Chapter 32
“I’m honestly jealous, Your Highness. I have to move like crazy while all you do is flick your fingers.”
Ilion was also an Esper, but his abilities were of the physical type.
With superhuman strength no ordinary person could imitate, Ilion swung his enormous greatsword with such force it was chilling to even watch.
Though it was just the two of them, their captured game was already piling high. Calix was focusing on decimating the wild boars that had been troubling the farms.
He darted through the air, snatching up every target in sight, when he suddenly felt a gaze on him.
He shaped the wind into something tangible and hurled it toward the source. The moment the wind howled through the air with a chilling sound, Calix faintly heard a familiar cry.
Kyung—!
A fox was flung into the air from where a tree had been destroyed, its short legs flailing as it cried out.
“Damn it!”
With a quick gesture, he summoned the fox toward him. Riding the wind smoothly into his arms, the fox had tears welling in its large almond-shaped eyes and sobbed pitifully.
“There, there. I’m sorry.”
Its tail curled tightly, its ears that had stood sharply now drooped and clung to its head—clear signs of distress.
Calix immediately descended to the ground. Ilion, who had been wildly swinging his sword below, widened his eyes upon seeing the fox in the prince’s arms.
“That’s a strange-looking fox, Your Highness!”
At his words, Calix studied the fox again.
Strange?
“It is definitely prettier than other foxes.”
Its evenly colored, glossy fur, its nearly equilateral triangle ears, and smooth, little nose.
And those large, wide-set almond eyes that gleamed like amber.
“That too, but more than anything, the fur color is unusual. And the eyes too. No, wait a minute…”
Ilion’s expression crumpled as he recalled someone the fox reminded him of. His deeply furrowed brow signaled his displeasure toward that person.
“It looks like that woman, doesn’t it?”
Calix let out a deflated chuckle. He had thought the same thing when he first saw the fox.
“Even if it is her, wouldn’t that be strange? It’s clinging to me like this.”
At Calix’s remark, Ilion nodded in easy agreement.
“Well, true enough. But how did you come across this fox, Your Highness?”
“Seemed like it was hungry. Just showed up at my palace one day.”
Still holding the fox in his arms, Calix gently stroked its head and back as if to soothe it.
He laughed lightly at his own words and added,
“Of all places it could have gone, it came to the poorest palace. I at least gave it an apple.”
“Hmph…”
Ilion had recently heard from Daisy that the Crown Prince was finally eating properly again.
He didn’t like where the food came from, but what did it matter?
The important thing was that His Highness was eating.
Ilion often cursed his awkward position in times like these. He wanted to help the Crown Prince, but he was so swamped with his own burdens that he lived like a man constantly on the run.
“So, why did you come all the way out here today? Didn’t I tell you not to last time?”
Though convinced the fox wouldn’t understand, Calix spoke to it as if they were alone in the palace again.
In response, the fox let out a sorrowful whimper, as if answering him. Its tiny mouth parted slightly. It was so cute he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Want me to catch you something to eat?”
Recalling what Daisy had said last time, he looked around for a spot where rodents might be.
But the fox was faster.
Startled by his words, Lea leapt from the comfort of his arms.
Then she began circling his feet frantically, inwardly shouting what he couldn’t hear.
‘I said I don’t eat mice! And now’s not the time to casually catch food for me! You’re supposed to hunt the rarest prey and win first place!’
Calix closely observed the fox’s strange behavior. After circling him several times, the fox suddenly bolted in a specific direction.
Ilion, who had been organizing the game, followed when he saw Calix run after the fox.
They weren’t heading in the direction they originally planned, so Calix hesitated for a moment.
But realizing the fox was trying to show him something, he didn’t grab its tail. Instead, he followed in silence.
Lea bounded ahead joyfully, headed for the spot where she’d discovered a rare animal. The thought of being able to help Calix filled her with excitement.
She lingered in front of a small burrow, looking up at Calix. She wanted to say Take a closer look at this place! so badly she stomped her paws in place.
But instead of Calix, it was Ilion who approached first and grabbed the scruff of her neck with a firm grip.
“You dumb fox. Nothing lives here. Can’t you sense that?”
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