The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

It was a natural reaction as if it had already happened many times.

The appearance of the emperor who lost his will so easily showed just how dangerous the current situation was.

Eristella bit her lip.

She quickly grasped the situation.

‘Is it brainwashing?’

Seeing the emperor’s loss of willpower reminded her of the words she heard when dealing with black wizards in the past.

“I wonder if the princess can also be brainwashed. I have a friend who is very talented.”

It was clear that there were those with powerful brainwashing powers among the black wizards.

If they influenced the emperor… 

Then everything was explained.

The emperor’s changed attitude, indifference to state affairs, and lethargy.

He could not control himself now.

‘I should have noticed that earlier.’

‘What have they done to His Majesty?’

Eristella felt her stomach twisting.

‘What kind of magic is brainwashing?’

At that time, Eristella snorted, but later studied it.

Fortunately, there had been several attacks involving brainwashing before, so there were some records available.

Brainwashing was a very powerful black magic that controlled the human mind. Because of the danger, the empire concealed the truth of those incidents despite numerous difficulties.

The record only existed in the secret archives of the Imperial Palace, which was how Eristella verified them.

She recalled what she saw then.

It was a very difficult black magic that was as limited and time-consuming as it was powerful.

‘But in particular, the biggest problem is…’

At that moment, Eristella’s face contorted.

There was no archive regarding how to completely destroy brainwashing. Instead, there was a report of forced destruction.

It was called the last candle.

If you force the mind to return, it might seem like at first the person came to their senses successfully, but…

‘It’s said that after a while, the entire mind would be torn to shreds and the individual would die.’

Eristella’s eyes flashed red.

‘How dare they do this to the emperor of the empire. How dare they do this to my brother.’

‘…….’

Eristella’s anger soared to the point where her whole body trembled; nevertheless, she was unable to approach the emperor.

She thought that if she approached here, she would not be able to control whatever happened after. He might break the instant she speaks to him.

So she stood still, unable to move, but the emperor showed no sign of awareness.

Was there a problem?

Unable to bear her concerns, Eristella took a step forward without realization. 

‘No. If I go out now, I can’t protect anything in the end.’

The emperor’s appearance caught her heart, but she decided to do what she could right away.

‘First, let’s get someone to take His Majesty to safety.’

Eristella turned back painfully.

Then she hurriedly wandered around in search of a trusted maid or servant.

Fortunately, not far away, there was a maid who had been by the emperor’s side since he was a child.

‘I have to lure her to where he is.’

As she pondered what to do, she saw a bed sheet in the maid’s hand.

Seeing that it was folded neatly, it looked like she was on her way to tidy up the emperor’s bedding.

‘I can use that.’

Eristella stared at the neatly folded white sheet and cast a spell.

The bed sheet slipped out of the maid’s hand with the wind.

“Uh? Wait, where are you going?”

The maid quickly stretched her arms out to catch the suddenly flying cloth.

However, the cloth was not easily caught. It floated in the wind and flew for a long time as if it would never fall.

“It’s not even windy, what’s going on…”

The maid, barely holding the sheet that had finally fallen on the floor, was startled when she saw the person lying in front of her.

“…Your Majesty?”

As she approached cautiously to check, she was horribly surprised when she saw the emperor’s face.

“Oh, Your Majesty… Are you okay?”

The maid lowered her body, carefully looking at the emperor’s condition before jumping up.

“Uh, a servant… ah…! Your Majesty, please wait. I will be back soon!”

While the maid rushed away, Eristella hurriedly hid.

Not long after, the maid brought a servant, and they quickly looked over the fallen emperor.

Eristella looked at the emperor sadly for a moment, and then turned back, biting her lower lip tightly.

*******

Eristella’s mind was shaking.

His mind was filled with images of the helpless emperor.

‘Judging by his current state, the period of brainwashing is not short.’

Maybe longer than expected.

Nevertheless, the emperor still resisted.

He was struggling alone to somehow escape his brainwashing, so he was feeling more pain.

Without anyone’s help.

Like wildfire, shock and embarrassment morphed over time.

Eristella’s hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably and she was suffocating. She couldn’t contain the anger that rose from her throat.

The emperor was involved in black magic.

But he didn’t join hands with black magic.

‘…It happened.’

He was struck by black magic and lost his will. And he was slowly losing his mind.

Without anyone noticing, he was being eroded by black magic.

As if running away, Eristella ran down the hallway. It seemed to be submerged in the dark sea. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move forward; since it was none other than her emotions that weighed her ankles down. She gradually ‘subsided’.

“Eristella.”

Suddenly, the voice of Heinricion, who had been chasing Eristella, stopped her steps.

The moment she turned and looked at him, he noticed her face was distorted.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“…His Majesty has been struck by black magic…”

It was the signal for him to speak.

“He’s suffering…”

Eristella repeated those words several times. Then, before Heinricion knew it, Eristella’s eyes were aglow and she tried to run in the opposite direction.

“What are you talking about? First, take it easy…”

Heinricion tried to calm Eristella somehow, but nothing was entering her eyes and ears now.

“This is not the time for me to be like this. I’ll never leave them alone. How dare they covet the empire… and touch the emperor?”

Engulfed in anger, Eristella was ready to do anything she could at any moment.

“Calm down!”

Heinricion grabbed Eristella’s shoulder and stopped her.

“How do I calm down!”

Eristella struggled. For her, the ruin of the emperor was worse than the fall of the world.

“Because if you don’t come to your senses, I’ll knock you down.”

It was only when Heinricion came out strong that Eristella stopped.

“They dare to brainwash His Majesty with black magic! I just found out about that, how can you say such a thing?!”

She clenched her fists.

So far, there have been several incidents that have triggered her wrath.

But it was nothing compared to this moment.

She couldn’t control herself and for the first time felt pure anger.

‘I’ll never leave them alone.’

“What did you just… Is His Majesty under the influence of black magic?”

Heinricion then realized why she was so agitated. He had been flustered by the unexpected situation, but now he steadied his mind; he was determined to not be confused anymore.

What he needed to do right now was not to empathize with Eristella’s anger.

“That’s why you have to keep your cool.”

“…….”

“Right now, calm down. You know this is the first thing you should do.”

Heinricion was so cold and rational that it was chilling.

Thus, rather than burning in scorching flames, Eristella was able to subdue her heat as if she was drenched in cold water.

And she understood what Heinricion meant.

‘He is right.’

What she had to do right now was not to rush to those who caused trouble or harmed the emperor.

The most important thing was to remove the emperor from the ring of black magic: to bring him back, intact.

That came before anger and revenge.

However…

“Why am I like this now? I’ve been pretending all my life, but this is the time when it really matters.”

There was no strength in Eristella’s voice. She was in a shameful state.

“I’m the most useless idiot in the world.”

All the strength drained from her body.

She didn’t have the power she needed the most right now.

It was the first time she felt helplessness, and at the same time, unfairness. There was nothing she could do right away.

Making the current situation even more painful and terrible.

*******

When Eristella was still young.

Little Eristella loved to show off her newfound magic with her family in the background.

They were always amazed and proud of her.

She shrugged every time they clapped their hands like crazy and gave her a thumbs up.

“Mom. Dad. Even Brother, just believe in me! I will protect you all!”

Everyone burst into laughter at Eristella’s dignified aspirations.

Then they said that they would only trust her, adding that she was very reliable.

“When Brother becomes emperor later, I will become so strong that no one can touch you!”

“It seems that I will become the emperor who owes the most to his younger sibling.”

“Do you hate it?”

“What are you talking about? I have to live with my sister.”

“Ehehehe.”

Eristella, excited, jumped on her brother’s back. That was what she promised in the future.

It was one of those days when she was naive and stupid, not knowing what was going to happen.