The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 121: Waiting on a Friend (IV)

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Heinricion felt the sensation of his eyes turning upside down at the situation unfolding in front of him.

Under a bondage spell, Eristella knelt like a sacrifice before Declen.

“Eristella!”

Eristella’s head turned at Heinricion’s desperate cry.

“…Cion?”

Heinricion’s face contorted in pain.

“What are you doing? How could you let them do this to you?”

Heinricion tried to get close, but he was blocked by a barrier created by Declen, and was thrown back.

The more he tried, the more his heart burned.

“Wake up. You should never die like this.”

The less Eristella responded, the more anxious he got.

His head was about to burst at the thought of having to say something that would make her unable to give up her life.

What should he say to shake her heart?

‘I really don’t know. But it can’t go on like this.’

Urgently, Heinricion exclaimed.

“If you die, I will have to grow old and die alone!”

“……?”

“Do you think I would meet someone else without you? Never. I will die alone without meeting anyone. Then the grand ducal family will be cut off.”

Heinricion poured out anything he could think of to capture Eristella’s heart.

But everything he said was sincere.

“Are you going to make me do that?”

“…….”

“Please… Don’t die, even if it’s just for me.”

Heinricion wanted to beg.

“If you die… I will never last.”

While coming this far, he had tens of thousands of terrible imaginations.

Whenever those countless imaginations repeated, he seemed to fall into the abyss. So he was certain.

“You love the empire, not me, but you are the only one for me.”

“…….”

“You just need to be alive. So don’t betray me.”

Right when a desperate confession was to follow.

The wide-eyed Eristella’s lips parted slowly.

“I am not going to die?”

“…Huh?”

As if time had stopped, Heinricion paused.

Eristella tilted her head and calmly said,

“Why would I die? I will never die.”

Heinricion, whose heart felt like it would explode at the very bold answer, lost steam in an instant.

“I have no intention of ever sacrificing.”

Those words didn’t go very well with the gentle smile she was making.

It was not meant to appease Heinrichion.

It was an answer to the options that Declen presented to Eristella as though it was a test.

Eristella had agonized over it for a long time, but she had never considered making the sacrifice.

She firmly declared.

“I will live.”

She had never intended to sacrifice herself. Still, at this moment, even the slightest hesitation amounting to a speck of dust that might have remained disappeared.

“I promise, especially to you.”

“…Really?”

Heinricion still felt uneasy. The fear that Eristella might disappear in an instant plagued him.

“I feel really good these days.”

Eristella gave a brilliant smile that didn’t match the current situation.

“I feel strangely alive even though the situation seems beggarly.”

‘Maybe it’s because of you.’

“I think becoming a fox and going to see you was the best decision I made in my life.”

‘Looking back, all the changes started when I was with you.’

The current Eristella has a new goal.

‘I want to live happily ever after as long as possible here with my family and all the people I love.’

So, she had no intention of dying already.

“Really? Then… that’s a relief. I’m glad.”

Heinricion was somewhat eased by the unexpected response, but he couldn’t quite shake off his anxiety.

“Then what’s this situation?”

“Oh, you mean now?”

Eristella looked down at her own body bounded by shackle magic as if it were nothing.

Then, a corner of her lips lifted up, forming a smirk.

At the same time, the surrounding people pulled back all at once. As though they had promised.

Immediately after that, the shackles on Eristella were released.

“Your Highness. Are you okay?”

“Then we…”

“Don’t move in the protective barrier.”

The distant people asked anxiously.

Eristella calmly conversed with them.

“It was all part of my plan.”

She stood up nonchalantly. The shackle magic was manipulated from the beginning so that it could be easily broken.

“Hahaha. We did as Her Highness told us.”

The embarrassed crowd was busy avoiding Heinricion’s fierce gaze.

Seeing that, Eristella cautiously asked, 

“Hmm… Did you not receive the message I sent?”

“Message?”

“I might have been in a hurry, but I sent a magic carrier pigeon explaining the situation.”

Heinricion did not receive it. That’s why he panicked and frantically ran over.

“That’s weird. Why didn’t it deliver…?”

Eristella murmured, avoiding Heinricion’s scorching gaze.

This was a fact that she learned later: the messenger pigeon she sent did arrive safely. It was just that Heinricion, who was delirious with worries about Eristella, grasped the situation too quickly and left before that.

And actually, there was a kidnapping attempt while Eristella was on her way to the Imperial Palace.

Those people used quite a bit of brainpower, going to the extent of changing the entire carriage. 

Well, Eristella noticed on the way.

But she didn’t foil their plans mid-way. She deliberately let herself be taken to their lair. 

She had no intention of understanding or forgiving them as such sympathy would hurt the people dear to her.

So she wanted to set an example so that they wouldn’t do any more nonsense.

However, the situation that unfolded was different from what was expected.

“Well, we stopped it because it’s something that one should never do while wearing human skin…! Really!”

“We were going to try to rescue Your Highness if, by any chance, she is in danger…!”

The people who had been cowering hurriedly shouted one word at a time.

That’s right, the kidnapping drama was entirely Eristella’s suggestion.

“They are speaking the truth.”

At the lair, a desperate struggle was taking place between those who planned Eristella’s kidnapping and those who had gathered to stop them.

“These people’s children and parents were held captive by Declen.”

At first, Eristella was angry, but when she found out the circumstances, she felt sorry. 

Of course, it was disgraceful.

Those who dared to commit kidnappings were always going to be held accountable.

But she was not ignorant of their fear of having their family held hostage.

Therefore…

Let’s do this.

“I thought if I take my time to plan this, I would be late.”

That was why she did this.

“Of course, I’ve taken good care of those who dared to do such a thing.”

They were probably all still lying there. And as for the children and elderly being held by Declen…

“All the hostages were rescued. Don’t worry, they were all moved to a safe place.”

“As expected, you did it.”

The corner of Eristella’s mouth went up happily at the reassuring yet familiar voice.

She had sent a magic carrier pigeon to Heinricion and the emperor. And the latter just told her the results.

‘Now there is only one person left. It’s just you.’

Before speaking to Declen, Eristella glanced at the people behind her.

“You asked me to make a choice.”

For these people, they just live day by day. 

Declen would have expected people to betray her. And he must have wanted to see her regret all she had done for them.

He might have wanted that sight more than simply killing her.

“There is only one thing I expect from them. And that is to live their own life well.”

“…….”

“I never wanted them to know what I do for them.”

She just did what she could for them, as much as she could handle herself.

It was okay if no one recognized what she had done.

Still, just because she never wanted anything in return did not mean that sacrifice for the cause was natural.

“But to bet on poor quality options. Do you know what I was thinking?”

The answer the people could give was fixed.

They would make the choice they were forced to make, not because they were evil and cowardly, but because they were weak.

However, it would ultimately become an unforgettable nightmare even for those who survived.

“If you make a mistake, you will be punished.”

Which was why she decided to shake those people and induce the worst to happen.

“So the way I found, is this.”

Once again, Eristella smirked.

“Not giving people a chance to betray. Before that happens, I will move first.”

Yes, Eristella went to the confused people first. She was the one who suggested they pretend they offer her as a sacrifice.

Finally understanding the situation, Declen laughed.

“Ah, it was like that. That must have been fun.”

“What’s interesting? There is nothing good to procrastinate on.”

Declan’s mouth twisted. As displeasure radiated from his body, the ordinary people around began to suffer.

“There is someone else you need to talk to. This is a meaningless revenge. Even after you’re done, you’ll just feel empty.”

“What does that matter?”

Declen’s eyes were empty. Bottomlessly empty.

Lost, it seemed to rush for a dead end somehow.

…All the more so Eristella had to stop Declen.

“There might have been a misunderstanding in the past. But now you are a nuisance to everyone.”

“…….”

“I will not understand you.”

Eristella was someone who must protect the empire without hesitation.

Therefore, she wouldn’t even try to see things from his point of view.