CHAPTER 479: 168. FUKAERI INESCAPABLE DESTINY_4

Half resisting, half closing her eyes as she nestled up, her beauty was truly indescribable. There were many things about her that attracted Fujiwara Reya: her beautiful and elegant delicate face, her sensual hips, the slender little finger that covered his lips to prevent a kiss, and her outwardly playful but inwardly conservative style... As he focused his gaze, scenes from their first meeting flooded back.

"Madam."

Fujiwara Reya whispered in her ear.

His affectionate breath seemed to urge her to open her eyes, teasing her eardrum in waves.

Kawashima Miki’s heart gradually softened, and her voice turned tender as she asked, "...Is what you said just now true?"

"What?"

"Uh, it’s just..." Kawashima Miki slightly opened her eyes, her gaze drifting towards the flickering lights in the distance, "You said you would bully me for a lifetime... is that true? You’re not just coaxing me?"

"Of course."

"...You’re not lying to me?"

"I swear by the Great God!" Fujiwara Reya unfolded her hand covering his lips.

In the darkness, a charming blush appeared in front of him, claiming the world’s most perfect color. Their faces were almost touching, and they could clearly feel each other’s breath and skin warmth.

"Even if you break your vow, the Great God won’t punish you." Kawashima Miki pouted slightly, one hand still hooked around his neck, "Anyway, you’re a liar, not sincere..."

Fujiwara Reya wrapped one arm around her waist, "What if I am lying, do you have a problem with that?"

"I’ll bite you to death tonight!" Kawashima Miki put on a fierce face.

"Why not now?"

"Dream on!"

She gritted her teeth and playfully cursed, then slowly bent down, leaning her lips forward...

Following the direction of her lips, Fujiwara Reya leaned in, accurately capturing her soft lips. Cherry blossom petals scattered, and her feet dangled in the air. Those little red embroidered shoes belonged to this pure and beautiful bride’s most graceful stance.

After a long while, their lips parted.

"Hmph!"

A soft, resentful hum escaped from the tip of Kawashima Miki’s nose.

"Let’s go back." Fujiwara Reya carried her down from the tree.

Under the ethereal blue moonlight, Kawashima Miki’s delicate and beautiful oval face turned slightly red. With a sideways glance at Fujiwara Reya under the moonlight, her long eyelashes fluttered, and she called softly, "Fujiwara..."

"Hmm?"

"Am I being too petty...?"

"A little, yes."

"Does that make me an unfit first lady?"

"Not at all."

"...I’m worried about being gossiped about by the household servants."

"What nonsense are you thinking about? It’s the 21st century now; advocating for devoted love is the correct value, and I should be the one being talked about. "Fujiwara Reya hugged her waist and used his free hand to stroke her nose. "Please always be petty. With me as your support, don’t worry about anything, and vent your displeasure directly at me. I’ll change if I can, and if I can’t, we’ll adapt to each other and get by. After all, we are married, aren’t we?"

These small gestures between couples made Kawashima Miki’s heart feel sweet.

Her body gradually leaned into his arms, and she secretly reached out a finger to scratch his chin, her lips curling into a smile of happiness.

On the second-floor terrace, Natsuki Kuri glanced over here.

She could only make out the silhouette in the darkness, smiling without much expression.

The fox walks the fox’s path.

The hunter just needs to lie in ambush among the bushes to surely catch something.

Being a fox, she still had the eye of a hunter, knowing she would be caught yet still walking the fox’s path — Natsuki Kuri thought this described her current self.

She was a bad woman.

But even if she was a bad woman, the essence should not be revealed on the outside.

Being bad also had degrees, among which being adorably bad was a necessary condition. Natsuki Kuri silently calculated in her heart how to step on Koriya so that he would reluctantly lick her toes.

Yukino Ritsuko noticed the mischievous smile at the corner of her aunt’s mouth.

But she just pretended not to see it.

Unless forced into a corner, someone with the Snow Woman’s personality wouldn’t fight for much.

※※※※※

Returning to the main hall, the banquet was still ongoing.

Fujiwara Reya’s eyes roved the crowd, spotting in the corner that Dark Crow had already gotten Takeuchi Akira thoroughly drunk. It seemed even if he didn’t intervene, Gouzi could charm this Ghost Clan member to his doom.

But even if he didn’t act personally, he still had other tasks to do.

Fujiwara Reya’s eyes darted around, seeking an opportunity to sneak away.

Kawashima Miki naturally wouldn’t let him out of her sight, following him step for step wherever he went. Just as he was about to forcefully leave, a monster from Hokkaido presented a treasure.

"Ishikari River God presents a dragon scale! Wishing Nagano Mountain God eternal blessings—"

Most river gods in Japan were white dragons.

The Ishikari River God from Hokkaido’s largest river peeled a dragon scale from its body as a congratulatory gift.

What use dragon scales had, Fujiwara Reya didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know now. He gently pushed Kawashima Miki to the front, whispering to her, "It’s up to the madam to decide which gifts to accept."

As soon as he said that, he flashed over to the staircase leading to the second floor.

"..."

Kawashima Miki was full of grievances with nowhere to vent.

With guests before her, she couldn’t just chase after Fujiwara Reya to scold him, so all she could do was assume the dignified demeanor of the Mountain God’s Wife as she faced waves of guests presenting gifts.

Fujiwara Reya looked back from afar.

Seeing Mrs. Miki being overwhelmed with gifts, he felt a wave of happiness.

Having such an adept family helper meant he could take the back seat confidently, not even needing to attend the Mountain Festival in future years — how incredibly thrilling that thought was.

But being a bystander wasn’t without risks; careless handling might land him kneeling on durians at night.

Yet, that was a minor issue; despite his long list of shortcomings, Fujiwara Reya at least had a sweet tongue, ensuring he could flatter Mrs. Miki into bliss, leaving no room for anger at all.

Upon reaching the second floor, a maid quickly approached.

"Madam Fukaeri is this way, please follow me, sir."

Fujiwara Reya followed the maid into a room with sliding doors drawn shut.

The handles on the doors were uniformly printed with chrysanthemum and cloud patterns. As he reached out to pull, that bright orange hair, as if ablaze, came into view.

※※※※※

Kasahara Fumi was currently troubled.

The trouble was, of course, personal — a relatively unfamiliar experience for her at the moment. Ever since discovering that her mother had followed her here, she felt she had betrayed the vow of secrecy she had made with Fujiwara Reya, and her heart was in a constant struggle and state of guilt.

Subsequently, under her mother’s persuasion, she muddled her way into marriage.

Now, thinking back to the wedding that day, she still felt her face flush. But continuing to blush couldn’t solve anything; all she could do was suppress her shy emotions and think of countermeasures.

No matter how much she thought about it, the thoughts that kept cycling through her mind were always "I shouldn’t have come here," or "I should have run away when we got married" — thoughts filled with regret.

In a demon’s long life, many things were unpredictable.

Kasahara Fumi knew that regret was a useless emotion, but when thinking of countermeasures, other than pursing her lips to blame herself for her lack of foresight and immaturity, she couldn’t really think of anything else anymore.

What made her feel even more embarrassed was not knowing how to face Fujiwara Reya anymore.

On one hand, she felt profound shame and thought she had wronged him first; on the other hand, since they were married anyway, she didn’t know how they should interact going forward.

It was impossible to take the pretense seriously and just close her eyes tonight pretending she was being bitten by him, passively accepting it.

That would be just too absurd.

Let alone having any romantic feelings between them originally, she wasn’t even ready to take on the responsibility of being a wife... in all fairness, she’s a demon who can barely smile, how could she possibly know all this?!

"Ah——"

Kasahara Fumi felt a bit frantic.

"What should I do——"

She scratched her head, her face showing unprecedented confusion and grievance.

At this moment, the door suddenly swung open, and she looked over instinctively.

Fujiwara Reya approached step by step with his hands behind his back, "It’s time to settle the score with you."

As he said this, there was a mischievous glint in his eyes, and his smile was very flippant.

"So scary..." Kasahara Fumi’s face showed a disaster-level of panic. She seemed to feel the weight of an entire misty mountain pressing down with heavy clarity.