CH 4

“I, is the fox a pet?” 

“I went to the mountains for a while to find this guy.”

“…I think it has a lot of tails?” 

“Yeah. For that reason, I felt like it was abandoned by its mother as soon as it was born, so I took it.”

“Is that so?”

For some reason, the guard’s expression didn’t look good.

“I didn’t know Your Highness had pets.”

Am I the only one who thinks it sounds a little strange? It was a nuance as if they were trying to catch the Grand Duke lying.

“Am I obliged to inform you?”

I’m not the only one who thinks it sounds strange. The Grand Duke also coldly glared at the guards.

“Ah, o, of course not.” 

“Then get out of the way.”

When the guards stepped back in surprise, the Grand Duke passed them indifferently. I quickly followed the Grand Duke.

“Fior. What do you need to raise a fox?”

The Grand Duke glanced at me as I followed him and asked the man next to him.

“Are you really going to raise that fox?”

“This is also fate, but it’s not bad.”

I opened my eyes and shook my head at the back of the two. 

How dare you think about taming me. 

Of course, I’m a human by nature, but foxes are naturally tricky animals.

*****

I arrived in front of the biggest castle I had seen outside the city before I knew it.

There was a calm lake around the castle and a bridge connecting it.

The Grand Duke looked back slightly and walked across the bridge as if to ask me to follow him.

“Are you afraid?”

Oho. How can a thousand-year-old fox be afraid of something like this? What you did in the novel is more terrifying. 

As I hurriedly ran to the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke raised an eyebrow.

“You are brave.”

Hmm. Anyway, is that guy really the villain?

For some reason, he seemed slightly different from what I had read about him in the book.

Then, at the end of the bridge, the gate opened, and someone shouted loudly.

“Your Highness, Epher Elysia! May the eternal blessings of Elysia dwell with Your Highness the Grand Duke!” 

The Grand Duke sighed lightly and shook his head.

“I’ve told you several times not to do that….” 

“If you don’t like it, there are ways to not go out.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re going to lock me up like this.”

“Well, that’s possible.”

I followed the grumbling Grand Duke and looked around. 

Everyone looked at me astonished, saying, ‘A fox has entered this castle.’

Maybe it’s because it’s the first time I’ve been attracting people’s attention with this look. The feeling was very strange and unfamiliar.

By the way, when the Grand Duke is alone, I have to seduce him and get the fox beads.

But why are the number of people I meet increasing one by one?

What a strong defense there. 

Guards stood when going from the mountain to the city, from the city to the castle, and from the castle to the Grand Duke’s residence.

‘When the hell do I have to get the beads out?’

What if there’s a crowd of people even when the Grand Duke enters the room?

While worrying about that, it was time to take the first step into the castle where the Grand Duke lives.

“….?” 

This time the guard immediately grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and threw me outside.

“What are you doing now?”

The Grand Duke angrily asked on behalf of me, who was bewildered. 

‘Yeah! What are you doing!’

I took a triumphant look, glared at the guard, and pulled up my hair. 

A little embarrassed, the guard stuttered.

“Y, Your Highness. But y, you can’t bring animals into the main palace….”

Tsk. I am the fox brought by the Grand Duke! Since it’s the Grand Duke’s castle, why doesn’t the Grand Duke do as he pleases?

“How can you catch it so harshly?”

Then Fior, the man who continued to accompany the Grand Duke, not the guard, replied.

“Then how do I catch it?”

“Won’t it understand even if I tell it?”

“How do animals understand words?”

But I understand? 

I looked at the Grand Duke with eyes telling him to let me in.

As soon as the Grand Duke made eye contact with me, he hugged me.

Did he understand what I was saying?

“Fox. You can’t go in here.”

He really doesn’t understand what I’m saying.

“I’ll have to make a new house for you.”

Oh, that’s it.

* * *

After a thousand years of hard work, it was not that difficult to take a step back and be patient.

So I first checked the situation here calmly as a fox so as not to repeat the mistakes I made a long time ago.

First of all, I traveled around the castle and secretly grasped the geography.

“Oh, the fox the Grand Duke brought is flying around.”

Not secretly, but meticulously.

The land was round as a whole.

The castle built on the lake was surrounded by large walls, and in the middle were three castles in a triangular structure.

There was a splendid fountain in the middle of the three castles of different heights, and various flowers bloomed beautifully in rows around it.

The Grand Duke stayed in the one with the highest roof among the three castles.

And as for the castle, only a few thoroughly determined guards stood or managed the castle.

‘Hmm. I can’t enter that castle at all.’

Something like a dog hole on the castle’s outskirts, so I could enter and leave with the body of an animal like me.

However, no single ant could enter the castle where the Grand Duke was staying, let alone a dog hole.

While grasping the geography, I listened attentively to what the knights and servants were saying.

“Oh, that fox is here.”

“Why?”

“His Highness the Grand Duke was looking for it.”

“Oh my. Did His Highness the Grand Duke talk to you?”

The story of the Grand Duke, who was like a pearl dug out of a bunch of useless stories, was quite surprising.

The Grand Duke, who lived in an untouchable castle, was as close as he seemed.

“At first, he saw me and called me ‘you there,’ but I was scared to death.”

It seemed that he never spoke to anyone other than his own limbs.

Is it because of his high status? He sounded like a very upright person.

He is a man who is close but completely untouchable.

In particular, the Grand Duke was leading a fairly regular life.

I waited another day or so and analyzed his behavior patterns.

He works all day long, but in the morning, he always trains before eating, and at lunchtime, he takes a light walk after eating.

‘He’s more like a machine than I thought.’

Well, there are no machines here, though.

And after the walk over, he walked around the castle with Elaine, the butler, and received various reports.

I couldn’t enter that triangular castle, so I was mostly in the empty stables outside the castle.

Epher has stopped by the stable to see me since I came here.

“Are you taking good care of the meal?”

“Yes. It’s eating well.”

“Quickly make a fox barn. I heard that they are difficult animals to raise, so it would be better to keep them in a larger space.”

“Yes. There are already five vases broken by this fox.”

I guess they haven’t noticed two yet.

Epher smiled for a moment and then covered his mouth with his hand as if his laughter was leaking out.

He cleared his throat and took a quick glance at his surroundings.

“Yeah, I see.”

He hardened his face again.

‘Is it because he’s a Grand Duke? He really keeps his appearance.’

He took a snack out of his pocket with that stiff face and handed it to me.

‘Oh oh. This must be duck jerky.’

As expected, pets are also pets in aristocratic families. It was as soft and juicy as the jerky that was first given to me.

I raised my head, chewing the jerky he gave me.

The more I saw the shy smile, the more I felt the difference.

‘Is this guy really the villain?’

The more I looked, the more I couldn’t believe that the guy I saw in the novel and this guy who was infinitely good to animals were the same person.

* * *

And on the third day of entering the castle.

‘Now let’s get the fox bead back.’

After the fox bead, which is like my soul, went out of my body and entered the human body.

Perhaps because the human spirit was not contained, I could feel my physical strength dropping day by day.

I couldn’t make a hundred-year contract with this guy anyway.

This guy is a senile guy looking for his runaway fiancee.

I’ve only seen him for two days, but I can see that he values his face very much.

But since the woman who was about to get married ran away and disgraced the face of the royal family, could he stay still?

Can you afford to give your heart to another woman in that situation?

I was fully prepared and waited for the right time.

When the Grand Duke goes for a walk alone after lunch. At this time, all the servants had a meal, and the escort, Fior, was also left behind, so it was perfect for seduction.

As expected, the Grand Duke slowly came out of the empty garden. 

As soon as I saw him, he became a Korean celebrity that was hard to dislike.

‘It has to be at this level to almost get carried away.’

And after changing into the maid’s clothes that I had prepared in advance, I went to the garden and pretended to water them.

‘Ha. A fox like me, a smart fox.’

I disguised myself as a maid beforehand, and someone told me to do this or that and blocked me from going to the sweet potato development.

‘Whoo. This is where my experience in reading novels is revealed.’

While I was praising myself and feeling proud, the Grand Duke came into the garden where I was, as he always did.

‘The first meeting should be intense, right?’

Just as the Grand Duke passed by, I dropped the bucket from his hand as if it was a mistake. 

“Oh my.” 

The bucket rolled, and the water inside slightly wet the Grand Duke’s shoes.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

I quickly lowered my back, then raised my head coquettishly.

Until now, I had only looked up at the Grand Duke with the body of a fox, but it felt strange to see the Grand Duke from a human eye level.

“Isn’t it meal time now?”

I immediately gave strength to my eyes and calmly used my power.

The nine tails have nine powers.

And the greatest ability among them was this ability, the magic trick to seduce the opponent. 

It stimulates deep instincts, gives him the illusion of falling in love, and makes him possessed. 

From my invisible tail, I could see the energy I had accumulated so far flowing towards the Grand Duke in a blue color.

“Hey.” 

But when my blue energy hit him, it bounced off in all directions, and the Grand Duke was still looking at me with a cold face.

‘Why doesn’t it work? I’ve never had anything like this before?’

I was a bit perplexed.

‘Ah…I can’t use my power like this.’

First of all, I poured all my power into it. 

Fortunately, unlike before, when my power was bounced off, the blue energy spread through him like when the bead first went into his body.

‘It’s done!’

The Grand Duke looked at me in a daze.

As if it would become a dog faithful to its instincts if touched, subtly.

I let him move his face toward me.

“Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

I quickly reached out to touch his cheek and stood on my toes.

When he opened his lips slightly, I moved closer without hesitation.

Kiss, it’s been a while.