CH 96

Taktaktak, the fox’s dainty feet ran down the hallway. Her body was so light that her steps seemed cheerful.

Through the window in front of the reception room, she could see Heinricion and Viscount Diaclen.

At first glance, Heinricion’s condition was not good. He, who firmly remained in his seat, looked pretty precarious.

‘He might faint soon.’

‘But, well… I don’t think he will ever faint. He is this obstinate and silly.’

‘Indeed, there was no choice but for me to step out.’ 

It was the moment when Eristella was about to intervene.

“Fox. What are you doing here?”

She was grabbed by Rowen who suddenly appeared from behind.

“I haven’t seen you all day, turns out you’re here. But now you can’t go in.”

Rowen picked up the fox and tried to take it elsewhere.

‘No. I don’t want to!’

‘My business is over there.’

The fox struggled.

‘Let go of me!’

It was when Rowen, surprised by the unexpected struggle, tried to fix his hold of the fox.

The timing was off and the fox flew into the air.

‘Uh…?’

‘Am I flying now?’

The moment Eristella had that thought, her body immediately headed towards the floor.

“Fox…!”

Rowen did hurriedly stretch out his arm, but his fingertips merely brushed past the fox’s fur.

Eristella’s body spun in the air.

…And she landed nicely.

‘Ha. Who do you think I am? I’ve tried flying hundreds of times.’

“Oh… Fox. You’re amazing!”

As Rowen gasped in surprise, Eristella snorted and sprinted off.

This time, Rowen didn’t even have senses to grab hold of her, so she sneaked into the place where Heinricion and Viscount Diaclen were.

*******

Eristella made eye contact with Heinricion as soon as she entered the room.

—Why are you here?

He asked with his eyes.

—Oh, I’m here to help you! 

Eristella’s gaze, which confidently conveyed those thoughts, reached Viscount Diaclen.

He was looking at her, curiosity evident on his face.

At that moment, as if remembering something, Eristella paused.

‘Let’s put off helping Heinricion for a while. I’ll take this opportunity to check.’

After that brief hesitation, Eristella changed direction, she went to the opposite of Heinricion.

—Where are you going?

Whether or not Heinricion was taken aback, Eristella quickly approached Viscount Diaclen.

“We’ve seen each other before, right?”

The viscount responded with delight, thinking the fox that had approached him was cute.

As expected, there was no one who did not fall for this.

Thinking it was time, Eristella boldly embraced the viscount.

Although she had the illusion that she could hear Heinricion saying ‘Why are you…?’ in her ears.

‘I’ll ignore it for now.’

‘I have only one goal!’

First, she played with the viscount’s hands lightly and wagged her tail to attract attention. After he showed a defenseless expression… surprise attack!

Jak!

She pulled Viscount Diaclen’s hair.

“!!!”

‘What kind of nonsense is she trying to pull?’ Heinricion was stunned and reached his hand out to stop Eristella.

Regardless, she tugged the viscount’s hair again.

“Huh…?”

His head tilted according to the pulls.

‘How strange.’ 

‘It’s not a wig, it’s real hair.’

Eristella tried pulling Viscount Diaclen’s hair a few more times. However, no matter how many times she tried, the result did not change.

‘Okay, so it means that the hair and face are real.’

She had been wondering if he was wearing a wig or some other make-up.

Now that she had arrived at this conclusion, she had to deal with the situation now.

Eristella just played with her own paws innocently, making it seemed like she yanked his hair out of curiosity.

Eheheheheh—

Then she spun around and smiled brightly.

“Haha. The fox is playful.”

The viscount smiled, petting the fox as if nothing had happened.

His eyes seemed to have narrowed for a moment, but soon he smiled gently as if it had never happened.

It was when Eristella tried to slip her paw away.

‘Eh? What’s wrong with you?’

This time, it was the viscount who reached out. He pulled the fox into his arms, hugging it.

In that state, he played with the fox.

To be fair, it might seem strange to pull away from him now because it was she who approached him first and played a prank.

Eristella gazed at Heinricion, requesting for help.

—Please save me.

Seeing the sorrowful eyes, Heinricion blinked and brooded.

—Hmm. I don’t know.

Realizing that he had no intention of saving her right away, Eristella inwardly cried.

‘Now is not the time for that! Whether you’re playing hard to get or just trying to tease me, please do it later.’

‘For now, please help me!’

Heinricion moved as if he couldn’t help it due to the ceaseless soundless clamor.

“If you’re offended, I apologize on behalf of the fox.”

Snatching the fox out of the viscount’s arms, Heinricion apologized politely.

“My fox has been into tug play lately, so it keeps trying to pull something. I’ll train it well and be more careful in the future.”

“Haha. It did look like it wanted to play with me. It’s fine.”

As Heinricion put strength into his hands, as if telling her to be careful, Eristella shook her tail in discontentment, but soon calmed down.

Instead, she showed her displeasure by brazenly pulling on his sleeve. While consoling herself that she must endure this because she acted on her own.

“Anyway, it would be good to continue our talk at a later date.”

Heinricion settled things neatly.

“I’m fine anytime. Let’s stop here for today.”

Viscount Diaclen readily said his goodbye and withdrew.

Eristella’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the viscount’s back.

‘Shall I try to follow him?’

*******

Eristella quietly followed behind the viscount as he left the mansion.

He was talking to an aide.

‘What are you talking about?’

Eristella moved closer to eavesdropping.

But as she advanced, the viscount’s gaze reached her.

He smiled lightly, like the little fox approaching him was very cute.

“When did you get here?”

He immediately took an interest in the fox.

“I thought you were avoiding me at the last banquet. Are you interested in me today?”

Bending his upper body, he stared at the fox and murmured.

The fox blinked.

And turned away. But originally, animals were capricious, everything depended on their mood.

At some point, the viscount stopped talking to his aide and focused only on the fox. There seemed to be no point in continuing this.

It was when Eristella started to feel uncomfortable.

“Viscount. In the conversation we had today…”

The aide spoke as if he was concerned about something.

‘Great. Keep talking.’

Eristella’s ears stretched out. 

“Wait a bit.”

“…….?”

The viscount quickly interrupted the aide’s words.

“It’s better to discuss it later. Here, there are listening ears.”

“Listening ears?”

While the aide was puzzled, the viscount’s eyes turned to the fox.

‘What?’

‘Are you being careful with what you say in front of me?’

‘As if you know that I’m no ordinary fox.’

‘I hope you don’t know who I am. Oh, it can’t be.’

Doubtful, Eristella stared at the viscount, trying to make out the expression on his face, but she couldn’t quite figure out what she was thinking.

“Even if the fox heard it…”

“That’s how you let your guard down, leak stuff and make mistakes.”

“…Sorry. I will be careful in the future.”

At the viscount’s stern warning, the tense aide corrected his posture.

“Fox.”

Turning away from his aide, Viscount Diaclen called out to the fox in a friendly manner.

“This is what the employees of the grand duchy family call you. Fox. Is that right?”

He maintained a soft smile on his face.

‘I don’t know why he’s laughing like that. That’s really gross.’

Eristella looked away, scratching her ear.

“It seems that the fox likes me.”

‘What. No way.’

‘How the hell did you interpret it that way?’

Eristella agonized over the idea of biting the man.

‘Are you asking to be bitten?’

While she thought seriously, the viscount’s eyes suddenly curved.

‘What is it now? This feels bad.’

“But secretly eavesdropping is a bad habit.”

Uwwww— The viscount gave a light warning as he stretched out both of the fox’s cheeks.

‘Let me go, what are you doing, pulling my cheeks!’

Right when Eristella shook her head vigorously in an attempt to get her freedom and raised her guard.

“Let’s meet again next time.”

The viscount bid farewell politely with a refreshing smile. Even that felt significant.

Frowning, Eristella stared at his back, which was gradually moving away.

‘Is it just a feeling?’

‘No, but it’s really… really…’

‘It’s really uncomfortable.’

‘Is he just pretending to know everything? Or do you really know something?’

‘I should discuss this with Heinricion and check more next time.’

With that, Eristella turned and ran to the place where Heinricion was.

Ame: What do you think? Is Viscount Diaclen onto Eristella?