"When playful words spill faster than wine… and suddenly, hearts beat louder than they should ~♡"
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Candlelight flickered gently across the room — amber shadows stretching and folding, brushing against soft fabric and half-finished wine glasses. The air smelled like moonlight soaked in maple — Yuefeng wine — smooth and dangerous.
Sozai's teasing silence coiled around the bed where they sat, the atmosphere bubbling with tension that tasted like forgotten nights and half-kept promises.
"But I am ~" Sozai purred, voice dipped in velvet ,
Yurei's eyes twitched. "You're insane! … What do you even mean by 'drink until dry out'?!"
Sozai's laugh was a quiet ripple in the warm air. He leaned back on one palm, robes slightly falling open at the collar, as if even his clothes were too lazy to behave.
"You do the same, don't you?~"
Yurei's face flushed, but not from wine.
"WHAT?! What the hell are you talking about?!" he barked — too quick, too defensive. His mind raced through an avalanche of forbidden thoughts — heat curling in his stomach.
"Don't… don't you dare say something like that!"
Sozai tilted his head, his lashes lowering as he smirked.
"When did you become so dirty-minded, fox princess?~"
"W-WHAT?!" Yurei half-shrieked, shoulders stiff. "Y-You're talking about those…?!"
The air got heavier.
Sozai leaned in, until his breath touched the shell of Yurei's fox ear .
"Yes ~ don't you love drinking Yuefeng wine… Moon Maple wine?" he whispered like a sin. "You used to drink it with me all the time… but ever since you puffed your chest with pride as the Ribbon Prince's right hand… you never share a bottle with me anymore."
Yurei blinked. His mind hit a wall :
" That's what he meant… all this time…
And I — I thought… oh god..."
Heat exploded across his cheeks like fire, mind raced again :
"HOW did I become the dirty-minded one while he's the real dirty minded ?! "
Without even thinking, Yurei lunged. He shoved Sozai down onto the bed, hands fisting into the front of his robes, straddling him with a furious scowl and a face burning redder than wine.
"HOW DARE YOU twist your words like that and make me think dirty things — then act like I'm the dirty one?!"
Sozai only gasped out a laugh, eyes half-lidded, mouth curved like mischief in bloom.
"Ahaha ~ you want proof? ~"
He reached casually to the side, pulling out a sleek moon-glass bottle of Yuefeng wine — its pale creamy hue glowing in the candlelight. A soft echo of liquid sloshed as he tilted it.
"See?" Sozai smirked, winking. "I even brought your favorite."
Yurei's lips parted — no words came out.
His mind, his pride, his fury — all crumbled into one stunned silence :
"God, I really was the dirty-minded fool…
And if Kuradome-sama ever saw this— I'd be dead meat…"
Before he could escape the situation, Sozai reached up and pinched his cheek.
"Look at you," he teased. "All flushed, sitting on top of me ~ riding me like this… who's the scandalous one now?"
Yurei growled — torn between rage and embarrassment.
"SHUT UP!!" he snapped. He tried to get off — but Sozai's arm coiled swiftly around his waist, dragging him back down again in one fluid pull.
Their bodies met with a soft thud.
"Not so fast, fox princess ~" Sozai's voice lowered — still teasing, but touched with something… gentler.
A warmth… a truth hidden in play.
Yurei stilled.
His hands still clutching robes. His breath caught mid-throat.
"D..Don't call me that! And what is that nonsense? Let me go ! "
Sozai chuckled, eyes glowing under the dim light.
"Ah ha ~ if I let go… then you'll fall ~"
The words danced off his tongue — flirtatious on the surface .
Yurei froze for some seconds . He realized he'll really fall from the bed if sozai lets go...but those words also had landed like a quiet knife too.. A reminder.
If he really lets go…
Yurei really would fall..but where ? Somewhere he can't come back ?
[ End of Chapter 30 ]