My Wives Of Simulation

Chapter 15: Kaguya Sama

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Kaguya Shinomiya, as the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya Family—a top consortium that currently holds significant influence over the lifeblood of Japan—has been the envy of countless people since birth.

A beautiful appearance, a prominent family background, and a sharp mind—these are just some of Kaguya Shinomiya's many advantages.

But…

Because of the immense size of her family, competition within the Shinomiya clan is especially fierce. Moreover, Kaguya is a girl, and her mother was the mistress of her father, Shinomiya Ganan. This unfortunate circumstance led to Kaguya being disliked by her family.

In particular, her brothers, both openly and secretly, have always seen Kaguya as a rival rather than a sibling. They have never fulfilled their responsibilities as brothers.

For Kaguya, survival in the Shinomiya family has always required relentless effort. Becoming the best heir of the Shinomiya family is not just her goal—it's her responsibility. Becoming the ideal eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family is her obligation.

This mission has always weighed heavily on her. She doesn't have many friends. In fact, there are only two people she considers true friends: Fujiwara Chika, whom she met in junior high school, and Elric Takahashi, whom she came to know in high school.

When she was younger, Kaguya had little exposure to the lies and deceptions that accompanied her family's social world. She was even willing to share everything about herself with her friends, including deeply personal stories—such as the story of her mother.

However, on the seventh anniversary of her mother's death, she overheard her classmates gossiping about her being the child of Shinomiya's mistress.

This was information Kaguya had confided only to those she considered friends. Despite their promises to keep her secrets, she became the subject of ridicule.

"People who can be trusted and called friends must be able to keep secrets!"

This experience changed her. Kaguya resolved that only those capable of keeping secrets could truly be her friends. From that day on, she began making what she called "testing people's hearts" a prerequisite for friendship.

Her method was straightforward: she would share "small secrets that I really want people to discuss" and then have her personal maid, Hayasaka Ai, probe those individuals about the secret. Only if they kept it to themselves would Kaguya regard them as a true friend.

In her life, only two people had passed this test: Fujiwara Chika and Elric Takahashi.

Fujiwara Chika needs no elaborate explanation. As the daughter of a minister and a diplomat, her upbringing instilled in her an understanding of what should and should not be said.

As for Elric, his story is a bit different.

Three years ago, when Kaguya had just entered high school, she met Elric, a fellow first-year student. Curious about this student, Kaguya investigated his background.

She discovered that he had lost his mother at a young age, and his father later remarried. However, his father and his stepmother tragically died in a group fire. Left to fend for himself and his younger sister, Kasugano Sora, Elric had persevered. He excelled academically while bearing the weight of immense responsibilities.

Seeing the warmth and resilience in his small family, Kaguya couldn't help but wonder, If only I had an older brother like him, how happy I'd be.

With feelings she didn't entirely understand, Kaguya began seeking opportunities to interact with Elric. These interactions included "accidentally" losing her wallet along the route he took after school, confiding in him about trivial secrets, and more.

In truth, Elric had some understanding of Kaguya's personality. However, due to the passage of time since his arrival in this world, he had almost forgotten which anime Kaguya came from when he was still in high school.

The only memory Elric had of Kaguya was that she was a genius lady and the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family. Elric was a principled person. He disliked speaking ill of others behind their backs and had no interest in acquiring unearned wealth.

He upheld the consciousness and moral boundaries of an ordinary person. As he had demonstrated in the Roman Empire, he abhorred the oppression of commoners by the Senate and aristocracy and disapproved of religious dogma destroying people's dreams.

Living in an era where human life held little value, going along with the flow and being tainted by such a world felt cowardly to him.

Thus, it was almost inevitable that Elric would become Kaguya's friend. However, given their different genders and vastly different family backgrounds, their relationship remained that of ordinary friendship.

Afterward, Kaguya continued her studies and, following this year's graduation exams, successfully enrolled in Same high school as Elric, where she ended up in the same class as him.

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[Ding Dong, the Ten Thousand world Chat Group invites you to join. Do you accept?]

Several months ago, a virtual voice suddenly sounded in Kaguya's mind. It was an entirely unprecedented experience, and Kaguya instinctively chose to accept.

[Ding Dong, Kaguya Sama has joined the group.]

[Tyrant Nero: Finally, someone else is here! I knew this group couldn't just be me!]

At that time, Kaguya became the second member of the group. She had no knowledge of the group's rules or its purpose.

Thankfully, her personal maid, Hayasaka Ai, also joined the group. Kaguya often called Hayasaka "Cowardly Crybaby," a nickname that inadvertently became her group alias.

As Kaguya and Hayasaka began chatting with the person who called herself Tyrant Nero, they were shocked to discover that this individual was truly the sixth emperor of the Roman Empire, reigning around 60 AD!

Every day, Nero would enthusiastically share tales of the Roman Empire's glory and of her "player," someone she referred to as Reinhard. About half a month later, three more individuals joined the group.

One of them, known as Dragon Monster, was an innocent and kind-hearted girl who, without hesitation, revealed her identity.

Another two members, The Perfectionist and Yukinoshita Haruno, turned out to be the two Yukinoshita sisters: Yukino and Haruno. Compared to the naive Dragon Monster, they were far more cautious and initially concealed their identities.

However, once Kaguya discovered Haruno's real name, it didn't take long for her to locate the sisters in real life. After a direct conversation, the three of them formed a simple alliance of mutual offense and defense.

It is worth noting that Yukino and Kaguya were classmates in high school. While they didn't interact much, one peculiar connection stood out—they both knew Elric.

Now, two more individuals had joined the group, sparking fresh curiosity. When Hayasaka Ai noticed the name "Kasumi Utako," she immediately set out to investigate. With the vast information network of the Shinomiya family, she quickly identified the individual as Kasumigaoka Utaha.

"Kasumigaoka Utaha? Isn't she… Elric's childhood friend?" Kaguya murmured, raising an eyebrow as she examined the image of the charming girl on her screen.

"Yes, Miss," Hayasaka confirmed, nodding. "Kasumigaoka Utaha and Elric were childhood friends. Their fathers were colleagues."

Hayasaka glanced at Kaguya, who seemed lost in thought, and hesitantly asked, "Miss, do you want to meet this Kasumigaoka Utaha? Considering the timing of her and the Dragon Monster's joining, it's possible they might be allies, like the Yukinoshita sisters."

One peculiar detail Hayasaka had noticed about the Ten Thousand world's Chat Group was that, apart from Tyrant Nero, all its members were from the same world—or even the same country.

The Shinomiya family, the Hayasaka family, the Uesugi family—three of the eight prominent families —and now Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had just joined the group.

Sensing a connection between these individuals, Hayasaka Ai began contemplating whether there was something unique about the invitation mechanism of this Ten thousand world Chat Group. Was there a specific reason these particular members were selected? Could this group potentially enable them to support each other in meaningful ways?

At the very least, Hayasaka wondered if it might offer her a way to escape the oppressive control of Shinomiya Kaguya's elder brother, and allow her to finally become a true family member to her lady, Kaguya.