A God Gave Me Soap and Now the Court Wants More

Ari Kisaragi is scrubbing a brass bowl for soap when a soldier's fever turns his little workroom into the only place that matters. He makes beauty goods for the household, yet his mixtures keep earning him requests from healers and generals, because he notices skin, breath, and hands before he notices faces. At night, he sharpens lacquered chopsticks by lamplight and reads every meal like a warning. Then Rei appears in human form, and the fox spirit treats one private promise like a blade laid flat on the table. Ari wants to help, but he also wants to stay safe, and those two wishes stop agreeing the moment Rei starts waiting for his name.