Firestone Hot Springs kutsurogi no jikan

She continued adding what seemed like delicate touches to enrich the broth in which Shinjou was slowly stewing. He had glanced around, searching for the berries she had just mentioned.

Ah, thank you, Kaede-san. A thoughtful gesture. He had consumed them with a complete disregard for delicacy.

As for me, I see wealth in a hearty meal and in the curves of a beautiful woman! he laughed, loud and unrestrained. His tongue tended to loosen quickly—especially in the presence of a lady. Naively, he expected her to keep whatever she heard in the bath to herself. That was how things were meant to go, in principle. But Shinjou was hopeless at politics and couldn’t begin to imagine all the whispers that drifted behind walls and closed doors...

And you, Kaede-san, do you see any worth in the scrawny foreigner? Another hearty laugh, followed by a deep sigh of contentment. These delicate things—reading people, weighing their worth... I leave that to others.