Chapter 16: 16

Episode 16: The Fox Will Get What The Fox Wants (II)

This time, more powerfully, she hit the floor twice with her hind feet and shook her whole body as hard as she could.

It meant that if she was left alone, she would not sit still.

Eristella’s challenging eyes turned to Heinricion.

‘Really? Seriously? Are you okay?’

She continued to apply pressure. And this worked pretty well.

Heinricion looked at Eristella behaving like that and was startled. His eyes trembled softly as he imagined something ominous.

‘I think this is going well?’

‘So you’d rather take me with you?’

Heinricion hesitated for the first time. Eristella thought she might really get in trouble.

‘It came out like that, right?’

The fox’s behavior was quite offensive, but on the other hand, Heinricion felt his heart leaning in the opposite direction. It was when he thought that it would be better to be anxious next to her than to leave her and be anxious.

Eristella, who had been relentless, stopped pushing Heinricion with threats.

For some reason, she thought it would be meaningless to go this way.

It was just something she said out of anger. Even as a joke, she had no intention of causing an accident in the grand ducal residence because she was  grumpy.

Instead, Eristella impulsively ran towards Heinricion.

And landed on his lap.

“…Huh? What?”

Heinricion was confused, he beckoned her to go back, thinking it was a mistake.

Eristella’s tail, which laid comfortably on his lap, swayed softly.

‘What kind of trick is this really?’

Heinricion was puzzled for a while, but his eyes narrowed as the forgotten dark memories came to the forefront.

This was what Heinricion used to do when he met a fox as a child. As a child, he loved to embrace the fox, let it sit on his lap, and pet its fur.

Once, the fox fell asleep in that position, and Heinricion remained in that position for several hours.

While laughing, he said that he liked it, going, ‘Hehehe.’

Heinricion recognized Eristella’s intentions at once.

So he reached out to get her out of his lap right away.

‘You can’t kick me out, right?’

Eristella smiled as she looked at Heinricion’s hand, which was still hanging in the air.

So far, Eristella had been chasing Heinricion, but she always kept a certain distance. Most of the time, if she got close, it was on his shoulder or over his head.

As for now, she had been on his lap for a very long time.

‘Just what is this? Why don’t I want to drop it?’

In the end, Heinricion returned his hesitant hand to the armrest of his chair.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t help but wait and see how long you’ll stay here. Instead, I’ll never give you a single pat.’

Heinricion firmly swore.

He knew instinctively. The moment he reached out his hand and stroked the fox’s fur, he would have lost.

A strange war of nerves was taking place between Heinricion and Eristella.

A fight over who would give up first.

However, as time passed, Eristella was taking a more comfortable posture as if she was in her rightful spot.

On the other hand, Heinricion could not concentrate on his work; his forehead crumpled as he moved his hands.

Tickling, tickling.

Each time his knuckles gently brushed the tips of the fox’s fur, he hurriedly grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly.

The more he did, the more elegantly the fox’s tail fluttered.

Are you going to hold out like this? She seemed to be teasing.

Somehow, it became more and more difficult to bear. At that moment, he could see the tail of the fox’s eyebrows bending slyly.

‘I can’t do this anymore.’

At the time, a brief lament leaked out… It happened in an instant. All of a sudden, Heinricion’s hand rested on the fox’s soft and fluffy fur.

Pat, pat.

A faint smile appeared on Heinricion’s face without his realization.

“Ha…”

The conclusion was already made. Even the fox lying on his lap let out a pleased cry.

Heinricion turned his head, struggling to open his mouth in his anguish. 

“Okay.”

As if in desperation, an answer erupted from Heinricion.

He shook his head. He just couldn’t beat her.

Perhaps it would have been better to have been threatened and forced to give permission.

‘Ah, that’s an excuse. This is a complete defeat for me.’

Heinricion continued stroking the fox, staring blankly into the air.

On the other hand, Eristella’s face was full of laughter.

‘Heheheh.’

‘You should’ve accepted that from the beginning. You endured for nothing.’

The corners of Eristella’s lips went up.

Heinricion finally lowered his tail.
(TL/N: in short, he gave up.)

“Do whatever you feel like. If you want to go like that, go.”

‘Going to the banquet.’

‘I’m finally going to the Imperial Palace.’

To the Imperial Palace, her home and her hometown, where she had lived her whole life.

It was when Eristella clenched her fists and showed her delight. Heinricion, who was watching her silently, opened his mouth.

“What are you up to?”

‘Uh?’

Eristella blinked awkwardly. Even though he said okay, he wouldn’t let it slide.

“You don’t just want to go to the Imperial Palace banquet.”

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Heinricion stared at Eristella.

‘You’re sharp.’

Eristella’s eyes glistened sharply.

The fact that it was a banquet in the Imperial Palace was important.

Her home, which she was not able to return to.

But that wasn’t all. National Foundation Day was also a banquet for all the nobles of the empire.

It meant that it was possible to observe the movements of many people in one space.

‘First, let’s keep an eye on Count Azurdi.’

What Heinrichion said last time bothered her. There must be another reason for their interest in the disappearance of Princess Eristella.

‘If I look around them, a small clue may come out.’

And she was going to look at the things that had changed during her absence.

‘A lot will be different.’

It was something she had already prepared for, but she was a little nervous.

‘Still, I have to pull myself together.’

It was not just Eristella’s empty seat.

Her absence would change those involved in the dark magic.

That was the change she had to watch closely.

But she couldn’t tell Heinricion all of this. Specific details regarding black magic had to be treated as top secret.

It was not that she couldn’t trust Heinricion, but… She couldn’t mention it without knowing for sure.

“Why is there still no answer?”

As Eristella’s thoughts grew lengthened, Heinricion hurriedly gave a nudge.

Reluctantly, Eristella grabbed a pen with her front paws. It was when she began to write slowly under his fierce stare.

“Your Excellency. This is Rowen. I’m coming in for a moment.”

Tok tok.

Rowen came in with a knock.

At the same time, Eristella, startled, threw the pen and ran away.

Heinricion also hurriedly greeted Rowen calmly, hiding the paper that Eristella had been writing on.

“Your Excellency. I came here because I have something to report to you…”

“Yes. What’s going on?”

“More than that… what were you doing?”

Rowen asked, confused. 

He had to mention it because what he saw as soon as he entered was so bizarre.

Heinricion looked the same as always. An undisturbed posture and an indifferent expression that did not change in all sorts of situations.

But there was one huge discrepancy.

The fox was on top of Heinricion’s head, balancing perfectly.

Both its front and hind feet were firmly set in place.

The scene in front of Rowen felt even more alien because of Heinrichion’s calm, unresponsive appearance.

‘I was so surprised that I ran away…’

Actually, Eristella totally panicked. As she moved her feet to a safe place, pretending to be normal, she ended up above Heinricion’s head.

‘Why am I here…’

‘It would be strange. Even I think it’s strange.’

But it was awkward to go down naturally from here. When Eristella was shifting her eyes around and gauging when it would be good to descend…

“Here, come down.”

Heinricion reached his hand out and helped her down comfortably. Only then did Eristella come down from above his head.

It was only after Rowen left that Heinricion checked the paper that Eristella had written on.

— There’s something I need to get from the Imperial Palace. —

It was something only she could bring.

“What is that?”

‘Later.’

Eristella grinned, not writing anything more. She didn’t lie, though.

*******

“But there is one thing I have to protect.”

Heinricion spoke with a very serious and strict face.

It seemed that he would never take her along if she didn’t agree to it.

‘What?’

‘Are you sure you’re not trying to keep me from going by asking for something strange?’

Eristella was alert and listened to what Heinricion had to say.

“You understand me, but I can’t understand everything you say.”

‘That’s right.’

Eristella nodded in agreement. It was definitely uncomfortable.

“So far, it’s all about guessing what you want to say with your eyes.”

To the surprise of Eristella, Heinricion understood well what she meant.

She often wondered how he could understand her.

Had it been someone else, this conversation would not have been possible.

“You’re not going to pretend you don’t know the hand signals that’s already set, are you?”

This part stung. Eristella rolled her eyes.

‘I did that a few times, but… You knew it all. What a ghostly fellow.’

“So, I’ll make hand signals.”

‘Hand signals?’

Credits goes to Kushi for raw providing, Lara Tia for raw typing, Ame for translating, and AP for proofreading.

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