SAFBIAN Ch 31

Chapter 31

 

“They say you shouldn’t give seasoned food to foxes because they’re different from humans, but His Majesty keeps doing it… and you too! If you eat food with such red seasoning, you’ll die young! I was relieved thinking at least your fur wouldn’t get peeled off, and yet you’re just gobbling it up!”

The sharp voice pierced his ears. His face had already passed puberty, but perhaps because he had entered the palace at a young age, he had no beard, and his voice was thin and high.

‘I know what this is. That, that… Right! A eunuch!’

A pitiful gaze turned toward Haewon.

“Wait. Let’s clean up after you take your medicine first.”

Haewon approached, holding a tray with a medicine bowl. Somehow, he had also brought a handkerchief.

A bitter smell wafted from the jet-black liquid. Seeing it wobble thickly like it was sticky made his stomach feel even worse.

“Eugh…”

“What’s with your feet now! What did you step on!”

Black fox paw prints were stamped all over the pure white, fluffy blanket. When Haewon widened his eyes, Dori quickly burrowed into the blanket and curled up.

Soon, an explosive scolding followed.

“I can’t live like this! Why does this tiny thing cause so much trouble! And! Why the heck are you dipping your tail in ink! Is that a brush? Huh? Do you think that’s a brush?”

Dori felt slightly wronged.

He had simply jumped up onto the table. What could he do about his tail moving on its own? It had swayed and accidentally dipped deeply into the ink, then caused a mess as it waved through the air.

“Do you even know how precious that vase you broke was! And what if you got hurt again! I told you to wait a moment while I stepped out, and you made a mess in that short time?”

The more he listened, the more Dori felt unfairly blamed.

“Mmm, grrr…”

I didn’t break it, I just fell over! I jumped up to open the window because I wanted to see outside, but the oil on the frame made it slippery and I slipped!

The more he thought about it, the more he felt this wasn’t entirely his fault. Dori poked his head out from under the blanket and looked up at Haewon with sincerity in his eyes.

‘Hey! It’s my first time living as a fox too! Do you have any idea what it’s like to wake up one day and find you’ve become a fox?’

“Yip yip!”

All his indignant protests turned into fox cries and scattered. He was so upset that for a moment, he was even tempted to turn back into a human.

“…Ugh, fine. You must be frustrated being cooped up in this room all day. I get it, so let’s just take the medicine.”

“Eugh…”

Dori, who was easily caught in an instant, struggled. But with his small fox body wrapped in the blanket, it was impossible to resist as his mouth was forcibly opened.

“Grrk, ack!”

At first, he swallowed a few sips because he was told it was good for him, but then he shook his head.

“No. You have to finish it, so hang in there.”

Thank goodness it wasn’t made from snake, but he still doubted whether something this bitter and fishy could really be good for the body.

After barely finishing the bowl, Dori accepted a honey-soaked jujube that Haewon handed him. The honey’s sweetness finally cleared away the lingering bitterness in his mouth.

“You and I both have such pitiful lives.”

Haewon sat down with a thud after setting down the tray.

He talked about how his parents sold him to a eunuch right after he was born, how he was castrated and entered the palace, and how he almost inherited his adoptive father’s position but luckily ended up learning medicine instead.

All of this was news to Dori.

‘Novels don’t usually give backstory to side characters.’

Dori rested his chin on his front paws while wrapping his tail around himself.

“Fox, what was the place you grew up in like? I bet the mountains were tall and the trees were big, right?”

‘There weren’t any mountains. Just big buildings. A forest made of buildings instead of trees.’

“I’ve lived in the palace all my life, so I’ve never been outside. But I’ve heard from those who came later that wild animals are scary, and there are terrifying birds like hawks and eagles. Have you seen them? Are there really that many?”

‘There are more cars than birds. And not a single one of all those houses and cars was mine. What a rotten world.’

“You must’ve been free. I became a physician thanks to entering the palace, but since I’ve never been to such a place, I envy you in that way. …Then, have you ever seen the ocean?”

‘No. I didn’t have the time to see things like that. I was too busy trying to survive. Maybe that’s why I’ve always thought I’d like to live in the countryside, somewhere with mountains or the sea, when I get a chance later.’

The chatter continued without pause. Since possessing the book, this was the first time Dori had spent such a long time with someone.

In the fox village, everyone had ignored or scorned him, and after being dragged into the lower palace, he had spent most of the time asleep. Even Haewon, who was the closest, was always too busy during his brief visits to have moments like this.

One spoke in human words, the other in fox cries, but the two continued their one-sided conversation.

Flap… flap.

“What is it?”

Then Dori suddenly stood up. Haewon also got up, startled.

Creak.

Soon, the door opened, and Haban entered with a twitch of his eyebrow.

“What’s with that state?”

A bright red mouth, an ink-stained tail, and dirty paws. The fox looked far grubbier than when it was first caught in the hunting grounds.

Haewon, realizing too late, quickly wiped Dori’s mouth with a handkerchief, but the red seasoning on the pure white fur wouldn’t come off easily.

“That’s enough. Get out.”

Haban waved his hand after briefly pinching the bridge of his nose at the spreading stains. Taking it as a cue, Haewon quickly stacked the empty bowls on the tray and darted out of the room.

‘…That guy!’

Dori bristled with betrayal, his tail puffed up. But it soon drooped again as he cautiously watched Haban.

“….”

A silent Haban was terrifying. Why was he looking at him with those eyes again?

Dori hesitated awkwardly. He didn’t want to wag his tail like a dog greeting its master, but he couldn’t outright ignore him either since Haban was someone he had to stay on good terms with.

In the end, Dori gave a half-hearted wag or two of his tail and flopped down. He figured it was a petty form of revenge, since an emperor wouldn’t be treated like this anywhere else.

“So you’re not completely stupid.”

Seeing the fox stay still rather than bolt to the corner, Haban approached and slowly stroked from the middle of his rounded, nicely shaped forehead between the ears, down the ridge of his back and tail, all the way to his rump.

Though the fur looked fine and soft, when touched, it was tangled in places and felt rough against his fingers.

‘It must be because he’s constantly running around and never staying still. Once the bath is over, I’ll have someone brush him.’

Meanwhile, Dori tilted his head in confusion.

Normally, the door would be closed immediately after Haban entered. Only Haban and Haewon came in and out of the room. But strangely, today the door was still open.

‘…!’

Soon, he saw two people struggling to carry something in and leapt up in shock.

‘What the—! The plot didn’t change after all?’

It was clearly a bathing tub, though it looked small for a person. After the eunuchs left, a line of women carrying water buckets entered.

“Your Majesty, the tub is fully filled.”

The woman at the front spoke in a charming voice.

A seductive mole under her eye. She was the very palace maid from the original story who, from the first day, pushed Dori into the water, scratched his bare skin in secret, and tormented him throughout his life in the palace.

‘So this is how the story continues? Just like the original?’

Except for the fact that Haban existed and that he was a fox, everything else aligned with the novel’s plot.

Taking advantage of his confusion, his rear was nudged.

“Take him to be washed.”

“Come now, Mr. Fox. This way, please.”

At Haban’s indifferent order, the woman gestured sweetly and called out gently. Her tone was kind, but her gaze as she looked down at the fox was filled with fierce hostility.

[“Did you think you’d become something just because you received His Majesty’s favor? As if a thing like you could ever bear a royal heir. You’ll end up begging with that filthy body and die miserably. Go on, wag that bewitching tail of yours.”

The woman tossed a piece of rotting meat. If he couldn’t eat even that, he would starve. Dori, now emaciated, stumbled forward.

Just as he opened his mouth to bite into the rotting meat, the dish was pulled away from his face. The woman laughed gleefully. The mole under her eye climbed up her cheek with her smirk.]

She especially hated “Dori” because she had entered the palace aiming to become one of Haban’s consorts.

In the original, this was around the time when people with power and wealth would secretly send their daughters into the palace, pressuring them to win the emperor’s favor, only to find that Haban wouldn’t even give them a chance to get close.

So the unfortunate “Dori” became the target of all their resentment.

And the woman leading that pack stood right in front of him.

‘She’ll definitely try to harm me behind Haban’s back.’

As the woman slowly approached, Dori became increasingly restless and glanced at Haban.

‘Ack!’

“Got you, Mr. Fox.”

The woman’s curved eyes narrowed as she grasped the fox’s slender leg. There was a sharp pain—her nail had likely scraped him.

‘Was that just a slip of the hand?’

Nothing had happened yet, so he couldn’t outright accuse her.

Dori was dragged helplessly, not knowing what to do.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

‘Once I’m washed, what comes next?’

He wasn’t even in human form—just a fox right now.

Dori glanced back at Haban.

‘He looks completely normal… Surely he doesn’t have some weird fetish, does he?’

Clamp.

Just then, the woman’s nails dug deeply into the spot where she gripped the fox.