Chapter 90

“Kyahk! Kyahk!”

“Alright, I’m sorry for taking what’s yours without permission, but I’m only removing it for a moment, so there’s no need to scream like that.”

He fastened the chain to the bedpost and placed the leather collar he had prepared around Luna’s neck.

“Kang?”

“I should’ve put this on you from the beginning. This isn’t bad either.”

The chain was long enough that Luna had no trouble moving around. Lying down on the bed, he pulled her into his arms.

She seemed startled, but the fact that she didn’t reject his touch made her all the more endearing.

“Luna, things have been giving me a headache lately. So can you stay by my side, at least you?”

“…Kang!”

“Phew, yeah. I knew you’d answer like that. Thank you, Luna.”

Her small body was warm enough to bring comfort. Calix gently touched the little fox’s face and peppered her with kisses here and there.

“Just knowing you won’t disappear again puts my heart at ease.”

Should he have just kept her tied up from the start? He had let her roam free, worried that she’d feel stifled in the palace, but now he regretted it.

As he stroked her soft brown fur, Calix gazed into the air. Would Lea’s hair be this soft, too?

Even though he had never touched it, he felt like it might be. Maybe he had touched it that night without remembering.

As the vague memory of that night came to mind, heat rose through his body. Though he found Lea’s effect on him irritating, the stronger his resolve grew to see her again.

“Luna, I’m definitely going to meet that woman tomorrow. So lend me your strength, will you?”

“…Kaang.”

“You’re sleepy, huh. Alright. Let’s sleep together tonight.”

Calix’s voice gradually faded as he spoke to Luna. Soon, his steady breathing filled the room.

Luna—or rather, Lea—looked up at him silently and then glanced at the collar around her neck with a troubled expression.

But what caught her attention even more was his now-short hair.

She had only come looking for Caliz because he hadn’t received guiding for a month, so she couldn’t ignore it anymore. But what had happened that made his hair short when she hadn’t cut it like before? And why had he suddenly put a collar on her?

This way, she wouldn’t be able to guide him…

Troubled, she couldn’t fall asleep until dawn and finally drifted off from exhaustion.

* * *

While Lea was being held in the Imperial Crown Prince’s palace, her own palace was thrown into chaos.

Rose, who had gone in to wake Lea in the morning, found no sign of her anywhere and set out to look for her.

When she couldn’t find her either, she had no choice but to summon Zion and Derek.

Zion suspected the Empress. Derek suspected the Imperial Crown Prince.

Derek already knew through Ilion’s memories that Lea had been going to the Imperial Crown Prince’s palace in the form of a fox.

Still, the three of them didn’t want to escalate the matter of Lea’s disappearance into a public incident, so they put their heads together in secret.

At that moment, as if on cue, Calix arrived. He ordered Rose:

“I’ll wait here until Lady Haisley returns.”

Rose felt like she could die of embarrassment. Lea had already rejected the Crown Prince several times, so just for today, she couldn’t refuse his command.

No, who could even refuse the Imperial Crown Prince’s word to begin with?

Back then, Lea had been quite panicked, and for some reason, Calix tended to let her impertinence slide.

He confidently entered the drawing room and sat on the sofa, leaving Rose flustered and helpless.

The same went for Zion and Derek—they could do nothing as Calix shamelessly sat and Ilion stood at his side.

Meanwhile, Derek saw this as the perfect chance to sneak into the Crown Prince’s palace and retrieve Luna.

Without greeting anyone, he slipped out.

Hurrying his steps toward the palace, Derek manipulated the guard’s mind and entered boldly.

Daisy, who spotted him a moment too late, showed a blank expression for a second before calmly returning to her business.

Derek strolled casually through the now-quiet palace.

Hearing a noise from the Crown Prince’s bedchamber, he peeked inside.

“…My lady.”

There, he found Lea wearing a chained collar.

{ Young Master Felitier! }

“So that’s why you couldn’t come back.”

{ I didn’t expect His Highness to suddenly act like this either. I think he got upset because I kept not returning. }

He wanted to say, ‘Was the collar really necessary?’ but the Crown Prince still believed she was just a fox, so he couldn’t speak up.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling irritated.

“Shall I cut the collar?”

{ But if we do that, His Highness might get suspicious. }

“Even so, we can’t let this continue. This time, you must stop coming he—”

—re, is what Derek meant to say, but he trailed off at the expression of sorrow that showed on her face, even in fox form.

{ I don’t understand why he’s going this far. }

{ Young Master… }

{ But I won’t stop you from doing what you want. }

While they spoke mentally, he sighed deeply and reported what was happening.

{ His Highness the Crown Prince has gone to your palace. Just a short while ago. }

{ His Highness… came to my palace? }

{ Not just that. When we said you had stepped out for a walk, he said he’d wait until you returned. He didn’t look like he planned to leave easily today… }

Lea was torn.

If she ran away now, she wouldn’t be able to see Calix again as Luna.

But she also couldn’t just ignore him waiting at her palace.

While she struggled with indecision, her sensitive ears picked up something.

{ Young Master! }

{ Yes. }

Derek had sensed it too. He was always passively collecting others’ thoughts, so he noticed.

Calix was returning to his palace.

{ I’ll come back again, my lady. }

Derek quickly stepped out onto the balcony of the Crown Prince’s bedchamber and jumped down.

Watching anxiously until Derek was safely out, Lea then perked up her ears at the sound of approaching footsteps.

• Author
• Recent Posts

marmalade

Latest posts by marmalade (see all)