"Leonida?"
Both twins nodded.
Silver glanced back at the distant gates.
"Aster's sister?"
"Yes," June said.
"The current Demon Queen?"
"Yes."
The three walked along the moonlit road, the gates fading into the distance.
"So she's the strongest demon in the Domain?" Silver asked.
The twins exchanged a look.
"No," June replied.
Silver arched an eyebrow beneath his mask.
"No?"
"Master Scarlet is stronger."
That made him take notice.
Julie clasped her hands behind her head.
"Leonida is Queen only because Master Scarlet wasn't here for the last competition."
June nodded in agreement.
"If Master Scarlet hadn't been away, she probably would've become Demon Queen instead."
"Probably?" Julie scoffed. "She would've mopped the floor with her."
Silver mulled it over. Scarlet was already absurdly powerful. Cornelius was tough. Talon was tough. Rin had been downright nightmare fuel. But the more he learned about Scarlet, the more she seemed like a walking exaggeration.
"So Leonida knows Scarlet's stronger?" he asked.
June hesitated. "She's heard the gossip."
Julie snorted. "She just doesn't buy it."
Silver blinked. "How could she not?"
"Because she's Leonida."
June continued, "Leonida only trusts strength she's witnessed firsthand. Rumors don't matter. Scarlet wasn't around when Leonida became Queen, so as far as she's concerned—"
"She hasn't passed the 'Punch Me and Win' test," Silver finished.
"Exactly."
Julie grinned. "That's why she keeps bugging Master for a fight."
Silver recalled the story of Aster trying to stop Scarlet while she was carrying the newborn twins.
"So that's why she had Aster block Scarlet at the gate?"
"Yes."
"And Scarlet ended up beating Aster."
"Yes."
"Did Leonida ever get her fight?"
"No."
Silver almost felt sorry for her—almost.
Then Julie threw both arms in the air. "But she'll get her chance in ten years!"
June smiled.
"The next competition for the throne."
Silver glanced between them.
"And you think Scarlet will join?"
"She better!" Julie said with conviction.
June chuckled. "We've been trying to talk her into it."
"Trying?"
"Master isn't interested in becoming Queen."
That caught Silver off guard.
Someone with the power to rule the entire Sien Domain simply didn't care to do it.
Julie sighed.
"What a waste."
"We'll get her on board eventually," June said.
"And then Master Scarlet will be Demon Queen!"
Julie struck a dramatic pose, pointing toward the moon.
"The winner's already decided!"
"You do realize there are ten years before it happens."
"Doesn't matter."
"And presumably other powerful demons competing."
"Doesn't matter."
"Including Leonida."
"Doesn't matter."
"Zerath?"
Julie hesitated.
"…Still doesn't matter."
June snorted with laughter.
Silver shook his head. Their faith in Scarlet was almost comically unshakable—bordering on the kind of absurdity usually reserved for cult pamphlets. Then again, given what he'd heard about her… maybe it wasn't entirely misplaced.
And so, with a collective shrug at the laws of probability, the road dragged them toward another section of the Domain.
The architecture changed as they approached.
Dark stone gave way to elegant compounds of polished wood and sweeping roofs. Moonflowers grew along the pathways, their pale petals glowing beneath the eternal night, while fox-shaped lanterns burned with strange blue flames.
At the center of it all stood an enormous compound.
June smiled.
"We're here."
"The Demon Fox Family?"
"Our home," Julie replied.
The twins stepped through the entrance, with Silver close behind.
At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Fox demons moved about the courtyard—some training under the moonlight, others chatting beneath covered walkways. Younger ones darted between buildings while elders watched on.
Silver kept walking, but an odd feeling nagged at him.
He glanced left.
Women.
Right.
Women.
A group of younger fox demons hurried past.
Girls.
In the distance, warriors trained.
Women.
Scanning the compound, he realized dozens of fox demons were in sight—yet not a single man among them.
"Wait."
June and Julie froze.
Silver glanced around again.
"Where are the men?"
June frowned. "The men?"
"The male fox demons."
Realization crossed her face. "Oh. There aren't any."
Silver stared. "None?"
"None."
"In the whole clan?"
Julie smirked. "Not a single one."
Silver looked around once more. "How?"
"The Demon Fox Clan is entirely female," June explained. "It doesn't matter who the other parent is. Human, demon, —if a Demon Fox has a child, that child will always be a girl."
Silver's eyes returned to the twins.
"So every fox demon here…"
"Female," Julie confirmed.
Silver absorbed that.
Another question crossed his mind: if demon foxes don't give birth to males, how was he born? June cleared his doubt, explaining that at the time, his mother was still considered a human woman and hadn't yet begun the path of mana.
"What about you two?"
The twins froze.
Silver caught the shift instantly. Julie's playful grin disappeared, and June's fox ears drooped.
Silver glanced between them. "Who was your mother?"
June hesitated before replying. "A human."
Silver's eyes widened. Julie stared at the moonlit buildings ahead. "We never knew her."
And as they continued deeper into the home their mother had never lived long enough to see, June began telling Silver how two Demon Foxes had once been born into the human world.
Years Ago
Their mother had been born into a wealthy merchant family.
There had been nothing extraordinary about her childhood.
She was educated, sheltered and expected to eventually marry into another merchant household. Her family measured almost everything through profit, reputation and usefulness.
Her future had already been decided for her.
Then the fire mana arrived. At first, it was barely noticeable—a touch of warmth whenever she stepped into a room, candles burning just a bit brighter when she was near, embers stubbornly refusing to fade in her presence. But soon, it intensified. Fire mana from all around began to gather to her, following her, clinging to her, seeping inside. And then—two new lives began to grow within her. There was no father, no hidden lover, no scandal to uncover. Yet her family didn't care about the truth. They only cared about appearances.
A merchant house survived on reputation, and an unmarried daughter carrying children whose father didn't exist was a disgrace they could neither explain nor hide.
The truth was something none of them could grasp. The Demon Fox Clan had a way of reproducing unlike any other race. Deeply attuned to fire mana, they shared a unique bond with it. On rare occasions, if someone outside the clan possessed an exceptionally strong natural affinity for fire, the dormant Demon Fox essence lingering within the world's mana would be drawn to them. It was an extraordinary event. When it occurred, the fire mana would gather, condense, and eventually take shape. A new Demon Fox would be born. In this case—two.
Their mother never chose it, and she didn't even understand it. Her family only watched as her body changed, their fear slowly turning to disgust. Then came the birth of the children—June and Julie—two tiny girls with unmistakable fox ears and tails. Any hope their mother had of convincing her family vanished the moment they saw them. They weren't human; they were demons. That was all it took. The merchant family cast out their own daughter without hesitation, stripping her of their name, their protection, and any support. No money, no servants, no home—nothing.
The same wealthy family who could have ensured her and her children's comfort for life simply turned away, leaving her to fade into obscurity. She had just given birth, her body still weak, yet there she was on the streets with two newborns in her arms. That's when the final chapter of her life began. She had never known poverty, having grown up with servants and cozy rooms, but now she slept anywhere she could—alleys, abandoned buildings, empty stables if no one noticed. One by one, her possessions disappeared: first the jewelry, then fine clothes, then anything that could buy another meal. Her health declined, but the twins lived. That became all that mattered. If there was only enough food for one, she ate less. If there was a single warm blanket, it covered the children. On cold nights, she kept them against her until morning.
June and Julie were Demon Foxes.
Even as newborns, fire mana naturally gathered around them.
It kept them warm.
Strengthened them.
They were protected.
Their mother, however, had no such safeguard.
The same fire mana that brought them into the world had already taken a heavy toll on her entirely human body.
Childbirth had left her weaker than ever, and hunger took what little was left. Weeks stretched into months, and the merchant's daughter became almost unrecognizable. The fine clothes were gone, her face grew gaunt, and her strength slipped away.
She carried both children, two girls born from a mystery she couldn't explain, daughters her family had labeled as monsters. She never left them, not once. Even when walking became nearly impossible, no one came. Her family knew she was in the city, and they had the wealth and influence to find her, to save her—but they didn't. To them, she was already lost.
Scarlet stumbled upon her by chance, passing through human lands when she caught the faint trace of something strange—fire mana. Not just a lot of it, but Demon Fox fire mana, which should have been impossible. She followed the trail through bustling streets, into poorer quarters, and farther still, until she reached an abandoned building on the outskirts. Inside, she found a human woman at death's door, clutching two newborn Demon Foxes tightly to her chest. Scarlet understood instantly what had happened, though the merchant's daughter never had. All the woman knew was that her children were different, and she no longer had the strength to keep them alive. It was already too late—her body had endured more than it could bear.
Months spent sacrificing what little she had for the twins.
She had reached the end.
Scarlet could only watch as the woman, with the last of her strength, placed the two children in her arms. Few words were spoken—none were needed. A dying mother had found someone who understood what her daughters were, and that was enough. She gave everything she had left in the world to a complete stranger: two little girls, June and Julie. And Scarlet took them in.
The mother told Scarlet to tell the twins that she was grateful they were born, because at least she'd been able to be free and make her own choices for once. She died shortly after, not surrounded by the wealthy family she'd been born into, nor in the merchant estate where she'd grown up. Instead, she was abandoned in a crumbling building, comforted only by the thought that her daughters wouldn't share her fate. Scarlet stayed there for a while.
Two tiny fox demons lay nestled in her arms. Their birth had been nothing short of extraordinary, but their survival came at a cruel cost. Still, Scarlet knew right away—they needed to be with their own kind. She wrapped them in her cloak and set off on the long road home. That was how she came to stand before the gates of the Sien Domain, carrying two newborns in her arms. That was the day Aster stopped her.
Scarlet had spent the trip carrying two orphaned Demon Foxes to the one place in the world where they'd be safe from being treated like monsters just for existing. And because Leonida had wanted her to fight, Aster had picked that exact day to stand in Scarlet's way. Silver finally understood why Scarlet had been so irritated—
Maybe Aster was lucky to have only taken a beating.
Silver snapped back to the present as he trailed behind June and Julie, venturing further into the Fox Family compound.
His gaze drifted, taking in the scene with fresh eyes. The fox demons around them weren't just odd residents of a strange land anymore. This was the home June and Julie's mother had longed for them to have, without ever knowing it was real. She had passed away in the human world, while her daughters had grown up here—under the eternal moon, among their own kind. Silver's eyes followed the twins ahead of him. Scarlet hadn't just trained them; she had brought them home.
June stopped in her tracks, ears twitching. Julie froze beside her, both turning toward the largest residence ahead. Something shifted in the air. Julie, usually unable to stay still, went quiet. June's eyes widened. Silver sensed it too—a presence. Heavy. Warm. Powerful. The twins recognized it immediately. After everything since leaving the Domain—the Academy, Nella, Talon, Rose, Rin, and the long journey back—they had finally arrived.
Julie moved first.
Then June.
Silver watched the two girls rush toward the residence.
For a moment, he stayed where he was.
So this was Scarlet.
The woman the twins believed was meant to rule the entire Sien Domain.
The one who had once found two abandoned children and carried them across the world.
And if Silver could persuade her—
His future master.
Silver adjusted his mask.
Then followed the twins.
At last—
It was time for the reunion.