Chapter 98

After a pleasant stroll, it was now time to part ways.

Only when they reached near the castle did Hilde finally manage to stand on her own two legs. She brushed the dust off her knees and palms.

Still, she couldn’t return just yet. The collar around her neck was an ordinary one, but without Carami’s permission, she couldn’t remove it herself.

There was only one way to undo it.

“Untie it right now.”

Hilde glared at Carami with a murderous intent, her eyes flashing with malice.

But Carami remained unperturbed. After all, as long as the soul-binding spell remained, Hilde’s wish to kill her would remain a futile dream.

Carami smirked and wiggled her fingers.

“No, no. Didn’t I teach you to use honorifics when asking your master for something?”

“You little—!”

Hilde clenched her teeth so hard they almost cracked, her fists trembling in indignation. She had never used honorifics even with kings and queens, yet here she was, bowing to a mere human…

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine too,” Carami shrugged. “We could always walk into the castle like this. Your subjects will be quite surprised.”

Carami nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.

Struggling with every fiber of her being, Hilde gritted her teeth and, after a long pause, reluctantly opened her mouth.

“Fine, untie it…”

“Hmm, that’s a little short, isn’t it?”

“Untie it, please…”

“Hmm? Too soft, can’t hear you.”

“UNTY IT, YOU—!”

“Hmm…”

Daring to curse her master? This was a habit of a slave that couldn’t be overlooked, but Carami was broad-minded.

Given how humiliated Hilde must be, her eyes brimming with moisture—there was a chance she might bite her tongue and end it all if teased further.

Carami decided to let it slide this time. She extended her hand and easily loosened the collar around Hilde’s neck, something Hilde had strained so hard to do.

“Here you go.”

Carami handed the collar to Hilde. Hilde frowned, glaring at the object in her hand, her annoyance evident.

“What is this? Why are you giving me this?”

“Just keep it carefully. Next time when I suggest a walk, you can give it back. Or if you want to take a stroll before that, you can give it to me then as well.”

“You little—!”

Hilde was ready to throw the collar right at Carami’s face, but her hand wouldn’t move beyond its range. It seemed she was, in some way, incapable of harming Carami.

With no other choice, Hilde had to reluctantly take the collar.

***

“Ah, welcome back, princess.”

A maid bowed respectfully, greeting the princess who returned late in the morning, at the castle corridor.

Hilde was a notorious troublemaker inside the palace. She would torment the staff when bored, and if she was in a bad mood, she would resort to violence. Because of this, everyone tried to avoid her whenever possible.

And today, she looked particularly displeased. Crossing her path would undoubtedly lead to unpleasant consequences.

“Why of all days—today…”

The maid on duty trembled slightly, praying silently that the ordeal would pass without incident.

Hilde, glaring icily at the back of the bowed maid, let the tense silence drag on before walking past indifferently and entering her room.

The sound of the door slamming shut echoed through the corridor.

“…?”

Could the princess be faking it and waiting inside, ready to pounce with a punch as soon as the maid looked up? Hilde was quite capable of something like that.

Even after the door shut, the maid waited a few minutes with her head bowed, but seeing nothing happen, she cautiously looked around to confirm the coast was clear.

Satisfied that Hilde was nowhere to be found—not even on the ceiling—the maid finally lifted her head. The corridor was empty.

“What’s going on?”

Things had gone better than expected—it was fortunate she’d passed by unscathed. However, the maid vaguely recalled Hilde holding something that looked like a leash.

“It’s probably nothing to dwell on…”

Certainly, Hilde had been dragging some innocent victim around on a leash earlier. The maid was certain of it.

***

The princess’s quarters at the castle.

Hilde trudged back, unusually drained, with an expression of aimless despair. In her hand, she tightly clutched the hated leash—a precious memento of her new master.

“Shit!”

With a roar, Hilde tossed the leash angrily. It flew through the air with force, leaving a significant gouge in the wall before crashing to the floor.

Breathing heavily, Hilde fumed in silent indignation. A wrath she could not put into words surged within her.

Not only had she been defeated helplessly by a fox spirit, but she had been shackled by a nobody human.

She, who was powerful enough to overpower any mere force of nature, had let herself be subjugated so easily that she had crawled on the ground like a pet.

Her head had been petted by a lowly man.

The princess of Bestia.

The female lion of Bestia.

“I, Hilde Brigitta Lioness!!!”

Hilde unleashed a thunderous roar. Her sheer fury shattered furniture and scattered debris around her.

Still, it did nothing to quell her anger.

It wouldn’t be satisfied until his limbs were torn off—until his smug mouth was ripped apart.

To achieve this, she would first have to deal with the cursed collar that bound her.

Unfortunately, despite her great skill in combat, Hilde knew nothing of magic. Still, with the help of the court mages, dismantling this mere slave trader’s enchantment would be possible.

Once freed from the collar, there would be nothing that wouldn’t stop her from destroying that man!

BOOM!

Hilde kicked the door open violently. The doorframe broke clean off.

“EEEEK!”

The maid, startled, watched as Hilde ignored her completely and marched off to find the court mage.

It was barely dawn.

***

While Carami and Hilde were out on their early morning walk,

The Fox Spirit had remained behind at the Celestial Pavilion.

To attend to none other than the Heavenly Fox, Yu Hwa.

This was the real reason she was here.

Dealing with Hilde had simply been a side task to facilitate this meeting.

The Gumiho arched her eyebrows into a crescent and wiggled her fingers.

“I won’t waste time with chatter. Hand over your power to me.”

The power Yu Hwa possessed as the Heavenly Fox.

That was the Gumiho’s objective.

But naturally, Yu Hwa was not about to give it up willingly.

A fierce battle could be expected.

Though the Gumiho only had seven tails now, giving her less strength than before, the same was true for her opponent. The price for defying one’s heavenly mandate had gradually weakened Yu Hwa too.

It was a battle worth attempting.

The Gumiho conjured a shimmering fox bead.

“If you won’t come willingly, I’ll—”

“Alright, I’ll give it to you.”

“Huh… what?”

“I said I’ll hand it over. The power you so desperately seek is yours.”

At this calm declaration from Yu Hwa, it was the Gumiho who faltered in confusion.

Could it be some devious trick?

Her guard up, fur bristling, the Gumiho eyed Yu Hwa suspiciously.

“What’s your plan?”

“My plan?” Yu Hwa shrugged. “I’m simply giving you what you want.”

“How could you so easily hand it over? Don’t think I don’t know you.”

The Gumiho watched as Yu Hwa chuckled softly, inexplicably amused.

The Heavenly Fox laughing out loud?

To the Gumiho, it sounded more ominous than the wailing of spirits.

“Why are you laughing?”

“How could I not laugh? You desire power, yet you’re suspicious of my generosity. Even the fearsome Gumiho trembles before me now.”

Through Yu Hwa’s reaction, the Gumiho realized how much time had passed. It was enough to make the Gumiho seem like an inexperienced child.

Still, a pang of pity for her surfaced.

Huoooong.

Yu Hwa pushed forward a fox bead, shimmering with hues of white and blue, reminiscent of the sky. It floated gently toward the Gumiho.

“You seem curious about this. Let me clarify—it’s not for you. It’s for the little fox within you.”

“What do you mean? Why are you giving power to that child?”

Not only was she being mentored, but was now being gifted power?

Never, in any story, had the Heavenly Fox been so generous to anyone—not even the Gumiho.

She must have gone mad.

“This must be because you’re losing it. Remember, though she may grow into a nine-tailed fox someday, unlike me, she will not fear the heavens.”

“She won’t reach that stage. Lin isn’t you, and besides, Lin has that boy by her side. If she strays too far, he won’t let her. He’ll stop her.”

“Why do you trust that human so much? What scheme is going on in your mind?”

“If it’s a scheme…”

No, it wasn’t grandiose enough to be called one. She merely wished to witness the young fox girl break free from her oppression and live a normal life.

All she wanted was to see the mirage that her former self once spun become a reality.

“Perhaps you, too, might seek salvation someday, who knows?”

“Don’t spout nonsense. Salvation is something I’ll fight for myself. And the child will never awaken because I won’t let her.”

“Hm.”

Yu Hwa’s lack of interest was evident, though her serene smile only deepened the Gumiho’s confusion.

The Gumiho turned her gaze away, determined.

‘I am not weak.’

She didn’t require anyone’s help.

She was the Gumiho.

The fox that defies heavenly mandates.

All she needed was power.

The Gumiho reached out to the fox bead of the Heavenly Fox.

The bead cracked with a resounding snap upon contact with her grip.

Clang!

The bead shattered into countless fragments, releasing a swirl of white and blue mist that the Gumiho absorbed greedily.

The power of the Heavenly Fox flowed into her own fox bead.

Kuuuuhhh…

The heavens themselves trembled.

The Celestial Pavilion, a construct of Yu Hwa’s power, was destined to collapse now that her authority had vanished.

It was also the ultimate defiance of her heavenly mandate.

Yu Hwa’s azure third eye dimmed, and the divine essence woven into her silver fur dissipated.

In their place stood nothing more than an ordinary aging fox-person.

But despite losing all her power, the aura of mystery that surrounded her endured, leaving the Gumiho with an indelible sense of unease.

***

A few days after the Celestial Pavilion collapsed into an ordinary merchant shop,

The Gumiho’s tails had grown to eight, thanks to the absorbed power of the Heavenly Fox.

With the Heavenly Fox’s influence over Bestia gone, the land was now overrun by demons, their presence corrupting the fates of countless beings under Hongho’s influence.

Soldiers worked tirelessly day and night to combat the infestation, but it was a difficult task. Demons were not simple monsters—they each possessed strange abilities that complicated matters.

Without proper knowledge of how to deal with them, it was hard to subdue them.

Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of the Gumiho under Carami’s command, the overall damage had been minimal. Still, this couldn’t continue indefinitely.

Recognizing this, the Gumiho approached Carami with a suggestion.

“Demons keep appearing. Killing them like this will never end.”

“Then what?”

“We need to uproot their source.”

Since absorbing the Heavenly Fox’s power, she now required just one more step.

It was time to hunt the Black Fox.

***

---