forensic Medicine Doctor Uesugi Muneyuki, please stop your occupational associations! We're on vacation, on vacation! Here there's only Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami who came to escape the heat—no Chief Inspector and no Superintendent!"

"Haha, sorry sorry." Uesugi apologized readily, yet a hint of smile flickered in his eyes: "I was wrong. Then, Watanabe Minami of the Criminal Investigation Division 1 of the Metropolitan Police Department, what instructions do you have for the upcoming itinerary?"

Minami, full of interest, took out her phone and began planning: "The day after tomorrow afternoon we'll go play tennis with His Majesty—still a bit nervous thinking about it. So this afternoon, let's first go to the old Ginza street for a stroll? I heard there's a jam workshop with a signature blueberry jam that's incredibly delicious. Ah, pu lu pai! Sai gao! Then tonight, the villa next to the one arranged by the Imperial Household Agency—isn't there a very hard-to-book Italian restaurant? I've already confirmed it, okay."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, I'll listen to Miss Watanabe!"

"Hehehe, that's about right!"

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled, shifting light and shadow on the road.

Uesugi Muneyuki also felt very relaxed.

The so-called enjoyment of life is nothing more than this: on a clear day, driving a convertible, with one's beloved girl, weaving through the crowd, enjoying the attention and reverence of the people.

The sunlight is just right, the wind and flowers are in their prime.

Time seems to be stuck in honey, flowing slowly and viscously.

But just as the two of them had toured Old Karuizawa and driven into a more secluded villa area, a shrill, distorted scream, utterly out of place with the surrounding tranquility, pierced the quiet air like a blade.

The sound came from a Western-style villa half-hidden by verdant trees not far away.

The two exchanged glances in an instant, all the leisure of vacation evaporating in 0.1 seconds, replaced by a professional instinct etched into their bones.

"It's a scream!" Minami Ojou-sama realized instantly.

"There's a situation!" Uesugi shouted low, immediately stopping the car, as Minami had already flipped and jumped out of the car door; the two shot toward the sound's source like arrows released from a bow.

Before the villa, a middle-aged woman in a cleaning company uniform sat collapsed on the ground, her face deathly pale, her fingers trembling as she pointed at the half-open villa gate, speaking incoherently: "In, inside——dead person——stinks!"

Her scream drew nearby people.

And in the air, besides the fresh scent of pine, there was indeed beginning to mix a faint, cloying, and corrupting peculiar odor; for Uesugi Muneyuki, this smell was as familiar as an alarm bell.

His face showed utter astonishment.

No way???

How could one encounter a murder case even while on vacation in Karuizawa???