SAFBIAN Ch 11

Chapter 11

 

Thick iron bars enclosing all sides.

Thump, thump. When he tapped the bars with his front paws, a solid sound rang out. Not only did it look impossible to bend with one’s hands, even cutting through it seemed difficult.

This time, he tried pushing the gate of the cage. As expected, it was firmly locked and didn’t budge. Right now, Dori was trapped in a large cage meant for raising beasts.

‘Fortunately, there’s no collar or shackles on my legs like in the original. But… can I get out?’

The fox’s thick tail floated up and twitched irritably.

*[Bluish moonlight illuminated the pale naked body.

When Dori flinched and drew his legs together, his pure white tail fur swayed and covered his private parts. The long ears rising above his hair clearly didn’t belong to a human.

As if meeting his eyes, Haban bent his upper body down toward the crouching figure.

“How amusing. What is your name?”

“I-I’m Dori.”

Dori replied quickly. Though the men with bows in that ominous atmosphere were frightening, the man in front of him was by far the scariest.

A hand, colder than a fox’s body temperature, slowly gripped the leg pierced by an arrow.

Dori curled his toes and licked his lips with his tongue. He could feel that chilly gaze.

“I see. I’m Haban.”

Haban’s lips slowly curled up.

‘…Ah.’

He smiled.

Relieved, Dori smiled back brightly.

Then, Haban yanked out the embedded arrow in one go.

“Aaaargh!”

A terrible scream of pain echoed through the forest.]*

After his first encounter with Haban in the original novel, Dori was dragged to the imperial palace and imprisoned in this cage. A dreadful prison from which he could never leave on his own. The only times the door opened were followed by Haban’s cruel advances.

Dori had been horrified by the scene where he tried to escape desperately and ended up with his ankle crushed. That was why he absolutely didn’t want to encounter Haban.

Of course, in the original, he was captured after fainting from the shock of being shot by an arrow, and this time he was caught after passing out from snake venom…

‘For now, let’s eat.’

Upon seeing the bowl placed beside the cushion, Dori quickly regained his strength. Whether to escape or resist, he needed energy.

‘Still, it’s the imperial palace, so even the food they give is fancy.’

He licked at something like yellow pumpkin porridge and washed it down with lukewarm milk. Though everything was thoroughly mashed and blended, the food was fresh. The colors were lovely too.

“Kkaang…”

Still, his eyes were drawn more to the lunchbox outside the bars than to the bowl in front of him. This food, composed solely of the raw flavor of the ingredients, felt lacking in something.

Even while sticking his snout into the finely blended apples, Dori resentfully glared at the iron bars. If only these weren’t here! It was clearly sweet and tasty in his mouth, but his eyes kept straying toward the lunchbox.

‘Hah, I can’t take it. Let’s at least try.’

After licking the fruit juice from the corners of his mouth, Dori approached the bars. The gap was wide enough for a bowl to pass through, so stretching out a slender fox paw wasn’t difficult.

Just barely within reach, the edge of the lunchbox brushed his claws.

‘Got it!’

“Kyah!”

Dori was so delighted he wagged his tail furiously.

Then, being careful not to tip the lunchbox over, he began pulling it slowly—thud! The large square-shaped lunchbox caught on the bars and stopped right in front of his nose.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

Dori shoved his snout between the bars and devoured the lunchbox food ravenously.

When Kim the eunuch returned after briefly stepping out, he informed the emperor that a physician had arrived at the door.

“Your Majesty. It’s… the fox…”

That was as far as he got before the emperor practically flung down his brush and stood up. At the same time, the prime minister kicked his chair aside.

“You must not go! You promised to go through all the petitions today!”

“Jipyeong.”

“Yes!”

Haban brushed past the protesting Geumhu, entrusting the matter to Jipyeong as he hurried away. Kim the eunuch, looking back at them with a sympathetic face, rushed after the emperor.

However, at the cage they reached, the fox was still lying limp.

“Huh? T-this is strange? What’s going on? He was definitely awake earlier…”

Haewon panicked and examined the fox in a fluster.

If the fox had never regained consciousness, then he was guilty of lying to the emperor — a grave offense. If the fox had woken up briefly and collapsed again, then he had disobeyed the order to care for him — which was equally serious.

“It’s true, Your Majesty!”

His face, red from sprinting all the way to the emperor’s office, gradually turned pale.

Haban furrowed his brow irritably.

He should have sent someone to check first. Why had he rushed here himself? He found himself pathetic and ridiculous.

His frustration mounted, and he glared at the fox.

Then he noticed a few strange things.

Didn’t clever animals play dead when they sensed danger? From a while ago, the fox’s tail fur had been stiff, its tip rising slightly before falling to the floor again. His rump also wriggled as if doing something.

He probably thought he was hiding well, but with his ears flattened and twitching every time he heard a voice, it was obvious he was listening in.

And finally, Haban’s dry gaze landed on the fox’s mouth.

“Tsk.”

Haban slowly clicked his tongue.

The physician seemed too flustered to notice, but traces of food remained on the fox’s snout. Though the fox lay on its side instead of curled up, its flank was heaving rapidly, as if gasping for breath.

‘No doubt about it.’

The fox was definitely awake.

‘What a shame. I didn’t even get to eat half…’

Dori’s nose twitched slightly.

The coldness of the floor seeped into the cheek pressed flat against it. He had pretended to faint too hastily, lying down right there instead of making it to the cushion.

On top of that, the bandaged area itched constantly. Moving his free paw around, he slipped one claw into the seam between the bandage and his skin, and a sticky ointment clung to it.

‘Is this it?’

Scratch, scratch.

Dori couldn’t resist and kept scratching with his claw. Thankfully, he lay facing away from the door, and his thick tail covered his feet—otherwise, he might’ve been caught. Dori subtly wiggled his hindquarters.

Meanwhile, Haban wore a weary expression. His large palm covered half his face before slowly falling away.

Since bringing that creature back, it had weighed on his mind so much that he couldn’t focus on his duties. Was he overthinking things? Unable to suppress his irritation, he turned on the physician.

“Physician, all your mouth does is make excuses.”

“N-no, Your Majesty!”

“Then explain this. You boldly claimed the fox was fine, yet look at the state it’s still in.”

“Well… I found it strange myself and consulted my master, but he told me to leave it be.”

“Why?”

A chilling, icy tone.

The atmosphere, with Haban pressing the other with anger, made the back of Haewon’s neck prickle. He swallowed dryly, trying hard to recall the words left by his teacher, Royal Physician Woo.

“He said foxes are wary and very clever, that they know how to protect themselves… But honestly, I’m not sure what he meant.”

Haban looked down at the fox as if thinking of something. The fox’s ears twitched, and then it slowly curled its tail.

‘Did it really think it wouldn’t be noticed?’

Was it clever, or just foolish?

Without a sound, Haban stepped closer to the fox’s cage. At last, he slowly asked,

“…So you mean the fox is doing this on purpose?”

‘Gasp!’

The softly dropped question above his head nearly made Dori’s heart leap out of his mouth!

All the fur on his body stood on end. Goosebumps erupted all over, making him go rigid. The voice, sounding so close it was as if it were right next to his ear, was chillingly cold.

‘No way, did he figure it out? No, must be my imagination.’

Beneath his lids, Dori’s eyes darted about rapidly. With every motion, his lashes fluttered nervously.

But Haban didn’t move any further. Unlike in the novel, he didn’t kick the cage or forcefully drag Dori out. He just stood still.

Eventually, Dori couldn’t contain his curiosity and cracked one eye open slightly. The stealthy glance began at Haban’s feet, then up to his jaw, lips, nose, and finally—his eyes.

‘W-wow! Haban is seriously handsome!’

His excited tail puffed up and wagged lightly.

At their first meeting in the hunting grounds, he hadn’t had a chance to really look. With Haban standing with the sun behind him, and Dori so tense he could hardly breathe, all he remembered was how big and terrifying he seemed.

But now, seeing him up close, Haban had a strong jawline, a high-bridged nose, eyes that felt stern, and lips with a slight curl at the ends. Every feature was exquisite.

Especially those jet-black eyes, even darker than the raven hair he had desperately wished for in his past life! He was the perfect ideal type. It was astonishing that such a face could even exist.

‘He really has everything.’

As emperor, wealth and power were a given—and now he had looks, too. The only thing he lacked was personality?

‘…Wait a second. Wonu treated Dori completely differently from how he did in the original novel. Then maybe Haban has changed, too? Maybe he’s become super gentle and kind?’

Surely he couldn’t have a worse personality than he did in the original, which was rock bottom anyway.

Thinking of a possibility he hadn’t considered before gave rise to unexpected desire.

‘Since I’ve already decided to make Dori happy, let’s build him a sanctuary far beyond anything those red foxes could offer.’

A sanctuary that was none other than the empire’s emperor!

In the original, Haban and Dori had missed each other’s hearts and drifted apart, but now the one inside Dori’s body knew all of that.

If Haban had changed from before, this could actually be Dori’s chance to flip his life around.

‘…That’s not bad. I might as well indulge a little, too.’

After all, who knew when he’d get another chance to admire such a handsome man up close?