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Chapter: 10
The young bride was much smaller than the boy. Yet instead of being frightened by the darkness, this tiny child had tried to comfort him instead.
‘She’s so little… And yet, when she said she’d help me, it felt as if I could really rely on her.’
That couldn’t be true.
It shouldn’t be.
The boy quietly gazed at the sleeping bride’s face.
“I’ll help you!”
“Your Highness, I’m sure you’ll overcome this!”
It was a miracle.
Ever since the day he had become a monster two years ago, she was the first normal person to step into his darkness and take his hand, promising to help him.
An indescribable emotion welled up inside him.
For one fleeting moment, he almost believed that with his wife’s help, he might truly escape this terrible curse.
‘No… It’s only an illusion.’
Cheon Gyeol-woo clenched his teeth.
His wife was only a nine-year-old child.
She was even two years younger than he was.
A lovable little girl who got grains of rice stuck around her mouth while eating, nodded off in the middle of meals, and fell asleep without realizing it.
The imperial princess abandoned by the Empire.
The pitiful young bride who had traveled all the way to a distant foreign kingdom only to be murdered by her groom.
She was not someone he should lean on.
Rather, he was the one who ought to become someone she could depend on.
After all, he was two years older.
And as of today, he was her husband.
‘No matter how it happened, this child is my wife now. She is someone I must protect, no matter what it takes.’
Cheon Gyeol-woo gently traced the sleeping girl’s face with his fingertips.
Her cheeks were soft and fragile.
He could feel the warmth of her delicate breaths brushing against his fingers.
The boy’s gaze became resolute.
‘My lady… You saved someone who was ready to die. So somehow… I’ll save you too.’
Even if a miracle had occurred, nothing about their dangerous reality had changed.
Just as she had said, there would be no time to leisurely practice.
If the couple who had been married solely so one could kill the other both remained alive, chaos would erupt the very next morning.
Within that chaos…
How could he save her?
The young crown prince remained awake for a long time, lost in thought.
[Your Highness… Your Highness.]
“Mmm…”
[Princess, please wake up.]
“Mmm…”
[Princess!]
“Huh!”
Ansi’s voice echoed directly in my mind, making me jerk awake in surprise.
It was early dawn.
I couldn’t even remember when I’d fallen asleep.
‘I remember being disappointed that I was already full before I got to try everything I wanted to eat…’
I must have simply passed out once I was full and exhausted.
‘Don’t tell me… I actually fell asleep in the middle of eating?’
Oh no.
That’s exactly like a little kid.
How am I supposed to face the crown prince later?
I held my burning cheeks and sighed when Ansi spoke into my mind again.
[Your Highness, are you awake?]
[Mm. When did you get back?]
[Just now.]
[You’re a little late. Are you okay? You weren’t hurt, were you?]
[I’m unharmed. That wicked Maegu took off the moment she saw me, so I had to chase her down before bringing her back. That’s why I was delayed.]
[You worked hard. Is the Maegu outside now?]
[Yes. She’s behaving herself.]
[Wait here. I’m coming out.]
As I threw off the blanket and got up, I noticed the crown prince lying beside me.
“…!”
Last night’s events flashed through my mind, making me jump.
But seeing that he was asleep, I relaxed.
‘Wait… Why is he sleeping on the bare floor without even a blanket? He’s going to catch a cold.’
There was no way I could carry him, so I pulled over the blanket I’d been using and carefully covered him with it instead.
‘He’s sleeping soundly.’
Even asleep, his face was neat and handsome.
If anything, he looked even more like the perfect model student than the actual model students.
I gently patted him so he could sleep comfortably before quietly opening the door.
Ansi was standing on the porch.
Behind him stood the court musician, nervously darting her eyes around.
She was quite beautiful, with a teardrop-shaped beauty mark beneath one eye and another charming mole near the corner of her lips.
“You caught her perfectly. She’s not even injured.”
“Of course! I’m Princess’s phoenix. Something like this was easy!”
Ansi puffed out his chest proudly.
I reached over and ruffled his soft golden hair.
It was nice standing on the wooden porch—I didn’t even have to stand on tiptoe to reach him.
“Well done. That’s my phoenix.”
“Hehe. Hehehe.”
The court musician, who had been staring blankly at us, narrowed her eyes.
“…Your Highness? Calling a phoenix ‘Princess’ is one thing, but…”
I smiled gently at her.
“Do you know who I am?”
“…?”
The puzzled musician sniffed the air.
Then suddenly she jumped straight into the air.
“Yip! The scent of a Heavenly Peach!”
With a start, fluffy white fox ears popped up atop her head.
A tail burst out from beneath her skirt, and her nose lengthened.
The woman dressed as a court musician had transformed into a white fox standing on two legs.
The beauty marks near her eyes and mouth turned out to be patches of black fur.
“S-Scent of Heavenly Peach… Jade-colored eyes… and a princess… D-d-don’t tell me you’re Princess Cheonmyeong, meow?”
The Maegu asked, her fox ears trembling.
Ansi glared at her.
“How dare you speak so casually to Her Highness?”
“Yip…”
Under his icy stare, the white fox’s ears drooped flat.
Sneaking nervous glances around, she muttered,
“The smell’s there, but the body’s just human. That’s weird. Are you really Princess Cheonmyeong, meow?”
“If I, Ansi the phoenix, serve her, do you think she’d be a fake princess? You stupid yokai.”
“Yip… That’s true, but… Why do you look like a human? You look delicious…”
The Maegu licked her lips.
Ansi’s eyes became fierce as he kicked the fox in the leg.
“You dare say such outrageous things to Her Highness?”
“Yelp! Then why do you have to look so confusing, meow?! You’re human but smell like Heavenly Peach! Of course you look delicious! Slurp…”
“You’re completely out of your mind!”
Furious, Ansi shot into the air and smacked the back of the fox’s head.
The fox bounced around in pain.
“Yipe! Yipe! I’m sorry! I was wrong! Even if you look delicious, I won’t show it anymore!”
“You shouldn’t even be thinking that in the first place! How dare you! I’ll teach you some manners!”
Flying circles around her, Ansi pummeled the fox’s head with his tiny fists.
The fox covered her head with her front paws, yelping and desperately begging for forgiveness.
Meanwhile, I sat on the porch, resting my chin in my hand as I watched the ridiculous scene unfold.
That fox… isn’t anything like I expected.
‘A Maegu shouldn’t normally be this… sloppy. Maybe it’s because she’s a white fox?’
White fox spirits were generally considered more auspicious than other foxes.
Still, if she’d become a Maegu instead of a Heavenly Fox, she should have been much closer to a proper yokai.
After the commotion finally died down, the Maegu stood before me with her white ears flattened completely against her head.
“Princess… I was wrong. I’ll be polite from now on.”
“Use honorifics!”
Ansi glared.
The dejected fox replied,
“It’s hard to speak politely in this form, meow. I’ve got a fox mouth. I can do it if I transform into a human. Can I change back?”
“What’s so hard about honorifics? That’s just an excuse—”
“It’s fine. Leave her.”
I stopped Ansi before he could explode again.
“Yokai born from animals aren’t very good at speaking human language.”
“But the Heavenly Foxes spoke perfectly well!”
“That’s because they cultivated themselves and ascended to heaven. She’s just an ordinary Maegu living her life. She’s only this articulate because she’s a thousand-year-old fox.”
At my explanation, the Maegu clapped her front paws together and nodded vigorously.
“That’s right! I’m this good even in my true form because I’m amazing! Princess really knows her stuff! Just as expected of a princess from heaven!”
“Enough flattering me. Let’s get to the point.”
I looked straight at her.
“Why did you sneak into the palace?”
No matter how clumsy she appeared, she was still a yokai.
Depending on her answer, I might have to exorcise her.
The fox yokai smiled until her eyes became crescents and twisted her body shyly.
“I came to seduce handsome men.”
“…”
For a moment, I was speechless.
Finally I managed to ask,
“…Men? Which ones?”
“The handsome middle-aged Minister of Personnel. He’s been widowed for years, so I bet he’s got that nicely matured flavor. The young, pretty scholar who placed first in last year’s state examination and joined the Hongmungwan. There’s also a guard in the Royal Guard I’ve got my eye on. His muscles are incredible. And then there’s…”
She launched into an endless list as though she’d been waiting for someone to ask.
My head started spinning.
I hurriedly interrupted her.
“Are you planning to kill and eat them?”
“Kill them? Why would I waste such precious men, meow? Do you know how rare handsome men are? I said I’d seduce them! One by one… nice and slowly… Slurp.”
“…”
“Oh, I guess I am planning to eat them. Adults eat each other at night anyway. Little Princess doesn’t know about the grown-up world.”
“I’m 209 years old! I know plenty!”
“Heheh. What’s age got to do with it, meow? Every yokai knows Princess Cheonmyeong has been a baby for two hundred years. Princess is still a baby! You’re way too young to understand the adult world.”
“No, that’s not what I meant… Never mind. Forget it. If that’s your only goal, then do whatever you want.”
I suddenly felt exhausted.
Waving a hand dismissively, I got to the real issue.
“Ordinarily, any yokai hiding among humans with the intent to harm them is supposed to be exterminated immediately. You know that, right?”
“Yip! I’ve never harmed anyone! There are so many delicious things in the world—why would I eat humans? I’m a thousand-year-old Maegu. I don’t need human life energy at all!”
“Really? You’ve never harmed anyone? Ever?”
“…”
The Maegu quietly avoided my gaze before mumbling,
“W-Well… a long time ago… I ate just… a tiny little bit…”
“I knew it. Sounds like you deserve punishment.”
“B-But I only ate bad people! If I try to eat good humans, I get an upset stomach! I can’t eat them!”
“But you still ate humans.”
“Yip…”
The fox drooped her ears miserably.
Resting my chin on my hand, I smiled.
“I won’t exorcise you.”
“But in exchange, you’re going to do some work for me.”
“Yip? What kind of work?”
Her drooping ears instantly perked up, and her tail began swishing happily.
It was incredibly fluffy.
Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed her thick white tail.
The fox flinched.
“Yipe!”
“Oh, sorry.”
“N-No, it’s fine! Princess smells wonderful, so it’s okay! Touch me as much as you want! Please dote on me!”
The Maegu hurriedly shook her head and plopped her tail across my lap.
It was unbelievably soft and fluffy.
Completely mesmerized, I stroked the fox’s tail while asking,
“First… how long have you been inside the palace?”
“About five years, meow. My younger sibling told me there were lots of handsome men in the royal palace, so I came. It was really hard making myself a believable identity.”
“You have a younger sibling? No, let’s talk about that later. Then you already knew about the crown prince?”
“Of course I did. I saw him myself.”
“What did you see?”
“I was performing music there the day the crown prince became an Eodukseoni.”
“…What happened there?”
“Yipe…”
The Maegu twitched her ears and frowned.
After letting out a sigh, she finally began her story.
