The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 35
“Next time you go somewhere this far, tell the adults and bring someone with you, all right?”
“Y-yes… now… *sniff*… I w-won’t do it again….”
“Good, that’s my brave one.”
Zeros Nordic descended the mountain that the children had spent all day wandering in less than an hour and soon arrived at the Estate.
Outside the entrance were Jerpeon and Lisar, whose gaze remained fixed on the gates.
“What are you two doing still standing out here?”
“Lisar was worried about the child, so we’ve been waiting.”
“Well, the kid’s scraped up in a few places, but otherwise fine.”
Zeros Nordic casually hoisted the child by the armpits and displayed Miel before Lisar.
“Miel!”
“Grandfather—!”
*Sob—!*
Miel burst into fresh tears and rummaged through pockets, then pressed into Lisar’s arms a handful of small Bear Cores that had been carefully gathered during the descent from the mountain.
“Miel’s such a cowardly panda… *sniff*… not brave like this panda should be….”
“W-wait, I’m all right. Grandfather saved me—I’m not hurt at all. And then Father came right after….”
Lisar accepted the small stones Miel had pressed upon him and spoke hesitantly.
“Grandfather did…? Where is he?”
“He was hurt saving me. A wolf bit him….”
The edges of Lisar’s eyes grew slightly red as he spoke.
Perhaps embarrassed at the thought of crying, he shook his head and looked down at the pile of things Miel had nestled into his arms.
“But what are these?”
“B-Bear Cores… *sniff*, hiccup….”
“Wait. You’re telling me you extracted Bear Cores again?”
Jerpeon’s eyes widened sharply.
“Is it safe to extract them like this? …I’ve been so scattered I forgot entirely. In any case, let’s have the physician come by in the morning and run a full examination. But tell me—how are you extracting these?”
“W-when Miel gets hurt and cries… *sniff*… and asks for help… *hiccup*… they come out….”
“…What?”
At Miel’s tearful words, the surrounding air turned silent in an instant.
*Hiccup, hiccup.*
Still sniffling, Miel gathered back a few of the Bear Cores given to Lisar and trudged toward the Estate’s interior.
“Where are you going? Miel!”
“To see Grandfather… *hiccup*.”
“No, you need to bathe and get treated first. Little panda! Baby panda!”
“…….”
“Look at that stubbornness.”
“Leave her be. I’ll send the physician and attendants once she falls asleep.”
Ignoring whatever the others were saying behind her, Miel—whose nature was as steadfast as stone—rubbed her eyes earnestly and made her way to Valen Noctis’s room.
‘If he’s hurt, I have to help him get better.’
Miel had decided to give some of the Bear Cores she’d meant for Lisar to Valen Noctis instead.
The door stood slightly ajar.
Miel peeked through the gap, and a low groan tinged with pain reached her ears.
‘…Grandfather’s napping.’
On tiptoes, Miel crept inside and paused.
There was still something dark and thick coiling all around Valen Noctis.
It wasn’t approaching her as it had at first.
*Gulp.*
Miel gathered her courage and drew near.
She scrambled onto the bed with soft whimpering, and gently placed the Bear Cores she’d brought on Valen Noctis’s chest.
“Don’t hurt, okay?”
She reached out her small hand and gently patted his forehead.
For a moment, the furrow etched in Valen Noctis’s brow seemed to ease slightly.
*Yawn.*
The room was still, warm, and quiet.
Drowsy, Miel curled up beside Valen Noctis and settled in to sleep.
*Rustle.*
The moment Miel drifted off to sleep.
The dark, writhing thing that had been hovering around Valen Noctis reached toward Miel’s hand.
*Tap.*
It touched.
* * *
Crack—!
At the sharp sound, Miel’s eyes snapped open.
She’d apparently dozed off for a moment, yet somehow found herself in baby bear form, drifting weightlessly through the air.
Jolted awake from a deep sleep, her mind swam in that twilight between dreams and waking.
“Again, again! How dense can you be! Why can’t you keep up with your brother? I asked you—how long are you going to cower beneath him like that!”
“… I’m sorry, Father.”
Miel’s head tilted as she watched the scene unfold, still half-dazed.
‘Did Dad just hit the boy?!’
The small bear cub’s mouth fell open.
A fair-haired boy, his cheek still flushed from the strike, lowered his head before his father.
Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and exhaustion clung to his frame.
“What’s so special about you? Losing to that cursed Black Fox—what were you thinking? You want to lose in the Succession Battle?”
“… No, sir.”
The boy answered without strength, shaking his head. The middle-aged man before him stood rigid, his eyes blazing, and clicked his tongue in contempt.
“Valen Noctis.”
…!
Grandfather Lisar?
He looked far younger than that—almost as youthful as Lisar himself.
“Yes.”
“Your brother was born as that ill-fated Black Fox, and then you were born after. You have a duty to surpass him. How could a cursed thing like that ever lead this house?”
“Yes, Father.”
The man seized Valen Noctis by the shoulder with crushing force.
“We are the great Noctis—one of the four pillars that sustain the Empire itself.”
“Yes.”
“You must solidify your position so you can cast out your brother. That cursed thing—sent to a place to die, and he shamelessly crawls back regardless.”
Valen Noctis’s face twisted.
He knew his older brother well—the one sent into battle large and small whenever his father grew bored.
“He must have made a pact with demons. Once I have proof, I can drive him out for good.”
Unwilling to accept that the Black Fox—a symbol of misfortune within Noctis—had come from his own blood, the father always spoke in such terms.
Every calamity became the Black Fox’s fault.
Drought came? Torrential rains? A sudden accident? Dwindling revenues? All of it fell on his older brother’s shoulders.
“Valen, do you understand? Noctis cannot harbor a Black Fox. That cursed thing will only bring ruin—it will destroy our entire house.”
“… Yes, Father.”
“Good. Next time, bring me better results.”
Thud.
The door slammed shut.
Miel, still suspended in empty air, began thrashing her front legs frantically, paddling toward Valen Noctis.
Thump.
Her paw came to rest softly on Valen’s head.
“…!”
Valen’s eyes went wide. The boy’s head whipped up in an instant.
“Squeak?”
“A… baby bear…?”
The moment their eyes met.
Flash—!
Darkness descended, and the world fell silent.
Miel paddled her front legs through the void with renewed effort, pressing forward.
Then light bloomed around her, and her body was drawn sharply into it.
“Squeeeak!”
When Miel opened her eyes again, spinning through the emptiness, the landscape had transformed.
‘Ugh. Where am I now…?’
Miel puffed out her lip in annoyance.
“A Monster Wave. One hasn’t happened in decades, and now entire villages are thrown into chaos.”
‘Grandfather’s gotten huge.’
He was no longer as young-looking as Lisar. He appeared twice as large now. Miel blinked.
“So?”
The long-haired man tilted his head.
‘Whoa… he really looks like that honey-cake mister.’
For a moment she’d mistaken him for the honey-cake man—the resemblance was so striking it was almost uncanny.
Jet-black hair. Jet-black eyes.
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“Ever since you were born, nothing but impossible things have happened.”
Valen clenched his fists.
He spoke with a hard expression.
“Isn’t it your responsibility to handle this?”
“So now I’ve triggered the Monster Wave too?”
Ha ha.
He laughed, his voice unsettlingly beautiful.
“You’re no different from Father. So I’m the Black Fox Curse that drags misfortune wherever I go…….”
He snorted, as though the thought amused him not at all.
“Right. So I should just walk into that forest and disappear, is that it? If I die and never come back, it would be wonderful news for you and Father.”
The man strode forward until he stood before Valen, then reached out and pressed his index finger hard against his chest.
“Valen. My beloved brother.”
He leaned down, bringing his face close to Valen’s ear.
“If I die, will the Black Fox Curse not be born?”
……
“I’m curious. If your own child—your own grandchild—is born as the Black Fox Curse, will you still despise them?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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