"Now…" he replied "I just want to be with you."
Kael was silent for a full second.
Then he laughed.
It wasn't a loud laugh, nor was it full of provocation—it was a loose laugh, almost relieved, as if that answer had lifted an invisible weight from his shoulders.
"That's all?" he said, still smiling. "Then it's too simple."
Inari raised an eyebrow, curious.
"Simple?
Kael tilted his head slightly, looking at her with that sa direct gaze that always disard her.
"I'm already yours" he said, without drama, without grandiosity. —I always have been. It's just a matter of you wanting it."
For a mont, Inari seed genuinely surprised.
Then she approached.
Without haste. Without ceremony.
She enveloped him in a tight hug, her arms firm around him, as if marking sothing she had decided long ago.
"Then I want you," she said, a satisfied smile against his chest. "I want you all to myself."
Kael laughed again, this ti a little louder, putting an arm around her back.
"You know I already have a few won," he comnted, in a light, honest tone. "It's not exactly a secret."
Inari pulled back enough to look him in the eyes.
There was no jealousy there.
No blind possessiveness.
There was choice.
"I know," she replied calmly. "And I don't want to take you away from anyone."
She tilted her head, her smile soft and confident.
"I just want to be one of them."
Kael stared at her for a mont.
Then he raised his hand and gently touched her white hair, letting his fingers glide carefully, almost reverently. The contrast between the softness of her hair and what she was made another smile appear on his lips.
"If you want to be mine…" he said calmly, "then you already are."
He t her gaze, serious now, but without harshness.
"But you don't belong to anyone by obligation. You never have."
Inari laughed.
A full, proud, ancient laugh.
"Don't worry," she replied. "No one has ever taken ."
She raised her chin slightly, her eyes shining.
"No man has ever touched . Nor co close to my purity. That has always been my choice."
Kael felt sothing firm, serene, settle in his chest.
Not possession.
Not conquest.
Respect.
"Then we continue like this," he said, pulling her back close. "Two wills walking side by side."
Inari rested her forehead against his, her nine tails moving smoothly behind her, tranquil, satisfied.
"Just the way I like it," she murmured.
The world seed to hesitate.
Then, sothing Kael already knew well manifested itself.
It didn't co with sound. It didn't co with light. It ca from within.
[You have conquered the Beautiful Soul of the Goddess Inari]
Kael felt his heart give a slight jolt, not from surprise, but from the strange solemnity those words carried.
Before he could react, new ssages appeared, cold, impersonal—almost out of place in the mont.
[Beautiful Soul of the Goddess Inari cannot be associated with the System due to a lack of divine upgrade resources]
[The Artemis System requests that the user integrate with the Artemis Divine System as soon as they acquire mastery over Divinity]
[Legendary Mission Activated: Obtain Divinity]
Deadline: Infinite
Reward: System Upgrade to the Divine Version
Kael felt the weight of the word Legendary echo within him, but there was no anxiety. Only realization.
One more.
One more path too long to asure.
Then the final ssage appeared, sealing the warning with an almost ironic stillness.
[Beautiful Soul of Inari has been registered]
[Rewards locked]
[Evolve into Divine Soul Hunter and obtain Artemis' Divine System]
The flow ceased.
Silence returned.
Kael blinked once.
Then again.
And smiled slightly.
'Looks like I won't get anything for having conquered her…' The thought ca lightly, almost amused. 'How sad…'
But, raising his eyes and eting Inari's gaze, the rest of the thought completed itself. '…but that doesn't matter.'
None of that mattered.
System. Missions. Locked rewards. Divine upgrades.
None of that was what he had chosen.
Kael raised his hand and touched her face with gentle firmness, his thumb resting beneath her golden eye. There was no control in the gesture—there was decision.
"You are mine," he said softly.
Not as one who declares possession.
But as one who affirms a bond.
Inari didn't back down.
She wasn't surprised.
She smiled.
A slow, deep smile, ancient as the very concept of choice.
Her tails moved behind her, enveloping the air, and her eyes shone with sothing no system could asure.
"I know," she replied, with absolute serenity. "Because I chose to be."
She leaned in a little closer, until their foreheads touched again.
"And that…" she murmured, "is worth more than any divine reward."
Kael didn't answer imdiately.
The silence between them stretched for a brief second—not empty, but too heavy for words. The wind passed again, gently lifting Inari's white hair, and it was in that instant that sothing within him made up its mind completely.
He pulled her face closer with the hand that still rested on his cheek.
There was no warning.
There was no hesitation. Kael kissed her.
Strongly.
Not roughly, but intensely—as if the entire journey up to that point had been compressed into that single gesture. The kiss wasn't timid, nor restrained; it was firm, full of presence, as if he were saying without words, "I'm here," "It's real," "It's you."
Inari's eyes widened slightly at first.
Then she responded.
Her hands rose to his shoulders, gripping the fabric as if the world could escape if she let go. The nine tails stirred all at once, opening behind her in a pure, instinctive reflex, before enveloping them both again, creating a silent cocoon around the kiss.
There was warmth.
There was choice.
There was sothing definitive.
When he pulled away, just enough to breathe, their foreheads still touched. Inari's breathing was different—not uncontrolled, but new, as if she were learning that rhythm now.
Her golden eyes glead.
"So that's how it is…" she murmured, her voice low, almost surprised at herself.
Kael smiled slightly, his thumb still caressing her skin.
"Yes," he replied. "When I choose, I don't do it halfway."
Inari let out a short, soft laugh, clearly satisfied, and rested her forehead against his chest again.
"That's good," she said. "Because I don't know how to choose halfway either."
Kael didn't answer imdiately.
Instead, he slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her back—a firm, sure movent—and lifted her off the ground as if weight simply didn't exist.
Inari let out a small sound of surprise.
"Kael…?" she asked, instinctively gripping his neck, her tails twitching behind her. "What do you think you're doing?"
He chuckled softly, that quiet laugh that always appeared when he was absolutely certain of what he wanted. He brought his face close to hers, still holding her easily suspended.
"I'm going to taste," he replied, his eyes gleaming with restrained provocation, "the sexy taste of a goddess."
Inari blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then she laughed—not a restrained or divine laugh, but a warm, lively, clearly amused laugh. Her tails opened behind her in a proud arc.
"You're too brave for soone who just discovered who I am," she teased, bringing her face close to his.
"I always have been," Kael replied, resting his forehead against hers as he held her firmly. "It's just beco more interesting now."
She ran her fingers through his hair slowly, like soone accepting a challenge she'd wanted from the start.
"Then don't drop it," she murmured, with a dangerous smile. "So experiences… should be savored carefully."
The path to the witches' palace was silent.
Not because there was nothing to say—but because everything was already being said in glances, in occasional touches, in the way Inari stayed too close to be re coincidence.
As soon as Kael entered his room, the door barely had ti to close.
Inari threw herself against him.
Not with brute force—but with urgency.
Her lips found his neck imdiately, warm, insistent, as if every second of waiting had been a cruel mistake of the world. Her hands slid intentionally, undoing pieces of clothing with provocative calm, as if savoring each reaction.
"Inari…" Kael chuckled softly, his voice hoarse, feeling a shiver run down his spine.
She didn't answer with words.
She answered with her mouth, with her touch, with the way she pressed herself against him without any doubt, without any hesitation. There was no shyness—there was choice.
Kael held her arms for a mont, only to reverse their roles.
In a swift, sure movent, he pushed her back, causing her to fall seated—then lying—onto the soft bed. The mattress gave way under her weight, and for a brief mont, Inari lay there, looking at him.
Whole.
Open.
Surrendered.
Her white hair spread across the dark sheets, her tails settled around her body like an instinctive reflex, and her golden eyes stared at him with sothing that mixed challenge and expectation.
Kael stopped.
Observed.
Not like soone who consus.
But like soone who recognizes.
Inari blushed slightly—a small detail, almost imperceptible, but too real to be ignored.
"Hey…" she murmured, looking away for a second before looking back at him. "Don't stare at my breasts so much… just suck them already…"
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