Help! I changed the gender of the male protagonist in the yandere game

"If you're hungry, you should eat your fill."

"If there are troubles, consider them after you've eaten."

It is said that this is the family motto of a certain patriarch of the Tsukigahara clan.

Tsukigahara Yomei, the young master of the clan, deeply agreed with this.

"Ooooh..."

She, along with her retainer and adopted sister, were in a room in the mansion prepared specifically for guests, eating as usual.

"This looks delicious~~"

The chopsticks she extended pierced the steaming fish, causing a puff of heat to rise.

"It's sweetfish, delivered to the mansion this morning."

The composed and steady, white-haired retainer, Matsudaira Inomaro, chuckled. "They were caught by cormorants in the nearby river. They're fat and large, perfect for grilling."

Matsudaira Inomaro smiled cheerfully as he picked up a dried sardine from the plain ceramic plate.

"But in this weather, I'd still prefer a piping hot pot. If we use persimmon cakes as bait to make a trap, we can catch raccoons that like persimmons. The meat of mountain weasels is also delicious, and the fur from their tails can be made into false eyelashes for women.

Also, raccoon dog meat is very fragrant. You could buy it at the butcher shop in the castle town before. And, speaking of raccoon dog meat, some have a gamey taste, while others have none at all. Fox meat is completely inedible; it has a strong, gamey smell."

"Is that so~~"

The "girl" with her long hair casually tied up listened with great interest as she reached out and grabbed a piece of fried tempura.

During this period, rapeseed was widely cultivated, and rapeseed oil was relatively common, so even the common people could afford to eat tempura.

This shows that although Tsukigahara Yomei and her retainer and adopted sister were living as dependents in the Kurohimeyama family's mansion, their food, clothing, and shelter were fully guaranteed.

It can be said that the ingredients delivered every day weren't exactly delicacies, but they were fresh seasonal vegetables, the rice that was cooked was polished rice, and fish and meat were also delivered on holidays.

In addition, her adopted sister, Ayaka, was good at managing the household and was skilled at preparing meals, so the three meals a day were very plentiful. Tsukigahara Yomei didn't find this kind of life difficult at all...

'No...it's much better than wandering around after our territory was taken.'

Without any semblance of a noble lady, she stuffed rice and fried food into her mouth with her chopsticks, chewing with her cheeks bulging.

"Ayaka, could you please give me another bowl of rice?"

As she asked her adopted sister for her third bowl of rice as usual, the bowl was snatched away.

Ayaka, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't bear it anymore.

With a thud, she slammed the rice bowl on the table.

"Brother! Ayaka can't take it anymore!!"

The fourteen-year-old girl had veins popping out on her forehead.

"Ayaka doesn't understand at all what Brother is planning to do... In the beginning, what did Brother promise me? To properly restore the Tsukigahara clan! To strive to make a name for yourself in the Kurohimeyama family! To take back the clan's territory as soon as possible--"

The petite girl, who didn't even possess spiritual power, exuded an astonishing aura as she glared at her "adopted brother" with anger-filled eyes.

"Why did you become a woman!!!"

Ayaka aggressively pressed forward, poking Yomei's cheek with the handle of the rice scoop in her burning anger.

"Even if you became like this!!! What have you been doing these days? You haven't been thinking about resolving this curse at all. Are you planning to stay like this forever?"

"N-no...that's not it...Waaah..."

Yomei was completely unable to withstand her adopted sister's aggressive attitude, and she shifted her pleading gaze to her retainer, Matsudaira Inomaro, but the latter had already sensed the danger and quickly slipped away, leaving only an empty bowl opposite her.

'...Traitor!'

She could only grit her teeth and explain to her adopted sister, "D-don't look at me like that. Actually, I've already considered it--"

"Oh, what have you considered?"

Ayaka stopped.

"Tell Ayaka about it."

"T-this, well..."

She hesitated slightly, then said softly, "I thought about, isn't there an old saying...th-that is--"

Yomei clapped her hands and said with a smile, "When the car reaches the mountain, there will be a road; when the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally go straight. It's better to try than to worry too much!"

Ayaka was silent for a moment, and then, she glared at her with an even more terrifying look than before.

"Th-that's, n-not, just, c-completely, n-not, th-thinking...just, th-thinking, o-of, g-getting, b-by, m-momentarily...?"

Next, Yomei was forcibly made to sit upright by her adopted sister, who began to lecture her with a terrifying expression, without taking a breath.

She vented her anger that had been accumulating for many days, along with her complaints and grievances. The lecture lasted for half an hour. To some extent, it had reached the realm of torture.

Moreover, facing her adopted sister's barrage, Yomei had to maintain an upright posture, without moving at all.

As a result, her feet hurt, and her head also hurt.

"So, Brother, Ayaka has said before, if you had just gotten the Kurohimeyama family's young lady pregnant, the problem would have been solved!"

'No, it's not that simple.'

Yomei could only shake her head in her heart. She could still keenly feel that although Miss Kohagi treated her with great courtesy, she was aloof at heart. They had met several times, but the conversations they had were no more than ten sentences.

In fact, she could vaguely feel the contempt and indifference in Kohagi's gaze. It wasn't the look of someone who genuinely intended to get along with her.

'But, even if I explained it to Ayaka, she wouldn't understand.'

She sighed inwardly.

"Don't look to the side, and don't be distracted! Brother, listen to my complaints properly...no, my lecture!"

The girl's angry voice flew over, indicating that it would continue.

Yomei had a bitter expression, unable to even yawn.

Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside, followed by a woman's voice.

"Yomei-sama, and Ayaka-sama, would you please open the door?"

"A-Ayaka, we have a guest."

"Ayaka understands."

In front of outsiders, Ayaka quickly closed her mouth.

"I'll go open the door."

She quickly ran to the door and slid open the shoji screen.

The visitor was a maid wearing a brightly colored kimono, who respectfully knelt outside the corridor and bowed.

"The Great Princess has ordered me to deliver some things. It is a small gift prepared for when you were frightened before. I hope Yomei-sama will accept it with a smile."

"A gift?"

Ayaka was a little surprised.

The maid only bowed politely and handed over several boxes of openwork gold lacquer. After she delivered the items, she quietly left.

"What, what kind of gift could this be?"

Ayaka opened it and stared with wide eyes, frozen in place.

Inside the boxes were very exquisite women's kimonos, with various styles, brightly dyed flowers, and made of the finest materials.

In addition to these women's kimonos that looked priceless, there was also a small box in the corner of the lacquer box. After opening it, the two found hairpins, combs, rouge, eyebrow pencils, and moisturizing lotion.

Her adopted sister, Ayaka, was dumbfounded.

"Why...why would that princess send you these things?"

"There's also a letter here."

Yomei, who had become a girl, took out the stationery and looked at it. It was written, "On this fine evening, would you be willing to meet me at night?"

Is this...is this a date?

...

"So, the young master of the Tsukigahara family, no, the Great Princess's husband, is temporarily leaving the Kurohimeyama family and being sent to Kyoto to recuperate for a while."

"Oh~~ That's a good thing too. If he stayed at the main house, many people would make a fuss."

On the muddy mountain road, someone was talking very quietly.

"Yes, yes~ I also think some people are acting too aggressively~~"

The shikigami crow standing on the shoulder of Caizou, who was serving as a Chunin, kept opening its long beak and talking.

It was thanks to this shikigami's master, Hyakusuke, who liked to gossip, that Hyakusuke, a low-ranking genin, was able to learn about Tsukigahara Yomei's recent situation.

After all, he was quite concerned about the male protagonist's affairs.

"Sending him to Kyoto...is it to find a healing術士 there to treat him?"

Hyakusuke muttered in his heart, "If that's the case, he might not make it in time for the important plot of the first chapter..."