The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 54: Precious Things (II)

Heinricion woke up to sunlight streaming through the window and got up from the sofa.

As he approached the bed, Eristella was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Heinricion’s clothes were draped carelessly on the bed.

‘Don’t tell me… It can’t be in there.’

It wasn’t even clear if Eristella was still her rightful form or if she had returned to being a fox.

After contemplating, Heinricion carefully lifted the clothes that were stretched like shedded skin.

“…….”

Nothing was seen.

Surely, it couldn’t be. Without realizing and having a peaceful mind, he lifted the clothes to organize them.

‘What’s going on?’

Heinricion’s eyes narrowed.

‘It definitely moved a little bit, didn’t it?’

He pulled the garment up further and peered carefully. Inside the shirt, a fox was curled up and sleeping soundly.

“Ha…”

Heinricion’s hand, which was holding the clothes, lost all its strength.

He felt something unbearable. He didn’t know why.

*******

As soon as daylight broke, Heinricion called Serian urgently.

“I need you to make some clothes.”

“Are they clothes for going out or for banquets?”

“No. Not my clothes, but the fox’s clothes.”

Heinricion was immediately implementing the method he found while staying up all night.

The moment he claimed that clothes for the fox needed to be prepared, he remembered what happened last night and tensed up without knowing why. However, he pushed forward brazenly with his request.

“The fox’s?”

As Serian tilted his head, Eristella climbed onto Heinricion’s desk, revealing her presence.

“I think the fox likes clothes. I wonder if you can make some for it.”

“Oh? What a great idea!”

Heinricion had an excuse in mind in case Serian thought it was weird, but fortunately he liked it very much.

“What would be good? I’ve never made animal clothes before. Still, I will study hard and make clothes that will satisfy you.”

“Serian. The fox’s clothes… Make it like a regular dress.”

“A dress?”

While giving instructions to Serian, Heinricion’s eyes trembled several times.

The method he came up with was to put a spell on the fox’s clothes.

The spell would make fox-sized clothes expand if Eristella returned to her original form. That  way, she could continue wearing the dress.

He racked his brain to make an excuse to tell Serian, but nothing came to mind.

“…I think the fox likes that.”

The moment Heinricion spoke as if he was giving up with a sense of shame.

Tak!

Serian clapped his hands, openly showing he liked it.

“Your Excellency. Just leave it to me!”

Serian, who used to make numerous dresses, now only made Heinricion’s clothes, so his hands were itching.

For Serian, the opportunity had finally come.

“I will show off my skills properly.”

Serian was excited. Already, there were many ideas floating around in his head.

“Okay. Give me plenty of clothes that the fox will like.”

“Yes. Okay. Ohohoho!”

Unlike Serian, who was full of ambition, Heinricion was half-resigned.

He didn’t want to go through the events of last night a second time. He calculated a number of variables, but such a situation was not included.

‘I didn’t know there would be such a variable.’

Heinricion took a deep breath as he brought a hand to his face.

In an instant, his mind went white, and his eyes went dark. The situation was hurriedly rectified, but he did stay up all night.

Now, he had no strength left.

However, Serian, who could not know Heinricion’s inner circumstances, gazed at the fox with the utmost excitement.

“Fox. Then will you come with me?”

‘Great!’

Eristella, now a white fox, raised her front paws and cheered.

Last night’s commotion was a thing of the past. The fox was full of anticipation for its upcoming dress.

Serian gently held the fox’s front paw.

“Actually, I have a design that I sketched while thinking of you.”

The enthusiastic fox became curious and nervous in an instant, but Serian continued speaking without noticing the fox’s change.

“I didn’t know it was going to be like this. Ohohoho~”

Singing and humming away, Serian confidently unfolded the design sketches.

“It’s very strange. All my life, I’ve only made clothes for people, but seeing the fox gives me inspiration.”

‘Of course. I used to be a source of inspiration for all designers!’

When Eristella was a princess, it was common for her to receive dresses, jewels, and all kinds of accessories as gifts. Those items were often accompanied with the words that they thought of her as soon as they saw it. 

Eristella liked it. She circled around in a confident posture.

“Fox. Which one do you like? Would you like to try one?”

Eristella’s mouth opened spontaneously as she looked through the dresses Serian designed.

She raised her head, delighted to the point where she wanted to put her thumbs up with both front paws if she could.

‘Wow. Indeed, Serian is amazing!’

“You seem to like it.”

Although Serian couldn’t hear Eristella, he could understand from her twinkling eyes.

‘Of course. I love them so much that I can’t decide which one to choose!’

In a happy dilemma, Eristella meticulously checked the dress design.

‘I don’t think there’s a dress that I liked this much when I was a princess. Which would be good?’

The fox poked around for a while. Eventually, it lifted a front paw and pointed at a single dress.

‘I want this!’

What Eristella pointed to was a white dress adorned with exquisitely embroidered lace.

Jewels woven like embroidery in various places of the pure white dress gave it a delicate yet very glamorous feeling.

‘I like things that are colorful and shiny.’

“You seem to like fancy designs.”

Serian recognized Eristella’s taste at once.

“Okay. I will make more dresses that you like!”

‘I’ll trust only Serian!’

“Then let’s get your size, shall we?”

Serian meticulously measured the fox’s size, brought more suitable fabrics, and began to choose from those.

“Inspiration is entering the mind.”

‘Right? I’m like a model, no matter what I wear, I can pull it off perfectly.’

Eristella shrugged proudly.

‘Serian. I also like bright colors. I like that design too.’

Eristella stayed next to Serian and worked hard to express her likings and demands.

She knew it was impossible for Serian to fully understand, but she appealed hard to him, with her eyes twinkling.

And amazingly, he picked up the things that she desired like a ghost, as if he comprehended everything.

Just like that, the fox only left Serian’s room late at night.

And that was because Heinricion, who had been waiting for the fox in his bedroom, couldn’t stand it any longer and went to pick it up in person.

*******

On the first day after changing, Eristella couldn’t even step out of the room because she needed to check if anything else appeared.

Whether there would suddenly be abnormal symptoms, and how long they would last.

Eristella learned she could maintain her original form from midnight to dawn.

Six hours.

The time she could return to being Princess Eristella.

It was such a precious period. She didn’t want to waste a single moment.

‘This is the original me… But it feels strange.’

‘In particular, how long has it been since I’ve walked on two legs?’

Eristella looked at her immaculate feet with joy as she stepped forward.

She thought she would never walk like this again.

Lightly.

She ran a little. And a jump!

This time she reached out lightly and cast a spell on the flowers in the garden.

Almost immediately, a gentle breeze blew pleasantly, and the flowers swayed softly as if they were dancing.

A proud smile appeared on Eristella’s face.

She didn’t have many expectations, but when she returned to her original state, her magical power was restored.

‘It’s not perfect, it’s about half.’

Even if it was half, it was still an enormous amount incomparable to other wizards.

She felt a surge of power all over her body. It seemed as if she could do anything.

‘I feel good. I love it!’

Eristella went round and round. It was as if she was drunk and the place had turned into a stage.

Footsteps approached her.

Heinricion was drawing near.

“No one is around, so take it easy.”

No one should see Eristella now.

Therefore, the space where she could take a walk was separated.

Eristella walked up to Heinricion and stretched her arms out.

“Heinricion. How do I look?”

She twirled around.

“Is there anything different from my old self? Or is it all the same?”

“…….”

“I feel like my hair is a little long. I wonder if my feet got a little bit bigger. Well, perhaps it’s my mistake. What do you think?”

But Heinricion couldn’t answer that. Because he didn’t know.

Before she disappeared, the two had never seen each other’s faces properly.

After realizing that fact, he regretted the past.

“Cion?”

Eristella was staring at Heinricion.

‘I can’t give an answer to that question, but instead…’ 

Heinricion’s lips parted slowly.

“You look good now.”

This was the best.

‘Hmm?’ 

Eristella smiled widely.

“That’s not bad either.”

Eristella spun around lightly once more.