"Can I guarantee it?"
Rosse let out a light laugh, withdrew his gaze from Kozuki Toki, and instead looked at Denjiro as he said, "You can say that we Celestial Dragons are cruel, but we have never broken our word. And the reputation of my Jaygarcia family is known to everyone."
"Besides, I have no interest in deliberately crushing a few ants, I just want to complete my mission."
His words were very straightforward. The retainers were extremely angry, but they also had to admit that Rosse was speaking the absolute truth.
In front of Rosse, they really were no different from ants. Existences that could be crushed with a flick of a finger.
"Fine! I'll go bring Her Highness Hiyori right now," Denjiro nodded heavily. Although there was some reluctance in his eyes, this was the message sent by Kozuki Oden, so he decided to follow through.
After all, the one being exchanged was his own life.
He slowly struggled to stand up, dragging his wounded body as he made his way out of the reception room.
"DENJIRO, NO! PLEASE!"
Seeing Denjiro walking outside, Kozuki Toki completely broke down, crying and shouting.
If someone was taken away by Rosse, everyone knew what would happen next.
For her daughter, death might even be the best ending.
That even more tragic outcome, she didn't even dare imagine it.
["If you can stop Denjiro, I can give you a chance. I won't take Kozuki Hiyori, and I'll spare these ants' lives."]
["Oh, and this is preferential treatment for you. If anyone else finds out, it becomes void."]
Rosse watched the scene with a smile, and along the way sent a sound transmission to Kozuki Toki.
And it was that sound transmission that became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
"Denjiro, STOP!", Kozuki Toki screamed as if she had gone mad. With disheveled hair she stood up and desperately tried to rush toward Denjiro to stop him.
She couldn't accept it.
She couldn't accept that Hiyori would be abandoned by Kozuki Oden.
'When your daughter is threatened, you not only fail to stand up and protect her, you even actively hand her over to the enemy."
'What kind of man are you, Kozuki Oden!'
But before Kozuki Toki could take even two steps, two tall figures blocked her path.
Kanjuro and Ashura Doji stood up and stepped in front of Kozuki Toki.
When facing Rosse, all they dared do was lie on the ground in a defensive posture.
But when facing Kozuki Toki, their movements were incredibly fast.
"My lady, this is our unanimous decision," Ashura Doji put emphasis on the word "our", stressing that this was Kozuki Oden's decision.
"Let Hiyori go and I can save you all," Kozuki Toki watched Denjiro walk farther and farther away, her eyes growing more and more anxious as she tried to push the two men in front of her aside.
But with her strength, how could she push aside two retainers?
Even if the two retainers were badly injured, they were not something she could move.
"My lady, don't be willful," Kanjuro's tone was firm. The look in his eyes toward Kozuki Toki even carried a hint of killing intent.
He was originally a Kurozumi spy, and now that they were all on the verge of life and death, he had no intention of caring about Kozuki Toki's feelings.
Handing over Kozuki Hiyori to Rosse was their only chance of survival.
If they didn't hurry, who knew who Rosse would cut down first.
"I'm being willful? Hiyori is his own daughter!"
Kozuki Toki looked at the retainers in disbelief. For the first time, she felt these people were so unfamiliar.
And the man she once deeply loved, also so unfamiliar.
'Why?'
'Can't they at least try?'
'Even if they lose, if I alone is left here to be humiliated by Rosse, I will accept it.'
'But why, before even trying, did they so decisively choose to surrender?'
'Does being powerless mean you should crawl right up to someone and let them trample you?'
Kozuki Toki felt nothing but heart-chilling cold.
["If I asked for Momonosuke instead… Or maybe Sukiyaki, would the outcome be any different?",] Rosse's slightly playful voice once again rang in Kozuki Toki's ear.
He was standing right behind Kanjuro and Ashura Doji, like a villain king bullying a weak woman together with his evil servants.
But Kanjuro and Ashura Doji were clearly supposed to be members of the Kozuki clan.
Kozuki Toki didn't have the mind to think about how Rosse knew so much. Already distraught, she completely fell into the scenario Rosse had asked her to imagine.
If it had been Kozuki Oden's own son, Kozuki Momonosuke, or his father, Kozuki Sukiyaki, would the result be any different?
'Maybe it would… maybe it wouldn't…'
["Oh, right. If it were you, what do you think would happen?"], Rosse pursued the question with interest.
Kozuki Toki hesitated.
She didn't know the answer, and didn't dare to think about it.
Compared to Momonosuke and Sukiyaki, her own chances of being abandoned were much higher.
Even abandoning Hiyori would be less likely than abandoning her.
Now that Hiyori had already been abandoned, then if it were herself instead, Rosse would have taken her away long ago.
'No…'
Ever since she and Hiyori stayed behind in the Kozuki mansion, they had already become the targets for Rosse and the World Government to vent their anger upon.
Thinking this, Kozuki Toki's heart grew completely cold.
During the earlier discussion, when she heard that she and Hiyori would stay behind, she hadn't thought too much about it.
She had only felt that Momonosuke was indeed more important than them and that if they had to escape, it was better not to draw attention.
And with Kozuki Oden still there, she felt secure and didn't think anything would go wrong.
But Kozuki Toki never imagined things would develop like this.
Just as Kozuki Toki was overwhelmed with thoughts, Denjiro appeared again within their line of sight, holding a little girl about three or four years old in his arms.
"Hiyori!", Seeing her daughter, Kozuki Toki couldn't help shouting out, her emotions extremely agitated.
But Ashura Doji and Kanjuro remained like two mountains, blocking Kozuki Toki's path.
"Mama!", Upon hearing Kozuki Toki's call, Kozuki Hiyori immediately looked over, smiling and greeting her.
She had no idea what was happening. Denjiro had brought her, so she came.
And at her age, she couldn't even imagine such things.
"I've brought the child. You can now leave the Kozuki clan," Denjiro said in a deep voice, and under Kozuki Toki's cry of surprise, he directly threw Hiyori into Rosse's arms.
In his eyes, the future awaiting Hiyori was undoubtedly grim.
But this was the choice made by Kozuki Oden, and he too was doing it to save his own life.
'So, sorry, Princess Hiyori!'
"Waaahh!", Hiyori let out a cry as she was thrown through the air, but after a moment of tumbling she was caught firmly in Rosse's arms.
The barely half-meter-tall Kozuki Hiyori, in Rosse's arms, looked no different from a little kitten.
"Hiyori!", Kozuki Toki looked worriedly at Kozuki Hiyori. Her anger toward Denjiro and the others had already reached its peak.
But for some reason, seeing Hiyori in Rosse's arms, not crying or fussing, Kozuki Toki instead felt an absurd sense of relief.
'Clearly he is the enemy, and a devil full of cruel amusement.'
'But why… when Hiyori is in his arms… does she feel more at ease?'
Kozuki Toki's heart at that moment was filled with absurdity and self-mockery.
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