The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 33: Good Night, Sleep Tight (III)

*******

Did the sun rise in the west?

The old butler, who took Heinrichion’s medicine and headed to the training field as usual, returned.

And he asked Rowen in the office.

“Where is His Excellency? He wasn’t at the training field, and he’s not even in the office.”

“I haven’t seen him today either.”

“Still?”

“Yes.”

“It’s strange.”

The old man’s head tilted slightly.

His master, Heinricion, barely slept. For that reason, the first person to start the day at the grand ducal residence was also Heinricion.

But today, he still hadn’t left his bedroom.

‘Could he have collapsed?!’

Anxiety passed through the old butler like a flash of lightning.

His feeble legs moved as if they were flying.

However, upon reaching the door, the old butler stopped in front of it. As if he was embarrassed by his haste, he quickly recovered his breath and composure befitting of his long career.

“Your Excellency. Are you there?”

Tok, tok.

He knocked and inquired about the situation inside with his usual voice. But no answer came.

The old butler’s next words came out swiftly.

“Your Excellency the Grand Duke. I will come in for a moment.”

With careful steps so that one could hardly feel his presence, the old butler smoothly approached the bed.

Heinricion could be seen through the half-covered veil.

It seemed that he had fainted as the butler feared. It was when the old butler hurriedly parted the veil and checked the condition of his master.

“…….”

The old butler shifted his eyes slowly.

‘What am I looking at now…?’

Heinricion was in bed. But contrary to the old butler’s worries, he was simply asleep.

In addition, it appeared as if the fox had wrapped itself around Heinricion’s face.

Above all, the fox’s hind feet were on Heinricion’s lips.

Obviously, it must have been uncomfortable, but Heinricion had a serene face as if he didn’t feel it at all. It was a very unfamiliar appearance, because Heinricion had been sensitive to even the smallest things recently.

By the way… Strangely, the old butler felt that the scene in front of him was somehow familiar.

‘I think I’ve seen something like this a long time ago.’

He remembered. Joyful wrinkles formed around the old butler’s eyes, and a delighted smile appeared on his face.

‘It resembles the scene of the Grand Duke taking a nap with Her Highness the Princess, when he was still the Little Duke.’

The figures of that day that vividly came to mind… neatly overlapped with the current appearances of a man and a fox sleeping soundly. 

Fifteen years ago, the day the young Princess Eristella visited the grand ducal residence. The employee, who was serving the princess and the little duke, ran to him with a pale face.

“Her Highness the Princess and His Grace the Little Duke have disappeared again!”

“Again?”

“Yes. Again! Except that it isn’t the Imperial Palace, but the Grand Ducal residence!”

“It seems like you haven’t gotten used to serving the two of them yet.”

“Yes…?”

“Okay. Where did they go this time?”

The old butler was not very surprised as it happened often. Even so, he could not be relaxed.

As they did not know what might have happened to the two of them, the old butler, the servants, and the imperial knights who had come along with the princess scoured the entire grand ducal residence in search of Eristella and Heinricion.

And where the two were found… was in the backyard of the residence. The spot they were in was a difficult place to find because it was covered by thick bushes. In addition, it was the perfect place to hide as it was shaded and cool, and the sun was completely blocked.

“Haha. How did they find this place like this?”

Under the bushes, Eristella and Heinricion were fast asleep, tightly holding hands.

At that moment, Eristella tossed and turned, raising her legs on top of Heinricion’s body. As the old butler looked at them, his heart, which had been angry during the search, lost its strength and disappeared.

“Do not wake them up, but prepare a table and suitable snacks next to them. When they wake up, they can eat right away.”

That day, Eristella and Heinricion woke up as the sun was going down a bit. As soon as they woke up, as the old butler expected, their stomachs growled as if they had made a promise.

‘It seems that I don’t have a lot of time left because I’m thinking of insignificant things from the past .’

The old butler looked down at Heinricion and the fox, and eventually quietly left the room.

His master, who had been sleeping deeply after a long time, looked so calm that the butler did not want to disturb him.

Just then, as soon as he left the room, he saw Rowen coming from the other side.

“Is this where you’re heading?”

“Yes. I have something to report to His Excellency, and I was wondering if he’s in the bedroom.”

“If it is not urgent, I think it would be better to wait. He’s sleeping soundly after a long time.”

“Is that really true?”

“I’ve just seen it. If there’s no urgent schedule today, it would be better if we let him be in the morning.”

“I will. Anyway, it’s a relief.”

It was a big worry for everyone who worked in the grand duchy.

No matter how healthy and strong Heinricion was, people had to sleep. However, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, but that he couldn’t sleep.

He had tried all sorts of prescriptions, but to no avail.

The longer he couldn’t sleep, the more his body rapidly deteriorated. Even though he was holding on with a normal exterior, his closest aides knew it.

So, for some time now, he had been using sleeping incense, but even that had only a slight effect. It didn’t give him enough sleep.

“Is it because of the fox?”

The old butler and Rowen said as they walked side by side.

“How did you know?”

“It seems to me that His Excellency has gotten brighter since the fox appeared. Maybe it was so.”

“I think the fox is a special being to the Grand Duke.”

“It seems so. There’s nothing we can do. I have to be nice to it.”

Rowen’s will burned.

To be honest, he didn’t like that the fox scratched Heinricion.

But he could accept the fox with a smile no matter what it did, as long as it made his master sleep soundly.

“Haha. Then I have to be nice to the fox too.”

The old butler laughed as well.

It was a historic moment when the fox became a very special being in the grand duchy.

*******

Heinricion slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he opened his eyes, a ball of white ‘cotton’ filled his vision.

The fox was twisting and tossing its body. Suddenly, it gave strength to its hind foot, which was touching Heinricion’s cheek, and it kicked him.

“!”

He reflexively pulled his face back, but his cheek still tingled. Heinricion could not see it, but one cheek was slightly red.

‘Maybe it wasn’t on purpose.’

Actually, perhaps the fox had woken up. Heinricion looked at it suspiciously, but no matter how much he stared, the fox was wheezing and sleeping.

‘Ha… You make people flustered even while sleeping.’

He was embarrassed and laughed out loud.

The recent past had been a series of situations that were completely unpredictable. He used to think he was worn out from seeing her too often… It was a feeling that had been forgotten for nearly half a year.

The tingling cheek refreshed his mind even more.

After waking up after a long sleep, his body felt lighter.

All the while, his head was throbbing and his body was heavy. He was often dazed and exhausted, as if he was spending each day half-submerged in water.

But even if he didn’t get up right now, he knew well enough.

He could feel the fox’s body temperature the whole time he slept. A soft, cuddly feeling wrapped around his body warmly.

The body temperature that confirmed another existence was reassuring even in the unconscious.

When he realized that, he laughed.

He never expected it to appear in the form of a fox.

‘It was always unexpected.’

Even in the unbelievable situation, he seemed to have adapted quickly.

Besides, although she was in the form of a fox… Eristella was Eristella, but she felt different from before.

It felt like seeing the Eristella from his childhood.

At that time, Heinricion was shorter and weaker than Eristella, so it was his job to be swung around every time.

Nevertheless, young Heinricion did not give up and promised to protect Eristella when he became stronger later on.

“Even after 10 years, I will still be stronger than you! I can’t help it. If you think you’re at a disadvantage, stick behind me.”

Of course, each time Eristella was arrogant and ignored it.

Later, Heinricion grew stronger at an astonishing rate, but Eristella was beyond all that, so he couldn’t keep up.

‘That’s why I thought the day I would keep my promise would never come.’

Somehow, he was protecting the current Eristella, or to be more precise, the fox.

Heinricion was immersed in his thoughts, staring at the angelic fox who was sleeping soundly. 

Looking at it like this, even though she was in the form of a fox, Eristella’s face seemed to be visible.

Although he couldn’t see it now since its eyes were closed, the fox’s eyes were also golden with a dignified glow.

People were dazzled by Eristella’s gorgeous looks or her eccentricity, so they didn’t really know what her eyes looked like.

They would think it was just gold.

But they weren’t.

Eristella’s eyes, which had a noble light like elaborately crafted golden decorations, were not like anyone else’s.

Looking into those eyes for a long time made him want to kneel in front of her.

“It’s still fine.”

He murmured softly as he looked down at the corners of the fox’s eyes, which were tightly shut.

“I want to see the golden eyes too.”

Not the fox’s, but the beautiful gold in the eyes of Princess Eristella.