Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Kamisato Ayaka’s Crumbling Resolve

If not for the Raiden Shogun’s command, Kamisato Ayaka would already have explained everything to Yoimiya.

How could she keep refusing her friend’s requests otherwise?

As Yoimiya’s close companion, Ayaka would never willingly upset her.

But rejection after rejection— of course it left Yoimiya embarrassed.

And yet, she said nothing, merely chalking it up to Ayaka’s “possessive streak.”

“Since I can’t, then forget it…”

That heavy disappointment in Yoimiya’s eyes made guilt twist in Ayaka’s chest.

But still, she couldn’t speak the truth.

“Um… Ayaka, I don’t have to hold her, really.

You don’t need to look so—”

Yet Ayaka’s lips pressed tight, her eyes filled with words she dared not say.

Her silence only made Yoimiya more anxious.

She hadn’t wanted to steal Little Ei away.

She wasn’t desperate for a hug.

Why was Ayaka the one looking so wronged?

Clearly she was the one being rejected… so why did it feel like Ayaka was even more aggrieved than she was?

Raiden Ei, though aware of their tension, didn’t bother intervening.

This body wasn’t of her own making, but it was the one she inhabited now.

If simply looking cute meant she’d forever be passed around from embrace to embrace, that would be tiresome indeed.

So silence was her answer.

Let only the two who knew the truth hold her.

“Finished my dango milk.”

She shook the empty bottle at Su Ran.

Because of her smaller frame, even a small portion left her feeling satisfied.

That much, at least, pleased her.

“Little Ei wants more? I’ll get some!”

Though she’d missed her chance to hold her, Yoimiya’s fondness for the tiny Shogun remained.

She hurried off to buy several bottles.

“…Shogun—”

Ayaka lowered her gaze to the little one in her arms.

“Your decision was right.

This body may not look divine, but to be too intimate with people… it troubles you, doesn’t it?”

Ei nodded slightly.

She didn’t dislike Yoimiya’s cheer, but she wasn’t good at dealing with such people.

A little distance was necessary.

“And call me Ei.

The ’Shogun’ is the one in Tenshukaku.”

If someone overheard, what would become of her reputation?

“I understand… Lady Ei.”

Relief washed through Ayaka.

She had risked straining her friendship with Yoimiya all to preserve the Shogun’s dignity.

Yet when she recalled the ordeal just now, her eyes turned resentfully toward Su Ran.

If not for him thrusting Ei into her arms, she never would’ve suffered such torment.

Only Yoimiya’s gentle nature kept her from being humiliated outright.

But that didn’t ease the ache in her heart.

“Isn’t Little Ei adorable?

Ayaka, don’t you like her?”

Her pitiful glare only amused Su Ran.

To see the graceful White Heron Princess like this— it was quite the prize.

“My lord, you go too far.

Ayaka is but a mortal.

How could you make her hold Lady Ei so directly?”

Gods were to be revered from afar.

Even being allowed to gaze upon them closely was already an extraordinary blessing.

But to touch one?

That bordered on blasphemy.

Especially for someone like Kamisato Ayaka.

She wasn’t as carefree as Yoimiya.

When the Raiden Shogun had been placed in her arms, she’d nearly lost her soul from fright.

“What’s the harm?

Didn’t I already declare myself Ayaka’s suitor?”

Su Ran winked, finding nothing wrong with his reasoning.

He genuinely liked Ayaka— her looks, yes, but her character as well.

“…What virtue do I have to deserve pursuit by a god?”

Ayaka sighed.

These past days had been nothing short of miraculous.

How many mortals could say they had dined and lived under the same roof as a god?

And now, that very god claimed to be courting her.

The thought left her exhausted.

Were gods truly so whimsical?

How enviable, if so.

Bound by the rigid duties of the Kamisato Clan, Ayaka’s life had always been tightly constrained.

She used to envy ordinary people— Yoimiya, for instance, with her free, easy life.

Now she saw a god living with complete abandon, claiming affection whenever he pleased.

From top to bottom, every kind of freedom she longed for was embodied before her eyes.

If only I, too, could live like this… to say aloud whom I liked, without restraint…

The thought made her glance at Su Ran— then quickly duck her head, flustered that she’d looked at him first.

Why?

Why, when imagining a man she might like, did she see him?

They’d known each other barely a week.

Though he declared his pursuit of her, could she really accept so easily?

The worries of a maiden were many indeed.

“So, Ayaka… are you saying that because of my noble identity, I don’t even need to court you— I can simply have you?”

Su Ran knew well the art of slipping words through cracks.

Ayaka was, after all, a reserved sakura maiden.

Raised in an old-fashioned Inazuman household, how could she withstand the tactics

of someone from the age of the internet?

With just a few words, he broke her defenses again.

And with his status as a god, she couldn’t even tell him off.

All she could do was endure his teasing.

“Lord Su Ran… is this how you treat all women?”

“Little Ayaka, you’re very special.

You’re the first human I’ve ever treated this way~”

(Well, aside from Columbina, but she wasn’t human.)

Even so, the words struck Ayaka’s heart.

Her defenses crumbled once more.

Though she reminded herself that mortals and gods were worlds apart, she couldn’t deny it— she was already close to falling.

Never, in all her life as the White Heron Princess, had she been treated by any man in such a way.

~—————–

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