The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 69: Bait-and-Switch (III)

The chase continued for a long time.

‘I’m sure he’s around here, but I couldn’t catch his tail.’

Before Eristella knew it, she reached the mountain behind the Imperial Palace. The black wizard couldn’t run further anymore, but somehow she couldn’t even see his shadow.

‘Is he playing hide and seek with me? Why is it so hard to see his face?’

It was when Eristella clicked her tongue and examined her surroundings.

“How am I going to deal with those two? I have to hide well.”

The voice of a black wizard resounded from somewhere.

What. Why… such quick senses?

—Did I just put my thoughts into words? No, right? I only thought to myself.

Using her eyes, Eristella asked Heinricion.

“Wouldn’t you be able to easily see through people’s psychology only if you have good senses?”

The answer came from the black wizard.

Like he was reading everything Eristella was thinking.

It was very unpleasant.

“Don’t be so upset about this.”

‘Again, this time too. Okay. That’s it. I don’t really like it.’

“Don’t get too agitated.”

“I won’t. It just annoys me.”

Heinricion tried to calm Eristella, but he couldn’t stop her mouth from curling up into a snarl.

“I enjoy having conversations like this with Her Highness the Princess.”

The black wizard provoked her more.

“We have no intention of having a conversation.”

Heinricion responded sternly, blocking Eristella from directly dealing with him.

“He’s hiding in a place where he can see our faces.”

That’s why he could grasp what Eristella was thinking. He was judging from the emotions displayed on her face.

Heinricion judged rationally and narrowed down the black magician’s location with a small clue.

“As expected, His Excellency is sharp. If I’m not careful, you’ll find me quickly.”

The black wizard pretended to be frightened as he admired Heinricion, but his voice was relaxed.

“Indeed, I think I get along better with Her Highness the Princess.”

It was the same as mocking Eristella.

The face of Heinricion, which was collected until now, hardened for the first time.

It was then.

The corner of Eristella’s mouth went up in a meaningful way.

“What? Why are you smiling so ominously?”

The one who was most nervous about Eristella’s smile was Heinricion.

As Eristella’s smile looked even more insidious, she said,

“I was just thinking, that I was thinking about something useless.”

“?”

What the hell was she trying to say? Heinricion was quite anxious.

“I don’t know how much I’m thinking while talking. Don’t you think so?”

“?”

Gradually, Heinricion found himself unable to understand what she was saying. However, he knew instinctively that her words were an ominous sign. The wrinkles on his forehead deepened.

“I can just say it without thinking, right?”

Eristella’s gaze tilted to the black wizard.

“For example… He’s very irritating and I don’t like him, so I’ll never let him go the second his face enters my field of vision.”

“…….”

“A guy with nothing to see is wrapped up tightly. Do you think that I will not know your gloomy nature?”

Eristella spewed out the thoughts that popped into her head without filtering them out.

“If I say what comes to mind like this, that superficial ability will be useless, right?”

The answer Eristella gave was overly simple. So much so that it sounds like nonsense.

“Ah. How refreshing.”

But Eristella meant every word. She smiled coolly with a very calm face.

And she was not bluffing.

From then on, the black magician had to listen to her true feelings, despite not wanting to. That, and her nastily cheeky voice.

“Ha. Hahahaha… As expected, you don’t know where to run to.”

Anyone could sense the tiredness in the black wizard’s voice.

“You can’t even see my face, but you show all your emotions?”

Eristella’s mouth continued to pour out words; she was getting more and more excited.

“This reminds me of the old days. Cion, do you remember when we used to play hide and seek when we were young?”

“Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”

With an anxious gaze, Heinricion looked back at Eristella.

“At that time, I was the seeker, and I just left, but you were hiding until midnight, and you cried and cried because you were scared.”

“…….”

Despite being in the black wizard’s company, Eristella did not hesitate to talk about Heinricion’s disgrace.

“Why are you saying that now?”

Heinricion was so taken aback that his voice trembled.

“I just thought of it. Even if I don’t say anything, he reads my thoughts anyway. Hmm?”

The more Eristella spoke, the stronger Heinricion’s antipathy toward the black wizard grew.

‘It’s all because of him. Don’t you dare get caught. I’ll never let you go.’

Fortunately or unfortunately, Heinricion wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable.

Eristella, who had been uttering random words excitedly, suddenly tilted her head as if curious.

“I wonder what the black wizard is thinking right now. Shall I try to guess?”

Eristella squinted, pretending to find the hidden black wizard.

“Well… But I don’t know that either.”

When Heinricion stared at her with bewildered eyes, Eristella smiled wickedly as if to lure him to listen further.

“By the way, I’ve been researching a lot about brainwashing.”

In a lowered voice, Eristella spoke seriously.

“It seems that a person with a lot of sensitivity would do better. What do you think?”

Heinricion thought that Eristella was just experimenting. Of course, there wasn’t a response.

“Then it must be a little hard. With such sensitivity, if he holds and shakes a person’s mind, he might get caught up in something bad.”

It wasn’t sarcasm, Eristella was genuinely worried about the black wizard.

“A mistake like that…”

Then the black wizard, who hadn’t responded so far, opened his mouth to retort before hastily closing it.

“Huh? I guess it’s true?”

Eristella’s smiling, curved eyes suggested she had been waiting for this. He was caught in a trap.

“I thought he didn’t have emotions because he did something dirty like brainwashing, but I guess it’s the other way around?”

The black wizard eventually grew tired of Eristella’s non-stop talking. Even he got emotional from time to time.

“It’s okay if we talk all night like this.”

It was when Eristella spoke happily. The black wizard gave a certain response.

“It’s tempting, but unfortunately the time has come.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you think I was holding back like this because I wanted to have a chat with you two?”

Heinricion and Eristella also guessed that. There must have been a reason.

However, they continued to maintain this state because they also had hidden intentions.

They believed that if they conversed a little longer, they could figure out where he was.

“From now on, please enjoy the things I have prepared to your heart’s content.”

Apparently, the black wizard’s preparations were finished first.

“What bullshit is that…”

It was that moment.

Abnormal symptoms appeared. Suddenly, the ears were deafening, and the eyes were fading…

‘Wait a minute. I think I smell something. Since when has this scent permeated?’

Could it be that she had been sniffing this strange scent from the beginning? That’s when Eristella hurriedly covered her nose.

“It’s already too late.”

The world twisted along with the black wizard’s sneering voice.

Eristella tried grabbing Heinricion’s arm to come to her senses, but she was already at her limit.

The second her eyes blurred and the power drained from her body, she fainted.

*******

‘My head is pounding. I think I lost my mind for a moment.’

‘What has he done?’

As soon as Eristella came to her senses, she scanned her surroundings nervously, but she saw a different place than before.

“What is the situation now?”

Heinricion was also judging the situation with great vigilance, probably thinking the same thing.

“I think it’s an enchantment.”

Eristella felt like she was floating somewhere even though her feet were clearly on the ground. The feeling of being distant from the world right in front of her wasn’t just a simple feeling.

“…Maybe this isn’t real.”

Considering the characteristics of black magic, they were most likely hypnotized.

The black wizard imprisoned them in a world he created.

Heinricion also seemed to have guessed it to some extent. Eristella nodded.

“Where exactly is this?”

“Well. It looks familiar somehow.”

She slowly looked around.

At that time, she couldn’t easily get a sense of where the strangely familiar but unfamiliar space was…

‘A well-kept garden. Flowers I’ve seen many times as a child.’

‘Wait. Something I saw when I was little…?’

Eristella’s eyes narrowed. She believed she knew where this place was.

Ame: SEE, THIS IS WHY Y’ALL SHOULDN’T HAVE DAWDLED!! Should’ve just burned the whole mountain down to flush him out ahahaha I’m a huge supporter of #eri+cion_thedestroyers