SAFBIAN Ch 23

Chapter 23

Dori rolled his eyes and looked up at Haban. He seemed displeased, as the space between his brows was tightly furrowed.

“…Let him in.”

In the end, Haban turned away as he half-lowered the curtain. Dori had expected him to endure to the end because he was the Emperor, but it was unexpected.

‘If he was going to open it anyway, he should’ve done it earlier. Honestly, that jerk. If only it weren’t for that face…’

The fox muttered with little whines and huffs.

“Don’t make such a racket and wait quietly in there.”

But Haban, whom Dori thought wouldn’t understand him, gave a low warning.

Startled, Dori placed his two front paws under his chin and only rolled his eyes around to scan his surroundings. His eyes peeked out just beneath the curtain.

Click.

As the doors opened to both sides, a man who had waited a long time entered.

“Your Majesty! As if making me work nonstop for days wasn’t enough, now you’re making a powerless subject wait outside like this! If I collapse, you’ll be the first to regret it!”

“I believe I told you to avoid leaving your post as much as possible.”

“Isn’t that a position you should be keeping, Your Majesty?”

‘Wow, he looks so frail, but he’s got a spine as strong as Haban’s.’

Dori blinked his golden eyes.

Maybe this guy didn’t have nerves of steel—maybe he didn’t have any nerves at all? To say whatever he wanted in front of the tyrant Haban… In a way, it was admirable.

[His sharply upturned eyes glanced briefly at the fox. But Geumhu walked right past the fox, as if he wasn’t interested at all.

Arms full of memorials, hurried footsteps. He was already struggling to substitute for Haban, and had no time to waste on a mere ‘snow-white beast’.]

In the original work, he had been much colder and more composed, but this was quite different from what Dori had imagined. About average height. His lines were so slender and delicate under his generous robes that it seemed he had no muscles at all—an ethereal beauty.

Prime Minister, Geumhu.

If the Guard Captain Jipyeong was Haban’s sword, he was the Emperor’s wisdom.

Unable to hold back his curiosity, Dori swished his tail. He was curious how much this man matched the novel, and in what ways he differed.

Golden eyes stared directly at Geumhu. Dori wiggled his nose and slightly parted his snout.

And then Haban noticed the expression.

“I don’t like that.”

At the languid tone, Dori snapped out of it.

He cautiously looked around and dragged one of the thicker cushions in front of him with his mouth. This seemed to annoy Haban even more, as he waved his hand sharply.

‘Huh? What? I can’t see anything now!’

A shadow dropped abruptly from above. Startled, the fox flinched back. At the same time, the curtain dropped completely, blocking his view.

“Yap!”

“Be quiet.”

“Yap, yap!”

“Should I muzzle you?”

“Hwuuuuung…”

Haban let out a disbelieving scoff.

What the hell was wrong with that insolent fox? Turning his eyes toward a lowly physician or the prime minister with the Emperor right here. He didn’t even seem to realize that someone had taken the time out of their busy schedule to watch over him.

Irritated, he redirected his temper away from the dumb animal and toward the prime minister.

“Did you review all the memorials?”

“I’ve handled all the important ones. This is something Your Majesty must look over.”

Haban took the scroll without a change in expression. It was about the prolonged drought in the southern region and relief efforts. The last one was a petition urging the Emperor to marry.

『Even the people, without a mother, starve and tremble in the cold. How then can a nation find stability with the position of Empress empty? Only by welcoming a kind and gentle Empress who will embrace the people can the imperial foundation be truly secured.』

A father can feed and clothe his children alone. There’s no rule that only a mother can raise them. Of course, that wasn’t really the point of the letter.

Haban casually tossed aside the petition advocating for his marriage. It was clearly brought not out of concern but to provoke him, so it didn’t matter.

As expected, Geumhu smiled to himself and picked up the scroll again.

“By the way, is that the white beast Jipyeong mentioned?”

“Yes.”

“It really is snow-white. It kind of looks like a fox, but also kind of like a dog.”

“Yap!”

A confident bark rang out as if the fox were asserting its true identity. Though told to be quiet, he couldn’t resist and barked a couple more times, “yap, yap.”

When Haban patted down the curtain with one corner of his lips lifted, the fox settled down quickly.

“It’s a fox.”

“Are you going to keep it?”

“Probably.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to keep it outside? If the palace staff sees it, it might help dispel the rumors about Your Majesty. They could say the Emperor of the Empire is followed by a sacred beast. Whether it’s a fox or a dog, white animals are considered auspicious in the Empire.”

“No.”

Haban saw no need for that at all. In fact, just imagining the fox wagging its tail at every passerby made him quite displeased.

“Are you just here to say useless things? Go finish reviewing the rest of the memorials.”

At the curt dismissal, Geumhu shrugged and moved on to the main topic.

“It’s a report from Sal (殺).”

Dori lay upright on the bed, one ear perked as he eavesdropped on their conversation. From the sound of it, there was a spy in the palace.

‘They’re whispering, but I can still hear everything.’

Sal (殺)—was that the figure referred to as the Emperor’s shadow in the original? The one who obeyed all of Haban’s orders, no matter how cruel?

Well, it wasn’t like anything would happen from one fox overhearing it.

Dori listened along with Haban to Geumhu’s report about which bureau and what palace had been infiltrated, and when the words “capture the tail” came up, he reflexively hid his thick tail under the cushion.

He knew it wasn’t meant literally, but the pain of having his fur yanked by Haban was still fresh in his memory.

‘Huh? He’s leaving.’

The conversation suddenly ended, and Dori quietly lifted his head. As soon as Geumhu bowed and exited, a series of soft footsteps followed. A savory scent of oil came with them.

‘No way. Are they going to eat without me?’

Dori sprang up and trotted to the edge of the bed. He gave the curtain a gentle poke with his paw, making it flutter.

“Wait.”

As expected, Haban’s voice came instantly, as if he had been watching the whole time.

Dori paced nervously back and forth in his spot. His paws sank into the soft cushions and blankets. He was afraid to stick his head out and get glared at by Haban, but sitting quietly was too hard with his growling stomach.

Rustle, rustle. The soft swish of fabric. The room quieted again.

“Come out.”

Haban lifted the curtain completely and gave a short order.

“Yap! Yap! Yap!”

‘If I jump down, you’ll get mad!’

He remembered the way Haban had glared earlier at the sound of his claws. Dori gave a small but firm vocal reply.

“…Sigh. I should assign someone to you.”

Haban reached for the fox on the bed and tossed him down. Dori landed with a light thud and looked back at Haban.

“Over there.”

He gave a short chin nod toward what was obviously the dining table.

Dori’s tail thumped with excitement, and he dashed over. But just before he could hop up, his scruff was grabbed and he was sat back on the floor.

“And where do you think you’re going, trying to get up on the table like that?”

Haban pressed down on the fox’s head with his large palm. Disappointed, Dori’s eyes slowly drifted toward the bowl in front of him.

It was a snow-white porcelain dish with intricate carvings along the rim. Far too fancy to be used as a fox’s food bowl.

Inside were root vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots, and instead of raw meat dripping with blood, there were shredded slices of boiled beef.

“…Yap.”

Dori gave the bowl a couple of light taps with his paw. When he looked up, Haban—having dismissed the palace staff—was holding chopsticks himself.

“What?”

“…”

Dori stared intently at Haban.

To be exact, at the tips of his chopsticks.

As if hoping that the stir-fried meat they had picked up would fall by accident.

But the meat, browned like it had been grilled over charcoal, disappeared neatly into Haban’s mouth as he turned his head.

Tremble.

Dori unconsciously opened his mouth and then shut it, shivering as if he had eaten it himself. Just imagining it made his mouth fill with saliva.

“Just eat your own food quietly. Unless you expect me to feed you myself.”

Even Haban’s cold warning went in one ear and out the other.

Dori pretended to eat, lowering his head. He licked the unseasoned beef and chewed slowly, keeping an eye out for his chance.

Before long, he had crept under the table. The meat was so high-quality it melted in his mouth.

The table was quite large, and Dori was confident he would stay hidden.

‘Alright. One shot at this.’

Dori silently crept to the farthest side of the table, opposite from where Haban sat. He stretched upward. Too short, he had to stand on tiptoe, but his front paw barely touched the edge of the round table.

Meanwhile, Haban didn’t even need to look to know what was going on. The fox squirming beside him, crawling under the table—it was obvious.

Curious to see what it was up to, he left it be. But then, the fox’s little white paw popped up on one side of the table.

Did it really think it wouldn’t be seen?

The brown wooden tabletop made the white paw all the more noticeable. The fox, pawing around beneath the table, finally stuck its head out.