Purr... mm-mm-mm...

Not long after, LilyBell lay obedient across Scarlet Leaf’s knees, like a curled cat, purring soft as warm rain, while Scarlet Leaf stroked her chin.

Her hands and feet tucked in; then she bared her belly, defenseless, like a small animal under moonlight.

As a country girl, Scarlet Leaf handled little creatures with field-breeze ease, and the fox maiden before her was just a taller fox.

Scarlet Leaf set a palm on LilyBell’s belly and rubbed downward, gentle as falling petals, and LilyBell let her guard melt into quiet peace.

Hah... Don’t think... this means you win... purr... Her voice drifted like smoke.

Her mouth kept fighting, but her body told the truth, soft as snow.

Behind her, an orange tail revealed itself and swayed left and right, happy as autumn grass in wind.

That tail looked big and plush, yet Scarlet Leaf knew better than to touch it; animals hate fingers on their tails, like thorns under fur.

Purr... You’re not bad... alas, my heart’s already Lord Xueyu’s; still, if you keep serving, I could grant you little rank, sweet as ripe fruit.

LilyBell, lulled by Scarlet Leaf’s touch, floated a little, like driftwood on a lake, and even thought of coaxing her into the witch ranks.

She never expected Scarlet Leaf to cut straight through the air and refuse without courtesy, cold as mountain shade.

“Ah, no thanks. I have to go home and run my business,” she said, plain as water.

“Business? What business?” Her ears pricked like a fox at dusk.

LilyBell bristled, unwilling, and her desire to keep Scarlet Leaf only grew, like a net tightening.

“What’s good about business? Buy and sell wrong, and you lose money; stay as a witch, and you’ll have coin like rain.”

“No matter where you go, even local nobles, even royal kin, have to bow three parts, like bamboo in wind.”

“So think it over again,” she coaxed, voice sweet as honey.

“No,” Scarlet Leaf poured cold water. “And I don’t know magic; I just forge and sharpen, spark and stone.”

“Ah...? Forge and sharpen? You?” Her eyes went wide like moons.

She hadn’t imagined the soft, dough-like girl was a blacksmith, fire and iron.

“You don’t believe me?” Scarlet Leaf asked, voice mild as spring.

“Then prove it, if you really can.” She still clung to Scarlet Leaf’s knees like ivy.

This was your idea, words like a hammer.

In seconds, LilyBell regretted it, cold water down her spine.

Scarlet Leaf opened her hand, took LilyBell’s tiny fist, then clamped down like iron.

Crack!

“It hurts! Let go, let go! I believe, I believe! Waa—!” Her cry ripped like torn cloth.

Years of forging had tempered Scarlet Leaf’s body; her grip was no joke, a river-stone force.

She felt she used barely half, yet LilyBell heard her finger joints click out of place, crisp as breaking twigs.

The pain speared her brain, and tears burst, quick as summer rain.

Even after Scarlet Leaf let go, LilyBell’s fingers trembled, shivering like leaves, out of her control.

Scarlet Leaf patted her head, gentle as a breeze, and said:

“Now you believe, right? Can I leave?” Her tone was clear as water.

LilyBell kept tears on her cheeks, blew on her joints, and answered, breath like mist.

“I believe, I believe... then go... no, wait! You can’t go! You haven’t told me your tie to Lord Xueyu!”

Realizing, LilyBell grabbed Scarlet Leaf again, quick as a fox.

This little fox was hard to fool, trickier than smoke.

Scarlet Leaf could only tell the truth: “...No tie. We first met today...” Her words were plain as rice.

Of course, LilyBell didn’t buy it; she jumped up and pointed at Scarlet Leaf, accusing like a lightning fork.

“If there’s no tie, why would you stand beside her?!” Her voice was sharp as a blade.

Scarlet Leaf folded her arms, thought a moment, then tilted her head like a sparrow.

“Because... coincidence?” Her tone was light as wind.

“...” The silence sat heavy, like fog.

A brief, awkward stillness fell, like frost on grass.

Then LilyBell turned, glared at the two shikigami with an “it’s your fault” face, and bowed hard to Scarlet Leaf, like a reed bending.

“Sorry! It’s my bad! If you want to leave, go!” The words clattered like pebbles.

Scarlet Leaf brought her palms together, smiling warm as sunlight, and said:

“Ah, then bye-bye! My family runs a forge in Chulde; swing by when you’ve got time!”

Just when LilyBell and Scarlet Leaf thought it was over, a hoarse shout came from not far away, like a crow’s call.

“Leaf—! Where—are—you—!” The cry stretched like a rope.

It was Lingcai, no question. Hearing her, Scarlet Leaf cupped her hands like a megaphone and yelled back.

“I’m—right—here—!”

Following the voice, Lingcai found Scarlet Leaf fast, and Xueyu came with her, clutching a longsword yet shrinking like a startled deer.

At the instant she saw LilyBell, Xueyu shivered twice, cold as winter water.

“Oh no, it’s really her...” Her heart sank like a stone.

She had hoped she might avoid LilyBell; now that hope shattered, glass on the ground.

But LilyBell thought otherwise, bright as sunrise.

Seeing Xueyu, her face overflowed with joy, and a shy tint bloomed like peach petals.

“L-Lord Xueyu... you did come to see me...” Her voice trembled like a reed.

Hearing that tender tone, Xueyu flinched again, nearly dropping her sword, hands slick as rain.

But Lingcai had no time for Xueyu; all her focus burned on her wife, like a lantern.

“Leaf! You okay? Hey! Fox over there! Give me back Leaf, and I’ll trade you this rotten elf!” Her voice cracked like thunder.

She grabbed Xueyu’s sleeve and waved her like a flag.

“You’re selling me?!” Her eyes flew wide like lamps.

Lingcai locked both arms around Xueyu and hauled with all her strength toward LilyBell, muscles taut as bowstrings.

“What’s there to sell! Leaf got grabbed because of you! Move it!” Her words snapped like twigs.

Xueyu latched onto a broken wall and clawed backward, like a cat on tiles.

“No! I’m not going!! We agreed to face LilyBell together! Traitor! You’d sell me for your wife!” Her outrage flared like fire.

“Duh, I sell you to get my wife back; that’s normal,” Lingcai said, as calm as stone.

Xueyu tossed her sword aside, pushed at Lingcai like peeling off sticky rice, and cried in despair.

“Caicai! If you don’t let me go, I’ll hate you forever! I’ll haunt you even as a ghost!” Her vow chilled like night wind.

“You had it coming! Villain grinds villain! Stay put!” Her words clanged like iron.

Lingcai wrestled the fleeing Xueyu, then yelled back to LilyBell, voice bright as a bell.

“Come grab her! I can’t hold long! I brought you Xueyu; just return that girl beside you! If you agree, say so!”

LilyBell hadn’t expected things to flip so fast, and she answered blankly, like a deer in light:

“Ah... okay, I agree...”

Xueyu struggled in despair and shook her head, like a willow in wind:

“I didn’t agree! Her word doesn’t count!!” Her voice bit sharp as ice.