Why Is His Highness Still as Fond of This as a Child?

"Mm, it's nothing. I was just asking." Li Dan released her, his tone calm, as though that intimate gesture just now had been something utterly insignificant.

Yet that kiss was like a stone cast into a tranquil lake, stirring up towering waves in Tamamo-no-Mae's heart.

A mist immediately clouded her foxlike eyes, making her gaze hazy and burning. Her cheeks flushed so red they seemed ready to bleed, and the fox tails she had kept hidden slipped out uncontrollably behind her, wagging happily like a puppy praised by its owner, brimming with delight and excitement.

"Your Highness~" Tamamo-no-Mae's voice carried a thick nasal lilt, soft enough to melt into water.

She had secretly wondered before whether His Highness disliked fox spirits, why he always seemed so close yet distant toward her. But today, he had not only kissed her of his own accord, but also acted so intimately with her. Clearly, he did have feelings for her.

The sudden joy left her at a loss. She could only instinctively move closer to Li Dan, wrapping both arms tightly around his arm as if she had seized some priceless treasure.

Feeling her dependence on him, Li Dan curled his lips into a faint smile and patted the back of her hand reassuringly. "All right. From now on, I'll treat the three of you equally."

"Mm, Your Highness."

Tamamo-no-Mae nodded firmly, a blissful smile blooming across her face. Her eyes were filled with trust and adoration.

Hachishaku-hime, who had watched everything from the side, had a faint, nearly imperceptible trace of jealousy flash through her eyes.

She pursed her lips slightly, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the sofa cushion beneath her.

But she quickly suppressed her emotions and said nothing more. She knew His Highness rarely came home, and she could not