SAFBIAN Ch 18

Chapter 18

 

It was so thin, it made one wonder if it had always been this small. The fur made it look barely presentable, but if one poured water over it, it probably wouldn’t even be half its current size.

“When did it start looking like this?”

“Well… even when it was being looked after in His Majesty’s office, it only ate fruits and vegetables. It never touched meat.”

“Then just feed it something.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?! That’s why I asked you! I asked you to please speak to His Majesty! Back when the fox was in the office, His Majesty could see and gave it various things himself. But now, if I feed it something else, it’ll be considered disobeying an imperial order!”

“So you’re saying it’s been starving like this since then?”

“……”

Haewon raised his voice, flustered, then quickly shut his mouth and rolled his eyes.

White fur, pretty golden eyes, a small black nose. That adorable fox was being secretly fed just enough to avoid notice because Haewon couldn’t stand the thought of it starving to death—and that made his chest tighten with guilt.

Luckily, Jipyeong had already turned his back to the fox and didn’t notice anything.

‘Why did it have to look like this?’

He hadn’t noticed before when he had no interest, but the fox’s coloring and size reminded him of the white dog he kept at home. Though he couldn’t visit often as the emperor’s guard, every time he did, that dog wagged its tail in welcome… his little Baekgu.

He regretted looking.

Jipyeong felt disturbed seeing the droopy fox.

“It was a wild animal. Maybe it lost its appetite because it’s been caged up like this. Try letting it walk around the room.”

“You’d need His Majesty’s permission for that too. I only barely manage to remove its muzzle when feeding it. How am I supposed to take the fox out of its cage?”

“Well, let’s watch for a few more days.”

If its condition worsens, he’d at least bring it up in conversation. Haban didn’t seem to have completely forgotten about the fox either.

‘It won’t die in the meantime, will it?’

When he poked its body with the scabbard, the fox swatted it away with its tail as if annoyed.

They say pets resemble their owners.

Remembering that Haban was the fox’s owner, Jipyeong shook his head.

Grrrrgle.

“……Kkiing.”

Once Jipyeong left, Dori sat pathetically and rubbed his stomach with his front paws.

The result of not transforming like in the original story was disastrous. They said an imperial command weighed a thousand pieces of gold—he never expected he’d end up seeing all sorts of raw meat.

Haban had stuffed Dori into some remote corner of the palace and hadn’t shown himself once. Every time he perked his ears at a sound, it was always just Haewon who came scurrying in.

Dori twisted his neck and glanced to the side.

“You don’t want chicken, or duck, and now not even pork—what do you expect me to do?!”

White clothes made of clean linen and a black sash—attire only those of a certain rank among the palace’s physicians could wear.

With wide sleeves rolled up to his elbows from washing the dish for food, Haewon rested his hands on his hips and shouted in exasperation.

‘If he’s earned a title at that age, it means he’s quite capable.’

Dori let out a breath through his nose as he looked at the much younger-than-expected Haewon, who didn’t match the image he’d imagined while reading the novel.

Court Physician, Haewon.

In the original story, he was the physician assigned to Dori, treating the injuries that came from every night spent with Haban. A side character who helped Dori, who seemed about his own age, escape the palace—and then disappeared.

There had been a scene where Haban exploded in rage, so he probably died? In the story, he was the only one who showed any pity toward the pitiful Dori. He never imagined they’d meet like this.

In the original, “Dori” had obediently accepted Haewon’s help because he didn’t know it would lead to his death. But having read the story, he couldn’t bring himself to use this young man for survival when he knew everything.

Anyway, that was that.

“Kaang, kaaaang…”

‘Why did you just chop off the heads like that!’

In the evening, with the muzzle removed, Dori clutched his shrunken belly with his front paws and let out a protest.

‘They just toss in whole skinned chickens and ducks—how the hell am I supposed to eat that?!’

He had eaten braised pig’s feet stewed with medicinal herbs before, but seeing a freshly butchered pig leg hacked off and bloodied like that was a first.

It wasn’t even about being used to eating cooked meat in real life. Dori pounded the floor of the cage with his paw in protest.

“What are you throwing a tantrum for! Are you that full, huh?”

“Kang! Kang!”

‘I’m starving to death here, thanks!’

But just from throwing a mini tantrum and stomping a few times, he was already drained. Dori flopped onto the cushion with a snort.

“See? You’re dizzy because you haven’t eaten anything.”

Say what you want.

Instead of answering, Dori just flicked his tail slightly up and down.

“Can you eat this? It’s real fresh beef.”

Seeing the fox quiet down as if defeated, Haewon pushed the dish of raw beef into the cage with pity in his eyes. Even after Jipyeong’s visit, the imperial order hadn’t been lifted, so there was no helping it.

‘Ugh!’

Dori hid his nose with his paw, trying to suppress the nausea.

‘…Am I actually being tortured?’

The dish, which he thought might be raw beef tartare, was filled with such fresh meat that the blood still gleamed vividly red. The stench of blood in the air made his already empty stomach churn even more.

Clatter!

The bowl flipped over as Dori flailed his paws wildly.

Rolling across the floor, the bowl made a few rotations before landing perfectly on top of Haewon’s foot, spilling its gory contents as it came to its end. The meat, now splattered on the floor, oozed blood.

“……”

“……Kking!”

“Hey!”

Haewon shouted in frustration.

“Ugh! Whatever! Starve to death for all I care!”

Haewon quickly cleaned up and turned around, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. His large build, which didn’t match his age, shook slightly with a sniffle as he sucked in his runny nose.

‘I-Is he crying?’

From behind Haewon, Dori twisted his head this way and that to peek at him.

He’d been pretending to be all grown-up while dispensing medicine, acting more mature than his age, but now, as his emotions boiled over, he finally looked his age.

Well, it wasn’t like Haewon was at fault for any of this.

‘…Sorry.’

Dori slipped his head out from between his side and foreleg with a soft pop. Then he gently tapped Haewon’s knee with his front paw. His ears flattened against his head in a sheepish display, as if checking for a reaction.

“You have no idea how worried I am…”

‘Yeah.’

Dori shifted his paws uneasily on Haewon’s thigh, then reached toward his cheek. His intention was to wipe Haewon’s tears, but the soft fox pawpad pressed against his cheek, making Haewon’s eyes go wide.

No! I wasn’t trying to hit you!

Dori looked back and forth between his front paw and Haewon, flustered.

“…You really… I’m only letting this slide because you’re so cute.”

Haewon stood up, as if resigned, and brought over a fresh bowl filled with milk. He had to smuggle it in, so he’d poured it from his own water flask, and unfortunately there was only one bottle’s worth.

When he placed the bowl before the fox, who had merely been blinking blankly, Dori looked up at him with a guilty expression, perhaps from shame.

Lick, lick.

His tongue, visibly lacking in strength, lapped up the milk and swallowed. Watching him eat, Haewon tilted the bowl once it was halfway empty.

“You won’t recover your strength just from this…”

Hearing his muttered words, Dori also lowered his gaze, looking glum.

He knew Haewon was worried about him. But what could he do? He’d tried a few times to eat the raw meat but ended up vomiting even his stomach acid.

Driven by hunger, he’d managed to nibble on the edges of the meat, but the overwhelming taste of blood had been too nauseating. If Haewon hadn’t secretly given him milk instead of water, he might’ve already collapsed.

The milk in the palm-sized bowl was gone in no time. But milk alone couldn’t fill his belly, and Dori curled up even tighter, clutching his hungry stomach.

Scritch, scritch.

The sound of an attendant grinding ink filled the quiet study. Each slow, circular motion across the inkstone brought forth dark ink.

Haban’s expression was frozen as he spread open the scroll, making the attendant’s hand move even more cautiously.

Clack!

Just then, Haban slammed the memorial down roughly, and the attendant flinched. Did he pour too much water? Was the sound of grinding ink irritating His Majesty? Anxious eyes flicked toward the emperor.

“That’s enough. Leave us.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Fortunately, Haban wasn’t glaring at the attendant but at the document, as if he could rip it apart with his eyes. Bowing respectfully, the attendant dashed out of the study before the emperor could change his mind.

“So that’s another rumor added. Evidence that Your Majesty is a tyrant.”

Haban’s sharp gaze turned toward Geumhu.

“Why are you looking at me like that? If you don’t deal with the memorial in your hands, soon you’ll have rumors calling you an incompetent emperor too.”

Even under Haban’s intimidating air, Geumhu didn’t miss a beat. The tongue that had dared to speak freely before the crown prince was no less bold before the emperor.

Rustle.

The scroll Haban tossed tumbled across the floor.

“How absurd. Half. Just a few days ago, twice this amount was in storage. Why has the quantity decreased?”

The spring famine, a season that fell between spring and summer.

Especially in the cold northern region, unlike the vast and fertile southern plains, there were many people who starved to death during this season every year. The memorial concerned relief grain prepared for the spring famine.

“Who knows?”

Geumhu wrapped his hands around the now lukewarm teacup and inhaled its aroma. The whereabouts of the missing half of the grain were obvious. It had likely gone to fill someone’s belly and was now resting comfortably in someone’s storehouse.

It wasn’t that Haban didn’t know—he was asking to make a point.

“Explain it. Why did I have to receive such a disgraceful memorial?”

“It seems Your Majesty has forgotten, but I’ve been submitting regular reports for some time now. You’re rarely in the palace, constantly going off on outings to the mountains—this is simply the result of that.”