When Yugen returned to the bedroom after bathing and finishing his nightly routine, he found Miyuki sitting on the edge of the bed they shared.
Usually, she would be in her nightgown—sometimes choosing to go without a bra beneath it—but tonight, she wore something similar to what she had donned for Yugen's birthday. It was a piece of fine lingerie made of translucent fabric that was meant to be worn over undergarments. However, Miyuki wore nothing beneath it, leaving very little to the imagination.
Swept up in the atmosphere of the night, she seemed indifferent to any sense of bashfulness.
"Well... it is your birthday, Miyuki," Yugen said softly. "I'll do my best to fulfill any request you have, within reason."
"In that case," she whispered, "please be more fervent tonight than usual. To be honest... I wish I could already carry your child."
"You're getting ahead of yourself," he replied with a wry smile.
In the world of magicians, early marriage was often encouraged, but from a general societal perspective, they were still at an age where such things would draw unwanted scrutiny. Even though he was now the head of the Kagurazaka family, Yugen believed it was best to solidify his public standing first.
No matter how much his current mother or the memories of his parents and grandparents urged him toward heirs, he wanted to wait until he had graduated from Magic University and established his professional career. Still, it was already a settled matter that they would register their marriage upon graduating high school, so there was no point in objecting now.
"I didn't intend to be so... unprincipled," Yugen mused, "but I suppose when my fiancées press me like this, I find it impossible to say no. In that regard, I'm no different from any other teenage boy."
"That isn't true at all. It's because you cherish us—cherish me—so deeply that I feel this urge from the bottom of my heart to be completely claimed by you. You know, you could even treat me like a servant if you wished."
"The desire to be dominated, huh... Still, treating my future wife like a servant? That's a bit much."
In the end, he pressed Miyuki into the sheets, and they spent a long, passionate night together. While it felt similar to their nights at the Shiba residence, Yugen couldn't help but wonder if he should feel guilty that his status and power allowed for such indulgences.
But complaining would only invite the envy of every other man in the country, so he kept his peace. He suspected Tatsuya felt much the same way.
"I'm sorry if it feels like more of the same," Yugen murmured afterward.
"That," Miyuki replied, breathless, "is my line, Yugen-san."
The next morning—after keeping the details of Miyuki's playful "morning attack" to himself—Yugen informed Tatsuya and the others of the day's plans.
"We're heading to Kumejima as originally scheduled."
"Are we meeting Lieutenant Colonel Kazama and the others?" Tatsuya asked.
"No. To be honest, if they can locate the infiltration unit on their own, our intervention will have been for nothing. That would be the ideal outcome."
Tatsuya let out a small sigh, pressing a hand to his forehead, recognizing the sincerity in Yugen's voice. Tatsuya had already sent Kazama an encrypted email with data on Captain James J. Johnson via the marker he'd planted, but someone like Edward Clark had likely already intercepted that information through Hlidskjalf.
Since Tatsuya hadn't specified James's exact location, Yugen saw no reason to go out of his way to do so either. Even if he was an officer in the National Defense Army, he was first and foremost the head of the Kagurazaka family; maintaining a certain distance from the military was a political necessity.
"Tatsuya, are you alright?" Lina asked.
"Yeah. No problem."
The plan for the day was to visit Saika Shin-Island under the guise of sightseeing in Kumejima. The primary mission was to ensure the completion ceremony party went off without a hitch. That required identifying and neutralizing enemy forces, but that was a task for the National Defense Force, not for the magicians of the Ten Master Clans or the Branch Houses.
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