The Grand Duke’s Fox Princess

Episode 99: A Strange Body (I)

Recently, Eristella felt that her body was going through some drastic changes.

So she was spending a lot of time concentrating on the flow of her magic power.

‘I think my magic power is almost back.’

Her magic power, which had been blocked by being trapped in a fox’s body, was gradually restored, and lately, she felt her strength rising.

‘Thank god. Once I have the power, most things can be solved.’

Then there would be other possibilities.

‘With this much strength, I might be able to lift the curse myself.’

If the magic power was overwhelmingly strong, any restraints could be lifted with force.

Eristella made her first attempt after a few days of maximizing her physical condition.

‘…Why not?’

It definitely seemed like it would work this time.

Her magic powers were almost at her original level. There were limitations when she was a fox, but she was now in her original form.

Therefore, this curse could theoretically be broken.

But on the contrary, she felt strong shock and pain all over her body. Perhaps of the failed recoil.

‘If I continue, my body will break first.’

Eristella rolled over as if collapsing from exhaustion.

‘When can I fully go back to my original self?’

This anxiety and nervousness went on for a long time.

*******

Recently, the Grand Duke of Adelasia was making a small magic bomb.

This was tricky because it had to be able to be activated without a wizard.

“It works fine.”

Heinricion, who was checking the performance in the lab, said with satisfaction.

“But it’s not stable. If done incorrectly, the user may be injured.”

“Yes. We will check that part again.”

“Check the size of the explosion a bit more. Still, progress is faster than expected.”

“Progress is going well, so I don’t think it will take long.”

Rowen was researching with great effort.

“Report again after the next experiment.”

Heinricion pointed out a few more things that bothered him before leaving the laboratory.

As for Rowen, he stayed behind to do some more tidying up, then returned to the office with the research report.

“Since the research will take some time, block access to the floor where the laboratory is located.”

“I already told the staff not to go there.”

“Oh? I just saw the fox going there.”

Anessa said in astonishment.

“In the future, you’d better keep it out of the way. But I’m glad it’s still before the item installation experiment.”

“…What do we do? We had just installed the item there?”

The aide who had just entered the office muttered with a stunned face.

“Huh…?”

A moment of silence passed.

And the aides who grasped the situation a beat late jumped up from their seats.

It’s a big deal!

“Run!”

Rowen and others hurriedly ran.

It would be a disaster if they were late even for a second.

*******

Meanwhile, an ignorant Eristella was walking down the hallway.

Heinricion had summoned her to the laboratory to check again if there was anything amiss with Viscount Diaclen’s items.

It was when Eristella was eagerly moving in the direction of the lab.

Poo-wook.

It felt like something blunt was pressing down on her back leg.

‘I think I stepped on something?’

Eristella lowered her head, intending to take a peek at her feet.

‘Oh? What?’

It was at the moment when Eristella lifted her back leg.

*******

Rowen and the other aides arrived.

“Fox. Where are you now? Are you okay?”

They were frantically searching for the fox. But unbeknownst to them, the fox couldn’t step out even if it wanted to.

“Where did you install it?”

“There…”

Rowen, feeling fed up at the aide’s slow response, asked.

“How many did you install?”

“A total of five places…”

It was a time when Rowen was resentful of the speedy work.

He quickly checked the area, stepping cautiously.

It was then.

“What’s the matter?”

Just in time, Heinricion approached and asked about the situation.

“We have a big problem. The fox is playing where the item we are experimenting with is.”

“Ah… What?”

“Now is not the time to be like this. hurry…!”

“It will be fine.”

Guessing the situation, Heinricion responded calmly.

“How can things be fine…”

Right when Rowen impatiently replied.

“Kheung?”

A fox’s cry was heard somewhere.

Everyone’s eyes quickly turned toward the direction of the sound.

‘Yes? Why?’

Eristella tilted her head, bewildered.

‘What’s the matter, why did everyone come here?’

Gazing over the employees, she asked Heinricion with her eyes.

“It’s fine without a scratch, right?”

Heinricion nodded as he spoke to Rowen, who looked as if he would die from anxiety.

Eristella’s eyes rounded as she glanced back at what she had stepped on.

‘I guess it’s because of this.’

‘They gathered because they were concerned that I might have gotten into an accident.’

‘They were just worried. Nothing happened.’

When Eristella tapped her foot against the floor, a little smoke came out of the item.

There was no explosion.

‘I thought it was a dangerous magic item. There must have been a mistake.’

If the amount of basic magic power was overwhelming, it could be nullified.

It was then.

Rowen noticed that one of the magic items had what appeared to be burnt marks.

“There was an explosion here. The fox might have stepped on it, so it’s better to check its condition again.”

Eristella and Heinricion busily exchanged glances.

“It looked dangerous earlier, so I took care of it. That’s why I knew it would be fine.”

Rowen’s question was answered by Heinricion instead.

“That’s very fortunate.”

However, the aide continued to deeply reflect on his mistake.

“I will be more careful when experimenting in the future. From now on, I will never make such a mistake.”

‘I’m fine, but everyone is scared.’

Eristella looked at Rowen and the rest of the employees with pity.

“Anessa. I’ll clean this place up, so take the fox to a safe place.”

‘Huh? I was originally going to go to the lab.’

‘But now doesn’t seem like the right time. I guess I’ll come back later when the situation is clear.’

The second Eristella was quietly moved into Anessa’s arms.

‘Since I have high magical power, such a bomb device is automatically nullified…’

Huh? Nullified…?

Eristella’s eyes widened. Then she blinked.

Somehow, she seemed to have realized the one thing she had been missing all along.

As soon as Anessa let go of her, she headed straight for Heinricion’s bedroom.

And she quickly organized her thoughts.

‘Nullification.’

It was an ability to completely hide magical traces from other wizards.

However, the power difference had to be overwhelming, so it was virtually impossible.

‘What if Viscount Diaclen’s items used nullification to hide its magical content?’

‘What if Viscount Diaclen is Declen, as I had hypothesized, and Declen’s magical power is higher than mine?’

‘What if it’s enough to hide from the eyes of Heinricion and I?’

‘…Then even if it’s black magic, I can’t find it.’

If that’s true… Eristella’s face grew more and more serious.

The reason she was called the symbol of the empire was because she was an incomparably stronger wizard.

‘But what if that’s not the case? What if there’s someone stronger than me?’

Although she did not want to admit even the slightest possibility…

…If there really was such a existence, Eristella might not be able to protect the things she had taken for granted until now.

‘…….’

Eristella was stunned.

It wasn’t because she was arrogant and intoxicated with her own power.

She was indisputably the most powerful wizard in the history of the empire. It was the reason why her presence alone made it impossible for other countries to tamper with the Leonian Empire.

If there was a black wizard who was stronger than her…

It would be a disaster.

Therefore, it was something that should never have happened.

Badump.

Badump badump badump.

Her heart was beating violently.

‘No way. What is the probability for it to be true?’

The current anxiety and unruly heartbeat increased the sense of possibility.

‘But at that time, when he fought against me…’

Eristella felt strong then too.

But she never expected to lose against him. She was sure that even if they fought a hundred times, she would win them all.

But how?

Was he hiding his powers in that situation?

‘No, that will make the problem too serious.’

And so, Eristella wished that Viscount Diaclen really had nothing to do with black magic.

Which would be why she couldn’t find it.

…Making it just a pointless worry.