Chapter 271: Chapter 271: "Spreading Branches and Leaves"

"Turning all ghouls in the world back into humans... so that’s your ultimate goal, Master..."

Matsumae murmured.

She’d never really felt one way or another about being a ghoul—never thought it was particularly bad or particularly good.

She was just a head maid of the Tsukiyama family. Whether the Tsukiyamas were a human family or a ghoul family wouldn’t change her position.

But now... things were different. She was no longer the Tsukiyama family’s head maid—she was Amaha-sama’s servant...

In any case, becoming human instead of a ghoul made no real difference to her.

As for Kurona and Nashiro, there was no question—they absolutely wanted to become human again. Otherwise, they couldn’t even sit at the table and share a meal with Byakuya.

Only Kanae seemed to have a troubled expression at this moment...

Her greatest wish was to revive the Rosewald family. If she became human and lost her powerful ghoul abilities, she wouldn’t be able to achieve that...

Byakuya naturally noticed the look on Kanae’s face, and he could guess what she was thinking.

"Kanae..."

Byakuya addressed her directly: "I know you’re a survivor from some German family, right?"

"...?!"

Kanae’s expression shifted to alarm: "You! ...How did you know, Master..."

She’d never mentioned this to Byakuya. Even within the Tsukiyama family, only Master Mirumo knew about this.

"Don’t underestimate my intelligence network..."

Byakuya brushed past the question and got to the point: "I even know that Matsuri Washuu led the German CCG in destroying your family. Am I correct? These matters are also recorded in CCG files."

Since he no longer needed to worry about Kanae’s loyalty, he wasn’t too concerned about saying things that might raise suspicion.

"If you have any concerns, you can tell me directly. If I’m not mistaken, it’s about your family, right?"

Byakuya said frankly.

"...That’s right."

Kanae hesitated briefly before nodding: "I want to revive my family. If I become human, I won’t have enough power..."

"What’s there to worry about?"

Byakuya said calmly: "Your family... the Rosewald family. I’ve committed it to memory. Even if you lose your abilities when the time comes, I have the power to help you."

Hearing this, Kanae was deeply moved.

She’d witnessed her master’s strength and knew that if he said this, he had absolute confidence. With his help, she would definitely succeed.

Kanae felt a surge of excitement and profound gratitude.

"But speaking of which..."

Byakuya then asked: "Isn’t the Rosewald family down to just you? How exactly do you plan to revive it?"

"Obviously by—!"

Kanae started to answer but stopped abruptly.

All this time, she’d been focused on having enough power to rebuild the family under German CCG’s interference. She’d never considered that one person alone couldn’t constitute a "family."

But actually, the solution was simple—"spreading branches and leaves."

Kanae realized this now, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. It was too embarrassing...

Her face turned bright red. At heart, she was still a young maiden.

"By what?"

Byakuya asked, oblivious to the subtext.

Though he didn’t think the current discussion required reading between the lines—he was discussing serious matters with Kanae.

"...Marriage. Having children. Continuing the bloodline."

Faced with her master’s questioning, Kanae had no choice but to answer obediently.

This showed how completely she’d accepted Byakuya as her master—as a servant, she was conditioned to comply.

"Indeed... from that perspective, the plan to revive your family is certainly feasible."

Byakuya nodded: "So rest assured. When the time comes, I’ll help you."

Kanae was now a member of Akatsuki, which made her family. Helping each other within the organization was perfectly normal.

"..."

Hearing Byakuya’s promise, Kanae’s face flushed crimson—and rapidly grew even redder.

Byakuya had no idea why she was blushing so much.

The truth was, Kanae had misunderstood what Byakuya meant.

She was currently facing two problems: insufficient power, and the matter of continuing the bloodline...

Both were difficult challenges for her, and Byakuya had just openly promised to help her, so she’d thought...

Unlike Byakuya, who hadn’t caught on, Rize had already noticed what was happening.

Rize’s eyes narrowed slightly. Knowing Byakuya as she did, either he genuinely hadn’t realized what he’d implied, or he understood perfectly and was playing dumb.

Either way... she felt the need to intervene...

Besides Rize, Kurona and Nashiro also noticed Kanae’s bashful demeanor, though they hadn’t figured out exactly what she was embarrassed about.

Only Matsumae showed no reaction whatsoever, as if completely unconcerned—or perhaps she’d seen through everything. After all, hardly anyone knew Kanae better than she did.

At that moment, Rize—who happened to be sitting right beside Byakuya—leaned over and whispered in his ear: "Are you playing dumb or do you really not get it? That girl Kanae probably thinks you meant you’d help her make babies~"

Rize’s tone was entirely teasing. Since Kanae was so naive and innocent, she couldn’t even get properly angry at her.

Rize’s words instantly cleared up Byakuya’s confusion. He’d been wondering why Kanae was blushing when he hadn’t said anything strange.

His words hadn’t been strange at all, right? Yet here Kanae was, letting her imagination run wild.

"I see..."

Byakuya acknowledged Rize.

He was about to clarify things with Kanae when Rize pressed a finger to his lips: "Wait. I’m not done yet."

...

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