Chapter 07

The young man outside the door naturally froze as well.

A voice that he had never heard before came from the room where only Yingjian was supposed to be. Thinking of something, Raiden's pupils contracted, and he pushed the door open.

"Princess Yingjian?!"

He nervously scanned the surroundings and didn't see anyone else. He was about to go to the bedroom when his hand touched the sliding door and he heard Yingjian's thoughts.

"I... I... I'm fine, hahaha... Anyway, just wait outside for a while! I'll be out... no, I'll be out soon!"

"But..."

"I'll give you a big surprise later—just listen to me, little doll!"

Yingjian was completely stunned when she heard the door being pushed open. When she heard Raiden calling her name anxiously and his footsteps approaching her room, she almost completely shut down.

Fortunately, her mind suddenly cleared for a moment, allowing her to pick up the hair accessory that had fallen from her head and put it back on, having an inner dialogue with Raiden.

"What surprise? It's more like a scare!"

The footsteps outside stopped, and she was temporarily safe for now. However, she couldn't be sure if Raiden Shogun would break down the door due to the passage of time to determine her safety. She had to resolve the current situation as soon as possible.

Without the protection of fur, Yae saw the importance of the blanket even more. She huddled in the blanket.

"A real, real hand..."

Yae murmured.

Although she was good at pretending to be a lazy little fox, deep down she was still a human and had always been looking forward to the day of transformation... It's just that this day came too suddenly!

She couldn't just go out to meet the puppets wrapped in a blanket, right? Help... just thinking about it felt extremely embarrassing.

Perhaps even Mama and the others didn't expect this day to come so soon, so naturally they didn't prepare any clothes for her. So... wait, clothes?

Yae looked up and her gaze stopped at the wardrobe. She thought of something and covered her head with the blanket again.

*

After hearing the unfamiliar voice, Raiden Shogun remained on high alert. Even when he heard Yae's voice, he still couldn't help but worry. He had thought several times about opening the door to check the situation inside, but in the end, he resisted and stood quietly at the door, waiting.

"A surprise?"

He had heard this word from the Flagellant Ronin who guarded Tenryou Commission a few days ago. On that day, he saw the warrior with a strong build picking up fallen flowers and weaving them into a crown of flowers, so he curiously asked.

"My little daughter likes it. I'll give her a surprise when I get home."

"It looks complicated, you're amazing."

The warrior laughed heartily, "Just to make my little daughter happy."

"Do surprises make you happy?" After receiving an affirmative answer, he asked, "Then, can you please teach me?"

He gave the flower crown with morning dew to the white little fox, and as the warrior had said, the little fox was very happy, and even ate twice as much as usual. So now, is it time for him to receive a return gift?

Somehow, Raiden Shogun suddenly felt nervous.

One second seemed to stretch out for a long time, but in fact, the heat from the bird egg on the table had not completely dissipated when he heard the sound of the door being opened.

"Yae... Hm?"

Raiden Shogun instinctively turned his head, but was pushed back. He felt a soft warmth instantly, but before he could react, he heard a stuttering voice behind him.

"You... just be mentally prepared... Any-anyway! I've transformed now..."

At first, the girl was still confident, but as time went on, her voice became quieter and almost inaudible.

"Transformed..."

Seeing that Raiden Shogun was listening to her, Yae breathed a sigh of relief. Then she heard the boy's puzzled voice.

"What does that mean?"

Yae: "...It means your little fox has turned into a beautiful girl!"

"My... little fox?"

Seeing that Raiden Shogun still hadn't figured out what was going on, Yae sighed and pressed her forehead against the boy's shoulder.

"Anyway, the person you'll see when you turn around is Yae. Do you understand now?"

A message came to his mind, and Raiden Shogun finally connected the person behind him with Yae. His tense body naturally relaxed.

You can deceive others, but you can't deceive the voice of the heart.

"Can I turn around to see you?" Raiden Shogun said, "If Yae-dono is as beautiful and graceful as she is in her human form, she must be incredibly stunning."

Yae hesitated for a second, then her face turned red in an instant. She lowered her head and covered her face with both hands.

"Of course!" Yae stammered, "We know that ourselves, but you... you shouldn't say that in front of others."

"Why...?"

"Anyway, it's not allowed!"

The restraint on his shoulder was released, and the boy finally turned around. What he saw was a girl with her hands covering her face.

"In that case, I won't be able to see you... Hm?" After noticing Yae's outfit, the boy's purple eyes widened slightly, "Are you wearing... my clothes?"

The girl was dressed in a pure white yukata, with a sloppy knot tied around her waist. The movement of raising her hand caused the loose cuff to slide down, revealing delicate and fair arms like white jade. The loose-fitting clothes made her petite figure even more apparent, and the hem almost touched the floor, sweeping lightly.

"Since there aren't any clothes here that I can wear, should I just wear yours first?" After seeing her embarrassment, Yingjian let go of his hand and placed it down. With his left hand on his waist, although his speech was stuttering, his momentum was strong. "You don't mind, do you? I'll really get angry, you know!"

"Of course not!" As if afraid of being misunderstood, Raiden Ei shook his head repeatedly. "I'm just amazed at how good you look in my clothes. It's just that they don't fit quite right."

"Hmm? Is that a compliment?" Yingjian felt happy inside, but didn't show it on the surface. "Then how will you compliment me when I wear clothes that fit?"

"Naturally, I will praise you truthfully. Lying is a disrespectful habit." The young boy said earnestly, "I still don't understand the concept of beauty between humans, but if I were to compare you to Lord Baal and the Sangonomiya Grand Shrine Priest, you can definitely stand alongside them."

Raiden Ei spoke without any falsehood, genuinely.

He remembered when the girl had praised him as a creation worthy of a deity, with no flaws on his face. Now, when he evaluated her, he also felt that the white-haired, red-eyed girl in front of him could also deserve the admiration of being a "creation of a deity" with those four words.

As she had said, it was indeed surprising. At least when he saw the girl's cheerful appearance, Raiden Ei understood that he was also rejoicing with her.

The beautiful girl had fair and flawless skin, with picturesque eyebrows and eyes. Her sparkling vermilion irises were as transparent as gemstones, carrying a bit of liveliness. Her temperament was like a crescent moon, new and radiant like the glow of smoke and mist. Her silver-white hair was casually draped behind her, and the slightly raised bangs on top of her head added a touch of cuteness and laziness. At this moment, the sly girl, resembling a little fox, had her hand behind her back, her face slightly flushed, and her gaze slightly averted.

"Oh my..." Yingjian felt her face get even hotter. "Who praises people so directly..."

"Is that not right?"

"Of course, of course not. Could I say that you were insincere in your praise?" Yingjian shook her head, as if trying to dispel the heat on her face, and then patted her own face. She said to Raiden Ei, "Let's put this topic aside for now. Your Yingjian is about to starve to death!"

Saying that, Yingjian walked straight to the table, picked up a bird-shaped egg cake, and put it in her mouth.

"Delicious!"

"Help...I just embarrassed myself..."

Hearing Yingjian's inner thoughts, the young boy looked at the girl with his back facing him, lowered his head slightly, and pondered for a while. Then, a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"As long as you like it."

After saying that, his mouth was covered by a piece of bird-shaped egg cake.

"I don't need..."

"You haven't had breakfast for these past few days, right?" Yingjian swallowed the egg cake in her mouth, squinted her eyes, and said, "Enjoying it a little more is something humans would do."

Although she didn't know how Yingjian knew about this, Raiden Ei didn't ask.

"Enjoying it is only natural, but it's a bit troublesome." Raiden Ei took the bird-shaped egg cake in his hand and took a bite, saying, "After all, I have to do everything myself. If I don't eat, I can save some time to do other things."

Not hearing it would have been better, but after hearing these words, Yingjian felt a pang of guilt.

Certainly, she had arranged for a chef at that time. But the problem was that ever since Raiden Ei started following them and learned how to cook, benefiting from his powerful learning ability, he quickly taught himself. It was a tragedy that the apprentice surpassed the master—because she had praised the boy's cooking as being a hundred times better than the chef's.

But after a while, Yingjian discovered that most of her meals were made by Raiden Ei. That was when she realized that the boy had taken the initiative to take on this task. She was very happy about it because the food made by her little puppet was extremely delicious. But now...

Yingjian pressed her chest, expressionless, and said, "Leave lunch to me."

"Hmm?" Raiden Ei seemed surprised that the girl could cook as well, but he still shook his head.

"I've already prepared the ingredients for lunch. It's the sakura-colored tempura that you like."

Yingjian hesitated for a moment. "How about I give it a try?"

"Well...but if you fail, you'll be upset, right?"

"Oh, even though it's my first try, what if I..." Yingjian's voice trailed off.

"I don't want you to be upset."

Yingjian, who had just been stubborn, was stunned. "Huh?"

"Even I have learned how to make this complex dish for a while." The young boy smiled lightly. "You standing in front of me in your current state is already a great surprise to me. So, in order to celebrate your joy even better, let me do it."

Yingjian admits that she is always moved by the frankness of the young man. Whenever the young man talks to her, his beautiful purple eyes always seem to be focused only on her, giving her a special feeling.

But in reality, the young man is like this with everyone - always listening attentively, always earnestly doing things.

"Let me take care of dinner tonight." Yingjian said, "Although my cooking skills are not as good as yours, they're not bad!"

"Sure, I'm looking forward to Princess Yingjian's cooking. Even if it doesn't taste good, I'll eat it all." The young man smiled.

"...There's no need for that!"