When the fox opened its eyes again, it had been moved onto a soft chair rather than the floor by the window where it had first laid down. It seemed he had moved it here while it slept.
Where is he?
The fox got up to look for him. At that moment, a ridiculous sound leaked from its stomach—grumble. The appetite that had been sleeping awakened and began clamoring.
As hunger washed over it, its suddenly sensitive sense of smell caught a scent flowing from somewhere. That fragrance pulled the fox like an invisible thread.
It was completely different from jerky. That deep, rich smell that only rose from carefully roasted meat.
Saliva pooled in its parched mouth. It could no longer ignore the desperate signal its body was sending. The desire to find him had already faded, and the fox, led by instinct, turned its head to find the source of the scent.
On a nearby table, a piece of meat sat in a silver bowl. As if under hypnosis, the fox’s paws headed there on their own.
A glistening surface with oil, soft-looking flesh inside. The meat in the bowl looked truly perfect. Seeing warm steam still rising from it, it seemed to be freshly prepared food.
Was it okay to eat?
He had promised to bring food. So this food must have been prepared for it.
But what if it wasn’t? What if he got angry if it ate the wrong food?
Worry crossed its mind, but before the sweet temptation stimulating the tip of its nose, it could no longer endure. Finally, the fox sank its teeth into a piece of meat.
Hup!
The meat in its mouth was beyond imagination. It was a taste it was experiencing for the first time in its life. It was slightly charred over fire with a subtle smoky scent, and with just the slightest pressure of teeth, it tore softly along the grain, and the more it chewed, the savory juices spread throughout its mouth. It wasn’t as hot as expected either.
It was incomparable to the tough, fishy raw meat it ate in the forest or the jerky that was tasty but hard and cold.
It’s delicious!
The fox began eating the meat in earnest, making chomping sounds. Though it had been taught to beware of enemy attacks while eating, even that teaching was useless before this ecstatic taste.
As the fox frantically ate the meat, a low laugh came from beside it.
“Eat slowly. It’s not like anyone’s going to take it away.”
When it raised its head, it saw him sitting in a chair holding a book in one hand, looking down at it. A gentle smile like spring sunlight spread across that face. Meeting that warm expression, the fox unconsciously stopped its chewing motion.
Never once in its life had it looked at a human face and thought them handsome or beautiful. But this person was different. He seemed to have superior looks compared to any human it had encountered so far. The fox felt beauty from a human for the first time in its life.
“Won’t you eat more? Or does it not taste good?”
When the fox stared, he asked gently. Ah, right! Coming to its senses, the fox looked back and forth between him and the bowl several times before burying its face in the meat again. Eventually, the fox emptied the bowl without leaving a single piece of flesh.
Feeling the fullness that filled it warmly to its toes, the fox slowly raised its head. His gaze was already fixed on his book. Rustle rustle. Only the sound of turning pages circled the silence.
A cozy room where sunlight seeped in, sounds without threat, and a stomach full of warm food.
So this is peace.
There would be no more perfect peace than this moment. A languid, warm fullness circled from the tip of its fur to its claws.
Sleepiness washed over it again. Whether it was the drowsiness that came from a full stomach, the accumulated fatigue finally being released, or the body that hadn’t properly eaten or slept for years taking a long-awaited rest, it didn’t know. It just wanted to sleep right away.
The fox let out a long yawn and walked to the cushion on the sofa. It curled up small into a ball. Preparing to sleep.
It was something unimaginable before. Even filling its stomach was a luxury. After barely staving off hunger, it had to leave that place before catching the eye of other beasts or humans. It couldn’t even dream of closing its eyes in that spot.
But this place was different.
It was safe. There were no beasts trying to harm it, no humans trying to chase it away. There was just one strange human who didn’t pay much attention to whatever it did.
The fox fell into deep sleep again in the unfamiliar yet cozy peace.
***
Adrian looked down at the small sleeping creature without a word.
‘Sleeping again.’
Was it because it was sick, or because it was still a baby?
The fox fell deeply asleep again after devouring all the chicken. Seeing that quiet and peaceful appearance, he felt sorry to wake it, so he slowly approached, trying not to even make footsteps. Then he carefully extended his hand and began gently stroking the fox’s back.
The warmth transmitted to his fingertips was much better than expected. He even had the illusion that the headache that had been subtly throbbing since dawn was lightening considerably.
“Whiiine…”
When Adrian’s touch reached it, the fox groaned softly. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand thinking it was uncomfortable, the fox unconsciously moved its body following his hand. Rather, when the touch stopped, it whined low, showing displeasure.
Adrian lowered his body next to the fox while gently stroking its back.
A black fox, was it? Except for the uniquely white tail tip, it was truly jet black. Perhaps because it was different from the appearance of foxes he was familiar with, at a glance it looked like a puppy rather than a fox.
‘Come to think of it, foxes are also canines.’
A puppy. Suddenly he wanted to give it a name. If one ended up raising an animal, naming it first was a natural course of action.
But Adrian soon set aside that feeling.
This fox wasn’t a pet. It was a beast that should be returned to nature once its wounds healed. So there was no reason to give it a name. A name was the beginning of ownership and the root of attachment. Thinking of when they would have to part later, it would be wiser not to create such emotional ties, for the fox’s sake too.
Adrian looked down at the sleeping fox, then soon withdrew the hand that had been stroking it. The texture of fur lingered on his fingertips like an afterimage. However, deliberately pretending not to notice, he brushed off his hand and headed to his office.
***
“Haaawn.”
The fox that had eaten its fill and slept deeply slowly awakened while stretching. It had really slept well. Its body felt much lighter, and the injured paw barely felt any pain.
Just how long had it slept? Looking out the window, the moon had already risen high in the sky. It was already night.
What had changed wasn’t only the scenery outside the window. That man, whom it had thought would naturally be by its side, was also nowhere to be seen. No matter where it looked around the room, his figure wasn’t there. The room without him only felt much wider and emptier.
Where did he go?
Since there was nothing to do anyway, as it turned its head this way and that to look for him, it saw a slightly open door. It seemed like a door connecting to a side room, not the door leaving this room.
‘Yap.’
Hop—the fox that jumped down from the high sofa approached the door leading to the side room with quick little steps. Since it wasn’t locked, it didn’t need to use all its strength to open a door like before, and pushed its small face through the door crack.
The room visible through the door gap was that place from before. The place with the massive bookshelf and wide desk. It could see him sitting in front of the desk piled high like a mountain with all kinds of parchments.
Why was he doing something instead of sleeping when it was late? Was he nocturnal?
He, wearing a neat uniform, fixed his gaze on the paper while giving instructions in a cold voice. In front of him stood a man with his waist politely bowed.
That back of the head seemed familiar somehow.
The fox wiggled its nose trying to remember the owner of that smell, but since this room had so many different human scents mixed together, it couldn’t easily distinguish it.
“…So the northern mine problem still hasn’t been resolved.”
The voice coming from Adrian’s mouth held frosty dignity. The other man, pressured by that force, broke out in cold sweat and barely opened his mouth.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. Reports came in that magical beasts keep appearing nearby…”
“Enough with the excuses. I don’t want to hear any more of your justifications.”
The small fox, pressed close to the door gap, watched him pressing the man.
The person sitting there wasn’t the him it knew. Neither the touch that had gently stroked its head nor the gaze that had looked at it warmly could be found. Only the Empire’s ruthless ruler existed there.
It was such an unfamiliar appearance. The fox hesitated at the threshold, unable to readily enter inside, when it made eye contact with him.
Startled by that gaze, the fox reflexively jumped up. At most, it only rose about 3 centimeters from the ground, but it landed poorly and crashed into the door. The door that had only been slightly open swung wide open from that impact.
Though it was a small sound, the people inside the office could hear it well enough. The man standing before Adrian turned his head at the sudden presence.
The moment it saw that man’s face, the fox’s entire body froze, and its bright, sparkling blue eyes instantly narrowed into triangles.
