Abe Kiyuki

The room was in ruins, fragments of all kinds scattered across the floor.

An oppressive, strange aura flowed through it.

Some belonged to Princess Kaguya, some to the God Tree.

And even... that unfamiliar Ōtsutsuki aura...

Like a child, Princess Kaguya obediently let Yuya pick her up.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Her head rested on his shoulder.

Instinctively, she hid half her face, leaving the other half exposed.

She seemed a little wary.

At least half her body was stiff.

Like her hand, the other half also had wood grain spreading across it.

Yuya did not know what strength of will allowed him to carry Princess Kaguya to the side hall.

All along the way, his steps felt heavy.

Each one seemed to land on his heart.

He carefully settled Princess Kaguya into a chair.

Then he placed a little doll in her lap.

"What would you like to play?"

Yuya asked.

"Gomoku!"

Princess Kaguya hugged the doll and smiled.

"Ever since you created these games, Ye'er, you haven't played them with me."

She looked at Yuya, little stars hidden in her eyes.

As though she wanted to etch his face into her memory...

Her expression was natural, betraying none of her sorrow or pain.

As though the wrinkles on her face had never appeared, though she could no longer even suppress them...

As though they had returned to that night... that night of dazzling fireworks...

Yuya's face was already covered in strips of white paper.

These were Princess Kaguya's punishments.

Whenever Yuya lost, Princess Kaguya stuck one strip on him.

Whenever Yuya won... Princess Kaguya stuck two on him.

Yes, a very fair game.

Yuya accepted the consequences of playing.

After a few rounds, Princess Kaguya grew a little sleepy.

Like a child, she opened her arms to Yuya.

Yuya stepped forward and picked her up.

He brought her back to the room.

His clone had already tidied it up.

Every item was brand-new, arranged in the same layout.

Everything had been put back in its place.

Yuya laid Princess Kaguya on the bed.

He quietly kept watch by her side.

He watched her eyes flutter as she slowly fell asleep...

She was restless in her sleep, her face beginning to show signs of struggle.

It must have been... a very dark... nightmare...

All Yuya could do was gently pat her shoulder.

Little by little, he soothed her.

Just then, Yuya's body jolted.

Memories arrived from a dispersed clone.

That girl... had been found...

Abe Kiyuki, after Abe Fūgetsu, the previous head of the Abe Family, passed away,

Had naturally become the new head of the Main Family thanks to her extraordinary talent, without a single voice of opposition.

Of course, she also served as the family's sole heir.

Yes... she held several positions all by herself... both family head and heir...

It was exhausting, all right...

But fortunately... she still had Little White.

Little White was a Celestial Fox, her shikigami.

A shikigami she had found in a land of ice and snow.

Ever since, Little White had stayed by her side.

And her family, the Abe Family.

It had once been glorious and grand... according to Granny, anyway, though just how grand, she had no idea.

Yet it was a family that should have fallen into decline a thousand years ago... and now barely clung to life.

A family... with only her left in it.

Still, she now managed an entire world all by herself-the Wind-Snow Realm!

Though the shikigami inside were about to kick her out...

But that was all right.

This time, she had come to the outside world on a mission.

To find the branch family lineage that remained outside.

She was too embarrassed to call it seeking refuge...

But she had heard that a gigantic tree had taken over the outside world.

It was riddled with holes and crisscrossed with ravines.

Vital energy was all but gone.

She did not even know whether the branch family still existed...

Kiyuki held a scepter and carried the Onmyō Disc.

She wore an ancient, elaborate Onmyōji outfit.

Her skin was fair and delicate, her beauty peerless and breathtaking.

She was like a fairy who had descended into the mortal world.

At that moment, she held a strange beast in her arms.

It was an extraordinarily mystical white fox.

This was also everything she owned.

But once the shikigami really did kick her out and she came to the outside world,

She discovered that although there was little elemental energy left here,

There were so many streets and towns.

And delicious food and fun things...

Everyone here was talented, and they spoke so nicely...

Why, she had only just come out,

And the moment she arrived in town, people noticed her.

Then someone came up to greet her.

They said something about ninety-nine a slash, a full refund, and no charge.

Then they led her to some pavilion.

A group of people waited on her the whole way, their eyes fixed on her.

As though they were afraid she would run away.

All she could say was that the service was far too good.

Whatever she wanted, she got.

All the delicious food and drinks were brought out.

Faced with that table full of dishes, she simply could not resist.

It smelled so good...

"Hello, your total comes to..."

Halfway through her meal, Kiyuki's mouth fell wide open.

For a long while, she did not bite down.

"Di'n't oo shay ih wash fwee?"

It took her quite a while to swallow the food in her mouth.

Abe Kiyuki asked timidly,

"Didn't you say it was free...?"

The server's smile did not change.

"Have you ever heard of eating a meal without paying?"

"Uh, well..."

Granny had indeed taught her from childhood that paying for a meal was only right...

"If you have no money to pay, please wait here patiently for our pavilion master. He will discuss how to resolve this with you."

The server remained humble and polite.

"Uh, well... is your pavilion master easy to talk to...?"

Abe Kiyuki asked, a little dejected, blinking her wide eyes.

The server smiled without answering.

But a look appeared in his eyes that Kiyuki recognized.

It was worship, fervent devotion.

"If that pavilion master won't listen to reason... I'll just run away..."

Kiyuki muttered under her breath.

After all, none of the people here had any fluctuations of mental power or elemental energy.

She also had Little White, so escaping when the time came should not be much of a problem.

Thinking this, Kiyuki looked up at the bowls and utensils piled high before her.

She felt a little glum.

She had clearly only eaten this tiny bit...

But in the next instant, she saw it.

She saw a sight she would never forget for the rest of her life.

The world seemed to stand still at that moment.

As though it had forgotten to turn because of one person's arrival.

He came from the horizon.

Step by step, he walked across the sky.

His looks were peerless, his handsome features flawless.

His expression was aloof, his bearing ethereal and otherworldly.

He hovered in the air, his white robes whiter than snow.

An ancient, timeworn aura spread from him.

As though he did not belong to this era, peerless and standing apart.

At that moment, his arrival effortlessly made him the center of the world.

A single glance was enough to make it impossible to look away.

Kiyuki even forgot to breathe...

"Is he a succubus...?"

Kiyuki felt her heart suddenly miss several beats.

The next second, his starry eyes swept toward her.

The instant he looked at her, his body seemed to tremble briefly.

His eyes, once still as an ancient well, rippled at that moment.

It was an emotion impossible to put into words.

He took a single step and appeared before her in an instant.

"So you were here..."

I've been searching the whole world for you, and you've been eating?