Chapter 464: Eris’ 14th Birthday
As the sun rose, peeking through the windows of the room she was sleeping in today, the little fox kit Yuki yawned lightly, stretched a bit, and attempted to get up.
Unfortunately, today she had chosen to sleep together with her big sister Eris, and Eris had terrible sleeping habits.
Randomly being tightly hugged like a pillow, then nibbled on like a snack was annoying, and the snoring could at times be deafening, but it was really Eris tossing and flailing about that made the nights in her bed less restful than when Yuki slept with Tina, Sasha, Danika, or pretty much anyone else.
Which was why Yuki stuffed herself into Eris’ bed so rarely.
Last night, however, was a special night, so she had decided to indulge her big sister a bit, allowing Eris to cuddle her, pet her, and fluff her tails as much as she liked.
She was a kind and generous fox, after all.
Now, however, Yuki was regretting it.
It took the fox kit a few tries to pry herself free from the redhead’s embrace, then another minute or so to extricate two of her three tails from under the girl’s leg. The whole time, Eris remained fast asleep, probably exhausted because she had stayed up too late last night, anticipating this day.
Why, you may ask? Because today was the day her new guild/school officially opened!
It also happened to be Eris’ birthday, though Yuki wasn’t sure if her big sister actually remembered that fact.
In any case, by the time she had gotten loose, any lingering drowsiness Yuki had felt was gone and she was now ready to face the challenges awaiting her!
Honestly though, life was pretty chill for the fox kit.
Sure, she was lost half-way around the world, and of course she missed her mother deeply, but everyone around her here, from her sisters Eris and Tina, to her aunties Celestina and Frey, was so kind and generous that it soothed much of Yuki’s homesickness and loneliness.
If there was one person who she had a problem with, it would be her first and, supposedly, most loyal manservant, Lucas.
He had promised to take care of her and look after her, but lately, she had barely even gotten to see him!
How dare he ignore her like this!
The next time they met, she would surely bite his fingers!
Not too hard, of course, she couldn’t have her servant being injured, now could she?
In any case, Yuki now faced a daunting task.
She knew that if she waited for Eris to get up on her own, there would be a big, frantic rush that involved clothes being thrown everywhere and feet tripping over themselves.
So, out of the goodness of her heart, Yuki approached her now just ’lightly’ snoring sister and began pawing at her face, yipping softly to get her attention.
1 minute later...
2 minutes later...
3 minutes...
Finally, Yuki realized the futility of her gentle efforts and decided to resort to her final solution.
Turning around, the young fox kit brought her tails close to her big sister’s nose and began gently waving them.
At first, it didn’t seem to have any effect, but soon, a frown appeared on Eris’ face.
Seconds later, Eris’ one good hand came up to swat away whatever was irritating her nostrils.
Yuki, who was anticipating this attack, swiftly dodged and then resumed her tickling.
The white fox and redhead human fought several rounds like this before a great sneeze rang out and the girl was forced to open her eyes.
Finally, with the aid of visual targeting, Eris managed to accurately lock onto the foe that was attacking her and launch a counteroffensive, but Yuki was too quick and too agile for her still half-asleep opponent and managed to dodge the claw aiming to seize her tails.
"Yip yip yip!!~~"
"Ah... sorry, Yuki," Eris apologized, now mostly awake.
When the girl realized what time it was, however, she fully snapped out of her morning grogginess and leapt out of bed, "Oh no! I’m going to be late!"
Haaa... this silly big sister of mine, Yuki thought to herself as she shook her head wryly. She loved Eris deeply, and was sure Eris loved her back, but there were times when dealing with her were draining.
That was just what family was like, however.
Before Yuki could get down off the bed, though, she was grabbed from behind by a now half-dressed Eris and carried off despite yipping in protest all the way.
.....
A quick shower and change of clothes later, Eris dashed into the kitchen, still carrying a now slightly damp and slightly exhausted Yuki, to find everyone from the house was already present.
When the pair burst through the doors, cheers went up, with everyone congratulating Eris on turning 14.
Just as Yuki has suspected, Eris just gawked for a moment, having totally forgotten that today was also her birthday, but now that she had been reminded, the redhead beamed even more happily as she thanked everyone.
The morning meal then began, a time when everyone, whether they were a princess or poor adopted orphan, was equal. Of course, by ’equal’, Yuki meant they would feed her equally when she made her rounds and magnanimously allowed them to treat her.
Once they were all well stuffed, everyone stood up, grabbed their coats as it was still a little chilly outside, and began making their way to the Manor’s stables where a number of carriages were waiting.
Feeling more bloated than normal, Yuki had to be carried out, a task that Lucas had eagerly volunteered to do.
However, after she bit him this morning for being such a bad servant, Yuki didn’t trust the glint in her manservant’s eyes and decided it would be best to seek shelter with her big sister Tina.
When they arrived at the stables, Frey and Bron were already there waiting for them, together with a few other members of the Snow Spirit Foxes.
"Aunty Frey! Uncle Bron! Good morning!" Yuki yipped happily, perking her head up from Christina’s fluffy coat.
Eris also greeted the pair of foxes in her usual cheerful manner, while everyone else was a bit more polite with their words, offering these two the respect powerful beings like them deserved.
Trotting over gracefully, Frey nuzzled the young pup, returning the greeting as well as saying hello to all the humans.
Frey and her husband had repeatedly tried to maintain some sense of hierarchy between them and Yuki as the latter was the direct daughter of a Great One, basically the human equivalent of being the daughter of an empress, but the young fox kit had adamantly refused to adopt such a mentality.
As far as Yuki was concerned, Frey nurtured, protected, taught, and fed her, so she was Aunty Frey, plain and simple.
Bron was a bit gruffer and a bit less gentle, but he still helped Yuki with whatever she wanted as long as she asked him, so he was Uncle Bron, Grumpy Uncle Bron, but still Uncle Bron.
The fox couple eventually gave up trying to persuade Yuki and just hoped that when they finally met her mother, she wasn’t too upset with them for overstepping their bounds.
After all the greetings were concluded, everyone either hopped aboard the carriages or mounted their horses and set off, with Yuki retreating back into the warmth of Christina’s coat, curling up as she decided to take a quick nap.