Finally, after checking over and over, there was no problem. As for the bra Qingli prepared—its style and color—sorry, I don’t want to talk about it.

The size is B+. Why can I say the size but not the style or color? Because style and color can change anytime, but size can’t.

Right! So B+ is enough! Don’t grow any bigger!

“Lord Luo, don’t worry,”

Qingli saw me fixate on my own chest, clearly reading it wrong, and tried to comfort me.

“Lord Luo is only in the juvenile stage. You’ll develop more as you grow.”

I stumbled a step, almost fell again.

“Also, stop with ‘Lord Luo,’” I said, blushing and forcing a topic change. “Just call me Xiao Yao. Luo Xiaoyao.”

For the first time ever, I felt the great wisdom packed inside the name my mother gave me.

Hearing that, Qingli reacted a bit too much. She seemed flattered and startled, stared for a moment, then shyly agreed, “Mm… X–Xiao Yao.”

Too cute. She’s a fairly tall, straight-haired, black-haired, elegant girl. She looks so refined and reliable, yet she’s actually airheaded and a little timid. That gap moe… ah.

Ah… why do you have to follow me and marry some future jerk.

Thinking that, my heart felt like a knife was cutting it.

Anyway, the Yao Race’s “contract” is really something. When I got close to Qingli, I could feel a faint link in my soul. For a moment, I even thanked this messed‑up fate. At least it sent me a cute little maid, right?

“Now Luo… Xiao Yao, you can’t go back to class, can you? Let’s go for a walk. The traitors probably won’t dare to act in public.”

She clearly still needed time to adapt to my name. A beauty asked me out, so of course I agreed on the spot. But I did have one question.

“Why wouldn’t they dare to act in public?”

“Because this is human society,” her voice carried a hint of sadness. “This is human society. Humans outnumber us by a lot, and their top combat power is stronger than ours. We’ve always had to live curled up.”

I fell silent too. I raised a hand to comfort her, then let it drop. My mood was even more complicated than hers. I was one of the humans who ‘own’ this world, and suddenly I’m the head of an alien race… What am I supposed to do now?

“Then… if they won’t act in public, can I change back into pants?”

Heaven and earth as witness: after all that inner struggling, this was my first thought. That proves my pure manly heart. If Heaven has eyes, please at least let me be a male fox.

Then it hit me. Even male foxes have to drag family and clan to cling to someone. If the person happened to favor men—forget it. Dear Heaven, if You have eyes, please ignore what I just thought.

“No,” Qingli rejected it very cleanly. “They just don’t really dare. The human sage Marx said when profit exceeds one hundred percent, capital will take risks and ignore all law. Killing you would be huge profit to them, enough to make them ignore rules set by human powerhouses.”

You even know Das Kapital! Who’s the maid here, you or me!

Negotiations failed. I ended up wearing this thin outfit and went out with her.

Walking with Qingli on the street, that so‑called male sensitivity made me notice lots of uncomfortable stares… Ah, no. Men don’t have a sixth sense. Women do. I just felt totally uneasy having other guys look at me with lewd eyes.

Yes, lewd. I know exactly how this body wrecks men. Foxes, huh. Even this small, it carries a natural seductive air. Especially that chest that’s already taking shape. In otaku terms, it’s that thing… Right, baby‑faced with a big bust.

I used to love that trait. Now, I just want to be completely flat.

“Xiao Yao, what are you thinking?”

My silence drew Qingli’s concern. I had to give her a smile and gently shake my head.

Qingli stopped walking.

I turned, confused, and found her staring straight at me. Her golden pupils didn’t blink, locked onto my eyes. In their reflection, I saw my face—so full of pain, helplessness, and confusion.

My eyesight is actually this good?

While I was thinking that, she took my hand. The soft feel made my heart skip. I was about to say something when she spoke first.

“Xiao Yao looks very hurt. Please tell me.”

…Yeah. I really am hurt.

“By next week, I’ll be like this.”

“What about my parents? How do I face them? What about my life? What about my friends and family?”

“I have to serve a race I only learned about today. For it, become someone else’s property, and even kill myself to protect the race. What can I do? How am I supposed to know—”

By then my voice had a sob in it. In my wine‑red eyes, cold tears must have been falling.

“How am I supposed to know!”

I kept joking bitterly before, roasting myself and everything around me, only because I was scared that if I relaxed, I’d think of this brutal reality.

“You tell me it’s fate, decided by the soul. I say no, and that scary old grandpa threatens me. I don’t even know what a soul is!”

I couldn’t hold it anymore. I threw myself into Qingli’s arms, buried my face, and cried. It’s because this body’s tear glands wouldn’t behave. It’s not that I’m grown and still crying!

Qingli gently hugged me. She didn’t care about the surprised looks around us. She lowered her head to my ear and spoke softly.

“I can feel Xiao Yao’s grievance.”

Yeah, I’m aggrieved. Why do I have to become a Nine Tailed Fox when I did nothing, and make life‑or‑death choices for a race? If I decide well, I pay with my body. If I decide badly, I pay with my life. Either way I can’t win. Why.

Especially that Elder Mink. I just said one casual sentence, and he… was that fierce to me.

“It’s okay, Xiao Yao. I’ll stay with you. When you handle real‑life things, when you face your parents, when you later marry someone else.”

She stroked my back. Warmth spread from her palm to deep inside.

“I will be with you, always.”