A heavy thud rattled the door open.
Kuradome stood there, robes swirling, red eyes locking onto the sight before him:
Kyoren clinging desperately to Yurei, face buried against his shoulder.
Yurei's breath caught, eyes going wide...thinking :
" GOD! I'm innocent again, yet it looks criminal!! "
For a single heartbeat, time cracked.
Kuradome's jealousy flared — raw, sharp as a curse.
It wasn't the bite itself that drove him mad — it was that the bite wasn't on him.
His breath grew heavy, rage twisting through every breath.
"W–WHAT… what are you two doing?!"
His voice crashed into the room, cold as steel yet trembling with something no one dared name.
Yurei paled, lips half-open, words gone.
If I could disappear right now…! His soul felt like it left his body, circled the palace, and crashed back into his chest.
Kuradome stepped closer, each movement barely chained by centuries of self-control that thinned with every blink.
"YUREI!! I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE!! WHY ARE YOU TWO HUGGING LIKE PAIRED TAILS?!"
His voice cracked, rising sharper.
"MOVE AWAY FROM MY BOY!!"
Downstairs, the hall fell silent.
Sozai just chuckled lightly, shaking his head.
"He's dead again…"
"S–so… Kuradome-sama ran upstairs because the Crown Prince Kyoren was… clinging to his right hand?"
One of the Lans asked, awkward surprise in his tone.
"Yes," Sozai sighed, almost mockingly. "That's nearly routine for poor right hand Yurei~"
Back upstairs, Yurei felt his throat dry as ash, body frozen.
Kuradome looked ready to kill him on the spot.
Kyoren, sensing the danger, hugged Yurei tighter, his two fluffy fox tails wrapping around him protectively.
Yurei whimpered softly, his own gray tail subconsciously curling around Kyoren's.
For a second, his eyes softened, almost ready to relax...
Then Kuradome's glare, sharp as an arrow, made him stiffen again.
"YU… REI!! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR PRETTY MIND OVER MY BOY'S BITING AND HUGGING?!" Kuradome growled, his voice barely restrained.
Yurei gasped, quickly trying to move back...
Kyoren clung tighter, and Yurei's shoulder, marked by the fresh bite, was exposed...red as a love bite.
Kuradome's gaze darkened even further.
Yurei's lips trembled.
"It-It's not what you see, Kuradome-sama!!"
Yurei's voice cracked, trying to push Kyoren back.
Kyoren's golden eyes widened, trembling.
"E–eh, Yurei! Don't leave me... my dad is Jin'yū himself right now instead of his sword!"
Both fox ears flattened, the sad pitiful sound of distressed foxes echoing.
"L–let me go, Kyoren-sama! O–or… he'll really eat me…!!" Yurei whispered in a panic.
"S–shut up… foxes don't eat other foxes… eh… why would he eat you? We have enough food…!" Kyoren stammered back, equally lost.
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO MURMURING?! SEPARATE! RIGHT. NOW!!" Kuradome roared, louder than before.
Startled, Kyoren and Yurei sprang apart.
In the scramble, Yurei's hanfu slipped off his shoulder, half exposing his chest...
Both Kuradome and Kyoren flushed red, eyes snapping away.
"COVER YOURSELF!!" they yelled in perfect unison, embarrassed.
Face burning, Yurei quickly fixed his clothes, lowering his head, even his neck flushed crimson.
Kyoren and Kuradome glanced at each other ... Kyoren thinking, Shit, Dad caught me copying him…
Kuradome thinking, Why does he copy me only in the worst moments?
Both turned away, faces still red, hearts pounding with a mix of guilt and awkwardness.
Yurei stood shakily, eyes wide, whispering to himself as he bowed and backed out of the room:
"I can never understand that pair of father and son…"
Kuradome's glare followed him to the door.
"WHY ARE YOU STILL WATCHING THE DRAMA?!" he barked, voice somewhere between flustered and furious.
Yurei fled down the hall, hand on his chest, heart still racing. Thinking :
" I'll also never survive another day serving these two…"
[ End of Chapter 24 ]