Adrian set the fox down on the sofa for a moment. As soon as it left his arms, the creature anxiously tried to grab onto his arm again.
“Stay still. I need to dry your fur so you don’t catch a cold.”
At those words, the fox finally stopped whimpering and sat obediently. Adrian began gently wiping down the damp, cold fur with a warm towel. His touch was clumsy but incredibly delicate. Worried that the small body might be startled, he held his breath and carefully wiped and dried the fur.
As the fur began to dry, the fox’s tense body gradually relaxed. The creature started nodding off drowsily. It seemed tired after playing so energetically. Adrian picked up the fox again and laid it on his lap.
“Kuu…”
With a satisfied sound escaping in its sleep, the fox rubbed its cheek against his thigh and fell into a deeper slumber.
As Adrian patted the fox’s back so it could sleep comfortably, his gaze suddenly fell on the small front paw curled up on his knee. The clumsily wrapped bandage. It had gotten wet and dried, becoming dirty and disheveled. Leaving it like this would clearly be bad for the wound.
Adrian opened the medical kit the maid had brought and took out bandages, disinfectant, and medical scissors. After confirming the fox was deeply asleep, he carefully began cutting away the wet bandage with the scissors. As the damp, soiled pieces of cloth fell away one by one, the small wounded paw was finally revealed.
“……?”
Adrian’s eyebrows rose in puzzlement.
This was completely different from his expectation that there would still be a deep wound. The place where the injury had been was now almost completely healed. It looked like it had been weeks, not days, since the wound was made.
It had definitely been quite a serious injury. The doctor had said the wound was deep and would take at least two weeks to recover. But it had healed this much in just four days?
With an expression of disbelief, Adrian gently stroked the paw with his fingertips. The fox merely curled its toes slightly in its sleep, as if ticklish.
This is strange. How could it heal this quickly?
Adrian examined the fox’s paw closely once more. It was hard to believe this was the same serious wound from just days ago. His gaze shifted to the bandaid on the back of his own hand. His own healing ability was faster than most people’s, but even so, the wound from the fox’s bite still hadn’t completely healed.
Yet the fox’s paw, which had been caught in a trap with torn flesh and blood flowing freely, was almost fully healed. Even for someone with superior healing abilities, this speed completely defied common sense.
He examined the fox’s appearance carefully once more.
A body slightly smaller than a typical fox, black fur covering its entire body. And the uniquely white tip of its tail. Up to that point, it was no different from an ordinary black fox. However, the tail tip that at a glance appeared to be just white fur actually held a subtle luminescence when examined closely.
‘Not an ordinary black fox…’
There was definitely something unusual about this small fox. Such miraculous healing power was certainly not ordinary.
Adrian’s golden eyes darkened heavily. He set down the disinfectant he was holding and quietly stroked the sleeping fox’s fur. Beneath the soft, warm texture, he couldn’t tell what secret this small body was hiding. Perhaps he should summon the Empire’s greatest mage to consult about this strange phenomenon.
But that thought was immediately dismissed.
Adrian didn’t want this fox to be treated like an experimental subject. The image of it surrounded by countless people, undergoing all sorts of examinations, confined to a narrow cage… even the thought twisted his insides.
That wary gaze it had shown when it first discovered him, and the trust that had gradually built up. Now they had become close enough that it would approach first and fall asleep on his knee. He couldn’t betray this pure trust.
In any case, healing quickly was a good thing. There was no need to think too seriously about it.
Just in case, he thinly spread ointment on the wounded area and wrapped it with fresh bandages. The deeply sleeping creature remained completely unaware of the entire process, only letting out soft breathing sounds.
The peace that came after the noisy commotion didn’t last long. With a knock, Kael entered.
“Your Majesty, the priest has arriv— Oh my, Your Majesty. What on earth happened to you!”
Kael was at a loss for words at the scene before his eyes. Adrian’s shirt was a mess of water and dirt, and his coat was rolling around carelessly on the floor.
Adrian’s eyebrow twitched. The fox on his knee stirred slightly with a “nng” at that noisy voice. Adrian reflexively raised his hand to pat the fox’s back.
“Be quiet. You’ll wake it.”
At the sharp warning gaze, Kael quickly shut his mouth. He rolled his eyes, alternately looking at the carelessly placed towel on the table and the fox whose fur wasn’t quite dry yet. Though he didn’t know the exact situation, he could roughly guess what had happened.
To avoid waking the fox, or more precisely, to avoid seeing the Emperor angry because the fox woke up, he lowered his voice considerably.
“Priest Theodor is waiting in the reception room.”
At the word ‘priest,’ Adrian’s brow furrowed. He had forgotten in that brief moment. That he was supposed to meet with him this afternoon.
Today was his regular treatment day. The day when Priest Theodor, one of the candidates for the next Pope, would come to treat his chronic insomnia. Unable to find any effect with typical sleeping pills or medications, the alternative chosen was treatment using divine power.
In truth, it couldn’t really be called treatment. The insomnia itself had never improved even once. But at least he could gain enough stability that his body could endure even without sleep. The divine power brought temporary vitality to his exhausted body.
Adrian’s gaze naturally lowered. The small fox sleeping soundly on his knee. Its furry body rose and fell regularly, lost in peaceful sleep.
To go meet the priest, he’d first have to remove this fox from his knee.
Getting the fox off his knee without waking it required more delicate concentration than signing a treaty with the Empire’s fate hanging in the balance. Adrian exercised a high degree of concentration, very slowly sliding his hands beneath the fox’s body.
“Mmm…”
The fox made a small groan in its sleep. Adrian’s movements froze. As he held his breath and waited, the fox twisted its body once, then soon fell back into quiet slumber.
Adrian tried again. Even more carefully than before, he gathered the fox in his arms. This time there was no sign of it waking. However, when he had almost moved it to the sofa, the fox frowned and let out a thin cry. That weak sound wrapped around Adrian’s chest.
In the end, he brought the fox back to his knee and gently set it down. Feeling the familiar warmth, the fox exhaled contentedly and returned to peaceful sleep.
Adrian let out a deep sigh and gazed at the fox for a moment. His predicament was plainly written on his face. After a brief pause, his gaze turned to Kael.
“Tell them today’s schedule is canceled.”
“Pardon? Your Majesty, you’re not going to receive treatment? The last treatment was a month ago. Your body won’t be able to endure. And he traveled for three days to get here, to send him back like this…”
“Are your ears blocked? I said cancel it.”
Irritation seeped into Adrian’s voice. The longer the conversation continued, the more he worried the fox on his knee would wake. He carefully stroked the sleeping fox’s back as he continued.
“Tell the priest that I’ve been sleeping well recently so there’s no need for treatment. And as an apology for making him come all this way due to the sudden cancellation, tell him I’ll provide additional funding for the temple reconstruction.”
Adrian looked at him with an expression that said ‘are you satisfied now?’
Would that really work?
The Emperor’s health wasn’t simply a personal matter. It was directly tied to the Empire’s fate. In fact, ominous rumors were secretly spreading inside and outside the palace that the Emperor might meet an early end while suffering from insomnia.
Of course, it was fortunate that he’d been sleeping well recently. However, this insomnia was a chronic condition that had shown no improvement despite years of famous doctors and priests trying every method. Such an illness could relapse at any time.
For precisely that reason, it would be better to receive treatment in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances. What harm could there be in receiving that precious divine power? When even perfectly healthy people offered all sorts of valuable treasures to priests hoping to receive that divine power once, the Emperor was declining such an opportunity merely because he was worried about waking a single beast.
‘What on earth is that creature…’
Kael’s gaze turned to the fox monopolizing the Emperor’s lap. The Emperor’s behavior had become strange ever since that bizarre fox appeared in the palace.
The Emperor originally didn’t even like children.
He had once said something absurd about finding raising children bothersome, claiming he would pass the throne to the frail Seventh Princess when his time came, which had horrified everyone. Kael couldn’t understand what would be bothersome about it when the maids were the ones who took care of imperial grandchildren anyway. He would have understood better if the Emperor had said he couldn’t have grandchildren because his seed pouch was empty.
What on earth was this fox that the Emperor would take on even bothersome tasks himself and treasure it so preciously?
This incomprehensible behavior of prioritizing a beast’s peaceful sleep on his knee over his own well-being triggered a memory of a rumor that had been circulating in the palace.
‘The Emperor has been bewitched by a demon.’
