" Hey , look at me, you two-tailed stubborn fool ," Kuradome ordered gruffly.
His voice was low, a mix of annoyance and something softer he wouldn't name.
Kyoren's face flushed redder. He tried not to meet his father's gaze.
He wasn't used to talking so closely, face to face, with Kuradome... it made him feel strangely exposed… and embarrassed.
Kuradome's eyes narrowed, red as old wine.
"I'll say it once more," he warned, voice calm but coiled tight as a guqin string.
"If you don't look at me… I'll tear out those golden eyes and keep them on my desk, so they can watch me forever while I study or play my guqin."
Kyoren gasped softly, eyes darting aside, mind spinning :
"Should I… call that a threat or something else…?"
"One… two…"
Kuradome raised a clawed hand, moving it closer, shadows dancing across Kyoren's cheek.
His patience thinned, and his red gaze darkened...like he might truly follow through if Kyoren kept resisting.
Feeling his time slipping away, Kyoren quickly looked up, voice shaky and annoyed
"D-don't count like that! I'm… I'm looking! Aren't I?!"
The half-healed stab wound on Kyoren's chest was still visible, Yurei's magic only partway mending it.
Scars trailed across his arm and neck too, reminders of battles Kyoren couldn't heal himself from.
Kuradome's gaze swept over him, sharp yet quietly sad.
"You're a twisted tail… always turning until someone grabs you straight."
He sighed, voice softer but no less strict.
"Maybe I'll die from having to keep babysitting you forever… When will you finally stand on your own?"
Kyoren tried to speak, fox ears drooping low, cheeks pink with guilt.
"B-but...."
"No 'buts' before your elders," Kuradome cut in, voice suddenly firmer.
"Maybe you've forgotten, but that was one of the rules I spent half my life teaching you.
How can the son of the Crown Ribbon be so stubborn, careless, and childish?
When I was your age, I was already ruling that kingdom alone."
Kyoren's breath caught.
His heart thudded, caught between embarrassment and guilt, yet a spark of silent defiance burned under it.
"Why does he always insult me like this…?"
The thought stung as much as it comforted.
Instinctively, Kyoren's gaze flicked away again... but Kuradome's hand shot out, gripping the back of Kyoren's head by the scarf tied through his grey hair.
Not painfully hard, but firm enough that Kyoren winced and his mouth fell slightly open.
"No looking away when someone speaks to you. That's cluelessness," Kuradome growled, voice low.
"A future Crown Ribbon doesn't act this nervous around anyone."
[ End of Chapter 27 ]