That crazy bastard… what the hell?
“No other bids? Sold for 5 million won!”
The room stirred at the sudden highest bid. The surrounding skeletons all clapped, and the other users joined in as well.
“A few words from the winner, please!”
“……”
I stared straight at Kessler. I couldn’t understand his sudden behavior.
Sure, Kessler had money, but he wasn’t the type to splurge needlessly. So there had to be a reason. A reason why he bought me for that price.
‘Did he figure out that I’m the fox?’
I checked the Relationship Panel. Everything was set to OFF.
I stepped down from the auction platform and went to fill out the contract. As he finished signing and paid the fee, the nine tails attached to his ass wagged cluelessly.
“…Why did you pay that much for me?”
“Just follow me.”
I asked bluntly. What the hell did he want to get out of a five-million-won deal?
“Wow, Kessler! You look like a hot, obsessive weeb.”
“I know.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean…?
He finally came to a stop where there were no people around.
“……”
There was a baby fox nose painted on his face. A round, black button nose and three little whiskers.
“Where’d you get that?”
“Bought it from some girls.”
I picked up on another change. The way he looked at me had softened compared to before. It seemed like the baby fox’s hostility toward Jung Da-hoon had somehow increased his trust in me—Yeo Woo-rim, the human.
He got to the point soon after.
“The baby fox can’t speak.”
“Yeah.”
Obviously. That couldn’t be the reason he dragged me out here.
“So sometimes I can’t understand him. You’re going to translate for me.”
‘What the hell is this idiot saying now?’ Then suddenly, a past conversation came to mind.
“He can’t talk.”
“Just look at his eyes or how he reacts—communicate that way. What kind of owner can’t even manage that?”
“I gave you the Golden Hour Hand as a gift. And in the hallway during our first meeting, I bit your jewel. Then…”
So… he still hasn’t figured out that I’m the fox and thinks I’m just someone who understands ‘fox language’? Kessler’s face was unusually serious.
“Fine. I’ll tutor you right here, right now. What are you curious about?”
“I want to understand the baby fox’s psychology.”
“For example…”
“He seems to like me, but he keeps hiding his location.”
The location sharing toggle had been turned on and off dozens of times already. Had that left some kind of emotional scar?
“You said you could communicate with foxes, right?”
“Yeah. So…”
“I read the Fox Performance Guide, but our Baby Arctic Fox isn’t like normal ones. He’s a genius. I seriously can’t figure him out.”
“How is he different?”
“He’s super affectionate but acts indifferent.”
Those words coexisting in the same sentence sounded strange, but they actually made a lot of sense.
After all, I wasn’t a real baby fox, so my energy levels were usually low, and the rare bits of cuteness I did show were mostly for survival.
“The fox is still learning about the world.”
“He seemed pretty worldly to me.”
Kessler’s eyes changed. He was starting to look at me like I was some half-baked quack.
“Right, I mean. The fox is smart, so it looks like he’s already figured out how the world works. His natural personality is pretty calm, and he only acts cutesy when it benefits him. The rest of the time he’s quiet. That’s him adapting to society.”
“So he’s training me.”
Watching Kessler seriously mull over the idea, face painted like a fox and nine tails swaying behind him, was hilarious.
“Exactly. Anyway… he’s at the age where he needs to go out into the world, see things, experience life. Don’t take it personally. Turning off location sharing isn’t about pushing you away. Just support him quietly.”
“You talk like you’ve dated a fox before.”
“No way.”
I gave him my most sincere, thoughtful answer. He’d spent a whole five million won on this, and if I brushed it off with a half-assed reply, that would’ve been plain disrespectful.
“That little brat doesn’t even come home lately.”
Kessler looked weighed down by some unspoken worry. His nine tails swayed precariously. Looking at him now, it seemed like he was the real fox, not me.
Then, in the abilities category, I spotted something—Fox Language. I pulled it up in card form and showed it.
“So you do have skills, you husk.”
Kessler stared at it for a moment, then unexpectedly gave me a compliment.
“The fox is more devoted to you than you think, Kessler-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“That Golden Hour Hand you got for your birthday—it’s the same item I won first place for in the bat-slaying event and took from the treasure room. You knew that, right?”
He nodded.
Good. Even if he couldn’t believe I was the fox, he should at least know that was originally mine.
“It was chosen with the hope that you’d live a long, healthy life together—symbolizing longevity and well-being. That was the fox’s intention. I helped a lot with that. So, what do you think? After the fees, I got 4 million won. Worth it?”
“Such a thoughtful fox.”
Whether or not I bragged, a gentle smile tugged at Kessler’s lips.
“So please keep trusting the fox from now on. And no matter what the fox does, try to see it in a good light.”
I caught a glimpse of his side profile, as if he were checking the Relationship Panel again, and suddenly a question popped into my head.
“Why do you like the Baby Arctic Fox?”
Sure, I knew he liked the cute looks and the sweet, comforting scent, but what exactly made him go full-on fox devotee?
“Why should you care?”
“The fox was curious. I’ll pass along your answer later.”
“He liked me first. So I should like him back.”
“Even if the Baby Arctic Fox becomes an adult male fox, would you still find him adorable?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“That’s another thing the fox was curious about.”
He looked at me suspiciously. I met his gaze without flinching. I mean, seriously—it was my own question.
“How exactly do you two communicate?”
“I speak Fox Language.”
“Say something in it.”
“Nyang nyang. Nyang kkiruk-kkiruk nyang nyang.”
Was that too fake? I worried for a second, but he actually seemed to gain trust in my Fox Language fluency.
“That’s a level of language the Baby Fox could understand.”
“Right, exactly. Now answer the question. Would you still think he’s cute as an adult male?”
“How could my feelings just change like that?”
That was a roundabout way of saying yes. He’d still find him endearing.
Then… just one more thing.
“If the Baby Arctic Fox shapeshifted into a human…”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“If it did happen?”
Kessler stared at me silently. That look practically screamed, “Should I kill you?”—and I looked away.
“Bring me proof that the husk you fought tried to harm the fox.”
“Out of nowhere? The trial’s already over.”
“Just like you said before—he barked fiercely at that bastard.”
“So you finally believe it. If he’s such a pain, can’t you just kill him?”
Kessler was the Absolute Lord, after all. But that came with complications.
“I need to execute him legally. If I stay away too long, things could get dangerous.”
There would be penalties for murdering outsiders, after all.
‘He tried to kill legally back then too, didn’t he…’
Thinking back to those days when Kessler had been imprisoned in the Shadow Atonement Prison and all that had happened to the Baby Fox during that time, it made sense that he was so sensitive now as a guardian.
‘…That’s kind of touching.’
Anyway, it worked out in my favor. Thanks to the baby fox’s reactions, the misunderstanding about me—human Yeo Woo-rim—had been cleared up.
So now, what I needed to say was—
“I’ll do my best.”
No idea if I could actually find any evidence, though.
***
After the conversation, I kept watching Kessler’s blinking dot on the map. The way he wandered through the castle aimlessly, he seemed to be looking for the missing baby fox.
I opened the location settings tab.
[Relationship Panel]: You have turned ON the location sharing service. Your current location is now viewable.
The moment I did, Kessler’s movement on the map froze. His steps, which had been headed west, turned around—coming toward me.
“End transformation.”
I took a moment to glance over the Relationship Panel.
[Memories with the Baby Fox] new! The gallery folder name had changed. A few new photos had been added.
Me while sleeping, me eating pudding… For some reason, it stirred something inside me. I’d never felt like this before, but now—somehow, I did.
Maybe it was because I had just heard Kessler’s true feelings.
I watched his marker on the map get closer and closer. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his steps.
“Baby Fox.”
Eventually, I saw him at the other end of the hallway. I turned off the map. I ran toward the ever-clearer figure of Kessler with all my strength.
I couldn’t stop in time and ended up tumbling, rolling straight into his legs.
“What the—where were you?”
He expertly scooped me up, cupping my butt as he dusted off the dirt on my fur.
“Hehe. You ran up to me like this the first time, too.”
Now that he mentioned it, this was the same place. Third-floor hallway—the spot where we first met.
