Duke, Can I Bite You?

‘Thinking about that guy again……’

Mio immediately shook her head and erased Geoffrey’s face from her mind.

‘By the way, I really don’t want to wash.’

A bath is unnecessary for groomed foxes. She would have survived if not for a strange odor emanating from her body.

“After sweating in hot water, you will feel cold. After that, come down and warm up with a cup of tea.”

As Lauren opened the door and left, Mio let out a long sigh. 

She couldn’t remember how long it took her to take a proper bath.

“……Was it on new years eve?”

Mio remembered the new year’s eve bell on a small screen in her small apartment.

‘They said that our eyebrows turn white when we sleep on new year’s eve.’

Recalling a story she had heard as a child, she tossed and turned all night long and ended up watching the TV.

When the bell rang, a huge crowd of people came out to watch the sunrise. She could see the lively faces of people gathered from all over the country on that small screen.

Someone vigorously answered the reporter’s question.

“I want my family to be happy!”

“I want to be rich!”

“I wish I had a lover!”

It was good just to see how hopeful everyone was. 

Inspired by the interview, she went to a 24-hour sauna. It seemed that good things would happen if she cleaned her body on the first day of the new year.

‘What? There many people like me?’

The sauna was full of guests, and she could hear many stories. 

Mio sat close, a towel wrapped over her head. She felt like she was at a party sitting there.

“I was about to kiss him, when a car drove by.”

She heard someone’s love story.

“My mother’s boiler in the countryside exploded again, so I have to go there tomorrow.”

There were family stories.

After the feeling of loneliness subsided a little, she opened her phone and read a novel. While reading that, she felt someone was lonelier than her.

“Why did I think that way about a fictional character…”

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and Mio wiped them away with the back of her hand. 

The bathtub with floating petals she was in right now was the luxury she had tried for the first time in her life.

‘Don’t forget where I’m at.’

She made up her mind and wanted to stand up, but her eyes kept closing because of the warmth on her body.

“I can’t sleep…”

“Oh my gosh, my lady! The water is cold.”

Lauren’s voice sounded like a lullaby to her as she came in to bring more warm water.

She then went into a deep sleep while she cleaned her hair, unable to endure it any longer.

***

Growl.

Mio was startled by the loud sound echoing through the spacious bedroom and opened her eyes.

‘Huh?’

She looked everywhere with a lot of vigilance, but there was no one here. 

Her hungry stomach was the problem.

‘It’s okay because no one heard it.’

She could see the moon outside the window, but the inside was as bright as daytime.

It was then that Mio could see her front paws.

‘Damn it! I’ve turned into a fox again.’

When she was taking a bath earlier, she thought she should go to Geoffrey’s room after dinner… 

But it looks like she fell asleep. 

Mio struggled to get out of the pile of her loose pajamas.

‘I think Lauren changed my clothes.’

Feeling ashamed, she slapped her forehead with her front paw then got up.

She managed to escape from the soft blanket and stood on it.

She wrinkled her nose but soon her eyes twinkled. 

Next to the table was milk and bread that Lauren had prepared, but none of them caught her eye.

‘I need something more.’

To satisfy her hunger, she couldn’t eat a piece of bread. 

Her mouth watered thinking of the duck and fish she had missed.

She needed to eat.

‘Let’s rush to the first-floor kitchen!’

Mio, who was full of energy, sprang from the high bed.

But it was higher than she thought, so her head was pounding when she landed.

Soon after, she calmly walked out of the bedroom.

‘I’m going to die of hunger at this rate!’

She doesn’t know how many times she jumped because her front feet couldn’t even reach the handle. 

She came out exhausted, and the hallway was empty.

‘It’s not a haunted house, so why is it this way?’

She thought there were some servants and butlers, but she only saw Lauren. 

The hallway without candles was dark. It was eerie, but she shook her head.

‘Let’s go down.’

Mio lowered her body and carefully went down the stairs, but she still couldn’t feel anyone’s presence.

‘The smell is coming from the first floor.’

Mio was very careful, just like hunting for prey. 

She stayed near the wall and looked inside the room.