If he scurried along following that moonlight and jumped onto the bed, Adrian would lift the covers for him. Inside would be warm and cozy.
‘No. I have to endure.’
Leo turned his head away. He buried his nose back into the velvet cushion that was soft but had no warmth. Instead of Adrian’s scent, only a dusty soap fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.
A moment later, when the room became quiet, Leo sneakily lifted his head from the velvet cushion. He looked across the room. The lump rising beneath the blankets didn’t move at all.
Is he asleep?
Leo stepped down onto the carpet with his front paws. The wool fibers tickled his paw pads. He silently stepped forward one paw at a time until he approached beside the bed. And with his neck stretched out, he looked up at the sleeping Adrian.
Adrian had his eyes closed. He sniffed carefully. The air tasted clean. Tonight, there was no smell of that heavy, rotten black smoke. It seemed calm thanks to eating diligently recently.
Leo unconsciously let out the breath he’d been holding. Safe, for now.
Wait. If it’s safe, doesn’t that mean we can sleep together?
Since the leaking curse was minimal, the amount absorbed would be equally small. At such a feeble level, it wouldn’t have any effect.
Leo placed his front paws on the wooden bed frame. He wanted to jump up. His muscles tensed, preparing to leap into the warm blankets. But the memory of Theodor’s cold fingers digging into his neck stopped him.
‘If you eat more, you’ll die.’
Leo lowered his front paws back to the floor. Even a speck of curse, when accumulated, becomes a mountain.
Just how long would they have to stay apart? He felt dejected that even though they’d barely returned to the imperial palace, he couldn’t sleep with him. But for his own sake, and for his sake too, they had to stay apart at night.
Leo spun around in circles three times on the spot, then curled his body into a ball right next to Adrian’s slippers. The floor was hard and wind came through the door crack, making his nose cold. He buried his snout under his tail to preserve warmth.
Though cold and uncomfortable, if he couldn’t sleep together, he felt he could only fall asleep if he was at least here. Close enough to hear Adrian’s breathing.
***
Morning sunlight squeezed through the gaps in the thick curtains. Adrian opened his eyes. The brightness of the ceiling felt unfamiliar. Normally, a pitch-black furball should have been blocking his view or weighing heavily on his chest. Today his chest was light.
He sat up. His neck was stiff and a dull lethargy clung to his limbs. It wasn’t the crushing fatigue from when he suffered from insomnia, but he definitely felt the particular stuffiness of a night spent tossing and turning without deep sleep. He rubbed his face with one hand and looked to the side. The sheets were smooth and cold.
“Leo.”
His voice came out cracked. As expected, there was no movement on the bed. He turned his head to look at the sofa. Not there either.
Where did he go?
Adrian frowned and leaned over the edge of the mattress. A black form was huddled on the floor carpet.
The furball flinched. Leo slowly uncurled his body and blinked at the morning sunlight. He stretched his front legs out straight, elongating his back in a stretch, then sat up and looked up at Adrian. Soon after, a small yawn escaped.
Adrian stared down at Leo. The fox on the floor, separated by the height of the bed frame, looked particularly small.
“Did you sleep there all night?”
Leo wagged his tail once, making a thud sound on the floor. Hmph.
Adrian reached out his hand. He slipped his hand between Leo’s armpits and lifted him up in one motion. This time he didn’t resist. The moment Leo touched the mattress, Adrian felt an unfamiliar sensation. His fur was cool. His paw pad jelly was like ice.
“You’re cold.”
Adrian stroked Leo’s back. The usual warmth that radiated from the small body had disappeared into the coldness of the floor.
“To sleep on the drafty floor like a lodger when there’s a perfectly good bed.”
Adrian clicked his tongue and busily rubbed Leo’s sides with his hand to create friction heat. Leo accepted that touch and put his weight into Adrian’s palm. As warmth seeped into his bones, his eyes naturally narrowed.
The floor had been hard, cold, and lonely. In contrast, Adrian’s hands were warm and soft. It felt good.
Adrian pulled up the blanket and covered Leo’s body with it. A small cave just for the fox was created. Leo stuck just his nose out from under the blanket.
“Stay there until your body warms up.”
Leo watched as Adrian got out of bed and rang the bell to summon a maid. The sheets were deeply saturated with Adrian’s scent. He took a deep breath. Drowsiness began to wash over him.
Theodor said not to eat bad energy, not that he couldn’t smell the sheets.
***
During the hours when the sun was up, the study was filled with comfortable warmth. Adrian sat at his desk looking at documents, and one corner of the mahogany desk was occupied by a black furball. Leo watched the working Emperor up close without even blinking his blue eyes.
Occasionally Adrian would dip his pen in the inkwell and stroke the fox’s back with his free hand. When that happened, Leo would lean his body into that touch and let out a puff of air through his nose. He no longer interfered like before. He would stay still, and when attendants brought in snacks, he would perk up his ears and wait for the timing to receive a piece of jerky or a spoonful of honey.
The day passed peacefully. It was such an ordinary time that one could forget that Leo had refused to sleep together the previous night.
But the moment the sun set and the maids lit the candles in the bedroom, an invisible wall divided the two. Adrian, who had changed into pajamas, turned toward the bed and habitually patted the spot beside him.
“Leo.”
The furball that had been following at his heels until just moments ago stopped in the middle of the room. The creature looked back and forth between the fluffy blankets and Adrian’s hand. His ears twitched. Then he turned his head. Leo walked toward the corner of the room with heavy, resigned footsteps. He spun around three times on the cold carpet near the door, then covered his nose with his tail and curled up tightly.
Adrian’s hand still hung in the air.
He’s doing that again.
“Won’t you come?”
Adrian lifted the blanket and waited for the fox to climb up. However, the fox only stared at the space inside the blankets without moving.
“Do as you please.”
Though no emotion was carried in his voice, he extinguished the candles a bit more roughly than usual. The room was plunged into darkness.
Adrian lay flat on his back and stared at the canopy on the ceiling. As expected, sleep didn’t come easily today either. The shadow of old insomnia began to crawl beneath his skin. It wasn’t the suffocating pressure that the curse gave, but the hollow pain that empty space provided.
Adrian let out a rough sigh and moved his body to the edge of the bed. He let his arm dangle outside the mattress. His fingers swayed lightly, brushing the air just above the floor.
Come here.
The gesture was clear. Leo stared intently at that hand in the darkness. The fingertips hung just outside the bed frame. If he buried his nose and smelled it, there would be that familiar body scent. It was also close enough to reach with his tongue.
Leo raised his upper body and lifted his front paw. But at that moment, a warning sound rang from deep in his stomach.
Ngh. Leo stopped breathing. If he approached now, he could lick Adrian’s hand. But the price would be pain that would turn his stomach inside out. He could endure pain, but he couldn’t endure disappearing forever from Adrian’s side.
Leo lowered the front paw he had raised back to the floor.
Thud.
It was a small sound, but it echoed loudly in the silence. Adrian’s fingers stopped. He waited a bit longer. But Leo didn’t move. Rather, he stepped backward. The sound of footsteps moving away from the sofa could be heard.
Adrian’s hand slowly withdrew.
‘Why?’
During the day, the creature stuck to his feet like a shadow, but as soon as night came, he completely changed his attitude as if nothing had happened. He wanted to at least ask the retreating figure moving to an unreachable corner why, but he couldn’t very well grab and interrogate a beast that couldn’t speak.
Had he suddenly matured? Thinking about it, the fox no longer interfered when Adrian worked by knocking over inkwells or snatching pens. He just sat quietly nearby, receiving snacks brought by maids and watching.
Had the solemn name Leonhart instilled some strange sense of responsibility in the creature?
A change that he would have welcomed before now felt unbearably sad. He wished the creature would give him his side even if he went back to gnawing on pens and causing trouble like before. But whether the fox knew Adrian’s heart or not, he stubbornly didn’t climb onto the bed.
The days were still peaceful. Leo received snacks on Adrian’s lap and he scratched Leo’s back while looking at documents. But the moment the sun set, an invisible line divided the two.
That night, and the next night, were the same.
