"What do you think, Right Wall? Am I not regal and beautiful?" Tamayō's eyes shifted toward the left side of her throne room. "Every step of mine, every turn of my body radiates grace. Yet I do not wish to sing praises of myself, so I would rather hear an external opinion."
The Great Dark Fox spirit, Tamamo-no-Mae, lounged across her long throne… quite literally addressing the wall.
***
It all began when Onee-sama began dragging her siblings to the Library of Primordial Knowledge for their education.
As she marshaled the sulking foxes into line, her gaze drifted upward to Tamayō, who stood at the stairs before her throne room.
"Haha-ue, we are going to visit the library for a short while," she explained. "We shall spend no less than three hours, so I doubt you will feel lonely… unless, of course, you wish to join us?"
"Hmph!" Tamayō snapped her head aside, covering her lips with a violet fan. "There is no knowledge I cannot summon forth at my own convenience. Just who do you imagine I am?"
"A woman who failed to define marriage properly only a few days ago," Onee-sama answered casually, stretching out her hand to bind the fleeing Gold with a cord of foxfire.
"And as I have already said," Tamayō retorted from above, "from my exalted position I remain alone in both heart and mind. Thus, I no longer feel loneliness."
"If you say so, Haha-ue." Onee-sama bowed with a weary sigh. "Just try not to spend all your time speaking with yourself… or with the walls. Do something productive."
"...Tell me this," Tamayō narrowed her eyes. "Is it just me, or does the purple one look down on me?"
"It's just you," Onee-sama replied firmly, motioning for her siblings to follow her outside. "Farewell, Haha-ue."
***
An hour later, with nothing left to occupy her time beyond wandering through the courtyard, the gardens, and the kitchen before stepping briefly outside the palace, Tamayō eventually resorted to visiting the neighbours, unleashing dark orbs of doom upon the Specter Wolves.
The black spheres carved away chunks of their bodies as she hovered above their territory with a look of languid boredom.
"Gyaaahhh! It's that filthy she-fox! Run for your lives!!" one of the wolves screamed, and the rest scattered in terror from the raining death.
"Tsk! What did we do this time?" a wolf demanded from beneath a massive shield.
"Must we commit a crime first before that embodiment of violence hunts us down?" another grumbled, missing a limb.
"Specter Wolf #39! You are bleeding!"
"It is nothing, it is fine!" the wounded wolf replied with tears in his eyes. "The dark orbs carried poison and curses. My body struggles to resist, yet I fear I may not last much lon—"
"Specter Wolf #39! We will never forget you! But since you are already doomed, could you at least do something heroic? Distract the Dark Fox while we, the younger wolves with futures, escape!"
"..." The wolf stared blankly at his comrades, then limped forward on only three legs, stumbling from their hiding spot.
"Damn it! My brethren have abandoned me! Curse you, Tamayō—Aghk!!"
Before he could finish his curse, a massive sphere of darkness descended, crushing him and the entire hiding place at once.
In its wake remained only a deep, smoke-filled crater.
Soon enough, Tamayō left them to their cries and confusion and returned to the palace, walked despondently to her throne where she sat upon, smoking her kiseru.
"...So… Listen to this," she said after a quiet moment, puffing smoke into the air. "Alicia sees me as nothing more than a rabid pet of the Supreme Lord. What do you think of that… Right Wall?"
She turned her head toward the golden wall on her right, exhaling as she drew from her pipe.
"…Well, Alicia is but a human girl. How could she possibly distinguish between a wild beast of the wasteland and the noble Fox that is yourself?" Tamayō answered for the wall in her own voice.
"Gracious, Right Wall, you flatter me too much," she murmured. "Is that truly how you see me? As noble and valiant?"
"Naturally, Tamayō-sama!" she replied again on behalf of the wall. "You are not only valiant but also overflowing with mercy. Consider how you spared those wolves just earlier."
"Well, I was in a good mood, so I allowed them to live another day… but am I truly so kind?"
*[At this point, we shall regard the inanimate objects as though they were real characters. But remember, it is only Tamayō providing their voices. Enjoy.] *
"Tamayō-sama, your kindness is excessively vast!" Right Wall-san declared solemnly. "I believe it is the very reason even your children take you lightly."
"Ah, you finally said it, Right Wall-san!" Left Wall-kun shouted, drawing all attention from Tamayō and the other inanimate objects audience in the throne room. "Tamayō-no-Kami, Her Holiness, must never hear the bitter truth that her eldest daughter sees her as nothing more than a sack of potatoes!"
Tamayō lowered her gaze in sorrow. "N-No, Left Wall…" she whispered.
"But your Highness…!"
"Right Wall is correct to bring this up now!" Tamayō admitted, her voice trembling. "The purple one do seems to see me on the same level as the other children… Am I… perhaps a failure?"
GASP!
Shocked murmurs and gasps instantly filled the throne room.
"Silence! All of you!" the great golden statue of a wolf roared.
"Ah, Lord-Ruben's-Statue-sama!!" Left Wall-kun cried.
(From this point onward, he shall be referred to as LRS-sama, because the author is far too lazy to write the full name each time.)
"Tamayō, do not let such thoughts weigh you down," LRS-sama said with conviction. "Your eldest daughter only wishes to see you rise to your greatest potential as her mother."
"Is that truly the case, LRS-sama?" Tamayō drew deeply from her kiseru, exhaling smoke. "At times I cannot help but feel I am failing in some way… Perhaps the Supreme Lord also views me in that same light, as nothing more than a tantrum-throwing brat…"
"Do not utter such things, Tamayō!" LRS-sama cried, fighting back tears. "Lord Ruben loves you dearly with all his heart! He is merely shy, a late bloomer when it comes to acting upon his feelings!"
Tamayō snapped her head toward the golden statue beside her.
"Are… are you certain of this claim, LRS-sama?!" she asked, her voice breaking.
"Of course!" the statue declared with absolute confidence. "Can you not see? I am his statue; it is only natural that I would know everything he thinks. Tamayō, my dear, Lord Ruben loves you—he merely awaits the day when his conviction will be solidified."
"I knew it!" Tamayō exclaimed, bouncing joyfully on her throne. "There is simply no way the Supreme Lord could resist the natural charm of my existence. He is a man, after all!"
"Isn't that wonderful for you, Tamayō-sama?" the pipe she smoked congratulated warmly. "Perhaps he may even propose soon!"
"Kiseru-chan…" Tamayō hugged the pipe tightly in her hands. "What would I ever do without you all and your advice? Ah, but what about Alicia? Could it be that she secretly fancies me as well?"