Sol had decided the order would be Spiritus, Gehenna, and Tuatha would be last. This made Kon happy since she believed that Lila needed to come to terms with the changes that had happened to her, and she was convinced that Mab and Asmodeus were more likely to groom her if she was unstable Kon fought hard to be first.

  Kon had summoned a torii gate to her palace in the spirit realm. When they crossed the gate there was a human with fox eyes waiting for them.

  “Welcome back Lady Kyubi. Everything worked out I take it?” He asked as he looked at Lila. Lila looked at him up and down, seeing that he was dressed in priestly robes. From the little research she did about Spiritus. Lila assumed he was an onmyoji, a mage class that Spiritus specializes in.

  “No. Haruaki. It was a complete disaster.” Kon informed him before looking at Lila. “But it worked out in a way. Lila, meet Haruaki. He is my chief mage and will be your tutor while you’re here.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, princess.” He responded with a slight bow.

  Lila’s first instinct was to correct him that she hadn’t joined, but just before saying anything she decided to hold it back. She wondered why she was struggling so much to control her impulses. She felt like she had to relearn her self-restraint and emotional regulation.

  If she felt a certain way she felt the extremes. Happy was Joy. Anger was rage. Sadness was depression.

  When a thought of doing something popped up in her head her body was trying to move to do it before she could think about it, like when she taunted Mab.

  “I am a little excited to see what Spiritus is like.”

  “In due time. For now, just adjust to the changes you’ve gone through.” Kon advised. The way she said it and the worried look in her eyes all but screamed that she was hiding something from Lila. “As much as I would like to show you around myself, I have some business to take care of.”

  “You can leave her in my care.” Haruaki reassured Kon.

  Kon said her farewells before she left with a sigh of relief. She had to get things for Lila and the recent events kept her from her office work for too long. She was dreading seeing the stacks of papers on her desk.

  “Come now, little princess. I will show you around the palace grounds for now.” During the beginning of the tour, Lila didn’t act out of place, but Haruaki could see her look around with her vibrant orange eyes, taking it all in.

  ‘Why are her eyes like that? Mutation?’ Haruaki speculated several possibilities. His curiosity made him dying to know the answer and if it was anyone else he would harass her for answers. What stopped him was how it seemed Kon was walking on eggshells on her newly acquired daughter.

  “Hey Haru, can I ask you something about Kon?”

  “Haru? Kon? You don’t have respect for your elders, do you?” He inquired as he turned towards her, seeing that her eyes were now light purple. Though he wanted to see what he could learn from her.

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  “I don’t have respect for formalities. It just gets in the way.”

  Haruaki just laughed.

  “Okay, Lila. Let’s go tit-for-tat. You can ask me whatever questions you like but I get to ask you questions in return. Deal.”

  “Deal, but I go first.”

  “Ask away.”

  Lila was silent for a moment. Haruaki could tell that she was trying to be careful with how to word it. Though he got a small smirk as he watched her facial expressions give way how little restraint she really had.

  “Why was Kon so insistent on adopting me herself?”

  This question stunned Haruaki a bit. To him, this was no secret, just a sensitive topic.

  “Perhaps we should sit down for this conversation.” He went over to a bench with Lila following behind him. “When Lady Kon first left to hunt and train, she was reckless. Until you arrived, she was the last of the Kyubi clan and had to work that much harder to maintain her position as the leader of Spiritus. The only ones who were willing to back her at the time were the leader of the oni, Shuten-doji, and myself.

  At the time she believed everything would work out if she became strong enough. The problem arose when she was trying to break through the class change barrier at level 400. While she succeeded, she was heavily wounded and lost her uterus. She was more distraught than any of us thought she would be.

  After that, her only hope for an heir was to use the ritual she used on you. Though as the one who had been next to her for so long, she was distraught that she would never get to watch her child grow. To hold her infant in her arms.

  Yet if she went through with the ritual it had to be with someone with potential. Though now that she has you, she will probably be doting on you quite a lot.”

  Lila was surprised to hear this. She was Kon’s only chance at being a mother. While Lila had no intention of calling her mother, she was thinking about playing along for Kon. She thought it was the least she could do for unknowingly manipulating such a strong and pure motivation from her. Lila’s blue eyes shined as she regretted this action a little, knowing full well that if she went back in time, she would do it again.

  “My turn for a question little princess. You’re not just a kitsune are you?”

  The question snapped Lila out of her train of thought as her eyes drastically defaulted back to yellow.

  “That’s right. According to my status, I’m a Havoc Fox, though there was a brief moment when I was a Mystic Fox. It’s all very confusing to me.”

  “That’s not what I meant. You’re not entirely yokai are you?”

  “I already answered your question, so I’ll pass on that.”

  ‘So, she’s a kitsune-fae hybrid? That doesn’t explain the shift in her race.’ He thought as he planned to talk to Lady Kyubi about this. For now, Haruaki refrained from asking any more questions as he didn’t want to stumble into a punishment for prying answers from her while Fairy Deal could still be in effect.

  For now, he decided to end the tour by taking Lila to her room.

  “This is your room little princess.” He would never admit it, but he found it fun watching her eyes change colors and found that they got a slight red hue to them when he called her little princess. “Don’t forget that training starts at six in the morning, and you will be called to join Lady Kyubi for her meals.”

  “Yeah, yeah… where’s my storage ring?” She suddenly realized that the ring with all of Pop’s stuff was not on her finger and she began to panic as her eyes turned into a deep teal and the white of her eyes turned black.

  “Tell you what, you relax, and I’ll send some of the servants to look for it. You had it when you came into the Spirit Realm with Lady Kyubi right?”

  Lila nodded her head furiously.

  “Then it’s here and I will have my personal servants scour the grounds for it. Once again, welcome to the Spirit Realm.” He did his best to comfort her while he was internally very upset. She was an Akuma.

  When Lila calmed down enough to go in she was surprised enough with what she saw to distract herself, giving in to the new impulses.

  “What in the primordial flame is this?”