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Chapter 90
The Terminal Baby Doctor Doesn’t Hide That She’s a Genius
While I was still dazed, outside, the source of all this chaos — Detlef — was speaking.
“Ahem… fine. I admit it. You must inform the doctor of my words. If I don’t see her tomorrow, I’ll have you detained and punished!”
“…I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Tch, so stiff. You Orientals always smell funny anyway…”
I stopped listening after that. His insults didn’t even reach my ears anymore.
Once Detlef finally left—
“Bi-yu? Where did she go? To the bathroom maybe…”
My brother closed the door behind him, leaving me frozen in place.
All I could manage was to slowly push the door open with a soft creak.
Light streamed in more brightly now, revealing the child completely.
‘Wow…’
My eyes widened in astonishment.
The child was so beautiful it felt like a real angel had fallen from heaven.
Every strand of his silvery hair gleamed, and those big eyes stared straight at me.
‘…It’s my first time seeing someone with silver hair here.’
His irises sparkled gold, like drops of sunlight caught inside. Depending on the light, the hue would shift slightly — a truly stunning color.
It was unmistakably Raon’s color.
His skin was pale as snow, his cheeks tinged pink. The child just kept staring at me.
“…You were startled, right?”
The gentle voice that addressed me was pure and clear.
Did that doll just… talk?
That absurd thought flashed through my mind — that’s how beautiful he was.
I had never seen anyone with eyelashes longer than mine before!
Honestly, I was considered a rather cute baby girl myself, but—
‘At this rate, he’s going to grow up looking just like his father, isn’t he?’
A face like this not being a main character? Impossible.
“Huh? Wha—what?”
Me, Heuk-Biyu, was speechless — by beauty of all things. A first.
“…I remember everything now.”
The child hesitated, then spoke carefully and clearly.
“My name is Kaniel.”
The more I looked at his hair, the more convinced I became — yes, this was Raon.
Even in human form, he still had that soft, gentle air about him.
‘But seriously, he’s a human now?’
Why the sudden change? Why live as a fox all this time?
“But… I like the name you gave me better. Can I keep using it?”
“Uh? Oh, um, sure. Do what you like.”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly. But first, I needed an explanation for this bizarre situation.
“So, you are Raon, right?”
The boy nodded.
“Yes.”
“And… you’re a human now?”
“Mm-hm. Human.”
“Then why were you…”
“You mean, why was I a fox?”
I nodded eagerly. I needed that part explained.
“I remember that my mother turned me into a fox. The memories from that time are patchy… but I do remember it was painful.”
Raon — or Kaniel — said his mother had transformed him into a baby fox and sent him far away, entrusted to someone she could trust.
The destination had originally been the Eastern Continent.
But things went wrong. The plan failed. He fled for his life… and collapsed right where I found him — in the Black Forest region.
“I know it’s shameless, but… can you help me? I can’t get caught…”
The beautiful child’s eyes filled with tears. It was devastatingly effective.
“I became human because of your voice. When you whispered so desperately, ‘Don’t get caught,’ I really wanted to listen to you.”
“Ahh, so that’s why you turned human… then… can you turn back into a fox too?”
“Hmm, probably.”
He said he thought he could now shift between fox and human at will.
I scratched my neck thoughtfully.
“Then, what are you exactly?”
“I’m… hmm, my mom told me once. We’re a special clan that serves the Dragon.”
A clan that serves a dragon? On the Eastern Continent? Interesting.
Raon closed his eyes tightly, as if to show off his uniqueness.
Poof!
Fox ears sprouted from his head, and three tails swished behind him.
“This—this is possible?!”
Oh wow, it was adorable — but also looked pretty useless.
My hands itched to touch the tails, but I restrained myself.
“Your tails are really pretty.”
“Right? Mom said they were, too.”
I clapped politely.
“She also said my tails would increase as I grow!”
A fox whose tails multiplied… sounded a lot like a nine-tailed fox, didn’t it?
And his beauty — almost inhuman — fit the idea perfectly.
But I didn’t say that out loud.
“Raon—um, if it’s okay to call you that… I already see you as family.”
“….”
“So don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
From the beginning, I’d planned to return this smuggled white fox to the Eastern Continent anyway.
Raon’s face brightened, his eyes shimmering again.
“They say… if you eat part of a white fox, you can even bring the dead back to life.”
Honestly—
After hearing that, how could I abandon him? Not that I wanted to anyway.
“Please, keep calling me Raon. I like that name more than the one Father—no, the Emperor—gave me.”
“Mm. Alright. I’ll be counting on you.”
“I’ll be useful to you!”
Raon grabbed my hand firmly. His hand was slightly bigger than mine — maybe because he was a boy.
“I have a special ability. I’ll help you!”
The next morning.
“Left for a minute to scold my brother, and suddenly there’s a boy here?”
“Boo, I’m against this. I don’t want a boy in the bathhouse!”
Breakfast was full of complaints.
I was dumbfounded.
‘After everything that happened yesterday, this is what they’re upset about?’
Last night, my uncle had come back carrying bread.
My other uncle and my father returned covered in dust after their “peaceful talk.”
And my brother, who’d turned pale searching for me after I’d gone missing during a bathroom break.
I reintroduced Raon to everyone.
“He’s apparently a prince.”
My father already knew, but the others didn’t — and once I explained, their reactions were ferocious.
“Eliminate him.”
“Why would you keep him?! Are you insane?”
They looked at him like he was an enemy spy. It took forever to calm them down.
Luckily, Raon being about my age helped.
“Damn it, this isn’t a daycare! A kid raising another kid?!”
“Uncle, by that logic, you’re the most childish one here. You’d be in the youngest class.”
I declared firmly that Raon would stay with me, so no one could oppose me further — though they still grumbled.
‘I can’t just abandon someone who’s gone through the same things as me.’
The feeling I’d had when I first saw him — it hadn’t changed. Especially since he’d lost his mother.
His father… well, that man was no father at all.
“It’s the family’s decision.”
“That’s right, stop whining already, uncles. You too, Father.”
Even my brother sounded more mature than usual. Was our group going to be okay like this?
I shook my head.
Still, Raon’s presence had one unexpected benefit — my father, who’d been awkward around me lately, was back to normal.
After breakfast, he pulled me aside. He said he’d made up his mind.
“If that fox has become human, then he’s no longer a pet.”
“…Probably not.”
“Then he can be my adopted son, or my disciple.”
He said it like it was a grand, solemn decision.
“But he can’t be your boyfriend.”
…What was he talking about? He’d said the same thing about Tak Min-jae before.
“Dad, I’m three years old.”
“Three becomes thirteen… then twenty-three…”
“Oh, please.”
Watching him get all flustered, I realized something.
‘His expressions have become more… human.’
Maybe that shock therapy from Gilberk had actually worked after all.
I shrugged.
“Instead of worrying about me at thirteen, maybe focus on what’s happening now. You and I have a lot to talk about, remember? Let me know when you’re ready.”
“….”
Things were still too chaotic.
‘First, let’s deal with this plague.’
There was a long road ahead, and I had no intention of letting this epidemic drag on.
Later that same afternoon.
I stood in the village square.
In one corner lay piles of grotesque things — the reason my uncle had been so busy lately.
“My dear, we caught everything you asked for.”
My uncle smiled brightly.
“Ugh, Uncle, that’s disgusting. Look at the goosebumps!”
“I can’t see any.”
“Eek! Uncle’s actually scared of mice! Maybe a kiss will cure it?”
I turned away from my uncle’s ridiculous pose and looked at the piles before me — heaps of filthy rat corpses.
‘…That’s a lot.’
I inspected them carefully. My other uncle asked,
“Hey, why did you ask him to catch all these?”
“Because… they’re the cause of the plague.”
The Cheymic Disease — these rats were the main carriers.
More precisely, it started with infected fleas.
The fleas sucked rat blood, got infected, and spread the disease further.
‘But where did those fleas come from in the first place? That, I still don’t know.’
Cheymic wasn’t a place where fleas should thrive easily.
Still, that was a problem for later. To stop the disease from spreading, I needed to eliminate the cause first.
I was calmly counting the bodies when someone came running.
“Doctor!”
It was Lord Lederick. Beside him stood the knight I’d treated yesterday.
“Have you heard the news? A group from the castle is on its way here.”
I nodded. That was good.
Lederick smiled broadly.
“There’s even better news. A major noble house has offered to assist in the treatment efforts!”
“…Huh?”
A chill of unease ran down my spine.
“It’s one of the Eight Great Houses — the Sinion family! Their physician is coming with them!”
