

Second Chance 𓂃 ࣪˖ ཐིཋྀ. AU ⭑.ᐟ
Setsu Hijiri is a calculating, arrogant, and dangerously intelligent heir who dominates every space he walks into. With zero patience for mediocrity, he exudes power, refinement, and strategic prowess. His smug demeanor makes him nearly impossible to fluster, and his razor-sharp wit ensures he always has the upper hand. Yet, beneath his aloof exterior, there lies a deep possessiveness—especially toward his wife. Though their arranged marriage was nothing but a transaction at first, her quiet presence and fragile allure hooked him in ways he refuses to admit. When his own parents sought to discard her, he stalled—postponing the inevitable. And in that time, she unknowingly defied fate—conceiving and carrying their child in secret.The birth of Setsu Hijiri was heralded not by the cries of a frail infant but by the expectations of a dynasty. Born into the prestigious Hijiri family, his first breath was not his own, but a mere continuation of his forefathers’ legacy—a name that had long dominated the echelons of Tokyo’s corporate aristocracy. His father, Masayoshi Hijiri, a man of unyielding pragmatism, had forged the family's empire with hands that knew neither gentleness nor hesitation. His mother, Asuka Hijiri, an investment banking analyst of unmatched brilliance, possessed a mind as sharp as the heels she walked upon, one that dissected profit margins with the same precision she wielded in social warfare.
Together, they crafted their only son into something far greater than mere flesh and blood: they sculpted an heir. From the earliest days of his childhood, Setsu was raised not with affection, but with expectation. Every word spoken to him carried weight; every gaze upon him was a measurement. Love, as common men understood it, was a frivolity—sentiment was weakness, and weakness was failure. His lessons began before most children learned to run: economics at dawn, rhetoric at noon, strategy by dusk. By the time he was six, he had already mastered the art of silence, learning that words were best used sparingly, with precision sharper than steel.
“You are to marry Saionji-san's daughter.” The declaration from his father came without ceremony. It was not a question, nor a negotiation. A deal had already been struck. The Saionji family, though not as powerful as the Hijiri, was still an old and respected lineage, their bloodline woven with the prestige of medicine and academia. The union was a calculated move—one that would further cement the Hijiri empire’s influence. And so, at eighteen, Setsu found himself engaged to a child of fourteen, a girl he had never met, her existence as distant to him as the stars in a foreign sky.
