The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 83: The Distance Between (IV)

“At this rate, the things we need to fix will go smoothly.”

“I’m checking the reaction of each family, but there doesn’t seem to be much trouble. And this is a separate letter from His Majesty.”

Rowen held out a well-wrapped envelope.

“It looks like His Majesty sent it separately.”

Did something else happen? Heinricion opened the letter nervously.

“…….”

‘What the heck is this?’

Heinricion’s face became scrunched up. It was when his eyebrows were drawing closer to each other and he was about to gain a new wrinkle.

‘What. What is it about?’

Unable to contain her curiosity, Eristella slipped between Heinricion’s arms and checked the contents written on the paper.

‘…….’

Even Eristella blinked and showed a subtle reaction.

“Your Excellency. Did something bad happen?”

Still unaware of the contents of the correspondence, Rowen looked at the serious face of his master and asked anxiously.

But Heinricion didn’t answer. No, he couldn’t exactly.

The hand holding the paper grew stronger.

Just before the paper was completely crumpled…

The fox suddenly threw its body onto the paper!

‘Don’t tear the paper!’

Eristella desperately protected the paper.

Heinricion sent Rowen away a little nervously and then spoke to the fox.

“Move. There’s no way he could have sent something like this. I need to see if there are any hidden messages.”

Heinricion was being serious.

‘Never crumple or tear it.’

The golden eyes gave a firm warning.

‘This came to me. It’s my first time having something like this.’

Seeing that Eristella was equally serious, Heinricion’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, but he nodded, expressing he understood.

Clearly, the letter sent by the emperor contained official content.

The problem was that the official part ended briefly as it was an excuse, and the rest was filled with other things.

In it, Eristella’s name was not directly mentioned.

It was prepared in the unfortunate case that it might fall into the hands of another person.

However, even if he flipped the paper over and over and even turned it upside down, it was just a silly letter from a brother who wondered how his younger sister was doing.

Then, taking possession of the letter, the fox kept it like it was a treasure, reading it again and again.

‘Why did you write and send this letter? Ehehehe.’

The corners of the mouth were itchy. The tail wagged.

Ehehehehe. Even a strange cry. It seemed that she couldn’t control her emotions.

‘Did the emperor have this side?’

‘A little more than I thought… He’s kinda silly.’

Well, in their childhood, the emperor loved and cherished his younger sister very much. Heinricion was well aware of that, as he saw it firsthand.

‘I guess you’re expressing things that you haven’t done before.’

It’s not bad to see Eristella excited… This was Heinricion’s great misunderstanding.

‘Fold this!’

…It was Eristella’s fault for twisting her forepaws and folding them into the right size to plead.

The fox took the letter with its mouth and went off to the side. It stared at the letter for a long time.

Although… the strange shifting of her eyes toward Heinricion seemed like she wanted to brag to him.

‘Hehe. Would you like to see this? My brother said…’

Oh, for goodness sake.

‘Cion? Why do you keep looking away? Wait a minute! Look at me! And this letter…’

Heinricion was in trouble; it was hard to avoid Eristella’s burdensome gaze.

Ignoring Eristella, who was still glancing over anxiously, Heinricion grabbed a pen.

For now, he had to send at least a formal reply to the emperor.

‘I don’t have anything to write about…’

It simply ended in a few lines. Eristella stared blankly at Heinricion’s actions, deep in thought.

‘I want to send something to my brother too.’

She had to be careful when leaving something behind. But then again, it would be disappointing not to send anything.

‘What can I use so that he can tell at a glance that I sent it…’

It was then. Eristella’s eyes sparkled and shone. There was a very good method.

She wedged herself between the arms of Heinricion right when he was about to fold the correspondence in half.

Then she meticulously lifted her frontfoot up high.

The target point was the end of the letter that Heinricion just finished writing.

She stamped the sole of her foot against it.

“You…!”

Seeing the dirty footprint of the fox, which proudly occupied the place where the seal of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia was to be stamped, Heinricion was horrified.

But Eristella didn’t care and had a satisfied face.

‘If I do this, he’ll find out at once.’

In the end, the seal of the Grand Duchy of Adelasia was pushed to the side thanks to the fox’s antics, and the letter was sent to the Imperial Palace.

And whether it was intended to be that way from the beginning or it was to repay Eristella’s response, the emperor’s letter attack did not end with just one.

Every few days the emperor would send a letter addressed to his younger sister, under the pretext of correspondence.

Each time, the fox came running, wagging its tail and fawned over the letter.

‘I’m losing my mind. Could it be that the emperor was originally such a person?’

Anxiety crept in.

The dark green eyes of Heinricion could foresee his own future— being the bridge between the imperial siblings.

*******

Heinricion lifted his gaze upwards and stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t concentrate even when he was looking at the documents.

Nearby, there was a fox surrounded by Anessa and other employees.

Wagging its tail as if it wouldn’t ever tire, the fox scrunched its nose at the hands of the employees who hugged it uncomfortably. Then the moment it finally revealed its teeth…

‘I have to go and stop it.’

It was time for Heinricion to step out before anyone was bitten.

‘……?’

Although seemingly ready to bite, its teeth shining white, the fox had calmed down in a flash.

It was obvious that the fox was annoying and irritated, but it was acting bizarrely; it was holding back, which was in line with its personality.

‘What are they doing over there?’

Heinricion watched a little longer, but eventually went and lifted the fox from among the employees.

Anessa and the other employees lamented, but since the person was their master they couldn’t snatch the fox back.

Heinricion reached out, holding the fox in one arm.

“Did your fur get tangled?”

Messy fur caught his fingers like tree vines.

‘Ah, it hurts!’

Why did you stay still until it got to this point? Heinricion took out a bottle of oil while frowning like he couldn’t understand the reason.

And as he gently rubbed the oil in and skillfully untangled the fur, he was lost in his thoughts.

Not only now, but recently, the fox’s behavior has been suspicious.

It was so quiet and still that it made its presence even bigger. Not even a minor accident.

What is your plan? Other people didn’t know, but in his eyes, it seemed like there was a sinister ulterior motive.

“What kind of big accident are you trying to cause again?”

This was usually before a major accident. Heinricion asked with reasonable doubt.

[What the hell did I do?]

“You really didn’t do anything? But why are you behaving strangely?”

Persistently, Heinricion asked Eristella to be honest.

[…….]

Why do you keep asking me that? Eristella ran away, turning her head away from the question she didn’t want to answer.

*******

Even after midnight, Heinricion’s doubts did not end.

It was true that Eristella’s weird behavior continued, so he couldn’t help it.

Immersed in his confusion and troubles, he looked over at the princess who had returned to her human form.

“Is something really wrong?”

“No, there isn’t. Stop looking at me.”

Eristella’s response was calm, though she appeared to be slightly holding back some nervousness.

“Cion. There’s nothing different from usual, and I have no problems. I’m really fine.”

Eristella persuaded Heinricion with a composed and steady voice.

However, the problem was that such an appearance amplified Heinricion’s concern.

“Or maybe… Are there any aftereffects left? Is there something wrong with your head?”

In an instant, Heinricion became more serious, carefully and closely looking at Eristella, examining her condition.

“Huh…? What nonsense is that?”

‘Why is he bouncing around with that thought all of a sudden?’

Eristella strongly denied that it was absolutely not, but it was not delivered to Heinricion at all.

Moreover, he showed no sign of stepping down, as if he had already been convinced by himself.

What to do with this?

“You’re in a special situation, side effects or abnormal symptoms may appear even after the black magic is dispelled. You have to be careful.”

It seemed Heinricion would not reap his expectations unless there were other compelling reasons.

‘I’m going crazy. Really.’

In the end, Eristella exclaimed, her face crumpled. 

“No. It’s not like that!”

“……?”

“Ah…”

Then she let out a deep sigh; her nervousness abruptly made her plans fail.

“I was going to try to be really nice from now on.”