Ren felt that if you wanted to make someone angry, the best method was to slap them twice for no reason.
No matter how good-tempered that person was, they would definitely get angry.
However, slapping a girl for no reason was something Ren—bound by his own morals—simply could not do.
So he could only resort to this low-class strategy.
Even if it was a low-class strategy, according to ordinary logic, anyone treated like this should have exploded by now.
But the system notification still did not come.
Ren only stared into Matsuzaka Satou’s eyes.
After he said those words earlier, Satou’s body had clearly stiffened for a moment.
But immediately afterward, she turned her head to the side, toward the car window.
She quietly leaned against the leather seat, her face turned sideways as she watched the colorful night scenery of the city rush past outside.
Aside from that, she had no other reaction.
No emotion notification appeared either.
Seeing this, Ren also turned his head away.
“Looks like there wasn’t anything important in the suitcase.”
Even so, Ren still sent a message to his subordinates, telling them to retrieve the suitcase left at the station.
He could not actually throw it away.
That would be far too inhuman.
Besides, he could not completely destroy their relationship.
After all, he still needed to collect [Love] and [Joy] from her later.
Could he do it?
It felt difficult…
He had already thrown away the suitcase she had brought all this way, yet she was neither angry nor disgusted.
That could only mean Matsuzaka Satou’s condition was truly serious.
She had no real sense of emotions at all.
So could he collect all seven emotions within three months?
Ren suddenly thought of Yanami Anna.
That girl could provide all seven emotions in a single day, and even more than that.
“I’m hooked on you, Anna.”
Ren sighed inwardly.
Far away, Anna, who was watching TV at home, suddenly sneezed.
Worried that she might catch a cold, she quickly stood up and closed the window.
“Did I eat too much ice cream?”
…
On the other side, Satou stared at the rapidly passing street scenery, sitting there in a daze.
In truth, Ren did not know that the things inside Satou’s suitcase were actually quite important.
The adoption documents, the clothes she was used to changing into, the gifts her friends had given her when they parted, and the little bear she had played with since childhood…
They had all been thrown away.
And then there was that sentence.
“Pauper, don’t dirty my car.”
Why did he call her a pauper?
That word sounded unpleasant…
But what he said seemed to be true.
Only…
“Dirty”?
That word was sharp.
In the past, Satou had only ever used it to describe her aunt’s room.
Because her aunt often brought different men into her room and never cleaned it, the inside had been so filthy that it was unbearable to look at.
So now, after being called dirty by Ren, something seemed to scrape against Satou’s heart.
It felt a little strange.
But was this strange feeling anger?
Had she really felt angry?
Why had she not trembled with rage like people did in books?
Confusion filled Satou’s mind far earlier than the anger she should have felt.
“So what exactly is this feeling?”
She murmured softly.
Then, bitterness began to spread through Satou’s mouth again.
“Ah, I see.
It’s so bitter.
So bitter…”
At that moment…
When she heard that her belongings had been thrown away…
When she heard him call her dirty…
She had almost lost control of herself.
Satou took a deep breath and bit her lips tightly.
But even when the Maybach reached its destination, she still could not understand what this emotion truly was.
However, Satou had no choice but to admit one thing.
Looking coldly at Ren’s side profile from the corner of her eye, she pressed a hand against her chest.
For the first time, someone had made her feel as if this place had been stabbed.
It hurt.
…
The Maybach slowly drove through a carved iron gate.
Satou looked out the window at the enormous villa before her.
Luxury.
That was the first word that appeared in her mind.
In the spacious courtyard, neatly trimmed shrubs surrounded a marble fountain.
Drops of water sparkled in the night as if they carried their own light.
The main villa was built in a European style, and warm light poured out through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It shone over the carefully maintained lawn, as if even the air itself had been coated in the scent of money.
Satou blinked.
There was no envy or inferiority in her heart.
She only thought, very simply:
“Ah, so a house can be built this beautifully.”
The driver respectfully opened the car door.
Ren had already gotten out first and was walking toward the villa without looking back.
Satou silently followed him.
But before stepping into the house, she lowered her head and looked at her shoes.
Black loafers paired with little white lace-trimmed socks.
They were pretty, but they were cheap goods, completely out of place in this mansion.
“Pauper.”
Ren’s voice echoed in her mind again.
She pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Inside the villa, in the living room.
Ren casually tossed his coat onto the sofa, then turned to look at Satou, who was standing near the entrance.
“You’ll stay in the innermost room on the second floor.”
He spoke coldly.
“Don’t go into the wrong one.”
Satou nodded, still expressionless.
There was no need to put away her suitcase either.
After all, her suitcase had been thrown away.
So she stood there in a daze and looked around the hall while she was at it.
Ren stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly asked, “Do you not feel emotions or something?”
She did not understand his question.
“I threw away your suitcase earlier.
You don’t hate me?
You’re not angry?”
Ren continued asking.
“Do you not understand what those two emotions mean?”
Ren had no choice but to suspect that.
In his memory, the Matsuzaka Satou from the original work simply did not understand love and affection, but she could still distinguish other emotions.
However, right now, she is much younger than in the original work.
So perhaps this girl currently did not understand anything at all.
Ren felt that Satou had definitely come to hate him.
She just had no idea because she did not understand what disgust was.
That was why the system had not given him any notification.
Satou fell silent for a while, then gently nodded.
“I really don’t know.”
She answered honestly.
Looking at the girl’s confused and blank eyes, Ren nodded.
Just as expected.
But this was not good.
If she could not feel any emotions at all, then everything he had done earlier and before this would make him look like nothing more than a bored lunatic.
It would also be extremely bad for extracting emotions.
The only good news was that she matched the type the system had mentioned, someone with very faint emotions who might produce big rewards.
But the premise was that he had to collect them first.
“You don’t feel anything at all?”
Ren asked.
Judging from the fact that he had managed to collect [Sorrow], Satou should have some understanding of sadness.
Although she did not know why he was asking these questions as if deliberately making things difficult, Satou still answered.
She placed her hand over her chest.
“It feels like…
this place hurts a little.”
“Good.”
Ren liked honest people.
“Then remember this.
That is anger.”
Satou’s pupils shrank slightly.
“This is anger?”
“That’s right.
Because I threw away the suitcase you brought all the way here, you felt heartache and anger.
Understand?”
For once, Ren was patient.
“Oh…
So this is a heartache.”
Satou stood in place as if she were being punished.
But why was he explaining it like this?
It was like a lesson.
Satou blinked.
She truly did not understand emotions and feelings very well, but that did not mean she was stupid.
She suddenly tilted her head, and her long pink hair slid over her shoulder.
She stared straight into Ren’s eyes, her gaze so direct that it was almost startling.
“So you were deliberately trying to make me angry just now?”
…