Someone let out a low sigh. What spread before their eyes was not the Emperor’s study. It was a scene of disaster as if a storm had swept through.
The eyes of the bearded guard sharpened.
“Secure the entrance. I’ll check if there’s an intruder.”
He issued the order, seeming to regard the serious scene before his eyes as not simply a commotion caused by a beast.
Soon one stood at the doorway blocking the entrance, and the other began meticulously searching the study. He prodded the broken statue with his toe and swept under the desk with his spear.
Every time the armor clanked, the black ball of fur that was the real cause of all this chaos watched that scene while holding its breath from above.
The smell of iron, sweat, and wariness mixed together stung its nose. That threatening scent momentarily flashed fragments of a terrible memory in the fox’s mind that had been forgotten from long ago.
Cold light glinting from spear tips, screams, flames, and the stench of blood. What memory is this even? As if confused, the fox squeezed its eyes shut and began trembling.
“How is it? Did you find anything?”
The guard watching the door asked.
“No. There’s nothing. No broken windows either, and all the footprints are only ours. They could be hiding in the bedroom, so let’s check. Hurry.”
The guards entered the bedroom. The fox cautiously opened its eyes and watched their backs. They would return soon. And they wouldn’t leave this place until they found the culprit of this commotion.
If they discovered it…
The fox looked down slowly with trembling eyes. The floor was still horrific. The guards who saw the Emperor’s study turned into a mess wouldn’t just let it go.
The fox’s body shrank further. The spears held in their hands. The image of those terrifying spear tips aimed at itself vividly came to mind. Its small heart pounded madly against its chest.
Should I jump down? Even if it meant breaking its legs, should it get down to the floor while they were absent? The moment it had that thought, the sound of the guards coming out of the bedroom was heard.
“There’s no sign of anyone breaking in here either.”
“Damn it, then what the hell is this mess?”
“I told you. It’s that beast’s doing.”
“That small thing did this? That makes no sense.”
“His Majesty coddles it too much, so it makes a fuss not knowing its place.”
The bearded man kicked at the scattered books and spat out gruffly.
“Beasts should originally be tamed and trained with a stick.”
The fox’s ears perked up sharply.
‘Trained with a stick.’
At those words, it felt like its entire body was freezing. Instinctively shrinking its body further, its claws dug into the wood making a faint scratching sound. Fortunately, the sound was small and they didn’t seem to notice.
The other guard slowly looked around the disheveled study, then suddenly tilted his head as if something didn’t add up.
“But where did that thing go? Did you see it?”
“No, I didn’t see it either.”
The bearded guard shook his head. Both their gazes simultaneously swept every corner of the study.
“Could it be hiding in some corner? Since it’s such a small thing, it might have escaped our notice.”
The guard examined between the overturned desk, scattered documents, and broken flowerpot. But the fox’s trace was nowhere to be seen. An ominous premonition crossed the face of the guard who had circled the chaotic room once more.
“Surely… it didn’t escape in the meantime, right?”
The moment those words fell, the blood instantly drained from both guards’ faces. A desperate terror of a different dimension from the earlier confusion covered their expressions.
“Look for it. Hurry!”
With an urgent shout, the two began moving frantically. Searching through the study’s bookshelves, looking under the bedroom furniture, they desperately searched for traces of that small fox as if their lives depended on it.
Unaware of their desperate state of mind, the fox was terrified as it watched them move around the study. They were looking for it. They hadn’t discovered it yet, but if they just raised their heads and looked up, it would be caught.
“It’s not here!”
“Not here either.”
“Where on earth did it go? Surely it didn’t really go outside?”
“That makes no sense. There’s no way out unless it jumped out the window.”
“This damn fox bastard. Where the hell is it hiding?”
The bearded guard spat out a rough curse and swept through the study once more.
Books scattered chaotically on the floor, desperate claw marks deeply gouged into the bookshelf wood… His gaze moved following those marks. His eyes, which had climbed up following the traces, finally stopped at the top of the bookshelf.
There, a small black ball of fur was crouched while holding its breath.
“Found it.”
“What? Where?”
“Look up there.”
Two pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward the high shelf. A small form crouched in the shadows was visible. Two points glowing blue as if terrified trembled.
“It was there.”
“How did it climb up to such a high place?”
“Who knows. First, let’s get that thing down before His Majesty returns. If it falls and gets hurt while like that, only we’ll get in trouble.”
“Wait a moment. I’ll bring a ladder.”
The other guard went out to the corridor and came back dragging a wooden ladder. The bearded guard took the ladder, set it up right next to where the fox was, and climbed up.
“You, come here.”
The guard who had climbed up in one go reached out his callused hand. He had absolutely no intention of harming the fox, but to the fox’s eyes, that unfamiliar hand looked like a snare about to trap it. The fox bristled its fur and backed away.
“I said stay still!”
The guard, momentarily irritated as the fox moved away, shouted and thrust out his arm. Startled by that yell, the fox fled whoosh to the opposite end just before the hand could touch its scruff.
“I’ll drive it from this side!”
A long spear blade lifted from below. The guard holding the spear pressured with the spear tip toward the fox cornered in a dead end.
“Keu, kyang! Keuong… kki, kkyiing…”
As the sharp spear approached right to its nose, the fox barked threateningly. However, being terrified, that sound gradually became thinner and pathetically diminished.
What do I do?
There’s nowhere to run. In front, a threatening spear; behind, hands chasing to catch it. Above its head, a blocked ceiling; the floor was too far to jump down to, plus broken glass shards were scattered about.
Rolling its blue eyes desperately searching for an escape route, the curtain draped by the window came into the fox’s view. The curtain hanging long to the floor looked like a lifeline that would save it.
If I can just grab that.
The fox quickly assessed the situation. To reach the curtain, it had to break through the guard standing on the ladder.
Can I do it?
The moment that question crossed its mind, hands and the spear were already approaching. Hesitation was a luxury. It had to try something. The fox gathered all the strength remaining in its body and kicked off the bookshelf, beginning to run.
“Uh…!”
When the fox that had been lying flat like slime on the bookshelf suddenly jumped up, the guard clinging to the ladder was momentarily flustered. He flailed his hands hastily trying to snatch the fox, but the fox was slightly faster.
Lightly avoiding the reaching hand, the fox used the guard’s head as a stepping stone, stepped on it hard, and leaped into the air.
“Urgh!”
A groan burst from the guard’s mouth. His hand, having lost balance, grazed empty air. The fox’s body flew in a parabola. At the end of the short flight, the fox’s claws gripped the cloth.
“What are you standing there dazed for! Catch it right now!”
The guard who had become a foothold huffed and shouted. His colleague, finally coming to his senses, hurriedly ran toward the curtain.
The fox momentarily relaxed the strength in its claws. Riiip— With the sound of the curtain tearing, its body slid downward. The fox, barely landing on the floor, turned its body in the opposite direction without even a moment to catch its breath.
What came into view was the slightly open door gap.
The fox came around the desk, jumped over the books scattered on the floor, and ran avoiding the fragments of the shattered bust.
The door was visible.
“Hey, we can’t let it get out! Block the door!”
The bearded guard, belatedly realizing where the fox was heading was the door, shouted and climbed down the ladder.
The guard’s footsteps grew closer and closer from behind. The fox squeezed out its last remaining strength and slipped through the narrow door gap. In an instant, a hand reached from behind but only grazed the tip of the fox’s tail as it passed.
“Damn it!”
A curse burst out from behind, but the fox was already sprinting toward the corridor. Its legs trembled, and breath rose to its throat. Still, it couldn’t stop.
In the fox’s mind, there was only one person.
Adrian.
It just needed to get to him. Only his side was safe. In this endless terror, only he could protect it.
