SAFBIAN Ch 68

Chapter 68

“It is His Majesty. Open the door.”

The fox’s newly appointed palace was the closest to the Emperor’s, only a short walk away.

When Eunuch Kim lowered his voice and spoke, there was a heavy clank from inside, as if someone were removing a latch, though it had appeared the door was merely locked without a guard.

Creeeak.

A man dressed in black opened the door, bowed to Haban, and then stepped back.

Though it had been made to appear as if all the palace guards had been withdrawn, in truth, the entire building was densely guarded by shadow assassins.

“Please go ahead, Your Majesty.”

Eunuch Kim held up a lantern and stepped over the threshold first, to light the way.

Haban watched him briefly, then spoke in a low voice.

“…Extinguish the light.”

If the fox was asleep, he intended only to take a brief look without waking him.

Having noticed that the building across the wide garden—the fox’s bedchamber—was dark, Haban instructed the lights be turned off, not wanting to disturb him.

It was a deep night, with only the moonlight faintly illuminating the ground beneath his feet.

‘I’ve gotten quite good at transforming into a human now.’

Dori touched his face and hands with pride. In the original story, “Dori” had a hard time disguising himself and suffered for it, so this improvement came as a relief.

It had been a while since he last took human form—ever since he transformed to save Haban. Just in case his ears or tail remained, he checked, only to feel smooth hair and soft skin.

‘First, I need to put on some clothes.’

As a fox, his fur had kept him decent, but in human form, he was stark naked—which made him feel rather embarrassed. Just as he was heading to the bed to find something to wear, Dori noticed a narrow stream of moonlight.

‘…Ah, that’s right! The window!’

To cover himself first, he hastily grabbed the blanket and pulled it over his head. Peeking out only with his face, Dori crept cautiously toward the window.

‘There’s… no one, right?’

It was late at night, so all the palace staff would likely be asleep. Dori quickly shut the window and leaned against it with a sigh of relief. He was glad there wasn’t a guard stationed by the window like before.

Lowering the blanket to his shoulders and clutching it tightly at his neck, Dori tiptoed back to the bed. In his haste to grab the blanket earlier, the clothes had been disheveled into a mess.

‘Is this the first thing I should put on?’

He neatly laid out the garments on the bed in order, then began to dress one piece at a time. Though the unfamiliar attire made him fumble at first, he eventually managed to wrap the wide, rustling sash around his waist.

‘Done!’

Dori twirled in place, satisfied.

Except for the outer robe’s long, flowing hem trailing along the floor, the many layers felt surprisingly comfortable and unrestrictive.

He felt rather pleased with himself. Feeling reassured, Dori sat on a chair and rested his chin on the table.

‘Sitting like this brings back old memories.’

Memories from a few months ago surfaced. He smiled faintly, remembering the events in the Red Fox Village.

It was not long after he’d possessed Dori that he first transformed into a human. He’d been flustered to see the traditional robes and trousers “Dori” wore in the novel—having never worn anything like them in real life, nor having any knowledge of them.

And yet now, he’d managed to dress himself in an even more elaborate outfit. Although still a bit clumsy, it was impressive.

‘I want to see myself, but there’s no mirror in the room.’

He glanced around the room and looked disappointed. His hands smoothed over his robe with longing.

Haewon had removed all mirrors from the new palace, worried Dori might hurt himself, considering how often the fox got into trouble.

‘Ugh… hmm…’

After some thought, Dori stood up and raised his arms to check his sleeves. The fabric was so plentiful that it seemed like an entire bolt of silk had been used. From wrist to shoulder, the cloth was ample enough to hide anything.

He lifted the long robe hem with both hands and tried stepping forward. It was so long and flowing that if he tried to run, he’d surely trip over it. And he was a little disappointed to see his bare feet peek through.

Dori wiggled his big toe and rubbed it against his second toe.

‘Still, the robe is long enough that my feet aren’t really visible, so it should be fine. First thing when I leave the palace—I need to buy shoes. Really, this is why…’

People need money. He felt reassured, thinking he could sell the hidden jewelry to get some.

‘This outfit stands out too much anyway, so I’d better sell it as soon as I leave the palace. I’ll buy something simpler and keep the leftover money on me.’

It felt a bit wasteful to part with such luxurious clothes, but it was too extravagant.

Wearing something like this would make it impossible to live the quiet and cozy life he dreamed of. Better to sell it so someone else in need could use it—and he’d pocket the money. That thought made him happy.

‘There was a moment I really thought I’d get thrown out naked again. I was so startled.’

Dori clutched the ends of his elegant sleeves with both hands.

‘…But why did I feel that way then?’

He’d been so determined to escape the palace, even scouting out every dog hole in the walls. If Haban had thrown him out, he wouldn’t have had to suffer.

But when he thought of Haban casting him out, he’d felt strange. So strange, in fact, that he’d been paralyzed for a moment. It was only afterward, when he jumped up to protect his jewelry, that he’d moved.

‘…I think I actually felt hurt, somehow.’

Dori shook his head quickly. That couldn’t be. He’d longed and yearned to escape for so long.

As he absentmindedly rubbed his chest with his palm, he suddenly heard a rustling noise again.

Pop!

In an instant, Dori transformed into a fox and spun around, body lowered with his hindquarters raised in a defensive stance, scanning left and right with sharp eyes.

‘…What, what was that?’

He licked his nose anxiously.

After a while, as he remained alert in the dark, he heard the sound of branches rustling against the window, as if swaying in the wind. Perhaps it was just the leaves brushing against each other.

…Phew.

Dori relaxed and changed back into a human.

Due to the transformation, the clothes he had painstakingly worn had slipped off and now lay in a heap on the floor.

Worried they might have creased, he shook them out and put them back on. Having dressed once already, the second time went more smoothly.

‘Ugh, this is so annoying.’

Used to having short hair, Dori found the long locks incredibly bothersome. Brushing it back with frustration, he suddenly remembered something.

‘Right! That!’

He opened the bottom drawer by the window. A gold silk bundle, neatly tied, came into view.

‘As a fox, even opening a drawer was so difficult.’

Crouching in front of it, Dori carefully untied one of the two bundles. From within, he pulled out a hairpin and stared at it.

‘How was this supposed to go into my hair again?’

He tried to recall how a palace maid had arranged Haban’s hair—lifting it like this, then tying it like that…

His hair was too long and heavy to gather entirely, but tying up half of it seemed manageable. Still, with his unskilled hands, the coiled hair quickly unraveled.

Holding the hairpin between his teeth, Dori grabbed his hair again with both hands.

After a couple more tries… Success!

Feeling around the crown of his head and confirming the hairpin was in place, Dori smiled in satisfaction and gently touched the end of the pin. Then he quickly pulled his hand away. Though it wasn’t the one Haban had used in his dream, it still made him feel uneasy.

‘Anyway, I’m finally getting ready to leave. All that’s left is to find the dog hole.’

Maybe because he’d been dressing up and fixing his hair with such tension—his whole body felt heavy and tired.

Creak, rustle.

‘Hmm?’

This time, it was a different sound than before.

He turned his head more calmly, assuming it wasn’t a person, and saw the same cat from earlier trying to sneak back in through the window—locking eyes with him.

“…This is my room, though.”

“Meow.”

The cat that had bolted when Dori was a fox was now bold in front of his human form.

“Where did you come from?”

Even when Dori took a step closer, the cat didn’t flee. It just stared at him, then suddenly jumped down and approached him.

“Meow.”

Rubbing its body against his feet affectionately, the cat was irresistibly cute.

After glancing up as if expecting something, it meowed again, this time longer. It might have been a palace cat or one accustomed to humans.

“Where’s your owner?”

“Mrrrow.”

“Are you hungry, maybe?”

When no treat came despite its affection, the cat gave a grumbling cry and wagged its rear before leaping out the window again.

Dori found it so adorable that he stood watching for a while, then suddenly gasped.

‘…The window!’

It was open again!

Dori ran over in a panic and shut the window, resting his forehead against the frame. With reflexes this slow, he’d never notice someone watching him.

He pulled the hairpin from his head, returned it to the drawer, and crawled under the covers as if to hide.

Lying there in human form felt strangely new.

His heartbeat thundered so loudly, it drowned out every other sound around him.

Dori blinked sleepily.

Having ordered all attendants and eunuchs to wait outside the palace, Haban entered alone. As he approached the building where the fox’s chamber was located, he noticed the eerie stillness. It must have been to accommodate the fox’s sensitive ears.

Haban silenced his steps. The sound was so faint that one had to concentrate to hear it at all.

At last, standing before the fox’s residence, Haban paused.

Creeeak.

He saw a cat clinging to the window, pawing it open.

Normally, he would have chased it away at once so that “his” wouldn’t be disturbed. But tonight, he didn’t want to risk waking the one who might be sleeping inside—so he watched silently.

A moment later, the cat dashed back out.

And then, a few moments after that—

“….”

Someone, their white face glowing beneath the blanket pulled over their head, approached the window and peered out.