After the twisted banquet finally concluded, the elite members of the Ritsuzen clan slowly trickled back to their secluded workshops, coldly leaving the estate servants to clean up the gruesome mess.
Ren was still kneeling on the cold marble floor, retching heavily. Everything in his stomach had long since been emptied, leaving him violently dry heaving, with only ragged gasps of air and bitter bile spilling from his lips.
Looking down at his son's pathetic, traumatized state, Kyora looked completely unconcerned. Slowly, the Clan Head walked over to him, his expensive shoes clicking against the pristine floor.
"I was originally going to allow you to live a quiet life out in the common human world," Kyora stated flatly. "But since you have already taken it upon yourself to practice Ki, you will go and join the Astaroth branch family's peerage instead. You should be grateful. An anomaly like you can finally rise above your miserable station."
Then, without another word, he turned his back on his trembling son and strode out of the grand hall.
Meanwhile, Kaguya watched from the sidelines, her eyes burning with a volatile mixture of deep worry and murderous anger.
'Father is actually sending Ren away to become a filthy Devil's slave?!' Gripping her hands into tight, trembling fists, she cast one final, heartbroken look at Ren on the ground before turning to leave. 'No! I have to think of a way to stop this!'
For now, Kaguya was completely helpless to overturn her father's ruling. Her current political influence and magical strength simply weren't enough to oppose him yet, and she was far too smart to openly rebel and risk both of their lives. She had to swallow her rage; at the very least, this twisted Devil servitude was marginally better than Ren being outright executed by the clan today.
As she swiftly walked away from the grand hall and down the cold, immaculate corridors of the estate, Kaguya's brilliant, calculating mind went into absolute overdrive.
She knew exactly how the Underworld operated. Devil peerages were forged using the legendary Evil Pieces, a system specifically designed to reincarnate other species into loyal, eternally bound servants. The mere thought of Ren, her precious brother, having his very soul chained to a filthy Devil made her stomach violently churn with possessive disgust.
'Latia Astaroth...' Kaguya silently recalled the name Azelior had casually dropped. 'A rising talent in their branch family. She will likely arrive within the week to collect him.'
That gave Kaguya merely a handful of days to formulate a flawless countermeasure. She could not openly defy her father yet, nor could she currently match a high-class Devil in raw magical output. But she was the once-in-a-generation genius of the Ritsuzen lineage. She would find a way, even if she has to help her enemy.
'The Astaroth clan?' Kaguya's icy eyes narrowed into a terrifying, murderous glare as she finally reached the heavy doors of her private laboratory. 'Even if they are a major Underworld family... I will absolutely destroy them if they dare to take him away. No one takes my Ren.'
**********
Once the suffocating presence of the main family and their Devil guests had finally vanished, the heavy grand doors swung open. Tsumugi, who had been strictly stationed on guard duty outside, rushed into the hall at a hurried, almost frantic pace, agonizingly worried that something untoward had happened to Ren.
Earlier that morning, she had watched Elder Gensai, Riku, and Ren being escorted inside but had absolutely no idea of the actual reason. So, when she finally entered the hall and saw Ren's trembling, broken state, her quick pace broke into an outright run. For the first time, genuine, raw panic completely bled through her usually stoic face.
The grand hall had already been efficiently cleaned of whatever gruesome event had just occurred. The last of the silent estate servants were already filtering out through the back doors to resume their regular duties, leaving only Ren and Tsumugi completely alone in the massive, echoing room.
Technically, Tsumugi had no concrete idea of what had just transpired. However, seeing the pale, all-too-familiar look of traumatized horror on the six-year-old's face and noting the glaring fact that Riku had never walked out of those doors with the rest of his family, Tsumugi's veteran combat instincts easily pieced together the grim reality of what he had been forced to do.
"Ren!" Tsumugi shouted, her voice thick with uncharacteristic worry.
Looking up at the sound of that familiar voice, the hollow, traumatized glaze in Ren's eyes finally began to recede, slowly replaced by a desperate flicker of his usual clarity. "Tsumugi-nee..."
Heavy teardrops suddenly welled up and spilled down his pale cheeks. "Tsumugi-nee!"
Pushing himself up off the cold marble floor with shaking hands, Ren stumbled forward and rushed headlong into Tsumugi's open embrace.
Seeing the one person in this entire estate he could actually feel safe with, the fragile dam holding back Ren's emotions finally shattered, unleashing a burst of desperate, sobbing tears.
"Tsumugi-nee..." Ren cried, clinging to her tightly. He buried his face in the fabric of her maid uniform, his muffled, wavering voice repeating the title he had come to associate with true family over their past month of gruelling training together.
"I-it's alright, Ren..."
Tsumugi had absolutely no idea how to properly comfort a traumatized child, so she could only stutter out a simple reassurance. She gently stroked his trembling back, desperately hoping to provide at least some small measure of warmth and safety to the boy.
She had no idea just how incredibly powerful her seemingly clumsy comfort was to him in that dark moment. Soon, lulled by his own exhausted, tearful mumbles and the familiar, steady rhythm of Tsumugi's hand rubbing his back, Ren's tense muscles finally gave out, and he slowly fell asleep in her arms.
Helpless but resolute, Tsumugi carefully shifted the sleeping boy onto her back and slowly walked him toward his room. She had absolutely no intention of returning to her shift. If Head Maid Fumiko planned to severely punish her for abandoning her post later, Tsumugi decided she would accept the reprimand without a single complaint.
**********
"Uh... mngh..."
Back in his dim room, Ren was lying on his bed, his head thrashing frantically back and forth across the pillow in deep discomfort. He was clearly trapped in a horrific nightmare. Tsumugi had briefly stepped out to the estate's kitchen to procure some comforting warm food for him, leaving the six-year-old completely alone with his fresh demons.
'REN! REN! REN! REN! REN!' Inside his dream, the distorted, agonizing voice of Riku echoed endlessly from the darkness.
'WHY!? WHY DID YOU KILL ME!!!?'
'IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!' a gruesome, bloody silhouette of Riku shrieked hysterically. 'YOU!'
'I-I-I'm s-sorry, Riku! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry... Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. It's not my fault! Not my fault! NOT MY FAULT!' Ren apologized frantically in his sleep, his fractured mind desperately trying to justify his actions to the vengeful ghost of his cousin.
'Ren, why did you kill my son?' This time, it was the chilling, murderous voice of Elder Gensai that pierced the darkness.
'A promising talent of our clan, dead,' Kyora's apathetic, echoing voice immediately followed.
'You should have let me control you,' Kaguya's freezing, detached voice whispered right in his ear.
The voices of everyone who had ever instilled terror in him began to echo incessantly in the dark void of his mind, filling him with an unbearable, suffocating dread.
Then, suddenly—
"Ren-chan... Ren-chan..."
A familiar, high-pitched voice called out, softly muffled through the heavy veil of his nightmare.
"...Kon...?" Ren mumbled. Still trapped in his sleep, his desperate consciousness blindly followed the warmth of that voice, slowly clawing its way back to reality.
"Uh... um... Kon?" Ren slowly fluttered his heavy eyes open. A blurry silhouette of a tiny, furry figure sat right on his chest.
"Ren-chan! You are awake!" Kon screamed in absolute relief. "WAAAAAHHHHHH! REN-CHAN, I WAS SOOOO WORRIED!!!"
The little spirit fox instantly burst into dramatic, wailing tears. "Wuwuwu... I'm so sorry, Ren-chan, for not being there with you." Kon frantically tapped away at the boy's tear-stained, chubby cheeks with his soft little paws.
Seeing Kon finally healed and back in his physical form, Ren's wide eyes, which were just moments ago filled with absolute horror, suddenly sparkled with pure, overwhelming joy.
"Kon. KON!"
Ren threw his hands up and hugged the little silver fox as tightly as his exhausted arms could manage, the suffocating terror of his nightmare instantly forgotten in the warmth of his best friend.
Knock. Knock.
The warm, comforting atmosphere lingering in the room was gently interrupted. Without waiting for permission, the heavy wooden door slowly opened.
"Sorry to interrupt your little reunion, Ren... and the stupid fox."
"Hey! Who are you calling stupid?!"
"Tsumugi-nee!"
Both voices rang out at the exact same time. Taking in the lively scene inside the room, Tsumugi watched them with a rare, genuine warmth in her eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting into a faint, barely-there smile.
"I made some warm congee for you, Ren," Tsumugi informed the boy, completely and expertly ignoring the sputtering fox.
"Ah... thank you, Tsumugi-nee," Ren smiled gratefully.
"Mm." Tsumugi accepted his thanks with a curt nod as she walked over to the bedside chair. "I will feed you."
"Ah! No, no, there's no need! I can eat it myself!" Ren waved his hands frantically, his pale cheeks flushing with slight embarrassment.
"Yeah! Ren-chan doesn't need you feeding him!" Kon agreed loudly, hopping up onto the pillow. Then, puffing out his little furry chest, he proudly added, "It should be me who feeds him!"
"Eh? Kon..." Ren sweat dropped.
"You?" Easily drowning out Ren's weak protests, Tsumugi looked at the tiny fox with absolute, deadpan disdain. "With that body of yours? Can you even lift the spoon?"
"...This..." Kon was momentarily speechless, looking down at his tiny, stubby paws. "Uh... um... I can use my spiritual power to levitate it!" he finally stuttered out defensively.
"Save it. Ren is still recovering and doesn't have the energy for your theatrics," Tsumugi shot down the idea mercilessly.
"Wuuu..." Kon whimpered, his silver ears flopping down in utter dejection.
"Umm... what about my input?" Ren asked meekly, slowly raising his hand now that the one-sided banter was over and Tsumugi had clearly emerged victorious.
Tsumugi just looked at the boy and stated mercilessly, "Refusal denied."
She then scooped up a spoonful of the warm congee and proceeded to force-feed him without any further ceremony.
**********
After he finished the warm meal and the empty bowl was neatly set aside on the bedside desk, the room gradually quieted down into a comfortable, peaceful silence.
"Um..." Ren quietly broke the stillness.
Both Kon and Tsumugi immediately focused their full attention on him.
"I-I want to thank you guys..." Ren mumbled softly, his pale cheeks reddening with shy warmth.
Before Kon or Tsumugi could respond, Ren took a deep breath and continued, "...for always being there for me." He looked up, his eyes shining with profound sincerity. "So... thank you! Really!"
Hearing his heartfelt gratitude, Kon and Tsumugi briefly glanced at each other. This time, genuine, unmistakable warmth and soft smiles reflected in both of their eyes.
"Hehe. No thanks necessary! There's no need for thanks at all!" Kon chirped joyously, puffing his little chest out. "We're family, after all!"
"Mm." Tsumugi nodded her head slightly in quiet, steadfast affirmation.
"You guys..." Watching them, Ren felt his vision blur as his eyes welled up once more, though this time with sheer tears of joy.
"AH! Don't cry, Ren-chan!" Kon panicked, frantically rushing right up to Ren's face to pat away the droplets with his soft little paws.
Meanwhile, Tsumugi simply watched on helplessly from her chair, once again completely out of her depth and having absolutely no idea what to do with a crying child.
"Hehe. Don't worry, Kon," Ren reassured them, gently wiping away the tears with the back of his hand as a bright, genuine smile broke across his face. "...It's just... I am really happy, that's all."