CH 32

Perhaps due to the influence of black magic, Eristella’s body rejected her own magic.

Then, what about magic stones that came from nature?

She had to check somehow. But the problem was… 

‘It’s too expensive.’

It was a fatal obstacle. In Eristella’s current situation, she had no choice but to ask Heinricion to buy her a magic stone.

‘Without repaying, the debt only increases.’

How could she ask for it? It was a time when Eristella’s mind was busy.

She turned her head and saw the half moon through the window.

‘It’s already night. Soon, Heinricion…’

‘Uh? Is he coming?’

Eristella’s movements slowed down. She realized she had missed one important fact.

As soon as she resolved her old conflict with Heinricion, she collapsed, and they haven’t had a proper conversation since.

When she opened her eyes, she was still in Heinricion’s bedroom, but… 

‘Can I sleep here today?’

‘Heinricion will come, right? Don’t tell me he’s not coming.’

As she shifted her eyes, the bedroom door opened.

‘You’re here!’

When she got up and checked, Heinricion was coming in through the open door.

Eristella didn’t realize it, but her fox tail was waving excitedly. And at a very fast pace too.

*******

Eristella had a dream.

Pong, pong. She was playing energetically on the cotton candy clouds, and suddenly she fell in—

One leg went down.

‘What?’

‘Uh, uh… huh???’

In the midst of astonishment, the cotton candy clouds were melting and disappearing here and there.

‘No way—!’

She tried to grab hold of the cotton candy cloud with wide-open paws to protect it, but it just melted faster.

Flash. Her eyes opened.

Eristella first checked the floor. She wondered if it was possible that she fell from the bed and was lying on the hard floor.

But as when she had fallen asleep, she was on a soft bed.

‘It was a nightmare…’

Thanks to this, Eristella dug wildly into the blanket.

From the day she was put back in the bed, she had sweet dreams. This was the first time she had slept poorly in the bed.

When morning came, she opened her eyes. But there was no Heinricion in the bed.

*******

As expected, when Eristella entered the office, she saw Heinricion looking at the documents. It looked like he had been there since dawn.

Anessa was the first to react when she saw the fox.

“Fox! Good morning today… huh? Your fur looks a little frizzy today. Your eyes also look a little dark.”

Eristella’s head fell.

‘It’s all because I couldn’t sleep properly.’

People need to sleep well. It was no different for foxes.

Once she couldn’t sleep, it was difficult to fall asleep again. To that end, she was more aware of how serious Heinricion’s insomnia was, as she repeatedly woke up several times throughout the night.

She couldn’t sleep, so she was cranky.

This was something that always mattered to her when she was Princess Eristella.

Eating well.

Sleeping well.

And playing well.

These three basic things were considered essential and had always been faithfully followed.

But she didn’t sleep well last night.

It was a very big deal.

‘I can’t do this. I can’t because I’m in pain!’

‘But I owe him one. I should help him get a good night’s sleep.’

Eristella had another goal in addition to returning to her original form.

‘Well, it would be nice to be able to ask for a magic stone for that.’

‘Absolutely not because of that! I’m just saying.’

*******

As Eristella watched Heinricion, she realized that there was a big problem with his lifestyle.

Especially, the worst of them all…

Eristella hit Heinricion with her front paw whenever he tried to get coffee.

‘Coffee is bad for sleep!’

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

‘Don’t drink.’

“One more cup.”

But before he could take another sip of the prepared coffee, Eristella fiercely swung her short legs and knocked over the cup.

“Did you put something else in the coffee?”

“Is that possible? I can prove it by drinking it.”

“Then drink.”

“Your Excellency…!”

“Right now.”

“I’ll drink it… What kind of coffee is this! Your Excellency doesn’t care about the taste, you only drink bitter and strong coffee, so it’s very painful for others to drink it!”

Rowen gulped down a lot of coffee, and expressed his feelings of injustice and frustration.

‘Ah… Was Heinricion’s coffee preference that bad?’

It was when Eristella looked pityingly at the tears welling up in the corners of Rowen’s eyes, who had swallowed all the coffee at once.

Meanwhile, Heinricion was watching, not Rowen, but Eristella. There must be a reason. What the hell was she thinking?

“It’s fine.”

It was when Heinricion brought his hand to another cup of coffee next to him.

The fox, who had been quiet until now, leapt up again and knocked down the coffee cup.

“I see that I shouldn’t drink it.”

‘Yes. Don’t drink it!’

Eristella exclaimed with her eyes wide open.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I know right. Why is the fox doing this?”

Heinricion and Rowen tilted their heads side by side as if they did not understand what was going on.

‘Coffee is bad for sleep.’

Eristella’s forehead narrowed. He can’t sleep, and she doesn’t know how many cups of coffee he drinks in a day.

“It just so happened. Still, Your Excellency, you better cut down on coffee. It’s not good to drink coffee when you can’t sleep already.”

‘Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying!’

Rowen nagged advice as if it was natural.

“Just because I don’t drink doesn’t mean I’m sleeping.”

‘He’s really not listening.’

Eristella stared at him with distasteful eyes. Ironically, she felt he was very stubborn.

It was then.

“Didn’t you faint last time?”

“When did I?”

Eristella’s eyes tilted upwards.

‘What. What is this now?’

As she glared at him with a terrifying force, Heinricion avoided her gaze.

“The last time…”

“No. Never.”

Heinricion cut Rowen off firmly. With a bitter glance at him, Heinricion warned that he would not let it go if Rowen said one more word.

Rowen kept his mouth shut, but that didn’t mean Eristella hadn’t noticed.

Eristella’s stinging gaze followed Heinricion throughout the day.

After a day’s work, she saw Heinricion, who had changed into a light outfit, and could see different things than before.

‘You seem to have lost some weight.’

Heinricion felt burdened by the gaze that scanned his body all over and he laid down on the bed.

It meant to stop paying attention and go to sleep, but Eristella was concerned about the blanket covering him.

The blanket was flowing down his waist.

‘You look cold.’

‘Heinricion is sensitive to cold. But I can’t believe he’s sleeping with his blanket lowered.’

‘If it’s cold, he can cover himself well.’

Eristella turned around. However, she kept worrying about the existence behind her back.

‘Huak—’

Deeply troubled, she eventually made a decision.

The fox jumped up and wrapped her body around Heinricion’s neck.

No matter how light the fox was, Heinricion could not ignore the weight of a small animal. At the sudden action of the fox, he raised his head slightly and looked at it.

As if it was very strange, he opened his mouth with a slight frown and a twitch in one eye.

“What. Is it an assassination?”

“Is it your plan to keep me from breathing in this way?” Heinricion murmured lowly.

At that moment, the ruthless claws of the fox turned towards Heinricion.

‘It’s about sleeping well and wrapping yourself up!’

In the end, the marks of the fox’s teeth were left on Heinricion’s neck. The fox inhaled and exhaled vigorously.

It was only awkward and embarrassing to embrace Heinricion, so she decided to move away.

Eristella was really embarrassed, and so she turned her back around. Then she slipped down from Heinricion’s neck, moved over his head, settled down, and closed her eyes.

Heinricion, who was watching the scene, smirked, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Good night.”

Lying next to her, Heinricion also closed his eyes.

How long had it been silent? Heinricion’s breath came out regularly.

Only then did Eristella’s eyelids flutter openly.

‘Did you fall asleep?’

Watching Heinricion sleeping reminded her of the old days.

‘We had slept like this before.’

Heinricion would follow Eristella around, but if he took his eyes off her for a moment, she would probably get into an accident.

Even when she took a nap for a while, he could not relax, and so he slept holding her hand tightly.

Now that Eristella was here with Heinricion, she remembered those times and burst into laughter.

‘It’s still warm.’

Gradually, Eristella and Heinricion fell asleep together. It was a very deep and comfortable sleep.

Surprisingly, Heinricion never woke up all night.