Reincarnated as the "Unfortunate prince"

Leo

Tatsuya notes that the boy is wary. He couldn't blame the child, the boy was probably a common visitor in the house.

(Seeing that he knew his way around the makeshift walls of trash.)

The boy's gaze never left Tatsuya's figure, his cat like ears twitched in the slightest of noise, and his tail swings itself back and forth.

Tatsuya just looked away, but didn't miss the boy's predatory glint.

"Tatsuya."

He muttered, loud enough for the boy to hear. The boy slightly shifted in his position as Tatsuya continued.

"I am Tatsuya, I came here with Sato-san."

Tatsuya could sense that the atmosphere slightly lightened.

'It seems that Sato-san is well-'

"You're with that old fox lady..?"

Tatsuya halted his movements in picking up things from the ground, when he heard an innocent voice from behind utter the most unbelievable thing.

"...What?"

'Did he just call Sato-san old? How even?? She literally looks younger than my first life's hellish life giver...'

Seeing Tatsuya's confusion, the boy clarifies, the previous visible hostility in the air, now gone.

"I was talking about Sato."

Hearing the boy speak again, Tatsuya slowly nodded his head, he didn't know what to say to the boy, who had just called one of the most beautiful women Tatsuya had ever encountered, as old...

With Tatsuya's lack of response, along with the growing tension in the air, the boy decided to take the first action.

"So... Um... Right! My name is Leo Dardar, and I am Lily's cousin!"

He introduced, which had slightly intrigued Tatsuya.

"So you're related to Lily-san then?"

"Yep! How about you? You don't seem to be related to that old la- Sato..."

The boy, Leo, pointed out as he assessed Tatsuya with his eyes, moving his eye sight up and down from Tatsuya's figure he had noticed the lack of any additional fox like body parts from Tatsuya.

"I and other children just happen to get lost in the forest, when we found the fox village, they took care of us, cleaned us up, gave us a place to rest and gave us lots of delicious food... The village is very nice."

Tatsuya said, slowly looking away from Leo. Leo who was raised to have high a understanding of body language for business purposes, immediately picked up that it was a sensitive question.

"Well, uhm... Oh! What are you doing?"

Leo asked, as he had found a way to turn the conversation into a different subject. Seeing the sloppy way Leo handled the situation, Tatsuya inwardly sighed, as a small smile formed in his face that was hidden by the mask.

'He still has a long way to go. But I guess I have to give it to the kid to be able to understand this much.'

"I'm cleaning."

Tatsuya simply answered, which earned him a bewildered look appearing on Leo's face.

"Cleaning?? All of this tra- things??"

Leo questioned, obviously halting to correct his words.

"Yeah. I'm only doing this so I could sleep properly though."

"You... sleep here? In this place?? The last time anyone had stayed here was 2 years ago, no one ever went here after that, some even relocated!"

"..."

'I guess that explains why there's no house nearby... I can't blame them.'

Was Tatsuya's thought at Leo's words.

"I never thought anyone would be brave enough to even clean this place, let alone step foot and sleep in this house!"

"Okay, okay. I already get that the house is agreed by everyone as a forbidden zone at this point, so no need to explain as to why you're so surprised to see me cleaning it."

Was Tatsuya's answer to Leo's non-stop blabber. This caused Leo to blush in embarrassment, he had never acted this way to any other kids from his tribe before so why is he acting like this to a complete stranger..?

Seeing the boy looking down in guilt, with his tail and ears down turned and all, (Tatsuya swore he heard a low whine coming from Leo too) made Tatsuya sigh.

"How about you help me out?"

Tatsuya offered, as he took of the dirty gloves from his hands before also taking off the mask covering his face.

"Would you please help me with cleaning this forbidden zone?"

Tatsuya said with an outstretched.

Leo's eyes widen at the sight, his heart thumped a little faster, which he could not decipher why.

In his eyes, Tatsuya had him captured by his eyes, determined and strong, his gaze felt like it held knowledge far beyond a child should have and know.

Tatsuya's voice sounded so clear like spring water without the mask obscuring his face. Leo's heart swoon at the tone Tatsuya made, he never felt so engrossed to a voice before, it all felt very annoying when people talked to him.

Their voice overlapping, making his ear twitch in discomfort. But Tatsuya's voice was different it felt so soothing, that he suddenly felt warmth and comfort cover his body, it was as if Tatsuya's voice was embracing him.

Leo's head felt like it was all heating up by how much he was sensing all at the same time. The position of the sun also wasn't helping, as it only complimented Tatsuya's figure in that angle.

Instinctively, Leo reached to grab Tatsuya's hand, Tatsuya felt like salvation, that was slowly swallowing him up from Leo's point of view.

'I might not know what salvation means but, if it means being by his side, I will risk being swallowed up by it.'

Leo's hand interlocked with Tatsuya, the soft touch made Leo flush in a bright shade of red.

Tatsuya gave Leo a greatful smile, and Leo could not understand the fast thumping of his heart. It felt like his heart itself was going to burst out and present itself in front of Tatsuya, just so that the boy could know what he was feeling.

"Thank you."

Leo might just die today, but at least he died within the hands of the world's final salvation.