Chapter 97

After a refreshing stroll, it was finally time for parting ways.

Hilde was able to stand on her own two feet only after they neared the castle. She dusted off her knees and palms, which were covered in dirt.

But she still couldn’t go back just yet. The collar around her neck looked ordinary, but it couldn’t be removed without Karamir’s permission.

There was only one way to get it off.

“Take it off. Now.”

Hilde glared at Karamir with eyes full of murderous intent, as if she wanted to tear him to shreds.

But Karamir remained unfazed. He knew that as long as the soul-binding chain was in place, her wish to kill him was nothing more than a futile dream.

With a smirk, he waggled his finger at her.

“No, no. I believe I taught you to use respectful language when making a request to your master.”

“You little…!”

Grinding her teeth hard enough to crack them, Hilde clenched her fists in rage. She’d never used honorifics even with the king and queen, and now this lowly human wanted her to…?

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. You’ll just have to enter the castle with that collar on. I’m sure the attendants will be quite surprised.”

Karamir shrugged.

Hilde’s whole body shook with anger as she gritted her teeth, her mouth opening and closing in frustration before she finally forced the words out.

“T-take it off…”

“Hmm, that sounds a bit short~”

“Take it off… please…”

“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

“Take it off, damn it!”

“Hm.”

Cursing at her master was uncalled for.

A less patient master would discipline her for that, but Karamir was a generous man.

Besides, Hilde’s eyes were beginning to glisten with the shame she felt, and if he teased her any more, she might bite her tongue out of sheer mortification.

So, just this once, he decided to let it slide. Karamir reached over and easily unfastened the collar around her neck. What she had struggled so hard to remove had come off with the slightest touch.

“There you go.”

He handed the collar to Hilde, who frowned at the sight of the detestable object.

“What’s this? Why are you giving it to me?”

“Hold onto it carefully, so you can bring it to me next time we go for a walk. Or, if the princess wants to go on a walk, you could give it to me yourself.”

“You’re really…!”

Hilde raised the collar, ready to throw it at Karamir’s face, but her hand froze mid-air. It seemed she couldn’t harm him no matter what method she tried.

Reluctantly, she kept hold of the collar.

After a refreshing stroll, it was finally time for parting ways.

Hilde was able to stand on her own two feet only after they neared the castle. She dusted off her knees and palms, which were covered in dirt.

But she still couldn’t go back just yet. The collar around her neck looked ordinary, but it couldn’t be removed without Karamir’s permission.

There was only one way to get it off.

“Take it off. Now.”

Hilde glared at Karamir with eyes full of murderous intent, as if she wanted to tear him to shreds.

But Karamir remained unfazed. He knew that as long as the soul-binding chain was in place, her wish to kill him was nothing more than a futile dream.

With a smirk, he waggled his finger at her.

“No, no. I believe I taught you to use respectful language when making a request to your master.”

“You little…!”

Grinding her teeth hard enough to crack them, Hilde clenched her fists in rage. She’d never used honorifics even with the king and queen, and now this lowly human wanted her to…?

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. You’ll just have to enter the castle with that collar on. I’m sure the attendants will be quite surprised.”

Karamir shrugged.

Hilde’s whole body shook with anger as she gritted her teeth, her mouth opening and closing in frustration before she finally forced the words out.

“T-take it off…”

“Hmm, that sounds a bit short~”

“Take it off… please…”

“What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

“Take it off, damn it!”

“Hm.”

Cursing at her master was uncalled for.

A less patient master would discipline her for that, but Karamir was a generous man.

Besides, Hilde’s eyes were beginning to glisten with the shame she felt, and if he teased her any more, she might bite her tongue out of sheer mortification.

So, just this once, he decided to let it slide. Karamir reached over and easily unfastened the collar around her neck. What she had struggled so hard to remove had come off with the slightest touch.

“There you go.”

He handed the collar to Hilde, who frowned at the sight of the detestable object.

“What’s this? Why are you giving it to me?”@@novelbin@@

“Hold onto it carefully, so you can bring it to me next time we go for a walk. Or, if the princess wants to go on a walk, you could give it to me yourself.”

“You’re really…!”

Hilde raised the collar, ready to throw it at Karamir’s face, but her hand froze mid-air. It seemed she couldn’t harm him no matter what method she tried.

Reluctantly, she kept hold of the collar.

The castle corridor.

A maid greeted the princess with a deep bow as she returned late in the early hours of the morning.

Hilde was infamous in the castle for her wild behavior. She often tormented the servants out of boredom and resorted to violence when in a foul mood. Most of them tried to avoid her whenever possible.

And today, her mood seemed particularly bad. Anyone who crossed her path was in for a rough time.

‘Why did it have to be today…?’

The maid, who was on duty, trembled ever so slightly, silently praying that she would pass without incident.

Hilde glared at the maid’s bowed head with cold eyes. Just as the tense silence seemed to stretch on forever, Hilde walked past her indifferently and entered her room.

Thunk. The sound of the door closing echoed in the hall.

‘…?’

Could she have gone in just to wait for the maid to raise her head, only to throw a punch the moment she did? With Hilde, that was entirely plausible.

The maid kept her head bowed for several minutes even after the door closed, then cautiously glanced around to check her surroundings.

Hilde was nowhere to be seen. Even when she looked up at the ceiling, she saw nothing.

‘What was that all about?’

Whatever the reason, it was a relief. The maid felt lucky to have gotten through the encounter unharmed. But she couldn’t help but notice something odd—a collar dangling from Hilde’s hand.

‘Best not to think too deeply about it.’

It was probably just another innocent victim she’d been dragging around on a leash. The maid was certain of it.

The princess’s chamber in the castle.

Hilde returned, looking especially weary. She moved with a hollow, defeated expression, clutching the collar tightly in her hand—a precious memento of her new “master.”

“Damn it!”

Wham!

Hilde threw the collar against the wall with all her might, leaving a large dent.

Her shoulders heaved as she panted with rage. An indescribable mix of fury and humiliation surged within her.

It was bad enough that she’d been helplessly defeated by the Gumiho, but now she was also shackled with a slave’s collar by some lowly human.

With her skills, she should have been able to resist the enforced commands, yet she’d been completely powerless.

Because of that, she’d crawled on the ground like a pet. She’d let a lowly man pat her head.

The princess of Bestia. The lioness of Bestia.

“I, Hilde Brigitta Lioness, will not stand for this!!!”

Her thunderous roar shattered the furniture and scattered various items around the room.

But it did little to quell her fury.

She wouldn’t be satisfied until she tore that man limb from limb. Until she ripped that smug mouth of his wide open.

But first, she needed to do something about this collar.

Unfortunately, though Hilde was confident in battle, she was no expert in magic. Still, with the court wizards’ help, this slave trader’s magic should be easy enough to dispel.

Once she was free of the collar, she’d use every resource at her disposal to track him down…

Bang!

Hilde kicked open her door.

“Hii!”

A maid nearby let out a startled cry.

Ignoring her, Hilde stormed off in search of the court wizards.

It was still the dead of night.

While Karamir was out on his midnight walk with Hilde…

The Gumiho had stayed behind in Cheonsangru.

The Sky Fox, Yuha.

She had business with her.

That was her main purpose for being here. Humoring Hilde was just a convenient way to pass the time.

The Gumiho gestured with her hand, her eyes narrowing into crescent shapes.

“I’ll keep this short. Hand over your power.”

The power Yuha held as the Sky Fox.

That was the Gumiho’s goal.

But she doubted Yuha would give it up willingly.

It would surely lead to a fierce battle.

With seven tails, she couldn’t muster her former strength, but the same was true for her opponent. The price Yuha paid for defying heaven had weakened her as well.

It was a battle she was confident she could win.

The Gumiho summoned her fox bead.

“If you won’t come to me, then I’ll—”

“Fine. Take it.”

“Wha… what?”

“I said I’ll give it to you. The power you so desire.”

Yuha’s expression was calm as she spoke, sipping leisurely from a steaming cup of tea.

The Gumiho was the one caught off guard by Yuha’s easy acceptance.

Could she be hiding a sneaky plan?

The Gumiho eyed her warily, her fur bristling with tension.

“What are you planning?”

“Planning? I’m simply giving you what you want.”

“You think I’m a fool? You’d never just hand it over so easily.”

Yuha chuckled, as if something greatly amused her.

The Sky Fox laughing aloud? To the Gumiho, it sounded more ominous than a ghost’s wail.

“What’s so funny?”

“Can you blame me for laughing? Here you are, the mighty Gumiho, trembling over a few words.”

Yuha could feel the passage of time from the Gumiho’s reaction. The once-mighty Gumiho now looked like a petulant child.

In a way, it was almost pitiful.

With a slight wave, she sent her fox bead—a brilliant blend of white and blue, like the sky itself—floating toward the Gumiho.

“Curious, aren’t you? This isn’t for you. It’s for the young fox inside you.”

“…What? Why are you so kind to her?”

Training her, offering her power…?

From the Sky Fox, no less?

She must’ve gone mad.

“Has your time with humans scrambled your brain? She’s a Gumiho, just like me. She’ll grow into another Gumiho, one who defies heaven’s will—”

“No, she won’t. Lin is not you, and most importantly, she has someone by her side. If she steps out of line, he’ll bring her back.”

“Why do you trust that human so much? What exactly are you plotting?”

“Plotting…”

It wasn’t something as grand as a scheme. She just wanted to see the young fox girl live freely, unburdened by chains and repression.

She wanted to see that empty promise he once spoke of become a reality.

“Who knows, maybe even you will find salvation one day.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’ll claim my salvation with my own hands. And that girl will never wake. I’ll make sure of that.”

“As you wish.”

Yuha’s indifferent response left the Gumiho feeling strangely uneasy, her serene smile only adding to her discomfort.

The Gumiho turned away, hardening her resolve.

‘I am not weak.’

She needed no one’s help. She was a Gumiho. The fox who defied heaven.

All she needed was power.

She reached out and grasped Yuha’s fox bead.

As she clenched her fist, the bead cracked, then shattered into countless shards.

White and blue energy whirled around her.

And the Gumiho absorbed it all.

The power of the Sky Fox flowed into the Gumiho’s fox bead.

Thrum…

The heavens trembled.

Cheonsangru was an otherworldly space created by Yuha’s power.

With that power gone, it was only natural for the space to collapse.

It was also a sign that Yuha had completely turned her back on heaven.

The light in Yuha’s celestial blue eyes dimmed, and the divine aura that had once graced her white fur dissipated.

All that remained was an ordinary, elderly Hoyo.

Yet, even in her weakened state, Yuha exuded an aura of mystery, an image that imprinted a lasting discomfort in the Gumiho’s mind.

Days passed since the sky over Cheonsangru had crumbled into a mundane mountaintop.

After absorbing the power of the Sky Fox, the Gumiho had finally grown her eighth tail.

With the Sky Fox who had once protected Bestia now gone, yokai began to swarm in.

The misfortune carried by the Hongho spread, distorting the destinies of countless beings.

Soldiers were devoted to exorcising the yokai night and day, but it was no easy task. Yokai were more than mere monsters; each had strange powers of its own.

Without proper knowledge of exorcism, they were hard to capture.

Thanks to the Gumiho’s compliance with Karamir’s orders, the damage had been minimized. But this couldn’t go on forever.

Aware of this, the Gumiho subtly suggested a plan to Karamir.

“Yokai are appearing more frequently these days. We can’t just keep hunting them down one by one.”

“And what would you suggest?”

“We need to uproot the source.”

With the power of the Sky Fox absorbed, only one task remained.

It was time to hunt the Black Fox.