"Haha! Kaizen-kun is right, Mother! He’s always very thorough with his projects at the academy. He really puts his whole body into his work!"

Sera internally facepalmed so hard she almost bruised her forehead.

’Leo, you absolute, golden-retriever-brained idiot! I don’t even think that is what they are talking about!’

The Matriarch’s elegant face twitched.

A single vein throbbing near her temple as she witnessed her future son-in-law enthusiastically cheerleading for the very man who had turned her daughter’s throat into a musical instrument the previous evening.

"Leo-kun, you are far too innocent. You must learn to recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing before it completely devours everything you hold dear. Some pests don’t just steal from your garden; they ruin the soil so thoroughly that nothing pure can ever grow there again."

"A true gardener knows how to handle pests, Matriarch. But sometimes, what you call a pest is simply a guest who knows exactly how to fertilize the ground to make it truly bloom. I assure you, under my care, everything becomes much more... vibrant and wet."

’Oh my god, he’s going to get us all executed.’

Hina screamed internally, her face completely burning with a mixture of intense shame and a sudden, highly inappropriate spike of arousal.

The Matriarch took a slow, deep breath, her heavy, drop-of-water-shaped ass shifting on the sofa as she stood up fully, towering over them with the absolute majesty of a peak S-rank powerhouse.

"It seems our guest has a lot of opinions on gardening. Since you are so confident in your abilities, Kaizen-kun, I look forward to seeing how long you can maintain that sturdy spine of yours during your stay at my estate. Do not disappoint me."

Kaizen smirked hearing that.

"A magnificent estate such as this naturally deserves the most vigorous maintenance, Matriarch. I am highly adaptable and particularly fond of exploring deep, untamed territories. Rest assured, no matter how challenging or tightly sealed the environment, I always find a way to penetrate deep into the core and leave a lasting impression."

The Matriarch’s eyes narrowed into razor-sharp slits, her chest rising and falling heavily beneath her deep satin gown as she stared down this utterly shameless brat.

"M-Mommy! We... we traveled for so many hours today along that dangerous cliff path! We are all completely exhausted and really need to rest now!"

Hina frantically cut into the heavy, suffocating silence, her voice cracking with pure desperation as she tried to prevent a literal bloodbath from occurring in her mother’s study.

"Very well. Tanaka, show our elite young guests to their respective quarters so they can wash off the dirt from their long journey."

"Right away, Matriarch. Please follow me, Young Masters, Young Ladies."

Hina let out a massive, trembling sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping as the immediate threat of execution seemed to pass.

The group followed the elderly butler down a labyrinth of dark, twisting hallways.

One by one, the butler assigned them luxurious rooms on the second top floor.

First Kaito, then Sera, and finally Leo were dropped off at their quarters.

Hina assumed she and Kaizen would be given rooms in the same wing, but the butler simply kept walking, leading Kaizen straight toward a grand, isolated staircase at the far end of the corridor.

"Wait, Mr. Tanaka! Why is Kaizen-kun being taken all the way to the upper floor completely by himself? Aren’t there plenty of empty guest rooms left in this wing?"

"My apologies, Lady Hina. Every other guest room on this floor is currently undergoing a sudden, extensive renovation. The Matriarch explicitly commanded that Young Master Ryuga be given the absolute highest, and best suite in the entire estate for his... maximum comfort."

A heavy, ominous chill settled over the quiet hallway.

’Isolated on the top floor with an S-rank killer mommy who wants to murder me.’

Kaizen thought, his wicked smirk widening as he looked up the dark staircase.

’I can see where this is going.’

Kaizen found it genuinely hilarious that the matriarch was willing to go to such lengths to kill him over her daughter’s honor.

But the cold, absolute truth was that if she truly wanted to crush him right now, she could do it with a flick of her wrist.

He possessed zero counters against her raw strength. She was simply too powerful.

’I suppose she won’t do it herself, though.’

Whether he was a piece of trash or a kicked-out degenerate, he was still a noble.

And not just any random low-tier noble, either.

He was from the infamous warrior clan, the Ryuga family.

Killing him with her own hands would surely warrant her own death and the absolute annihilation of her entire family.

She was definitely not foolish enough to go through with it herself.

’That means... she will be using other underhanded means to dispose of me.’

Most probably, she would hire outside killers or elite assassins.

That was exactly why he had been given this isolated, top-floor room completely away from the others.

It was the perfect, unobstructed stage for an assassination.

He smirked, stretching his arms casually as he settled into the massive bedroom.

To make things even more interesting, a personal maid had been assigned to look after his needs.

She was dressed in a classic, borderline-hentai porn game maid outfit, possessing a cute face and that typical, exaggerated porn game logic physique.

Currently, she was bent over to clean the bedsheets, completely oblivious, or pretending to be.

’A spy. Someone to lock down my exact location for the hitters.’

That was for sure.

He didn’t care about her true identity, though.

His eyes drifted down to her skirt, which was surprisingly long, reaching near her lower knee.

But the fitting of the uniform was absurdly tight.

The strained fabric perfectly outlined the round, plump structure of her ass cheeks for his viewing pleasure.

’Nice.’

"Young Master Ryuga, is there... anything at all that your distinguished self requires at this moment?"

The maid quickly stood up from her bent-over position, her fingers nervously twisting the fabric of her white apron.

Her face was completely flushed with a delicate, shy pink, and her large, innocent eyes looked up at him through thick eyelashes.

It was a textbook performance of a timid lamb.

"Oh? Anything at all, you say? I must admit, the journey up that steep mountain path has left me incredibly stiff. I am currently in dire need of something to help me loosen up and relieve this... heavy accumulation of pressure."

"A-A massage? This servant can certainly fetch the finest aromatic oils to soothe your esteemed body, Young Master."

She nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her tight skirt stretching even more across her round hips.

Kaizen’s eyes slowly traced the movement with absolute, unbothered leisure.

"Aromatics are fine, but I prefer a much more hands-on, vigorous friction to really get to the root of the problem. However, I think I can handle my own stiffness for the time being. There is no need for you to overexert your delicate hands just yet."

"I... I understand. If the Young Master changes his mind, this servant is always ready to fulfill your every command."

Her voice trembled beautifully, her face turning a deep, rich crimson as she fidgeted under his predatory gaze.

She looked like she was on the verge of melting right into the floorboards from pure embarrassment.

"Good. You are dismissed for now. Go back and tell your master that I am perfectly comfortable in this luxury nest she has provided for me."