After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered

Chapter 26.1: Problematic Statement

As I passed through the door of the assembly hall, a chilly air pierced my skin.

The venue already held the island’s influential figures gathered, with a lineup of elderly faces arrayed in neat rows.

Their eyes turned toward us all at once, and the sharp gazes appraising us made me involuntarily catch my breath.

This place had already become a battlefield. A battlefield where a single moment of carelessness could prove fatal.

Yet Satori showed no sign of intimidation by the atmosphere and advanced to the deepest part of the room with confident strides.

A cushion for the family head had been prepared there, and behind it sat two simple cushions.

Satori knelt without hesitation on the family head’s cushion and cast a powerful gaze around her.

That figure resembled a true family head so closely…

“………………………………”

A tense air grew taut.

Amid that, my uncle and I waited in the back and knelt on our cushions.

Of course, slouching or letting my knees give out was utterly out of the question. I worried whether I could endure kneeling like this for hours on end, but something else concerned me even more.

It was the fact that my uncle sat nonchalantly beside me instead of in the family head’s seat.

This made it look as if the succession had already taken place.

It was so unnaturally off that it should have raised eyebrows, yet no one around us batted an eye; they accepted it as a matter of course, which felt profoundly eerie.

But the atmosphere made it impossible to ask about it.

I had no choice but to swallow my question and wait silently until the appointed time.

And the moment the clock hands pointed to ten o’clock—the assembly began.

One of the influential figures served as moderator and introduced the day’s agenda and participants in a calm voice.

First came the three great families, then the island’s influential people and landowners, and finally relations of the three great families like me, in that order.

As I gazed fixedly at Satori, who bowed politely as the representative of the Jindaiji family, I noticed a fierce gaze directed at me from afar.

That was surely—the head of the Shiomine family.

The Shiomine family, one of the three great families, dominated the fishing industry on Black Tide Island.

According to the original story, they were the lineage entrusted by the Serpent God with the island’s fishing, but in reality, that was nonsense; they were essentially yakuza-like thugs who controlled the island’s fishing.

The fishing ban on this island and the fact that there was only one swimming beach were all their doing.

They chose no means if it served their interests.

They were truly filthy people.

And now, it seemed I had caught the eye of the boss of those thugs—the Shiomine old lady, their family head.

Even after the greetings ended, that sticky gaze never left me.

As someone who wanted nothing to do with meeting her eyes, I had no choice but to pretend not to notice and look down.

While I prayed for time to pass quickly and kept my ears open, the topic shifted to explaining the typhoon damage. And at that very moment.

Suddenly, the Shiomine old lady raised her hand. And without missing a beat, she blurted out.

“That stuff don’t matter none. So, the community center thing—how ya plannin’ to make it right?”

Those words silenced the entire venue.

For a moment, I exchanged glances with Satori. It had come sooner than imagined, but we had anticipated this topic would arise.

She gave a small nod and turned her gaze to the Shiomine old lady.

“I’ll explain that matter myself.”

“Hoo. So yer the Jindaiji brat, eh. Ya didn’t just step up half-cocked, did ya?”

A sharp gaze fixed on her.

That look, testing her, carried an overwhelming intensity that could make anyone flinch.

Yet Satori, utterly unmoved by such a stare, calmly surveyed her surroundings and declared firmly.

It was a statement denying marriage. A single phrase to halt the three great families’ recklessness.

The decisive line we had settled on during last night’s discussion between the two of us. The conclusion reached after five hours of talk.

It was…

“First, let me make this clear. As for marrying Akira—”

“—

I’m planning to do it.”

Satori…?

“So we’re dating first. Marriage comes after.”

Satori…?

“That’s why the community center issue is something my family member… my future husband caused.”

Satori…………………….?

“I’ll take responsibility for it. Not Akira—the Jindaiji family’s responsibility.”

……………………..Something’s wrong. Definitely something’s off.

She was probably—no, almost certainly—shielding me. I understood she aimed to lighten the punishment by framing it as the Jindaiji family’s responsibility rather than Akira Akiyoshi’s personal one.

That was immensely grateful, but…

“The Jindaiji family will take full responsibility.”

It deviated so far from our prior discussion. If my memory was correct, she was supposed to deny the marriage, yet somehow she had affirmed it.

Huh? What happened to our agreement?

Where had last night’s exchange gone? It puzzled me.

But no matter how much I questioned it, it was already too late.

—Once spoken at the assembly, words could not be retracted.

If what Satori had said before entering the assembly hall held true, then I was already part of the Jindaiji family, destined to marry her in the future.

That future had now been sealed.

In the face of such a shockingly abrupt situation, I couldn’t close my gaping mouth. Yet I had no time to freeze in thought…

“Right? Akira?”

Satori glanced back for a moment, checking if her statement was accurate. Just as I moved to deny it on impulse…

—Just agree with everything for now.

—Okay. I’ll nod along to it all for the time being.

Remembering that exchange, I nodded with a shudder.

“………………………………………………………………………………………………………Yes.”

“That’s how it is!”

“Hoo…”