Dream Weaver sat in silence in the backseat.
The atmosphere inside the car was so stifling it sent chills down one's spine—even the battle-hardened driver couldn't help but swallow nervously, forcing himself to tear his attention away from the pair reflected in the rearview mirror.
"Just what is going on with Ardan…?"
Now, Dream Weaver finally understood why jiro Ardan, despite her burning desire to return to the racetrack, had refused to even try.
She had originally thought it was just a matter of ntality, but the reality was far more severe than she had ever imagined.
jiro Ramonu, too, had shed her earlier agitated deanor. Slumping weakly against the seat, she spoke in a near-whisper.
"Glass legs. That's what we call Ardan's condition."
"She's been frail and sickly since birth, incredibly prone to injuries. She was simply never suited to set foot on the track."
Dream Weaver's brow had remained tightly furrowed from the mont she uncovered the truth, and now, hearing jiro Ramonu's words, the creases between her eyebrows deepened further, as if carving all her confusion and unease into her very skin.
"And you still let her beco an Uma Musu and compete in the Tenno Sho? Has the jiro family gone so insane for that so-called consecutive Tenno Sho victory that you'd disregard the very lives of your own descendants?"
Catching the clear sarcasm in her words, jiro Ramonu felt a surge of anger, ready to retort, but the words died in her throat before they could escape. In the end, she just sighed and replied helplessly.
"After what happened with your mother, the family stopped forcing its descendants to relentlessly pursue the Tenno Sho."
"Ardan stepped onto the track driven by her own fierce determination. There was no way we could stop her."
Hearing jiro Ramonu use her mother as an example, Dream Weaver let out a cold 'hmph' before speaking.
"You knew the truth all along, didn't you? Finally dropping the act now?"
"If I said I only recently pried it out of our grandmother's mouth, you wouldn't believe , would you…?"
These past few months, jiro Ramonu hadn't only faced the torrent of public opinion—she'd also struggled to extract the whole truth from the current family head, jiro Asama.
Under such pressure, even soone like her, grood since childhood to be the heir, felt utterly drained, both physically and ntally.
Truth was, she had noticed jiro Ardan leaving the house every day, but she simply hadn't had the energy to look deeper into it. It wasn't until yesterday, when jiro Ardan collapsed from another glass leg episode, that she finally learned the truth.
The grudge between the Northern and jiro families, the tangled history between Dream Weaver herself and her grandmother jiro Asama, and now jiro Ardan's sudden hospitalization—it all piled up, suffocating jiro Ramonu.
But she was the designated heir.
No matter how exhausted she was, she had to maintain an image of unshakable composure in the eyes of outsiders. Perhaps only in front of Dream Weaver, with whom she'd quarreled countless tis, could she finally vent the emotions she'd been suppressing.
After unleashing all that pent-up pressure through their brutally honest, heated exchange with Dream Weaver, jiro Ramonu felt she had cald down considerably.
And she believed the sa was true for the other girl.
Though every ti they t, it was as if they were fundantally incompatible, always ending up in argunts, it was precisely through those clashes that jiro Ramonu had co to understand Dream Weaver.
She might be swayed by emotions in the heat of the mont, but in the end, she could always make a calm judgnt.
So, no matter how much she despised the jiro family, no matter how much she doubted jiro Ramonu's words, she would still listen, still carefully think things through.
This ti, jiro Ramonu was determined to tell Dream Weaver everything she knew. She believed that after thinking it over, Dream Weaver would be able to sense the truth in her words.
"My grandmother, the current head of the jiro family, jiro Asama—you could say she's the one who set all these events in motion."
"Whether it was sending to the Northern house to bring you back, or hinting to subordinates to lead you to jiro Ardan, it was all orchestrated by her behind the scenes. Even that press conference—I only found out about it after it was over."
Dream Weaver rely snorted coldly, a hint of disdain in her voice.
"So you're pushing all the bla onto one person? Or are you trying to say you were just a fool being manipulated?"
"I don't believe soone like you didn't have an inkling."
jiro Ramonu leaned her head back against the seat, eyes closed, her voice weary.
"Perhaps. People always tend to prettify their own image, whether consciously or not."
"I can't claim I noticed nothing at all. But back then, I truly didn't know about the grudges of the past. From my perspective, bringing you back, since you carry jiro blood, shouldn't have been an issue."
Dream Weaver didn't press the point further. After all, how much jiro Ramonu had truly known back then wasn't the key issue anymore.
"Fine, let's assu that's the case."
"So you're saying all this trouble was solely jiro Asama's doing?"
At this, jiro Ramonu shook her head.
"How could that be? Though she is the family head, the jiro house isn't a dictatorship. There are plenty of elders with seniority equal to hers. There's no way the head could pull off sothing this big without their knowledge."
"Sothing like holding a press conference, which risked the family's reputation, would never have happened without their approval."
She paused before continuing.
"From what I've pieced together, my grandmother likely hid your past from the other elders and then reached so sort of agreent with them. That's why they quietly supported the press conference."
"But after what you said following the Spring Tenno Sho, that delicate understanding fell apart. These past few months, my grandmother has faced no shortage of criticism and censure from the other family elders."
jiro Ramonu directed all the bla toward jiro Asama, never ntioning her own situation.
In truth, as jiro Asama's granddaughter, her status as the heir had been questioned countless tis.
Over these months, she'd faced not only external pressure but also internal family challenges. Even jiro Ramonu couldn't help but feel utterly worn down.
The genuine emotion in jiro Ramonu's words cooled so of the anger in Dream Weaver's heart. Though the other hadn't said it outright, Dream Weaver could tell jiro Ramonu's position these past months had been precarious.
If all this really was jiro Asama's doing, orchestrated behind everyone's backs, then jiro Ramonu, caught in the crossfire, was truly unfortunate.
So Dream Weaver's tone softened slightly, losing so of its aggressive edge.
"Then I'll wait until after I've spoken with jiro Asama myself."
Hearing this, jiro Ramonu nodded in response.
"After you've talked with her, I'll take you to see Ardan. You must be very worried, since she's been gone for a day."
-- --
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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