Could She Be Going Braless?

“All right, that should do it for the morning. Let’s finish the rest of the work this evening.”

“Hmm? Are we not going to work during the day?”

When we wrapped up our morning work and returned to the house, Seram tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s dangerous to work outside during the day when it’s this hot.”

Even in the countryside, temperatures could climb to terrifying heights in the middle of a summer day.

Waiting until the temperature dropped before resuming work was both safer and more efficient than laboring under the blazing sun.

Of course, that was only possible when there was some leeway in the schedule. When work piled up, there was no choice but to keep going even under the scorching sun.

“Thanks to your help, Seram, the work’s been progressing smoothly. You can take it easy until the temperature drops this evening.”

“I-I see.”

When I said that, Seram’s expression softened into a slightly pleased smile as she began wiping the sweat from her face with a towel.

I likewise wiped away my sweat and headed toward the refrigerator to get some Barley Tea when I heard the front door slide open with a rattling sound.

I turned around, but Seram was still in the living room.

“It wasn’t me.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

Seram herself seemed surprised by the sudden sound of the door opening.

Which meant someone had apparently let themselves in without permission.

Wondering who it could be, I headed toward the entrance and found a man with black hair that had been partially dyed blond standing there.

He wore earrings, a lightweight button-down shirt, shorts, and sandals, an outfit perfectly suited to the height of summer.

The man had a rather intimidating face, but the moment he spotted me, his expression became friendly.

“Yo, Jin!”

“Oh, it’s just you, Kaito…”

This guy, who looked like some countryside delinquent, was Kaito Oba, a friend I’d known since childhood. In other words, my childhood friend.

We’d completely lost touch while I was working in Tokyo, but ever since I returned to the countryside, we’d been hanging out together fairly often.

“So, what brings you here?”

“I came to see that foreign wife everyone’s talking about! I heard she’s insanely beautiful!”

When I asked what he wanted, Kaito answered excitedly.

“How the hell do you even know about that?”

“Minori-san told me.”

“That was only yesterday! I know gossip spreads fast in the countryside, but this is ridiculous!”

“Everyone was already shocked that Jin, who seemed destined to stay single for life, had somehow gotten married! And to top it off, your wife’s a gorgeous blonde foreigner! Of course everyone’s gonna spread a story that juicy!”

Judging by his explanation, he was probably one of the people who had been actively spreading the gossip.

“Jin-dono, do we have a guest?”

While I was silently contemplating giving Kaito a good beating, Seram poked her head out of the living room.

“Yeah, this is my friend, Kaito Oba.”

“Oh, a friend of yours, Jin-dono! It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Seraphim. Since it’s rather long, please feel free to call me Seram.”

After hearing Seram introduce herself, Kaito stood there with a dumbfounded expression.

“…Kaito-dono?”

When he failed to respond no matter how long she waited, Seram grew confused.

About ten seconds later, Kaito finally emerged from his stupor and pointed a finger at Seram.

“…This is Jin’s wife?”

“Well, yeah.”

It was a little embarrassing to admit it so directly, but since that was the story we’d settled on, I couldn’t exactly deny it.

“You never told me your wife was this gorgeous! What the hell, man! I’m so jealous! Where the hell did you find a girl like her!?”

“Found her in my rice paddy.”

“What!? Quit screwing with me! If you can harvest cute girls like her, I’d happily become a farmer myself!”

I’d simply stated the truth, but Kaito apparently thought I was joking and flew into a rage.

Since Kaito was single just like me, he probably felt as though I’d betrayed him.

“Sorry about that.”

“Damn it! Normally, you’d be rubbing it in my face! What’s with that kindness!? Don’t give me such a sincere apology! You’re just making me feel even more pathetic!”

If Seram really were my wife, I probably would have teased Kaito mercilessly. But in reality, our marriage was merely a pretense, and she wasn’t actually my wife.

The guilt I felt about that had prompted my unusually restrained reaction, but Kaito seemed to have misunderstood.

“Hey, Onii! You can’t just leave me to look after the shop by myself!”

While I was wondering how to console the devastated Kaito, another person came through the still-open front door.

“Jin-dono, who is this?”

“That’s Kaito’s younger sister, Kaho.”

The woman, whose light brown hair curled slightly at the ends, had a surprisingly fashionable appearance for someone living in the countryside. She was Kaito’s younger sister, Kaho Oba.

Apparently, she’d come to drag her older brother back after he’d abandoned work to come visit me.

“Sorry about my brother barging in like this… Whoa! Is this Jin-san’s wife!? She’s seriously gorgeous!”

The moment Kaho saw Seram, she reacted with undisguised astonishment.

Judging by her reaction, Kaho had also heard about Seram and had been curious to see what she looked like.

“My name is Seraphim. Please call me Seram.”

“I’m Kaho, Kaito’s younger sister. It’s nice to meet you!”

Despite the chaotic circumstances, Seram’s first meeting with Kaho seemed to go smoothly.

“Come on, Onii! Hurry up and get back to the shop!”

“No, I’ve got an important mission to get to know Seram-san better—”

“It’s the shop you inherited, isn’t it!? Then take some responsibility and actually run it! Come on, get going!”

“Damn it! Jin, I’ll be back!”

After Kaho kicked him out through the front door, Kaito muttered those parting words and trudged away dejectedly.

“What kind of shop?”

“He runs a traditional candy shop.”

“Candy? Does that mean he makes large quantities of sweets like the yokan and water dumplings we ate yesterday!?”

“Not exactly, but he certainly has a lot of sweets in stock.”

“That’s amazing!”

Seram, who had become completely enamored with sweets, had stars in her eyes.

She was probably imagining a shop filled entirely with traditional Japanese confections.

“…Hey, Jin-san. Come over here for a second.”

“What’s wrong?”

Kaho had an unusually serious expression, so I cautiously approached her.

The fact that she wasn’t speaking openly suggested that this was something she didn’t want Seram to overhear.

Could she be suspicious of our marriage because Seram was so extraordinarily beautiful? Perhaps she thought I was involved in some sort of marriage scam. If so, I’d better clear up the misunderstanding.

“Seram-san isn’t wearing a bra, is she?”

Kaho’s completely unexpected observation sent a shiver through my body.

Seram had just finished working in the fields and was wearing one of my old tracksuits.

Beneath the fabric stretched across her chest, the soft-looking curves of her breasts were rather conspicuous. They practically announced that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

The moment I admitted that I’d noticed, Kaho’s gaze turned ice-cold.

“You noticed and just left her like that? Don’t tell me you’re enjoying some kind of weird kink?”

“That’s not it! There are some complicated circumstances, and I haven’t been able to get her any underwear yet. I know I should’ve taken care of it sooner, but I couldn’t figure out how to bring it up. She’s still unfamiliar with Japan, so I can’t exactly send her shopping alone.”

Faced with the prospect of being accused of something completely outrageous, I desperately tried to explain myself.

The last thing I wanted was to be branded a pervert who forced his wife to go braless.

I certainly hadn’t ignored the situation because of any indecent intentions.

“Then you could just go with her—actually, I guess accompanying a woman to buy underwear would be pretty embarrassing for you. You’re not good with this sort of thing, Jin-san.”

Once I properly explained the situation, some warmth gradually returned to Kaho’s gaze.

Since she was my childhood friend Kaito’s younger sister, I’d known her for a long time too. Thankfully, she seemed to understand that I wasn’t the sort of pervert who would do something like that. What a relief.

“All right, then. I’ll go shopping with Seram-san.”

“Really!? That would be a huge help!”

“But in exchange, there are some clothes I’ve been wanting too…”

Kaho tilted her face and looked up at me through her eyelashes.

She clearly knew exactly which angle made her face look the cutest. What a calculating little actress.

Still, she was offering to accompany Seram on her shopping trip. I supposed covering a little extra expense was only fair.

“Just don’t pick anything too expensive, okay?”

“Yay! I know, I know. I’ll keep it within reasonable limits.”

Considering how shamelessly she was taking advantage of my predicament, I had my doubts about whether her idea of reasonable limits matched mine.