"Phew—whatever the case, I'm really happy I got to meet all of you today. Lili, let's go home."
Takumi rose to his feet, drawing a line under the friendly get-together. It was already late; if he didn't head back now, his own lo[li] goddess would probably be on the verge of tears.
Walking out with him, Lili looked up at Takumi with a complicated light in her eyes. In name, she might now be his slave, but in just a few short hours… her life had felt more like a person's than it had in years. And yet the moment she remembered she still belonged to the Soma Familia, words stalled in her throat.
Sensing the drift of his little slave's thoughts, Takumi asked casually, "What's wrong? You seem miles away."
"M—Master… do I really have to go h-home with you?"
Takumi halted, turned, and pulled Lili straight into his arms. The petite, delicate body and that tight, springy curve filling his hands sent a wave of shame flooding Lili's heart until it brimmed over.
Bending slightly, he met her reddening face at eye level.
"Remember this: you're mine now. What your master says is the truth."
"Mm—"
A tiny sound escaped Lili—half whimper, half breath—but a faint smile of happiness still stole across her face. Even so, she couldn't hold back the helplessness that welled up.
"Master, I… I'm still a member of the Soma Familia. They won't let me go. I don't want to bring trouble down on you."
The more she called him "Master," the smoother it came. Lili finally let the truth spill out. Once upon a time, crushed under abuse within her familia and exploited by adventurers without, she had broken and run in despair—only to be taken in by an elderly couple who ran a flower shop. When Soma Familia members discovered the couple had sheltered her, they destroyed the shop without mercy, and the old pair were injured. With nowhere else to turn, she could only crawl back to the familia.
"They're a pack of demons—trash. They'll find some way to drag me back. I can't dodge it. I don't want to drag you down with me… Master."
Burying her face in Takumi's chest, Lili finally let herself cry aloud. Even faced with Lyra's sincere concern, she had never bared so much. But before Takumi, she couldn't stop it: the pain and the past came pouring out.
Takumi's gaze softened further. He stroked a calming hand down the smooth line of Lili's back. Knowing what she had lived through, he could all the more understand her actions earlier. In that hell, there had been no other path.
"Cry. From here on, you won't cry because of sorrow again. I already told you: as my slave, I will protect you and cherish you."
Lulled by the steady cadence of his voice, sleep-starved Lili drifted off. Takumi slipped her into the Time-Space World so she could get a proper rest. [T/N: Interdimensional Realm >> Time-Space World]
At the same time, he brought out Haruhime—now well rested—from the Time-Space World as well.
"Takumi-sama, so this is Orario~"
Clad in a kimono, Haruhime's fox tail swished as she took in everything with shining curiosity. None of this was anything she'd ever seen.
As Takumi led the way, he explained his current circumstances. Near the end, a thought struck him.
"Haruhime, do you happen to know Kaguya Gojouno? You're both from the Far East."
"Eh? The Gojouno family? Let me think."
Haruhime's fox ears perked and twitched as she began with the broader picture. Sanjou were nobles, while the Gojouno clan worked in the court's shadows—their dark division—handling whatever could not see the light of day, using any means necessary to erase threats to the court.
From birth, girls of the Gojouno line were made to take a certain Flower Toxin every day. Those who couldn't withstand it were culled; only a very few survived. As the toxin accumulated, a girl's body would become a Poison Vessel. When she came of age and could lie with a man, she could assassinate through that very act.
As she spoke, fragments about Kaguya Gojouno surfaced in Haruhime's memory.
"Oh—right. The defected Kaguya! It was years ago now. There was a coup; the Rokujou family rebelled. After the Gojouno clan slaughtered the Rokujou, for some reason the clan head's eldest daughter, Kaguya Gojouno, cut off her Falna with the beauty goddess Konohanasakuya-hime and fled. I didn't expect her to end up here. I've heard the stories—she's very capable."
Hearing Haruhime's account, Takumi roughly pieced together Kaguya's past. Even as a third party, he could taste the bitterness threaded through it.
"A body full of… no wonder she kept a deliberate distance from me before."
He could see it too—Kaguya's first time was still intact. Judging from the timeline Haruhime gave, Kaguya had been only twelve when she defected. In this era, still underage.
And for Kaguya, perhaps she would spend her life alone: as a "poison vessel," how could she let anyone touch her?
"What a hell to grow up in."
Takumi exhaled a long breath, reined in his thoughts, and let the matter be. He had only wanted to know enough not to poke open old wounds.
Side by side along the street, the two quickly reached Hestia's church. Hephaestus had provided it as a base for Hestia—also where Takumi would be staying.
"Takumi-kun!!!"
At the door, Hestia stood like a wife waiting for her husband's return. The instant she saw him, she came running.
Duang~ Duang~ Duang~
The fuller-than-full curves on her chest bounced, the blue strap drawn taut beneath them taking the brunt of each impact. Even with her outfit keeping the snowscape perfectly hidden, the sheer swell and arc of it was enough to make the heart quake.
Thankfully the streets were empty—after the Dark Faction's murder spree earlier, few people were out wandering at night.
"Gotta make some alterations—get those treasures properly secured."
On ordinary days Hestia was a homebody who didn't show her face much; then it was fine. But now things were different—this needed attention. While he was thinking it through, a soft, warm weight slammed into him.
Thump!!
His vision went dark for an instant—like catching two big slaps from either side. Hestia hugged his head tight, rubbing her chest against him with endless delight.
"Takumi-kun~ you're finally back. I thought something happened to you—I was scared to death."
"Are you hungry? I personally made a whole bunch of jagamarukun!"
The tender fussing over him ended… and then, like a main wife spotting a mistress, Hestia's eyes cut toward the fox-eared beauty at Takumi's side.
"And who are you, and why are you following Takumi-kun!!"
This alluring little vixen screamed trouble at a glance. One slip, and her Takumi might get spirited away by a fox girl! Hestia bristled head-to-toe, wariness sharpening into a distinctly threatening tone.
...
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