When Leo stated his intention of wanting to speak with Hagoromo privately, alone, Jizo's face turned ugly.
A vein popped out of his old forehead, and he was about to interrupt the discussion from happening.
"____"
'Damn... he is up to something?'
Cursing internally, he was about to voice his dissatisfaction regarding the brat before him, who for some reason made Jizo uncomfortable.
'Interesting...'
Smirk~
With a small smirk forming on her face, and a curious glint passing through her once-lifeless eyes, Hagoromo lifted her hand and signalled everyone in the meeting room to leave and wait until the discussion with Leo was over.
Chatter~ chatter~
Chatter~ chatter~
While the room filled with the chanting sounds of the yokai present, one after another, they left the room.
'What should I do? My instincts warn me to stop this meeting from happening.'
These were the only thoughts that filled his mind while eyeing Leo, worried, with his big red eyes while the golden pupils were focused on him.
The room started to become empty as the yokai were leaving.
'He does not have any fear of disrespecting Hagoromo-sama. What! Hagoromo-sama doesn't seem to care about it. As expected of Hagoromo-sama, she even treats outsiders with kindness.'
Kyokotsu, who was about to leave the room, eyed Leo, who was sitting very close to Hagoromo Gitsune, who was the most powerful yokai in Kyoto.
Sitting on equal terms with her, what surprised Kyokotsu was that Hagoromo Gitsune didn't seem to mind.
She didn't hold any malice towards Leo since he was not the enemy of the Kyoto faction.
When her curious eyes left Leo and she was about to leave following the other yokai, she noticed Minagoroshi Jizo, who was looking at Leo and Hagoromo Gitsune, who was waiting calmly for the room to become empty.
"Why are you still standing here? Didn't you hear Hagoromo-sama's order?"
Seeing his expression, which had a mixture of fear and hurry, her eyes narrowed, and she nudged him to move out with clear disgust visible on her face.
Haha~
"I am following... I just phased out for a moment. Let's go..."
With an awkward laugh, Jizo turned and started walking out of the room embarrassedly.
'Fuck... this bitch, why does she always stick her head in other people's business?'
When he turned and showed his back to Kyokotsu, his face turned grim, and he cursed in his mind with a cold glint passing through the big eyes on his forehead and left the room.
Taking a last glance at Leo, who was sitting without any fear or embarrassment, close to Hagoromo Gitsune with a playful glint in his eyes and a wide smirk on his face,
Kyokotsu left the room, confirming no other yokai was staying behind disrespecting Hagoromo Gitsune due to their curiosity getting the better of them.
As for worrying about Hagoromo Gitsune's safety, Kyokotsu would laugh loudly.
According to her, Hagoromo Gitsune is the strongest yokai in the world. Even if Nurarihyon came to make trouble with her, she would kick his butt off pretty easily.
After every yokai left, including the investigation team, there was a pin-drop silence.
After a few minutes...
"Didn't you say you wanted to speak with me? Why now keep silent? Are you here to waste my time?"
Seeing Leo had no intention of speaking and just looking at her silently, Hagoromo, who was waiting for Leo to speak, became impatient and broke the silence.
"____"
Cough~
"Well... I will come straight to the matter. Join me, Hagoromo. I want you to be mine."
With a little embarrassed cough, getting caught off guard, he came straight to the point and stated his intention directly.
"____"
Hearing Leo's bold words, Hagoromo Gitsune was stunned for a moment and looked at Leo, giving him the feeling that she was trying to see what was really in his mind.
It was the first time someone had stated their intention about her directly to her face without a trace of fear.
Even her human onmyoji husband only looked at her with lust, not a single glance of love, which disgusted her even now, thinking about it.
Her son, Seimei, who she gave all her love to raise, showed fear whenever he approached her.
She could feel it since she was one of the rare powerful nine-tailed yokai, and she could easily feel the emotions of the people around her.
She even sometimes felt malice when her son looked at her, which made her very sad, and she remembered her son's wish to be reborn through her.
At that time, she genuinely felt fear, worry, and panic from her son, who was afraid of death.
So she consoled him and promised him that she would give birth to him again, no matter how many years and lives it takes.
Even Nurarihyon, who came to investigate his son's death in Kyoto, was injured severely by her, which left permanent damage to his body.
This resulted in him losing more than half of his power in his heyday.
But seeing the young man before her stating his desire for her without lust, malice, or fear...
Looking at his crystal-clear eyes, which showed he was genuine, she was momentarily stunned.
She was not expecting this.
She was expecting Leo to threaten her, try to intimidate her, disgust her, or sneak attack.
This unusual approach startled her for a moment.
But she quickly regained her composure, showcasing her years and years of experience in life.
Fufu~
"You caught me off guard, Leo."
With a little fox-like laugh, covering her mouth with one hand and looking at Leo with her lifeless eyes, she spoke casually.
"But... I can't accept your proposal. I have a good task ahead that needs my full attention."
With a slight sad emotion visible on her face, which quickly turned into a smile when she touched her belly.
'My son, this time your mother will fulfil her promise.'
Those were the old thoughts in her mind while her lifeless eyes showed a motherly love visible through them.
Sigh~
"I knew this would be your answer. But I won't give up. So how about we play a game? Oh, before that, I want to introduce you to someone very interesting."
Shaking his head with a defeated sigh, Leo started to proceed according to the plan he already had.
"Who might that be?"
Seeing the mischievous glint in Leo's eyes, Hagoromo became interested in the mysterious person Leo was talking about.
'Could it be Nurarihyon? No way, that old man would not easily break the pact between them after the last battle between us.'
She scrapped the thought that Nurarihyon might be the mysterious person Leo was mentioning.
Without knowing it, she started to converse with Leo actively.
Having someone who could speak with her on equal terms without fear or malice towards her didn't happen all the time.
"Well, you will see."
Ding~
With a calm demeanour, Leo flicked his cross earring on his ear.
"Come in."
With a ding, the cross shined lightly with a silver hue, and Leo commanded through it.
After a second...
The window in the courtroom opened, and a figure landed before them while on his knees, bowing to them.
"Meet Great Tengu of Mount Kurama, one of your past selves' most trusted men and your ex-clan member who is currently working for Hotel Continental."
With a wide smile on his face, Leo introduced the Great Tengu to Hagoromo Gitsune, whose eyes widened at hearing his words.
"You can stand up, Great Tengu."
With a smile on his face, Leo asked Great Tengu to stand up from his knees.
Nodding his head, with clear respect and admiration visible on his face, Great Tengu stood up, his old stoic face relaxed.
Flashback...
Leo was really lucky to meet the Great Tengu a few years back, who came looking for him to confirm the rumours he was hearing and later joined the Continental.
Having one's name replaced and adding "Great" before their race name is not a simple title among Yokai.
It's a great honour one yokai could get individually, and it is only given to a yokai who was considered respected by their ancestors.
When Great Tengu heard that Leo was about to make contact with Hago Gitsune of the Kyoto Yokai faction, he volunteered to accompany him and stated his reason to Leo, who nodded his head in approval and accepted the old Tengu's request to accompany him.
He even warned him about Jizo, and his face turned cold while mentioning Jizo's name.
Flashback ends...
When Hagoromo heard the old tengu before her, whose hair had turned white with a partially bald head.
He had a long crooked nose, and his face's skin had many wrinkles indicating his old age.
Half of his face was covered by a thick moustache and a long beard.
"What do you mean, Leo? I don't remember having someone like him in my clan."
With narrowed eyes locked on Leo, who seemed too amused to see her reaction, Hagoromo Gitsune questioned him.
When Great Tengu heard Hagoromo Gitsune couldn't remember him, his whole body trembled, and his face turned dark.
'Fuck you!!! Jizo, just wait—I will make you pay for what you have done.'
He cursed Jizo in his mind while his body trembled with anger, thinking about Jizo, who had turned his world upside down.
The reaction of the Great Tengu hadn't escaped Hagoromo Gitsune's eyes. It seemed very genuine. She turned and looked at Leo, confused, waiting for his answer.
Outside Kyoto Yokai's base...
All the yokai were discussing among themselves enthusiastically, trying to predict what discussion was going on between their clan leader and the leader of the Continental who had come to visit.
Meanwhile, Jizo was looking in the direction of the meeting room with an ugly expression.
No matter how much he tried to shake off the bad feeling he had, instead of decreasing, it was increasing severalfold, giving him the sense that something very bad was going to happen.
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(Author's POV)
Thanks for reading the chapter!
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