Chapter 5: Chapter 5

In the darkness of nothing but moonlight to lighten the surroundings, only the shallow breathing of an old man could be heard inside the luxurious but cold bedroom. However, contrary to the old man's expectation, the night was not destined to be lonely, as his years of serving as a sovereign did not fail him as he immediately realized that someone had entered his chamber.

He opened his eyes and could not believe what he was seeing and wondered whether he had finally gone senile because what he expected was everything but a little human girl. However, what made him hold his already weak breath was the hair and eye color of this uninvited guest.

"Rosaline?" he asked hoarsely.

"You remember my mother," Seraphina answered. The old man took seconds to process the information and said, "Even if the whole continent were to be searched, one would never find a rose redder than her hair. And, I see you inherited your mother's... However, never in a million years would I have imagined Rosaline to have a baby with the grand duke Amaris Callenso," his voice became even weaker.

"Is it my eyes?" she asked.

"I would have lived in vain if I did not recognize those eyes, child. Only the bloodline of the Callenso's ducal house can possess eyes like yours, shimmering so brightly as if they have molten gold brimming inside them." Seraphina did not answer his remarks.

"So, tell me, child. Are you here to avenge your people? If so, you do not have much time left as this rotting body will probably not see the sunrise tomorrow," he reminded as if he was waiting for his looming death.

"No, I am not here for revenge, Ezekiel."

"If not, curiosity?" he asked bemusingly.

"You can say so. I want to know why you did that?"

"Why I killed your kind and let your mother suffer such humiliation?"

"No... Why you knelt and cried. Why you promised to end her suffering. Why you begged her not to curse the entire fox clan to death. And why you had to bear the name of the cruel tyrant for her."

Seraphina has always been curious about the memory her predecessor had left her. Glistening golden hair and frighteningly bright red eyes. A kneeling man who was shedding tears for an ancient beast. Even though she has already lived a lifetime of misery and sorrow, the memory of her predecessor still brought bitter sadness over her tiny heart. However, she was too ignorant to know that each word she questioned was like lighting to the old man as the deepest secret, which he was going to carry to his tomb, was spoken aloud with such a light and innocent voice.

"How, how did you know?" he asked, barely holding his surging emotions along with the tears that were threatening to fall.

"My predecessor told me."

"Predecessor?"

"Yes. She was a 300 years old nine-tailed fox," she said as a matter of factly.

"You are crying just like in the memories, Ezekiel. You see, nine-tailed foxes leave one piece of their memories that they cherish the most to their successors. And, I received a memory of you," Seraphina explained as she felt uncomfortable and a little guilty for making a dying old man cry so bitterly. However, what she saw next was even more dumbfounding as the so-called bloody tyrant smiled so heartwarmingly and gratefully after hearing her words.

"I see... Nine-tailed foxes are born hundreds of years or even thousands of years after the death of their predecessors. I never thought I would have the fortune to meet her successor in this life" he smiled gently before continuing,

"She was not a human but a 300 years old nine-tailed fox. Her eyes held so much sadness, madness, loneliness, loss, and above all, the struggle not to lose hope. The fox clan tricked her, took her heart out, cut off her tails, and fed on her blood to reach the glorious days that they had. She desperately wanted to end her suffering but could do nothing as the only way to find eternal peace was to stab her heart, which she was robbed of by the fox clan. As the suffering, pain, and sadness of being betrayed by her own kind ate her alive, she lost all reason and wanted to curse the entire fox clan to death by offering her soul as the price. That is when I found her. If she really had cursed everyone, her soul would have been lost to never find peace in eternity, and I did not want that to happen to her. So, I promised. To end her suffering, to let her find eternal peace, to kill the entire fox clan, and to never let a nine-tailed fox be born again. But, as you can see, I failed to keep my last promise because your mother was a special child. Your mother knew I was going to kill her, but she still smiled at me and thanked me. Do you know what she said at that time?"

"What did she say?"

"Your mother was only around 6 or 7 that time, but she was not scared at all, and she said, 'She finally found her peace. Thank you, emperor Ezekiel.' I could not bring myself to kill her after what she had said. So, I asked her what she wanted to do if she could live, and her answer was to dance forever and never be a royal or noble again."

"That's why mother became a dancer."

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"Yes. That's the reason."

"But, Ezekiel. You did not answer my question. Why did you promise all those things to my predecessor?"

"Because I fell in love with her, child."

Love... is it the same love I had for that man? If it is the same, why were our endings so different? We both sinned and sacrificed for our 'love,' but one remained as a cherished existence, whereas I was thrown away only to live endless nights of torture and humiliation. Why so unfair? Seraphina contemplated bitterly.

The little girl did not say anything for a long time, and the old man had no way of knowing what she was thinking. So, he asked, "What are you thinking, Little Red?"

However, never in his wildest dreams would he have known that a simple question of his would damn him for another lifetime.

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Inside a low-key but still spacious and elegant carriage, an old man with white hair and glistening dark red eyes sat upright. His whole person was brimming with vitality, and his body was robust with a strength that simply did not match his white hair and old age. Besides him lies a small white fox with breathtaking golden orbs that shone brighter than the sunlight on an extremely luxurious silk cushion. Its fur and eyes made an awe-striking visual that it was simply impossible to not throw a second glance if not stare at it foolishly.

It has been a week since Seraphina sneaked into the imperial elder Ezekiel Crevaria's bed chamber. And it has also been a week since she got stuck in her fox form and unable to shift back into her human form, which without a doubt, caused frustration and dissatisfaction on Seraphina's end. Even though her fox form was way less eye-catching than her human body, she still found it extremely troublesome because a certain old man, who should have long become a dry corpse if not for Seraphina transferring one of her three remaining lives to him, always tried to pick her up and pet her.

I know I am a ball of pure cuteness! I know I look very very very pet-able! I know your hands itch just by looking at my fluffy ears and tail! But! Still! I am an ancient divine beast, a fearsome nine-tailed fox. Where would my dignity go if I acted no different from a pet fox? Huh? Seraphina complained depressingly.

She did not know that transferring one of her lives would consume a massive amount of energy off of her. Due to energy depletion and deficiency, she was stuck in her fox form until her energy recovered to normal range.

From the start, Seraphina was firmly bent on transferring one of the three remaining lives into Ezekiel because she needed him as her future backer, as well as, to change Aine's destiny of being bullied and disfigured. Imperial elder Ezekiel's palace was nearest to the abandoned palace where Aine was living, and Ezekiel did not favor royal consort Aynat's children even though they were equally his grandchildren. Therefore, before the death of the imperial elder, that unruly, spoilt-rotten, and jealousy-spitting princess Wyvern never really dared to come to the abandoned palace to cause trouble for her half-sister Aine. In her previous life, before even a week could pass after the imperial elder's death, Wyvern threw her elder sister into a raging fire causing a near-death traumatizing event for Aine. Moreover, the Red Army that the imperial elder Ezekiel Crevaria founded and was later succeeded by empress Natalia would soon fall into the hands of royal consort Aynat if the events of the past were to be repeated. Imperial elder Ezekiel truly appreciated empress Natalia, who was a brave warrior and kind mother, and therefore, gave her the seal of the Red Army before he fell sick. Unfortunately, the seal returned to his hands once again after the death of the empress. Eventually, both the imperial elder and empress Natalia's deaths left the Red Army with no master for years before they surrendered to royal consort Aynat whose power was growing tremendously both inside and outside the court. With all things carefully considered, Seraphina came to the conclusion that the imperial elder must continue living on, even though her predecessor's request was to simply accompany Ezekiel during his death. Since she was confident that she can outlive this imperial elder, she was not worried about not being able to keep her promise to her predecessor.

Currently, Ezekiel and Seraphina were going to the abandoned palace to retrieve princess Aine and bring her back to the imperial elder's palace to live from now on. With her grandfather backing her, she won't be wronged anymore. And, with how Ezekiel was brimming with vitality and life, the seal of the Red Army will likely not change owners for the following few decades.

The house of Heroux, without empress Natalia, is just a small military noble house stationed at the southern border. But the same cannot be said of a healthy and hearty former emperor Ezekiel Crevaria who has the Red Army under his command. With him backing house Heroux, both Aine and Nieves will grow up without any major mishaps and Aynat might lose her teeth from clenching hard in her anger and preferably gain some crow's feet that she did not have even in her early forties in Seraphina's previous life. With these developments, it is safe to say that everything went the way Seraphina had planned, except for her being stuck in her fox form.

The carriage stopped at the gate of a dilapidated mansion located on the outskirts of the capital, with only two guards seen in the vicinity. It is worth mentioning that even wealthy commoners do not build their mansions or estates in this part of the capital because it is too barren and far from the flourishing and bustle of the thriving capital of Crevaria. Not to mention that even the poorest nobles will have more than two guards. Imperial elder Ezekiel stayed on the outskirts of the capital because his health was deteriorating rapidly, and he wished to spend his last days in peace and tranquility. However, to let a noble imperial princess live in such a condition was outright humiliation and oppression.

"Tsk. Tsk. Incompetent fool. To let his daughter suffer like this shows how powerless he is in the court. That Aynat is also such a narrow-minded and petty one," Ezekiel lamented.

When it rains, it pours. The imperial elder was already disgruntled enough to rush to the main palace to go and beat that incompetent son of his, but who could have known that these two ordinary guards had the guts of lions, as they refused to open the gates and even dared to command the carriage to leave.

Ezekiel's most trusted aide was named Juan, who was still accompanying his master to this day at the age of 52. He was a loyal subordinate and friend who always assisted and served his old friend/master Ezekiel wherever he went. However, since the imperial elder's palace was very gloomy and inappropriate to raise a young princess, he stayed at the palace to personally oversee the servants' work of redecorating and refurnishing the whole palace. He has been busy enough that his old legs almost did not touch the ground past several days. Therefore, today, the imperial elder was accompanied by a few servants and Jayce, Juan's only son. And, currently, Jayce was livid with rage as the two ignorant guards, who probably did not even have knighthoods dared to order the imperial elder to leave.

"Open the gates if you wish to keep that empty heads on your shoulders," he ordered with a deep voice laced with authority.

"No will do, sir. It is an order from her majesty to keep uninvited guests away for the princess's safety." One of the guards voiced, trying to intimidate the group with the royal consort's power.

"Ha! Her majesty?" a deep booming voice erupted from the carriage as the door of the carriage was opened, and a spectacular white fox jumped out with an air of dignity and power.

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