When Feng Ye returned home, his sister had already been there for a while.
"Servant! Where were you sneaking off to again? Spit it out—were you out gallivanting with other girls?" Coco stood on the sofa, hands on her hips, scrutinizing her brother. After being cornered by two creeps after school, she’d fled home trembling, hoping for comfort—only to find Feng Ye absent. Her relief had curdled into a simmering grudge.
So when Feng Ye walked in, he was met with his sister’s stormy little face.
After her accusation, Coco commanded Rollroll to sniff him for traces of other girls. The chubby dog waddled over reluctantly, snout twitching near Feng Ye’s clothes. Then Rollroll’s eyes flew wide with shock—he hadn’t expected his young mistress’s offhand remark to turn out true.
One glance at Rollroll’s stunned doggy expression, and Feng Ye knew the jig was up. He shot a mental warning through his spiritual energy: *One bark about this, and you’ll be hotpot filling.*
Rollroll’s jowls drooped in misery. *What kind of siblings are these?*
"Stupid dog! Did you smell anything?" Coco called from the sofa. "Snitch, and I’ll give you extra treats tonight."
She didn’t know Feng Ye had already threatened Rollroll’s dinner—and possibly Rollroll himself.
Overwhelmed, the dog wagged his tail dumbly, feigning ignorance before scrambling under the sofa. He wanted no part in this sibling war.
"Huh?" Coco narrowed her eyes at her brother. "You *were* out with another woman, weren’t you?"
"Why would you even think that…?" Feng Ye sighed.
"Hmph! You’d never abandon AC and your computer unless you had a date!" Coco leaped onto him like a tiny wife, gripping his collar to sniff. Only after confirming no foreign perfume lingered did she relax.
"You little brat…" Feng Ye ruffled her hair. "I was just on a commission."
"But you finished this month’s quota yesterday!"
"Yeah," he explained gently, "but I want to climb the rankings. Gotta push harder."
"Things were fine as they were!" Coco pouted. She hated him taking violent missions.
"They *were* fine," Feng Ye kissed her forehead, voice dropping, "but some people won’t let us keep this peace."
Coco had been glowing from his kiss—until those words. Her face paled. "Are *they* after you again?"
"Not yet." He stroked her hair. "But they’ll come."
Her expression twisted between fury and fear. "If they show up, I’ll sic Rollroll on them!"
Feng Ye said nothing. But deep in his eyes, something feral stirred. Last time, he’d walked away—partly for Coco’s fragile state, partly for the Ye Clan’s sake. But if they pushed further? This time, he’d show no mercy.
***
That night, unsettled by her brother’s words, Coco happily commandeered his bed again. "Brothers exist to hold sisters while they sleep," she declared.
Rollroll, meanwhile, blissfully claimed Coco’s empty room. No more being her stress-relief chew toy when she was banished to sleep alone.
For days now, he’d slept soundly.
"Servant," Coco poked Feng Ye’s chest before bed, curled against him. "You’re only allowed to love me. Forever. If you contact *that* woman behind my back? I’ll hate you for life."
"Got it," Feng Ye murmured. He knew she meant neither Stella nor some random girl—but someone tied to both their pasts.
"In return," Coco announced grandly, "I’ll permit only *you* to be my Servant."
"Yes, yes, Miss Coco. Understood. Now sleep."
"Hmph! Such generosity deserves gratitude!" She huffed. "Boys line up from my classroom to the school gates begging to serve me!"
"...What reward do you want?" Feng Ye surrendered. Anything for peace.
Coco propped her chin on his chest, dark eyes glinting. "Kiss me."
"You used to say *my* kisses were *your* rewards," he protested.
"Now *I* decide!" she declared. "Servant obeys orders. No questions."
"We just kissed earlier."
"*That* doesn’t count." She pointed to her pink, parted lips. "Here."
Feng Ye recoiled. "Why would I kiss your *mouth*?!"
"It’s a contract!" Coco sniffed. "You’ve seen *Zero○○ Familiar*, right? We’ve never formalized our master-servant bond."
Relief washed over him—then hardened into resolve. "Anime contracts aren’t real. And our sibling bond is stronger than any ritual." His voice wavered slightly, but he pressed on. "We don’t need one."
Coco went very still. Then a brittle, distorted "Hmph" escaped her. "Fine. No contract. But if you betray me like *she* did…" Her body trembled. Tears glistened beneath her lashes before she turned away. "I’ll hate you forever."
Her words struck Feng Ye like a hammer. Buried memories surged—the fire, the screams, the blood-soaked room. He finally understood her fear. His face fractured between tenderness and something dark.
"I’m sorry." He crushed her against his chest, cheek pressed to hers. "If I’d come back sooner… none of it would’ve happened."
Tears spilled down Coco’s cheeks. The proud girl shrank into a trembling kitten. "No… If you’d returned then, *she* would’ve killed you."
"I’d have endured any pain to keep you alive."
Holding her, Feng Ye’s black pupils crackled with storm-fueled rage. That night replayed in flashes: firelight, shrieks, a floor slick with blood and bodies. His eyes burned like a caged lion’s.
"No," he whispered, wiping her tears. "If I’d been there sooner? *She* would’ve died."
His voice was soft.
But beneath it lay blades of ice.
He finally grasped why Coco craved a contract—and how hollow his words about unbreakable sibling bonds had been.
Because the woman who’d betrayed them both—the one who’d slaughtered S-Class elders of the Ye Clan three years ago, who’d locked Coco in a basement and ripped her unique War Spirit from her body with forbidden blood rituals—
Was their mother.
It had happened while Feng Ye was trapped in an Overdeity mission.
That night shattered him. He’d abandoned the Ye Clan, taking Coco to Haven City. To the clan, "Ye Clan’s Shame" wasn’t just his ordinary facade—it was the blood of the monster who bore him.
Only his aunt’s intervention saved them. She’d held him back as he seethed with murder, swallowing insults while walking away.
Had she not? The crippled Ye Clan might have faced annihilation that day too.
***
