I always thought the world outside would be brighter and livelier—sothing far more exciting than the suffocating place I was born into. The walls of my tribe felt like a cage, every breath a little harder to take, every day dragging on like a chain tied to my neck. I wanted out. I wanted to feel the wind that wasn’t trapped between those sa trees and the sa dirt paths I’d known all my life. Maybe I was just being stubborn, maybe even foolish, but back then, I didn’t care. I didn’t know what awaited , and honestly, I didn’t think about it. I just wanted freedom.
But that choice... was the biggest mistake I ever made.
When I escaped the tribe, I didn’t get far. I was captured almost imdiately. It happened so fast that I barely had ti to understand what was going on. The person who caught used so strange ability—sothing invisible and overwhelming. It wrapped around before I could even move, and in that mont, I knew I was done for. My body froze, my heart scread, and I could only think one thing and that was that I’m never going ho again.
I regretted it—every stubborn thought as well as every step I took away from the tribe.
By the ti I reached the place they were taking , my legs were trembling. I was terrified. The sight that greeted made my stomach twist. There were won everywhere, their eyes hollow, faces pale. So looked like they’d already given up, like they knew exactly what was coming. I was naive then, too naive to understand, but even I could feel it—the dread thick in the air, clinging to my skin like a curse. Whatever I thought the outside world was... it wasn’t this. Everything I’d hoped for had turned into sothing I could only describe as hell.
Lady Martha was the only reason I didn’t completely break. She was kind, gentle even. She couldn’t go against her brother—the one who ran the whole place—but she did what she could to ease our suffering. Little things, like making sure we had food, or shielding us from his rage. I could tell she wanted to help, even though she couldn’t change our fate.
And then ca the lessons—ones I never wanted to learn. They taught us how to please a man. How to touch. How to move. How to make sounds that would make them pay more. I didn’t understand at first, but soon, it beca clear—the place I’d been sold to was a brothel. A place where won sold their bodies to survive. I was terrified beyond words. My hands shook every day, my chest heavy with fear. But what could I do? I was the one who left ho. It was my fault. So I accepted it. I let myself beco what they wanted to be.
Then one day, out of nowhere, I was saved.
Or... that’s what I thought.
The man who took from there wasn’t what I expected. He was strange and hard to understand. At first, I thought he was just as vile as the others. He had many won under his roof, and every night I could hear him, the sound echoing through the halls like so sort of twisted rhythm. It was unsettling. He seed addicted to sex, always with soone new.
But the more I watched him, the more I realized he was different. Beneath that lewd exterior, there was sothing else. It was respect, maybe even restraint. It was odd. For soone so obsessed with sex, he never forced himself on anyone. Despite owning us, he never touched those who didn’t want it. Not once. He only slept with won who willingly went to him. That alone made him stand out from any n I’d seen before.
Over the years, I began to see more of him. How he treated people. How he talked. The way he looked after the others, even if he didn’t have to. Slowly, all the fear and doubt that had built up inside started to fade away. In its place, sothing new began to grow—sothing I couldn’t ignore.
I didn’t realize it at first, but I’d fallen for him.
Love... it felt strange. I used to think it was a foolish thing, sothing that only caused pain. But when it started to bloom inside , it felt warm. Gentle. It made feel alive again. I didn’t hate it. In fact, it scared how much I liked it.
But unlike the other girls, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything about it. They were bold, always clinging to him, always teasing. I couldn’t even hold a proper conversation with him. Every ti I tried, my voice would falter, my hands would fidget, and I’d lose the courage halfway through.
I didn’t understand why—until I rembered who I was. A Kitsune.
We’re proud, stubborn creatures. We don’t confess feelings with words. We show them through instinct—through touch, scent, and movent. Kitsunes attract their partners by releasing pheromones, by spreading their tails, by letting nature take its course. We don’t say "I love you." We show it. Mating is our confession.
But Master Leon... he isn’t a Kitsune. My instincts an nothing to him. He doesn’t feel the pull the sa way I do. Sotis, I get the sense that he barely even notices . Maybe he just doesn’t find attractive. And that’s fine—at least, that’s what I tell myself.
Two years. Two long years. And still, he never looked at the way I hoped he would. I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter, but the more I saw him, the harder it beca to ignore this ache in my chest.
Every ti I thought about it, I found myself confiding in Eiju. Talking to him made realize just how deep my feelings had grown. It was ridiculous, really. How soone like could feel sothing so strong for a man who probably didn’t even see that way.
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