Silence fell over the office.
I looked at the fox before my eyes with a flustered expression. Then, blinking as if asking what was wrong, it appeared utterly nonchalant despite having done something outrageous.
‘……What was that just now?’
As if unaware of my troubled state, the fox’s tail, stretched long across the desk, swayed left and right. Each time it moved, the soft fur rustled quietly as it brushed against the wood.
As if that wasn’t enough, it now even lifted its pure white front paw and began grooming its fur. With eyes narrowed to slits and tongue diligently licking, it was, naturally, an ordinary fox.
I stared at the system window emitting a blue glow beyond the squirming ball of fluff.
[Current Chaos Meter: 73%]
It wasn’t a safe number, but it was a situation I could somehow endure. It meant that even though my stomach churned and I was short of breath, it wasn’t to the point of fainting or seeing and hearing things that weren’t there.
Then was it because I was tired after all? Perhaps my mind had become hazy from working too much and I had mistakenly imagined things on my own…….
—It’s not a mistake.
Just then, a voice flowing from the fox cut off the train of thought that followed.
—You didn’t mishear either.
Startled, I rose from my seat. The fox, having just finished grooming its fur, lifted its head and perked up its ears.
It couldn’t be anything but absurd. A beast speaking human language? What’s more shocking, that wasn’t even the end of it. The fox’s eyes, which had opened wide, were shining with a strange golden light.
A pure white form, golden eyes, and…….
—Do you like it?
A familiar voice.
I grabbed the creature by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up. Instead of yelping, the fox gently swished its tail floating in the air and was obediently carried to the bedroom.
I set the fox down in the very center of the bed, then sat facing it.
“What are you?”
—What do you mean, what? I’m Blanc.
“No, I recognized your voice too. I’m asking how you ended up looking like this.”
—Mmm.
The fox tilted its head and began to ponder.
—There’s quite a story to it…….
“Tell me briefly.”
—That’s how it happened.
“……No, hey. You at least need to give a basic explanation.”
Then the fox wrinkled its nose and smiled, eyes crinkling merrily.
—I needed a suitable skin, so I tried putting it on. Your Imperial Majesty likes animals, don’t you?
When did I say I liked them? I said I didn’t dislike them. Of course, I didn’t actually say that out loud. It was because I could clearly envision it insisting that it was the same thing.
—The original color wasn’t pretty, so I tried changing it to white. How is it? Suits me well, doesn’t it? Resembles me, doesn’t it?
The creature began chattering in an excited voice.
—This is my first time trying something like this too. Instead of being strong, we have restrictions that prevent us from interfering with the world carelessly. So it took time in various ways, and even now it’s not complete. But I’m practicing hard. I’m almost at the adaptation stage…….
The fox’s eyes narrowed.
—Before I could surprise you, it seemed like Your Imperial Majesty would abandon me first.
“……”
—That’s too much. You tried to abandon me last time, and now you’re trying to chase me away again.
“No, um. That was……”
I had my own reasons for that.
But the thoroughly sulking fox had no intention of understanding and only thumped its tail repeatedly.
—Anyway, it’s fine now, right? I can stay by Your Imperial Majesty’s side continuously now, right? If you wait a little longer, I can even take human form.
Only then did the subtle sense of incongruity surrounding the fox begin to resolve one by one.
The reason an unfamiliar-looking fox had appeared was because it had changed its appearance, and the reason it had been absent the entire time in my dreams was because it was looking for a way to stay by my side. The reason the ‘Chaos Meter’ had been gradually rising when I kept the fox nearby was because I was receiving a share of Blanc’s power, and the pale form with golden eyes that had been wandering around the castle was Blanc practicing its transformation.
I had definitely resolved not to grow attached, to send it away once winter passed.
“Haah……”
Everything had fallen apart.
As I sighed and flopped down on the spot, Blanc quickly climbed on top of me. It settled on my chest and lay down, tapping my chin with its moist nose.
—Why are you sighing? It’s good to have me around. Don’t you think it’ll be comfortable?
……It did seem like it would be comfortable. Since I could just stick together whenever needed without having to force my way through dreams and wait. No, actually, it was beyond comfortable—there could be no greater fortune than this.
I gently stroked the fox’s head with a meaning of acknowledgment. Each time my touch reached it, its ears folded back and a purring sound flowed out.
“Right. I won’t chase you away.”
A gentle vibration spread ticklishly through our touching chests.
“When you’re acting like this, how could I possibly chase you away?”
—Right?
I glanced at the system window visible behind the white ball of fluff.
[Current Chaos Meter: 79%]
[Current Chaos Meter: 80%]
[Current Chaos Meter: 81%]
I closed my eyes, feeling the pain that had been sticking thickly all over my body slowly fade away.
From that day on, the fox began sleeping in my room every night. The creature that pretended to be an ordinary beast during the day would shine its golden eyes at night and endlessly chatter at my bedside.
One day, Billy came to wake me in the morning and discovered us sleeping together. To be precise, he saw the fox that had firmly planted itself on my chest as I lay straight on my back.
He peered at us as if fascinated and asked.
‘You’ve become quite close. Won’t you really give it a name now?’
‘……I did.’
‘You’ve already given one? What is it?’
‘Blanc.’
Billy made a fuss about how elegant the sound was. I decided to keep it as my own secret that it meant “whitey” in French.
And so May came with the fox. The days gradually became peaceful, and now I could go outside the castle without a heavy coat.
A cozy afternoon with warm spring sunlight pouring down. After finishing paperwork, instead of going to the training grounds as usual, I went out to the garden.
A small child walking diligently beside me as I strode along the corridor and a fox trotting along on four legs approached. Their steps were light as if thoroughly excited.
Turning my head to glance at Lenox, I reduced my stride a bit. It was because I had received a report that he had been complaining of knee pain recently as his height gradually increased.
I didn’t want to let him get hurt again like last time by overdoing it. So today, instead of letting him train, I planned to have tea and conversation together. It was a rather radical gesture of goodwill, having given up a full day’s worth of my training.
As I settled into the seat prepared in the garden, Billy brought out colorfully decorated cookies and freshly baked scones. He wore a pleased smile, as if he was extremely happy that I was resting.
“How is your magic lesson going?”
“Yees.”
Lenox, who had taken a big bite of the scone, murmured docilely.
“It’s difficult, but I can still keep up. But I’m not sure what the teacher is teaching me has to do with healing abilities.”
“What are you learning?”
Thinking I should check whether he was being taught properly as instructed, I asked casually, and Lenox began answering while folding his fingers one by one, which had scone crumbs on them.
“Detecting the mana contained within others, distinguishing bad mana from good mana, using minimal mana to change bad mana into good mana……”
He’s learning well. I nodded while tilting my teacup.
“Those are all important things, so learn them well. They’re the basics of magic that can be usefully applied not only to healing abilities but also when using other magic.”
Although I was having him taught these things because they all had their uses, even if that weren’t the case, there was no harm in learning them. They were also things I myself was practicing in my spare time with reference books placed nearby.
Lenox, who had put a cookie in his mouth all at once, puffed up his cheeks and said.
“Why would I use other magic? I only need to know how to heal.”
“What are you saying? The more abilities you have, the better. You might become a great person when you grow up.”
Because you’re the protagonist. Because you’ll become the greatest magician and swordsman in <Pavane for a Dead Princess>. So given the magnitude of that ability, you’ll have no choice but to dream great dreams befitting it.
“It’s okay even if I don’t become a great person though?”
At my words, Lenox looked at me with clear eyes and said.
“As long as I can stay by Hyungnim’s side, I don’t need anything else. So I’m going to focus only on curing Hyungnim.”
……It seems the protagonist who will become a great person in the future has become more modest than I thought.
