SAFBIAN Ch 8

Chapter 8

 

“You must not go in too deep!”

The captain of the guards barely caught up with Haban and blocked his path, but Haban brushed past him without a second glance.

“Your Majesty!”

Jipyeong hastily pulled his reins and followed.

Once they were free from the suffocating palace, even the air felt fresher. Haban glanced once at the sun still high in the sky, then turned in another direction. The black horse followed its master’s lead, gradually moving inward.

“It’s already been a month. What exactly is in this mountain that keeps bringing you back here? Please, just for today, return to the palace early…”

Jipyeong, about to say more, suddenly fell silent.

White fur visible through the bushes, small paw prints.

Haban dismounted in one fluid motion. Jipyeong followed, holding the reins of the two horses, and drew an arrow with a red feather from his quiver to hand over.

The two worked in perfect sync without needing to speak—a result of their long experience together. As Haban crouched to examine the animal tracks, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

‘Quite a clever one.’

Its movements were unusual. Though it hadn’t moved with the speed of an ordinary animal, it had deliberately changed directions to hide its territory.

Paw prints scattered in various directions, as if the beast had circled around to erase its own traces.

“That way.”

Haban turned his body toward a spot where the ground was deeper, indicating a longer leap.

His breath came quickly.

Excitement surged through him again. Just like Jipyeong said, he had scoured this mountain relentlessly. The presence of what he sought made him momentarily forget even that pursuit. Haban’s grip on the bow tightened.

As he walked stealthily with his bow aimed ahead, a faint presence was soon detected in the distance. The tightly drawn bowstring added to the tension.

‘If I get any closer, it’ll notice.’

Haban lowered his arm for a moment.

Narrowing his eyes to confirm the target, the white fur hidden by the brush reflected light. From what he could make out, it stood on four legs.

Coincidentally, it had ears and a tail resembling “his.” For a mere beast, how irritating.

Annoyed, Haban raised his arm again, focusing like he was aiming at a target. The bow was firmly strung, the string pulled taut with tension.

The arrow tip aimed directly at the beast’s vital point, but then subtly shifted to the side.

‘Just in case.’

As he exerted pressure with his fingers and released the arrow—just then, a bird suddenly flapped and flew away. The white beast leapt from its position and quickly disappeared.

Tsk. Haban clicked his tongue in frustration.

‘Should’ve aimed more directly for the vital point.’

Trying to miss on purpose had backfired.

Still holding his bow, Haban darted forward. The grass beneath his feet was trampled in an instant, staining his leather shoes green.

“It’s hiding.”

“Looks like we missed it. I figured it was clever, erasing its tracks—but it’s faster than most.”

“It can’t have gone far. It must still be nearby—search for it.”

He swung his sheathed sword to clear his view. As he rummaged through the brush like he was conducting a search, Jipyeong stepped in front of him. At the captain’s signal, the guards gathered behind Haban.

“We’ll search the remaining areas ourselves. Please, return to the palace for now.”

“Jipyeong.”

“It’s an entirely white beast. We don’t even know what it is. We can’t let it get too close to you.”

“Enough.”

“Your Majesty!”

Though Jipyeong raised his voice at Haban, the one startled by it wasn’t Haban—it was the snowy white fox.

‘…That’s really Haban?’

Dori felt dizzy.

The last thread of consciousness he’d been clinging to snapped completely. He was definitely just called “Your Majesty!” Because he was so nervous, Dori kept licking his black nose and flattening his ears.

‘It’s fine. I—I’m a fox now, so nothing will happen.’

But contrary to his effort to calm himself, his whole body tensed more and more with each passing moment.

On high alert, all Dori could do was pray they would just walk away. He was so nervous, he thought he could hear his heart pounding and his breath through his nose.

Then, with a dissatisfied expression, Haban turned around.

‘Whew.’

Dori felt relieved.

But strangely, at that moment, Haban suddenly stopped in his tracks.

‘H-Huh?’

Something was drawn—then came the sound of a bow being pulled tight.

…He’d been found out!

‘Run!’

There was no time to hesitate. Dori bolted. As expected, something gave chase. The rustling of bushes was soon replaced by the pounding of horse hooves.

Tak, tatak! Tat, tat!

Swaaaak, thunk! Swaaaak, thunk!

Every spot Dori leapt to, arrows landed threateningly and precisely.

‘Aaaaah! No! I’m scared!’

All he could think was that he had to escape. His mind went blank from fear.

That’s how desperate he was.

It would hurt so badly if he were hit.

In the original story, he’d been sitting quietly on a rock and still got shot in the leg. But now, running like this, if he got hit wrong, it might go through his head! Even if it was a novel, it wasn’t like he wasn’t scared!

At this point, getting captured wasn’t even the issue. His life was on the line. Before he knew it, Dori was sprinting across a wide plain.

Swaaaaaak, bababababak—!

‘Aagh!’

Arrows rained down in front of him.

Dori panicked and changed direction, but the riders on horseback were faster. Horses drew a large, precise circle around him, their hooves stamping the ground fiercely in excitement.

‘Move! Move! If you don’t, I’ll crash into you!’

Dori flailed in every direction. Run to the right—a horse blocked him. Run left—blocked again. Over and over.

As he was being herded closer and closer to the center by the tightening circle of hooves, he made a desperate dash between a horse’s legs—

Thwack!

An arrow flew past his side.

‘…!’

Dori collapsed to the ground.

‘I—I really almost died…!’

He hadn’t been hit, but a few strands of fur flew off where the arrow grazed him. Still, the fear of nearly being struck was far worse.

When he rose and looked around, he could tell at a glance that there were too many arrows aimed at him to possibly dodge. Finally, a gap opened in the tightly sealed formation, and someone stepped forward.

A man in black clothes embroidered with silver, holding a large bow. Even without the ornate silk and decorations that indicated his status, it was clear who he was.

‘That must be Haban…’

Dori looked at the man with trembling eyes.

A tall frame, an oppressive gaze from atop a horse. The novel described him as having arrogantly handsome features like they’d been chiseled—but with the sun directly above, his face was hidden in backlight, making it impossible to see.

Only the sharply defined jawline beneath the shadow was visible, and it looked chillingly cold. It was like a scene lifted directly from the novel.

But there was no time for reflection.

As Haban dismounted, two men followed right after. One, called Jipyeong, took the bow and reins. The other still had his bow aimed.

‘D-Don’t come closer!’

A chill ran down the back of Dori’s neck. He had fled the Red Fox Village with such struggle and effort—he hadn’t gone through all that just to get captured like this.

Besides, if he were taken to the palace now?

What came next in the novel was far more terrible and gruesome.

Lick.

His wet tongue, stiff with tension, licked his dry nose.

Haban stopped a few steps away from the fox. As he stood still, the wind blew, tugging at his long garments.

The fox’s fine fur shimmered as the breeze passed through, fluffing up again in a dazzling white.

“A white fox, huh.”

Haban muttered quietly.

“Your Majesty, it’s best not to go any closer.”

“…”

“Your Majesty?”

Despite Jipyeong’s warning, Haban carefully studied the fox.

Foxes were naturally smaller than wolves, only slightly bigger than cats—hardly fearsome beasts.

Even so, this one was exceptionally small.

Its ears were flattened in fear, its back arched. With its tail tucked in, it looked like it might roll away like a ball if nudged.

Perhaps the only redeeming features were its coat and golden eyes?

Its snowy white fur was dazzlingly pure, and its eyes glowed as if molten gold had been poured into them.

Haban’s gaze deepened.

From ancient times, the Empire had revered white animals as auspicious. They symbolized longevity, fertility, or good fortune. Especially the white deer, symbolizing prosperity, was popular in paintings, scrolls, and folding screens.

However, a white fox had never been discovered before.

“Jipyeong, do you see that too?”

“Sorry?”

“That thing right in front of us.”

Haban’s tone was irritable. Jipyeong instinctively exchanged a glance with one of the guards behind him. The guard nodded, indicating he saw it too.

Jipyeong couldn’t understand Haban’s question but quickly masked his confusion.

“Yes. I see it very clearly?”

But he couldn’t quite hide the question in his voice at the end.

“I see. Is that so.”

A mysterious smile formed at the corner of Haban’s lips.

Empty, hollow eyes. Black pupils that had seemed long devoid of emotion now shimmered faintly with the image of a white fox.

Meanwhile, Jipyeong stared warily ahead, unsettled by Haban’s strange behavior.

What trick had that suspicious creature pulled? Foxes were said to be magical—if it had bewitched Haban without him realizing, it had to be killed immediately.

…Whimper.

The fox, receiving that sharp gaze, tilted its head.