SAFBIAN Ch 12

Chapter 12

 

At the orphanage, several children lived together in one room, constantly brushing up against one another. Because of that, he had realized his preferences early on, but life was too harsh for him to ever try dating.

Even though this was a novel, the thought that he might be able to experience something like romance here made his heart pound furiously.

‘Me, with a guy like him?’

He let out a small gasp, his mouth forming a triangle. Dori stared up blankly at Haban’s handsome face, unable to even blink.

“You’re quite good at acting cute.”

Haban’s finger poked at the tail sticking out from the cage.

‘Since when…?!’

Startled, Dori’s ears shot straight up.

He’d been so entranced that he hadn’t even noticed his tail moving. He tried to curl it up quickly, but it was already half-caught in Haban’s hand, so he failed.

“Squeak!”

It felt like hair being yanked out—his fur getting pulled made his skin crawl.

‘Ack! Let go! I said LET GO! Why are you grabbing that?! You crazy bastard!’

Dori involuntarily let out a cry and teared up. He rubbed at his face with his front paws, and soon his tail slipped from Haban’s grasp and dropped to the floor.

He quickly tucked his tail between his knees and panted in ragged breaths.

Unfortunately, it seemed Haban was just as described in the original setting. Remembering how terrifying he was made Dori tremble as if he had imagined something absurd.

“Open it.”

Haban gave a short command.

“…B-but, Your Majesty…”

“Now.”

“Y-yes!”

The man who had shouted that the fox was awake came hurrying over in quick steps.

He looked just barely out of high school, with a youthful face. He rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a round ring with keys.

He slid one of the keys into the lock, and with a clunk, the door opened.

‘Now!’

—Tap!

Dori darted out of the cage, lowering his body in a defensive stance.

‘It’s fine. There are only two of them, just Haban and that guy—plenty of opportunity.’

The fox was quite fast. Though small in size, he was incredibly agile.

On top of that, Haban had no weapons right now, and the young man looked clumsy. If he timed it right, he could escape and hide somewhere.

‘The imperial palace is huge. They won’t find me easily.’

He hadn’t given up yet. If he had planned to just sit back and let the story unfold, he would’ve stayed quietly in the red fox village.

The person he believed himself to be had a rather tenacious personality. Thanks to his childhood in the orphanage and early adult life experiences, he never just sat around and took things lying down.

‘First of all, I can’t let them think I’m easy.’

Dori fiercely widened his eyes.

Haban looked down at him for a moment. The cheeky fox dared to glare at him—it was the height of insolence. His timid, tearful ‘possession’ had never been this fierce.

Haban remembered the white one that used to tremble at the slightest touch. When he licked those soft cheeks, the ears would flatten. When he groped lower, it would sob while holding its tail.

When he pinned its rebellious limbs and pushed himself in, it never screamed—too afraid of upsetting him, it bit down on the inside of its mouth until it bled.

More than anything, ‘his possession’ was a person who just happened to have ears and a tail. He had once hoped that time might turn the fox into a human—that perhaps it might wake up as one. That foolish fantasy was clearly delusional.

Even the time he had spent waiting now felt wasted.

Dark emotions flickered in Haban’s pitch-black eyes and then vanished.

‘What was that?’

It had happened so fast, Dori wasn’t sure if he’d seen it right. He blinked his round golden eyes.

“Aaah! My lunchbox! Did it eat it? It ate it, didn’t it?! What happens when a fox eats human food?!”

Only then did Haewon notice the half-eaten lunchbox and yelped in panic. Haban frowned at the piercing voice.

Come to think of it, the minced raw meat prepared to suit the fox’s taste had been left untouched, while the spicily seasoned meat had been devoured.

The fox’s snout was stained with red sauce.

And the raw meat sat untouched.

The fox seemed to be deliberately avoiding his gaze. Haban retraced what he had seen. ‘His possession’ wasn’t a beast, but a person. His sharp gaze fixed on the fox’s proudly raised tail.

Dori flinched.

‘…That, that!’

That slowly curling lip, that bitter smile, that twisted expression—Dori, who had spent his life reading people’s moods, recognized the chill on Haban’s face instantly.

“Clear it.”

As expected, Haban spoke coldly.

“…Pardon?”

Haewon’s eyes widened in shock.

He stood there dumbfounded as if wondering whether he’d heard right, then hastily reached through the bars and gathered up the fox’s dish.

It was the emperor’s command. If he moved too slowly, he could lose his head.

The fox’s pupils widened as it was deprived of its food.

‘No! Leave it!’

Dori lunged at the man, throwing his body forward.

“Ahh!”

Startled, Haewon let go of the cart loaded with the fox’s food, and various round and long items tumbled to the ground.

Dori grabbed the biggest, juiciest one in his mouth and blocked the rest with his body.

‘The worst thing in the world is messing with someone’s food!’

There had never been enough food at the orphanage. The most favored or strongest kids always got fed first, and by the time food reached him, all that remained was a pitiful tray with bird-sized portions.

Even after becoming independent, things didn’t improve much, so his obsession with food only grew. And after possessing this body, he hadn’t eaten properly at all…

Dori, hypersensitive when it came to food, forgot all about watching the windows. He spread his legs wide to guard what was beneath him, looking almost like he was squaring off against Haban.

“Y-Your Majesty. It’s dangerous.”

Haewon pressed himself against the wall, trembling. Haban, seeing the fox’s aggressive posture, approached without hesitation.

“Do you know how to easily tame a disobedient beast?”

“Squeak!”

A swift hand grabbed the fox by the scruff of the neck.

“You starve it. Until it’s on the brink of death, it must be made to bow to the one who feeds it.”

As Dori dropped what he was holding from the chokehold, drool dripped from his mouth.

“If it still doesn’t obey, then the only option is to kill it.”

‘C-crazy…!’

This guy was seriously insane! The author must’ve failed to capture all this madness in the novel.

In those stark black eyes, a snowy white fox was reflected—limp, pathetically offering its neck and dangling limbs.

Dori shrank his neck and rolled his eyes.

‘If I’d known, I’d have held back a little.’

What courage had possessed him earlier?

Until now, no matter how reckless he was, he always gauged his opponent first.

Only now did Dori remember just what kind of person Haban was in the original story—and regretted it deeply. Nervous, he flicked his dry nose with his tongue.

‘What if I can’t even escape now?’

He should’ve jumped out the window instead of lunging at that man!

But it was too late for regrets.

Dori flattened his ears. His tail, which had been dangling down, snapped up tightly against his belly. He curled his limp, scruffed body and anxiously scanned for signs.

“Your Majesty.”

Just then, the movement that had been bustling outside cautiously peeked inside.

“What should we do with all of these?”

A middle-aged woman showed a wide tray in her hands. Behind her, a few others followed, also holding trays, all stacked with celadon-colored porcelain bowls.

Twitch.

Dori twitched the tip of his nose to figure out what was inside the covered bowls.

‘That’s the smell of food!’

Spicy seasoning and savory sesame oil. The half-eaten lunchbox hadn’t been enough to fill his stomach. And now, with the smell of food wafting through the air, it was unbearable.

…J-just one bite!

Unable to hide his emotions, Dori wagged his tail vigorously.

Haban looked down at the food-crazed beast with a pitiful expression, as if the fox had forgotten his own predicament. His life was hanging by Haban’s hands, yet all he could think about was food. The fallen pieces at his feet had already long since been forgotten. The fox’s appetite was extraordinary.

‘His belly’s already round; there’s no need to feed him more.’

After all, it had been prepared in case the creature turned out to be human. But if it really was just a fox, eating seasoned food would only cause trouble.

“That’s enough. Withdraw.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At that, the fox swiped his front paw through the air, as if reaching out.

As the women politely knelt and bowed before retreating, the fox moved his eyes to follow them as if in resentment.

Right. ‘Mine’ never had such insolent eyes.

If it wasn’t that child, he had no interest.

Haban scoffed and threw the fox back into the cage. In any case, now that it had awakened, he could decide what to do with it later.

“Kaang!”

Instead of hitting the ground, Dori bounced up as he landed on a large, fluffy cushion. The young man, who had been watching with hunched shoulders like a coward, hurriedly locked the cage.

“Kaang! Kaang!”

‘Let me out!’

Dori quickly turned around and growled.

Haban leaned his upper body down and calmly watched the fox.

“From now on, feed that thing only raw meat it doesn’t like.”

“…Excuse me? Don’t foxes like raw meat?”

“Apparently not, that one.”

How did he figure it out? More accurately, it wasn’t that Dori disliked raw meat—it was the thick, sticky blood dripping off of it that he couldn’t stand.

Dori shivered at Haban’s vile nature.

“Kaang!”

What kind of twisted mind feeds someone something they know they hate?

Dori shook his head violently. White fur scattered in all directions. Then, as if to make him behave, Haban slammed his fist down on the cage with a bang!