Noticing the temperature shift in Harue, Shintaro tensed briefly for a moment before relaxing slightly: "Don't regret your decision, Harue."
Having said that, he ultimately chose to let her go as the final act of mercy. Watching them leaving, Harue sighed and turned towards Shinji: "Let's go."
Park Shinji eyed her and nodded, and went at the direction of Hangure Family along with Harue.
...
Shinji having not seen Harue for ages, asked about her situation to Shintaro. But when he heard the word spoken out of Shintaro. He was immediately furious.
He had always believed in her potential, certain that one day she would rise to power. He never doubted that she would play a key role in their conquest to Korea, especially alongside Yamazaki and Shingen.
Shinji had high hopes in Harue potential, if she had trained her talent to its limit she might have become strong, if not surpassed Shingen unfortunately she never trained hard because of her innate strength. He had thought of giving vice president position to her, instead of Shintaro just to keep her in family. But he truly regretted for neglecting her because of his two son.
Because during the succession day, she had nearly torn apart Shingen with her sheer strength due to losing control over her U.I. Shinji had to interfere, had he not stopped her Shingen would have likely been killed that day. After that incident, Harue had been dissatisfied with her father and his decision to pass on the patriarchy throne to Shingen.
(A/N: Here Shingen had not reached his peak strength, and hadn't begin his conquest to Korea, so yeah he was defeated which is normal. And Harue had her innate strength to defeat Shingen )
Shingen had denied the presidency for the sake of his sister but Shinji didn't allowed him to do so due to family rule.
Shintaro had to investigate about Harue because of his father. As he investigated about her situation, any hope of her returning became futile as she was pregnant with Park Shinji's child and had removed Yamazaki from her name. Reluctantly, Shintaro informed Shinji about Harue.
As he listened the report, Shinji's face became incredibly livid from anger. Having seen his father's rage, Shintaro promised to bring Harue and unborn child back at the family. As he promised, Shinji instantly calmed down. Unfortunately for them, they would never be able to see Harue after giving child birth.
In the following days, Shintaro personally visited Harue and persuade her to return back but would get outright rejected. He was really frustrated because of her rejection and had thought of using force, but instantly dismissed it as he would be the one to suffer.
As day went by, news about Harue dead quickly followed Shintaro's ear. He quickly inquired about her and found out that she had died shortly after giving birth. For a while, he couldn't believe about her death because despite her strength she had died just after giving birth which was utterly unbelievable.
So, Shintaro immediately informed guards to bring back her dead body and personally went to inform all the family relatives to come at Harue's funeral. Shortly after informing his relative, all the guards who had gone to retrieve Harue's body from the Hangure family returned with Park Shinji.
Shintaro mood instantly became sour after seeing him but chose to ignore him. He went to inform Shinji about the funeral but was shocked to see his father's condition. Having never drunk the sake (alcohol), Shinji's face was flushed with redness, and was sad about his daughter's death. Shintaro sighed and chose not to inform him about the funeral.
(A/N: You all may be confused for Ha-Joon's father to Yamazaki Shinji. So, I've added Park Shinji for Ha-Joon's Father and only "Shinji" for Yamazaki Shinji.)
The air was thick with sorrow as Shintaro stood at the grave, his black attire a reflection of the heavy weight on his heart. The mourners, a sea of faces filled with grief, quietly paid their respects to Harue, whose life had been taken too soon.
The relatives, some with disbelief and others in silent contemplation, gathered around him, offering their condolences. Each word seemed too small, too inadequate in the face of such a loss, but still, they spoke, their voices soft and reverent.
Shintaro nodded solemnly. After leading all the relatives to the front gate, he retreated. For a moment, He was tempted to bring Harue's child back at the family but quickly dismissed it. He planned to let her child grow old enough to train and planned to kill Park Shinji, severing his ties with Hangure Family.
Then, he would adopt her child as his son.
.....
Present,
Infirmary,
Ha-Joon sat quietly, the weight of his thoughts pressing down on him as Shintaro recounted his mother's past. Each word Shintaro spoke seemed to echo in his mind, stirring a mix of emotions between gratitude and pity.
He had been given a second chance to live, a rare gift, or perhaps a cruel twist of fate. In his previous life, he had never known the warmth of a mother's love, never felt the embrace of a family. Orphaned before he could even remember, he had spent his days in solitude, struggling financially without the support of his family.
This new life, despite the opportunity to forge his own path, still seemed barren in a different way. He had his parents, yes—but before he could fill the warmth of his parents, they were long dead.
He found himself caught between gratitude for this second chance and the lingering emptiness of never truly having a family in either life.
He exhaled slowly, trying to push the doubt aside, stared at Shintaro and bowed: "Thankyou, for informing about my mother's past."
Shintaro nodded and added: "Rest for a few days and meet me at my house."
Having said that, Shintaro left Ha-Joon alone.
He slowly slumped onto his mattress, his mind racing. 'My strength is not enough,' he thought. 'I must reshape my body, and master the threshold, and take my revenge when the day of rebellion comes.'"
....
(So, I'm planning to add different stage for mastery such as initial, intermediate, perfection. It makes me easier to measure the strength of the different characters.)