You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 488

#488

You’ve Been Defended

“Councilman Ishida’s vehicle has arrived.”

As the time for the clients to gather approached, calls began to come in one by one from the gate, announcing their arrival.

Kim Mija put on a fancy necklace with a built-in camera and went outside.

After a long time wearing *geta* [traditional Japanese wooden sandals] made with thick, hard wooden soles and trying to move in a kimono with a narrow skirt, she felt so uncomfortable that irritation surged.

She hadn’t thought it was this uncomfortable before, but now she felt a sense of rejection even towards the air here.

After smiling so hard that her facial muscles cramped and barely catching her breath while greeting the clients, a luxury car stopped in front of the restaurant.

The person who got out of the door that the driver hurriedly ran to open was none other than today’s main guest, Tustomu Onodera.

“Councilman Onodera, you’ve arrived?”

As Kim Mija approached with a smile, Onodera laughed heartily and offered her a handshake.

“Our Tomiko-san is as beautiful as ever, even after a long time.”

“You flatter me. Councilman Ishida and Councilman Isobe are waiting.”

“I heard Councilman Oda is coming today as well?”

Onodera familiarly handed his phone to the restaurant staff and asked while being checked with a detector.

“Ah, he has already arrived and is waiting with them. Please come inside quickly. The night air is cold.”

As she walked along the corridor, responding to Onodera’s meaningless words, she became noticeably nervous as they soon arrived in front of the drawing room where the clients were waiting.

She had placed the bug deep enough so that it wouldn’t be touched even if they felt under the table.

The metal detector and the radio wave detector didn’t catch it, and it worked well, but she kept feeling uneasy.

Having been unfairly dragged here 33 years ago and exploited for a long time, she had never thought of harming them.

The only resistance she had ever done was to damage herself so that her commercial value would be impaired.

But now that she had turned the knife in the opposite direction, the first moment of switching offense and defense was bound to be thrilling in any sense.

“Oh, Councilman Onodera. You’ve arrived.”

“It’s been a while. I should have made time more often, but I’ve been busy taking care of my district…….”

“As expected, Councilman Onodera is a role model for all politicians.”

Kim Mija almost snorted at their exchange.

In the first place, Onodera’s statement that he couldn’t meet with them because he was taking care of his district was just a veiled way of saying that he was different from them, who frequented the restaurant almost every day.

Also, Onodera is the very person who has inherited his district located in Kyoto for three generations, so his approval rating is as solid as concrete.

So, everyone knows that he’s busy trying to figure out what excuse he can use to go on a foreign trip with the country’s money, let alone taking care of his district, but isn’t it ridiculous to say such things?

Watching these conversations makes you feel like you’re watching some kind of farce.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“No, are you leaving already? It’s been a while since we’ve seen you, why don’t you stay a little longer?”

Onodera said, subtly grabbing Kim Mija’s wrist.

Even with her husband glaring at him, he didn’t show the slightest hesitation.

However, Oda Satoshi smiled as if he didn’t care and told Kim Mija to stay a little longer.

Oda Satoshi is a man with a strong desire to monopolize Kim Mija, so it was an unexpected attitude.

They wouldn’t have any meaningful conversations in front of Kim Mija, but it’s still beneficial to have their faces on camera for a long time.

Kim Mija quietly sat next to Oda Satoshi.

“But today, there’s only one flower in this room. It used to be nice to see the flowers in full bloom.”

Onodera clicked his tongue as if he was disappointed.

Of course, he, who has pollen allergies, doesn’t want real flowers, but he’s pointing out that there are no women to serve them drinks.

“I don’t know the details, but it seems like there’s some problem in Korea.”

“Oh, really? But aren’t there people stationed in Japan?”

She didn’t want to see it with her own eyes, so she didn’t check, but seeing Han Chief Manager at the restaurant, it was clear that she had brought the children from the dormitory.

She smiled, folding her eyes [smiling with her eyes, a sign of genuine happiness].

“A little later. Councilman Onodera said earlier that I’m still beautiful, but was that all a lie? Was I not enough for you?”

“That’s not true! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would be interpreted that way at all.”

“No, I’m just kidding. Ah, you must be hungry, please have your meal first. What kind of alcohol would you like?”

“I’m in the mood for whiskey today. How about the others?”

“I also wanted to drink whiskey.”

Oda Satoshi doesn’t like whiskey.

Ishida and Isobe, who are with him, also knew that well.

What’s going on?

Kim Mija was lost in thought, still with a bright smile on her face.

It is true that Onodera’s base is more solid than Oda Satoshi’s, and he is closer to becoming the next prime minister.

However, she thinks there must be a reason why he doesn’t even notice her grabbing his wrist and goes so far as to cater to him.

And the fact that Onodera, who hadn’t been around much, showed up like this.

It seemed like they were going to have an important conversation today.

“Then I’ll go pick out some alcohol for a moment. Please continue your conversation.”

Kim Mija left the drawing room for a moment and went into her room.

Then she took a small bottle and came back outside.

She quietly walked along the hallway, looking around near the room where the children would be waiting.

Fortunately, Han Chief Manager was not to be seen, and only the staff were guarding the area.

“I’m going to check on the children’s condition.”

At Kim Mija’s words upon arriving in front of the room, the staff silently opened the door.

The children were sitting with their backs to the door, facing the wall, as always.

Kim Mija confirmed that the children’s eyes were still facing the wall and took out a bottle from her arms.

Then she silently sprinkled the powder inside throughout the room.

“What is this?”

After a while, Kim Mija opened the door and suddenly pointed her finger at the staff.

Her finger was covered with milky white powder.

“I touched the door and it was all over me.”

“Ah……. I wonder.”

The staff hesitated, then brought his nose to Kim Mija’s finger and smelled it.

He hadn’t even taken a few breaths when the staff’s face contorted, and he turned his head sharply to one side and sneezed loudly.

The staff fixed his posture again towards Kim Mija and answered.

“It seems to be cedar pollen, madam.”

Cedar is one of the most common tree species in Japan, and it is notorious for its severe pollen dispersal.

Moreover, cedar pollen causes allergies even in people who don’t have allergies, so there are cases where people who didn’t originally have pollen allergies develop cedar allergies after living in Japan for only a few years.

Before they arrived, Kim Mija had gone into the cedar forest behind the restaurant and scraped together pollen.

In case they tried to seat the children next to them, she needed an excuse.

“Was the window open?”

“……I think so.”

The staff answered in an unsure tone.

“Didn’t you know that this room faces the cedar forest directly, so you shouldn’t open the door during pollen season? Besides, didn’t you know how sensitive Councilman Onodera is to allergies, ah……. That’s right. Mr. Takahashi didn’t know at all, so you wouldn’t have been prepared. It’s not your fault, so there’s no point in getting angry.”

“I’m really sorry, madam. Then what should we do? Should we change their clothes?”

“The room is so full of it that it’s all over them like this, what difference would changing their clothes make.”

“I’m sorry. But if we give them a bath…….”

“What are you going to do about what’s already entered their respiratory system? Councilman Onodera is very sensitive to allergies.”

Kim Mija raised her voice, then sighed deeply and waved her hand.

“Tell Han Chief Manager to take the children back today. I don’t want to see Councilman Onodera being taken to the hospital.”

“Then what about today…….”

“I’ll take care of that, so do as I say. I can’t believe it’s such a mess just because I left my seat for a moment.”

As Kim Mija left the place, she heard the children sighing behind her.

It must have been a sigh of relief that the children unknowingly let out, thinking that they wouldn’t be exploited today.

“Why are you so late? But, you’ve changed your clothes?”

When she returned to the drawing room, Oda Satoshi asked, looking at Kim Mija sitting next to him.

“What should we do, dear? I think the restaurant isn’t running properly since I’ve been away for a few days.”

“Why, is something wrong?”

“Ah, Councilman Onodera wouldn’t know. Actually, I haven’t been able to take care of the restaurant for a while because of school work. So I entrusted it to the staff and left my seat for a while, but today, when Councilman Onodera is coming, they said they prepared Kobe beef for the *Kaiseki* menu [a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner].”

“No, how could they make such a mistake…….”

Oda Satoshi muttered, as if surprised by Kim Mija’s words.

“I was so surprised that I pressed them for not checking Councilman Onodera’s allergy list, and I changed the menu to crab. They also had flower decorations, so I cleaned them all up and had them cleaned again.”

“So that’s what happened. I’m fine, thanks to Tomiko-san’s concern.”

Onodera smiled generously.

“I gave enough warnings and corrected everything, so I thought there wouldn’t be any problems now. But when I checked just now, cedar pollen had entered the room where the children were because they left the window open. I thought it would cause great harm to Councilman Onodera if I brought the children here, so I sent the children back for now, and I also changed my clothes and came.”

Onodera seemed to be at a loss for words at Kim Mija’s attitude, as if she was so sorry that she didn’t know what to do.

He couldn’t show his displeasure here, and he couldn’t just not accept Oda Satoshi’s wife’s apology when she apologized so much.

“It’s okay. The reason I come here isn’t because of those children. It’s just a simple pastime. It’s really okay, so please don’t feel sorry.”

“Thank you, Councilman. I’ll have to stay here and manage it from now on. I’ll make sure there isn’t a single mistake when you come next time.”

“It’s not Tomiko-san’s fault. It’s because the staff are incompetent. Don’t worry too much.”

Kim Mija closed her eyes tightly as if she was very embarrassed.

She protected the children this time, but she can’t keep doing this forever.

She wants to get them out of here as soon as possible, but is there any other way?

Kim Mija bit her lip.

“It’s a bit of a shame, but it can’t be helped.”

As Oda Satoshi chimed in, Ishida, who was sitting next to him, shouted.

“Ha! It’s not really a shame. There are no new faces these days because there’s a problem in Korea. It’s been a while since that happened. It’s been more than half a year.”

“Did something happen?”

At Onodera’s question, Ishida answered.

“Chairman Go brings the kids from an angel’s house or a fairy’s house, right?”

“Ah, yes. I heard it’s an orphanage.”

“But it seems Chairman Go is filling his pockets through the foundation to which that orphanage belongs. But it seems some lawyer in Korea noticed. So he’s constantly monitoring the orphanage.”

“Monitoring an orphanage? Is that possible?”

“I don’t know the details, but Chairman Go isn’t someone who can’t handle something like that. But the fact that he’s struggling means either he’s been caught with a big weakness, or that lawyer is completely crazy.”

“Ha! So that’s why…….”

Onodera tried to shout as if he had realized something, but he stopped when he realized that Kim Mija was still there.

Then Oda Satoshi lowered his voice and said to Kim Mija.

“You can go now.”

“Ah, yes. I understand. There were many shortcomings in many ways, but I really put a lot of effort into the food, so have a good time.”

Kim Mija bowed and left the room.

It seemed like something important was about to begin.