My eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
In the span of mere moments, the green one had been elevated to a level beyond even the Domain Lords themselves.A friend—that was no light title. The Empress understood perfectly what it meant: a friend was someone regarded as an equal. For her to offer such acknowledgment was unthinkable.
The green one must have been absolutely terrified in her wooden slippers... or so I thought.
"Sure," she said innocently. "I thought we were already friends."
Gah! I had no idea where to look when my fellow Lords turned to stare blankly at me, their expressions a mix of disbelief and horror.
Moments later, as though time itself began to fold backward, the entire scene rewound before our eyes.
The destruction, the anguish, the tears—everything was restored to how it had been just before you had left the green one to attend to a matter inside the palace.
In a sense, one could say that the version of you standing there afterward was a reborn one. For none of the formerly erased retained the memory of what had happened; if you were not told of it later, it would have been as if that tragedy had never occurred at all.
***
After Tamayō finished recounting her tale to her two daughters, both of them were reduced to tears, their sobs soft but heavy. Gold clung tightly to Onee-sama, trembling in her arms.
"It... It... it was all my fault..." Onee-sama murmured, her voice shaking. "I was the one who pushed her into it."
"Do not say that!" Tamayō rose swiftly, cupping her eldest daughter's face with both hands. "That is not true at all. Do you hear me?"
This was exactly what Tamayō had always feared would happen, and the reason she had long avoided ever explaining the full story.
"It was entirely an accident," she continued gently. "The green one simply wanted her elder sister's praise. And her elder sister only wanted to bring out the best in her. There was nothing wrong in that. Do not blame yourself, or anyone else."
At the side, the green one had also begun crying—partly from seeing her sisters weep, and partly from the flood of resurfacing memories.
Onee-sama and Gold immediately turned and embraced her, their arms wrapping around her trembling form.
"Please forgive me, Green!" Onee-sama sobbed. "I swear, everything I do, I only ever want the best for our family. I would never want to see you hurt."
Gold sniffed and added between hiccups, "Geez! Don't just keep epic backstory stuff like this hidden from us! We should share in your pain too, you know!"
Green laughed softly between her lingering sobs and turned to face the tearful Onee-sama.
"Fine," she said with a faint giggle, brushing her tears away. "I will never keep secrets anymore..."
Her gaze met Onee-sama's violet eyes, warm and glistening with affection. She threw her arms around her elder sister again and added playfully, "With this, I assume I will not be punished for my contraband, ehehe."
Onee-sama chuckled through her own tears and reached out to lightly tug Green's nose.
"You little sneak," she said with a fond smile. "That is an entirely different matter."
***
Outside, in the vast courtyard that faced the grand throne room, Red, Brown, Silver, Blue, and Green stood trembling beneath dark crystalline structures suspended over their heads.
Each crystal varied in size according to the severity of their crimes—with Red's crystal being the largest of all.
As for poor Brown, a blazing blue feather floated before him, endlessly tickling him while he clung to the weighty boulder of his punishment. He looked like he was in hell.
"For goodness' sake," Onee-sama sighed, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. "She asked for erotic undergarments she saw in a book, and the Empress actually gave them to her? Their relationship must run deeper than I thought."
Her eyes then drifted toward the far end of the courtyard, where a small gravestone rested. The name "Gold" was engraved upon it.
"Uh... I believe you are being a little too harsh on Gold," Tamayō pleaded gently. "At least remove the seal that prevents her from resurrecting."
"No," Onee-sama replied flatly. "She will be staying there for the entire night."
"Villain! Child murderer!" Tamayō cried dramatically, throwing her arms up as she mourned her daughter.
Behind her, Shiro gleefully stood and rubbed against Tamayō's back, clearly entertained by not being punished.
"Ah, that reminds me!" Tamayō suddenly straightened, wiping her eyes and fixing Onee-sama with a serious look. "Please, purple one, do me a favor."
"What is it, Haha-ue?" Onee-sama asked, glancing sideways at her mother.
"W... Will you please allow me to use the kitchen to—!"
"Never."
"..."
The two stared at each other for a long moment, neither saying another word. The silence hung heavily, broken only by the pitiful grumbling and quiet complaints of the punished foxes beneath their crystals.
"Ahem." Tamayō cleared her throat with exaggerated patience. "Fine then. Will you at least allow me to use my kitchen to prepare a proper meal for my Supreme Lord? If I do not, one of the other women might steal him away from me."
"I heard you the first time," Onee-sama muttered, turning away without even sparing her a glance. "I am not risking another collapse of the Shadow Realm."
Tamayō blinked in disbelief, pressing her palm to her forehead. Maybe... I failed to phrase it properly? she wondered to herself, genuinely confused as to why she even needed permission to use her own kitchen.
***
Out in the open fields beyond the palace, where the grass swayed lazily under the soft wind, Red and Brown walked side by side.
Red's short kimono fluttered lightly as she held an ancient, weathered book in her hands, while Brown strolled with his fingers laced behind his head, looking as casual as ever.
"...So," Brown muttered at last, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, "where exactly are we planning to summon this Great Demon?"
"Anywhere Onee-sama won't easily catch on," Red replied, flipping through the book with mischievous intent as they came to a halt. "The threshold of our domain should do just fine."
She smirked, eyes gleaming as she pointed to a page filled with cryptic runes.
"Hehehe. Now," she said, her voice full of excitement, "let's find out what a powerful demon's meat tastes like!"