"This looks like so much fun! Let me try!" Sangonomiya Kokomi looked as if she had stumbled upon some wonderfully curious toy, her expression one of eager excitement.
She swiftly picked up the kettle of hot water nearby, then grabbed the paper-thin teacup and began pouring water onto it.
"Wait—" Seeing this, Yuki moved to stop her.
But Sangonomiya Kokomi was too quick. She directly poured the steaming hot water down. Soon, the room was filled with the agonized wails of a young girl.
"Hot, it's so hot!!! Waaah!!! Hot, hot, hot..."
Sangonomiya Kokomi's pretty face was on the verge of tears. Mist welled up in her eyes as teardrops gathered and beaded at the corners of her eyes one after another.
Meanwhile, the paper cup she had originally been holding had been tossed onto the wooden table. A large patch of the paper had been soaked through, the whole sheet now crumpled and wrinkled.
The paper cup, like a painting ruined by water, had become discolored and blurred. Clearly, her experiment had not produced the miraculous scene Yuki had demonstrated earlier. Instead, her own small hand had been scalded bright red.
"Aiya, how could you be so careless!" Seeing this from the side, Yae Miko quickly stood up to find medicine.
As for Yuki, he simply shook his head. "I hadn't even finished speaking—who would have thought you'd be so impulsive."
He stood up and took Sangonomiya Kokomi's hand, seeing that a large portion of her palm was now red and scalded.
"Wuu wuu, why did this happen?" Sangonomiya Kokomi sniffled softly. Enduring the stinging pain of the scald was making her feel quite miserable.
Yuki gently took her hand and lightly stroked her palm with his own. Very quickly, that searing, burning pain vanished completely.
The redness and swelling on her hand receded, returning to its previous fair, smooth state, like a baby's skin.
"There now, it's all better. Don't cry." Yuki soothed Sangonomiya Kokomi as he spoke, much like a mother comforting her child.
Seeing this, Sangonomiya Kokomi felt an unprecedented sense of calm and security in her heart.
Unknowingly, she seemed to have forgotten the earlier pain, her gaze fixated in a daze upon Yuki, who was holding her hand.
At that moment, a single thought occupied her mind: Let's just get married right here, right now!
As the young girl's imagination ran wild, her eyes now held nothing but Yuki. He's so good at comforting people. It makes my heart feel so warm, so sweet! I want to propose on the spot! Maybe... I should just do it?!
Just as Sangonomiya Kokomi was about to follow through, to act upon her feelings, Yae Miko returned from the other side.
She entered with the medicine and saw this scene. Her dark brows furrowed. The sight of Yuki holding Sangonomiya Kokomi's hand in such an intimate posture sent a great surge of jealousy coursing through her.
"Ahem! What do you two think you're doing?" She coughed dryly and glared at the pair, full of fire.
And Sangonomiya Kokomi, on her side, was interrupted by Yae Miko's words. What a shame, she inwardly sighed with regret.
Seeing that Sangonomiya Kokomi was already fine, Yuki let go of her hand. Feeling that warm, reassuring touch withdraw, a sense of loss welled up in Sangonomiya Kokomi's heart.
Such a pity. That big, warm, reassuring hand... what if I never get to feel it again?!
Though she thought this in her heart, Sangonomiya Kokomi still maintained her composure and answered. "N-nothing. It was just Yuki-kun treating my scald!"
Hearing this, Yae Miko glanced at Sangonomiya Kokomi's hand and, seeing that the redness and swelling were indeed gone, nodded.
After everyone had been seated once more, Sangonomiya Kokomi then asked why her attempt to pour water had failed.
"Of course. That's because once I've reduced something's dimensions, it essentially becomes a painting—a painting depicting a teacup. And since that's the case, it's naturally subject to the laws of reality. The reason I was able to make the poured water also transform into the water within the painting was, naturally, because I used my ability to convert it."
Yuki's explanation made everything click for the two women. Only then did they understand—it wasn't that the paper teacup was miraculous.
The truly miraculous one had always been Yuki, who possessed such an ability. Afterward, Yuki also demonstrated for the two of them how he could revert the dimensionally reduced teacup back to its original form.
By now, the two of them were already quite accustomed to such wondrous sights.
After this, the three quickly shifted the topic of conversation to other directions. They chatted for over an hour before Sangonomiya Kokomi felt it was getting late and decided to return to Watatsumi Island.
Bidding farewell to Yuki and Yae Miko, she boarded a ship at the harbor bound for Watatsumi Island.
Onboard the ship, her gaze lingered wistfully in the direction of Narukami Island. Gently, she clasped the very hand that Yuki had held earlier, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl into a sweet smile.
The retainers who had accompanied her, seeing their priestess in such a state, couldn't help but be somewhat baffled.
"General Gorou, didn't Lady Sangonomiya just go to visit the Shogun? How has she returned in such a state? She seems almost reluctant to leave Narukami Island."
The one questioned by the retainers was a man named Gorou, who had brown hair and a pair of brown ears. He was the general of the Watatsumi Army and Sangonomiya Kokomi's trusted, most loyal retainer.
"You're asking me this, but I don't understand it either!" Gorou spread his hands, indicating he was just as clueless.
"Though I do feel that Lady Sangonomiya seems to have... fallen in love! Judging by Lady Sangonomiya's expression, it's exactly the same look my neighbor Granny Luo gives Grandpa Lin from two doors down. So I'm certain—she's fallen in love!"
The moment Gorou said this, it stirred an uproar among the retainers on the ship. They couldn't understand. Hadn't she gone for a meeting with the Shogun? How had she suddenly ended up in love?
"Who could it be, to make Lady Sangonomiya so utterly captivated?"
"Seeing her like that, she really does seem reluctant to leave!"
"Could it be the Shogun herself?"
"What?! Are you stupid? The Shogun is a woman!"
"Are you saying Lady Sangonomiya has such unsavory tastes? Keep spouting nonsense and I'll deal with you myself!"
"Alright, alright, I was wrong, big brother, I was wrong!"
Sangonomiya Kokomi herself was completely unaware of her retainers' discussion. She was already looking forward to her next meeting with Yuki.
And she resolved that she absolutely must surpass Yae Miko in terms of assets. Then she could present a whole new Sangonomiya Kokomi before Yuki.
After seeing Sangonomiya Kokomi off, Yuki and Yae Miko returned to Tenshukaku. By the time they were back, Ei had also finished her work and was resting in the tea room.
Yuki and Yae Miko found her and brought up the matter of having Kujou Sara take control of the Kujou Clan.
After hearing them out, Ei thought it over and found the idea acceptable. As for how to do it, that was naturally left to Yuki—he would control the key figures in the Kujou Clan.
Seeing the troublesome issue of the Kujou Clan resolved, Ei breathed a sigh of relief. The struggle for the new clan head had been plaguing her immensely.
The position was simply too coveted, with many in the Kujou Clan wanting it—even distant relatives outside the direct line had their ambitions stirred.
The two direct sons of the Kujou Clan couldn't reach any consensus, each fighting for the position, making this the foremost issue troubling Ei.
Now that it was settled, and the position would go to Kujou Sara, someone she could trust, Ei felt far more at ease.