As a general, she cannot be a good daughter of Kage.

"Look, they say you can't beat her... I still don't believe it."

The general shrugged his shoulders matter-of-factly, as if the outcome had been foreordained.

"No, that... Master Ying's chess skills are also very good. I also narrowly defeated you today? I was still feeling anxious just now."

Seeing this, Linghua immediately made an emotional comment to Ying Gao with an apologetic smile, saying that she 'almost' lost, so as not to cause her 'mother-in-law' to cause trouble and make things difficult for her in the future.

...almost?

Seeing this, the general gave a speechless look. She felt that Ayaka was always at ease from the beginning to the end, with no "near misses" at all, and no trace of anxiety.

"Huh, I'm really amazed, Linghua... your chess skills are so superb, I admire you very much."

Ying breathed out and didn't care about such trivial things as losing. He even smiled humbly and praised the girl.

Surely in her mind her daughter's 'girlfriend' was even one of the future partners...?Whatever... No matter if he is 'one' or not, the better as a partner, the better. In her mind, her daughter's partner must be an excellent person, and she is very satisfied.

"Ah...you have said it before, don't dare to take it seriously."

Linghua quickly raised her hand and subconsciously declined.

"No, in my opinion, excellence is excellence. If you specifically decline, it would be false. You deserve this compliment. Don't be humble."

Ying shook his head and gave him gentle instructions.

"...Yes, Ayaka understands."

After hearing this, Ayaka no longer refuted, and nodded obediently in reply.

"..."

The general looked at this scene and subconsciously showed a small smile. Today Ayaka came to her home, which is the castle tower... and chatted with them as usual. In the process, he talked about the last time he played chess with the other party. She had an idea and asked her mother to compete with the other party in chess skills.

Of course Ayaka accepted her proposal, but Kage happened to have no official business to deal with at this time, so this came up.

Of course, the result was that Ayaka still won, while mother and daughter lost in turn.

She has always wondered who can have a chance to defeat the other party, really?Maybe it's possible?Or... the sea of ​​​​mind?These two might be able to match this kid's chess skills.

"..."

Thinking about this, she stared at Linghua's pretty face in a daze without moving.

"...? General, what's wrong?"

Ayaka was keenly aware of the general's gaze. She was the most sensitive to the gaze of her beloved, so she looked at the general and asked dotingly.

"…Eh?"

The general came back to his senses and let out a cute "Ouch".

"Haha~ Sir General, what do you think of the makeup I put on today?"

Linghua raised her lips intentionally, covering her face with a folding fan as usual, and asked lovingly.

In fact, she didn't put on makeup, she just put on a very simple make-up...even negligible light makeup, which can be said to be semi-no makeup, but when asking this question, she wanted to hear the other person's "that".

"Are you...really wearing makeup?"

The general froze for a moment.

"So...what about~?"

Ayaka asked.

"Hmm...very nice///"

She subconsciously glanced at the shadow on the side as if she were laughing at her, her face turned red, and she answered in a low voice, like a shy little daughter-in-law.

"Yeah~ I see, the General really still likes my appearance without makeup."

Ayaka smiled with satisfaction.

"——! You are playing tricks again///!"

The general instantly realized that he had been manipulated by the other party again, his face turned red and he complained.

"Ugh…"

However, Ying sighed slightly.

"...?" x2

The two looked at each other in tacit understanding.

"Nothing, I just feel... it's great to be young."

Ying slightly stood up from his sitting position and casually tidied up the chessboard.

"Ah, I'll come too, Master Kage."

Ayaka, with sharp eyes and quick hands, moved over to help.

"Well... I'm tired."

During the movie, he glanced at the girl with satisfaction.

"..."

The general just sat there, unable to find a way to help, so he simply didn't do anything.

"Master Shadow."

While packing up the chess pieces, Ayaka called Kage softly.

"...?"

Shadow looked up at her.

"You are also very young..."

Ayaka said.

"Me? Phew... I'm over a thousand years old. Compared with you kids who are only 17 or 8 years old, how can I be young?"

Shadow asked in relief.

"Kage-sama——"

"I know you want to comfort me, but... there's no need for that. I'll be satisfied if you put all your thoughts on the general, okay?"

Ying gently covered the back of Linghua's hand and asked warmly.

"...Ayaka obeys—Ayaka knows."

She was about to say 'obey' but changed it to 'know', because she knew that this was not an order from the other party, but a mother's trust for her child, the general. It was a mother's softness. ' thoughts, rather than 'hard and rigid' orders.

"Okay...I'll go back and put down the chessboard, and you guys can talk first."

Ying nodded with satisfaction, her beautiful feet wrapped in dark purple thigh stockings moved silently on the tatami, then climbed the stairs to the platform, opened the screen in their private living area and walked in.

"What did she say to you?"

the general asked curiously.

"It's nothing, just some common words."

Ayaka sat next to the general again.

"...So suspicious?"

She asked cutely, narrowing her eyes.

"Eh? Is that suspicious?"

Linghua asked pretending to be surprised, her ice-colored beautiful eyes full of smiling affection.

"You can chat with Ying every time...I always feel like I can't get a word in, like a child."

She looked dully at her white silk thighs where she was sitting on her knees, letting her fingertips clasp back and forth the knee-high socks wrapped around her thighs.

"How could it be? I'm a child too?"

Ayaka said.

"You're not. You're much more mature than me. Phew... They say Princess Egret is perfect in her dealings with others. It's true from this look."

She looked at the girl next to her and teased her like this.

"…But, General, have you ever thought about it…?"

Ayaka gently moved her kneeling legs closer to her, lowered her chin on the folding fan, and looked at her with her head.

"...thought of...what?"

Seeing this, she also looked into the other person's eyes, and the ice color seemed to be filled with melting warmth.

"The Princess Egret you are talking about...both her parents died when she was a child, and she was only accompanied by her elder brother. However...my brother was not often with her because of her busy schedule. Princess Egret should have no childhood anymore, but..."

Linghua's eyes flashed when she said this, and she fell into some kind of longing memories.

"...Winter went and the flowers bloomed, and she met a woman. After that, the woman often stayed with her, giving her childhood in her own way, freeing the young egret from its cage and flying freely in the sky."

"With support, Princess Egret decided to be self-reliant and put her family's great business on her brother's shoulders again to prevent him from being humiliated."

When Ayaka said this, her lips trembled slightly, then they pressed together and then let go. She raised her hand and gently touched the handle of the tachi at her waist.

"If it hadn't been for that person, I, Ayaka Kamisato, would not have become the 'Princess White Heron', nor would there be the Kamisato family today. Our Kamisato family would have been suppressed by the Shuangsong, and eventually the family would be completely wiped out. She was kind to me, You are kind to the Kamisato family, and that person is you, Lord Raiden General."

"..."

She stared blankly at the exquisite and beautiful side profile at this moment, and there was a hint of firmness in her face.

"For your great kindness, Kamisato Ayaka is willing to repay you for the rest of her life."

Looking at those extremely tough eyes, she sighed slightly.

"Huh, don't say anything like 'for life'. I don't like this. I always feel that it has passed in a blink of an eye. Now it's better to enjoy the present. This is our 'eternity'."

She took Linghua's hands and raised her delicate lips.

"Haha~ I was negligent, yes... moving forward step by step with you is our 'eternity'."

Ayaka smiled, held her hand back and answered.

Chapter of Akitsu ~ Time passes easily, life is like dew: Chapter 2: Having distracting thoughts is a taboo for a warrior

When Ying came back from playing the chessboard, he opened the screen and saw the two children talking there. A faint smile of relief appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then he gently closed the screen again and walked to a few people with light steps. The hall on the first floor where it was originally located was in this extremely wide square dojo.