On an afternoon when the heat of the hunting competition had yet to fade, Kael, who had been enjoying his rest, came stumbling out of the tent at Emperor Adrian Albrecht’s early return.
“Your Majesty!”
He quickly scanned the Emperor’s entire body.
“Have you finished the hunt already? Or perhaps you were injured somewhere…!”
Kael’s voice trembled more as he continued speaking. Although he couldn’t even imagine the Emperor being injured at the hunting grounds, his early return and somewhat disheveled appearance were enough to evoke the worst-case scenario.
Adrian answered indifferently, as if annoyed by his aide’s fuss.
“No, not me.”
At the same time as those words, Adrian suddenly thrust something forward.
What’s this.
‘A dog?’
A beast that looked like a fox or perhaps a dog was trembling with its body hunched, seemingly frightened of the unfamiliar environment.
“A… stray dog?”
After examining the beast’s face for a while, Kael asked in an uncertain tone.
He knew three types of foxes. The common fox with vermillion fur, the arctic fox with completely white fur, and lastly, the desert fox with cream-colored fur and a very small body.
As he pondered, he recalled that there were also black foxes with entirely black fur. However, this fox wasn’t entirely black. Though it was hard to see clearly due to dirt and other filth clinging to it, the tip of its fairly fluffy tail was white.
“Who knows. I wouldn’t know. Just take it. How long are you going to make me keep holding it?”
“Ah, my apologies, Your Majesty!”
He hurriedly received the small creature from the Emperor. A weight much lighter than expected and a touch of surprisingly soft fur, contrary to its appearance, was transmitted to his palm.
“Whiiine, whine. Whiiiiine….”
As Adrian’s body heat and scent disappeared, the fox struggled anxiously in Kael’s hands. Because of this, as pain surged again from its injured paw, a pitiful scream burst out.
Nevertheless, as if the fear of losing the person who saved it was greater than the pain of the wound, the fox desperately turned its head only in the direction where Adrian stood. He looked at the fox’s pitiful eyes for a moment, but soon turned his gaze away and mounted the black horse.
“I’ll return to the hunting grounds, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Adrian left only those words before turning his horse back toward the forest. Kael fell into a complicated state of mind, alternating between looking at the Emperor’s figure disappearing without a proper explanation and the fox in his hands.
What is he entrusting to me?
Thanks to spending many years with the Emperor, he could understand him perfectly even without lengthy explanations, but this time he couldn’t even guess what task was being assigned.
He examined the fox with a troubled expression. Blue eyes shining particularly vividly among the black fur, bloody paws, and even the tail with its tip dyed white.
The moment his gaze lingered on the tail’s tip, he discovered something special. A silvery light faintly spreading between the dirt-covered fur. Even though it was completely covered in filth, that light flowed out subtly as if unable to conceal itself. That mysteriousness spoke of how precious this creature was.
In that instant, Kael understood the Emperor’s intention.
‘Ah. He means to treat it before the hide rots from the wound.’
Whenever the Emperor had a kill he particularly liked from his hunts, he would summon a taxidermist or leather craftsman and order them to make it into a top-quality work. This fox too would take a place in his splendid collection. Though it was small to decorate the Emperor’s study, the fact that it was a rare black fox alone made it valuable enough to collect.
A smile befitting a capable aide spread across Kael’s lips as he grasped the situation at once. He gestured to summon a servant waiting nearby.
“Call Lord Necro. Tell him His Majesty has brought a rare quarry.”
Having given instructions to the servant, Kael moved his steps into the tent while holding the fox even more carefully.
The fox looked at the man with eyes whose wariness had softened a bit now that he held it in a more stable position than before. It seemed to be saying, ‘Is this human a good human?’
“Now, let’s look at that wound.”
Kael examined the fox’s injured paw. Blood continued to flow, soiling its fur. If left like this, the wound would worsen further and become troublesome to process later.
He brought a clean cloth from a nearby table and gently wiped the wounded area before beginning to stop the bleeding. His touch was delicate and careful, as if handling expensive silk.
The fox now seemed to firmly believe he was helping it. Trust toward him showed in the clear eyes looking up at Kael with its head raised.
Meeting that innocent gaze, Kael felt a pang of conscience, but only very briefly. For him, loyalty and eagerness to perfectly execute the Emperor’s command took priority over conscience.
Just as the bleeding was nearly stopped, a man suddenly entered the tent. This tall man who exuded a chilling aura like what one might feel from a corpse was both an undertaker and the Empire’s most skilled taxidermist—Necro.
Kael turned his gaze from the fox and welcomed him.
“Oh, you arrived faster than expected. Did Lord Necro also attend the hunting competition?”
“No.”
He answered with an indifferent expression.
“I’m not particularly interested in living things. I only came because nobles who want to preserve the beasts they hunted eternally and beautifully commissioned me. Anyway, so… is that the one?”
His inorganic gaze fixed on the fox before Kael. In his eyes, instead of reverence for life, only the chilling intensity of a craftsman toward a perfect work gleamed.
“Yes. What do you think? Isn’t it a rather pretty-looking thing? It seems to be a black fox or something like that.”
Necro approached closer and observed the fox. At that gaze, the fox felt instinctive fear and tried hard to burrow deeper into Kael’s embrace, but Kael only adjusted his hold on the creature so Necro could see it better.
“Hmm. Well, not bad. Especially this white fur at the tail’s tip. It seems pure white, yet mysteriously glows softly depending on the angle of light.”
Necro gently stroked the fox’s fur with his bare hands.
There wasn’t a trace of warmth in that touch. The moment that cold sensation made contact, the fox trembled violently as if having a seizure.
From Necro wafted a faint but disgusting smell of chemicals and the stench of death. Wild instinct cried out. The man before its eyes was not a simple human but a dangerous being.
“Kang! Kang! Kyaaaak!”
In an instant, a scream hard to believe came from such a small body split through the tent. The fox bared its fangs, crying out not to touch its body, to back away.
“Wh-why is this thing suddenly acting like this?”
Kael hurriedly tried to restrain the fiercely barking fox, but the fox struggled and escaped from his grasp. However, unable to run far due to its injured paw, it crawled to a corner of the tent and curled up. Its blue eyes glistened with extreme fear and hostility.
“It would be troublesome if it runs away, so let’s start quickly.”
Necro didn’t bat an eye at the fox’s threats and set down his tool bag on the table. With a click and the sound of the leather bag opening, well-polished silver instruments revealed themselves.
“I will process it in the most painless way and create the finest taxidermy piece befitting His Majesty’s study.”
He spoke matter-of-factly as he took out a syringe and medicine bottle from his pocket.
“Wait, wait a moment. You’re not planning to do it here, are you? This is His Majesty’s tent!”
“Didn’t you call me to do it here? Well, he’s not someone who would get angry over a little blood splatter, so let’s just do it.”
“Say something that makes sense! Do you want someone’s head to fly off?”
Urgency was evident in Kael’s voice, which had gone pale.
“For now, I’ll catch it again, so just hold the bag. We’ll proceed with the taxidermy after moving to the imperial palace.”
Kael handed a bag to Necro. The fox’s eyes opened wide with shock. It was the look of one betrayed by someone it had trusted. It seemed to realize only now that Kael was not on its side but the same kind of human as Necro.
“Shh… good boy?”
After handing over the bag, Kael slowly approached the fox. His tone and expression were still gentle. He looked like a good person, far removed from someone who would taxidermy it. But the fox now knew. That all of it had been a ploy to lure it out.
“Ka, kyaang, kang…!”
As if squeezing out its last strength, the fox cried out pitifully while looking around. As if searching for that blonde man who had saved it. But the crying was trapped inside the thick tent, reaching no one.
Deep despair filled the eyes of the beast driven to a dead end. The warm embrace that had held it, that comfortable moment, felt like a distant dream. It was destined to die after all.
‘Survive.’
Then it seemed to hear a voice from within faint memories. That sad voice ignited the last remaining survival instinct. The fox bared its teeth and growled at Kael.
“Grrrrowl…!”
However, that threat was far too weak to stop Kael’s footsteps. What use was there in such a tiny thing growling? He inwardly snorted and reached his hand straight toward the fox’s scruff.
But there was one fact Kael didn’t know. That foxes who had lived for many years in the wild were never to be underestimated.
