The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 6

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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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Episode 6
“…….”
Trembling.
Miel turned her head with all her might, then cautiously reached out and grasped Lisarr’s hand tightly.
“It’s okay.”
“……?”
Miel smiled brightly.
“……Do you want to see our mother?”
Lisarr, who had been staring blankly at Miel, found himself speaking without thinking.
A moment later, he realized what he’d just said and quickly shut his mouth.
‘What on earth did I just say?’
Even if she was a lucky little cub, it didn’t mean she deserved to see his mother.
“Yes!”
“That……!”
Lisarr’s lips moved soundlessly.
‘…Father isn’t there right now.’
If we looked and left quickly, he might not find out.
Father hated it when people he hadn’t approved of entered that place.
Of course, he didn’t like it when Lisarr went either.
“Can you look quietly and leave?”
Lisarr pressed his index finger to his lips and asked softly.
“Y-yes……!”
Miel followed suit, pressing her stubby little finger to her own lips and answered in a hushed voice.
Lisarr gripped Miel’s hand firmly and left the Dining Hall.
The two of them walked down a long Corridor, climbed the Staircase, and stood before a massive door.
“Here it is.”
“…….”
“Miel?”
Lisarr looked at Miel and froze.
Miel stood with her head tilted back, staring silently at the door.
‘It’s so dark….’
Thick black smoke seemed to fill the room, seeping out through the crack in the door in wisps.
In fact, the entire door appeared stained pitch-black.
“Do you want to turn back if you’re scared?”
“No. I want to go.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Lisarr opened the door despite his puzzled expression.
Whoooosh—!
As the door swung open, a gust of wind rushed out from within—as if pent-up air was suddenly released.
It was bitterly, bitterly cold air.
“Mother, I’ve come to visit.”
Lisarr bowed his head slightly and strode into the room.
But Miel remained frozen at the threshold.
Hiccup!
[…….]
Hiccup!
[…….]
“Miel?”
“Eh-eh-eh……?”
At Lisarr’s call, Miel turned her head with a creaking sound, then went rigid.
Miel had one secret.
Miel could see things that existed and did not exist in this world.
And those things…….
[Why… why… why are you doing this to meeeee!!!]
…were a little frightening, even to one as brave as Miel the panda(?)
Pop!
Miel’s ears shot up, then flattened back against her head.
Standing behind Lisarr, Miel watched a wild-haired woman clutching her head and screaming, and pursed her lips, letting her gaze slip downward.
‘Miel…… don’t want to see this.’
[Ah… Lisarr, Lisarr… my son.]
Perk.
‘So this is the honey-cake mother?’
Only after reaching that conclusion did Miel slowly lift her head.
“Are you alright, little bear?”
Miel gave a small nod.
Lisarr pulled Miel into the room, drawing her along behind him.
“Mother is staying here.”
‘No, but she’s behind the honey-cake…’
Clinging to the honey-cake was a translucent, pitch-black woman.
‘The room smells awful…’
An overwhelmingly foul stench—like rotting fish.
Miel knew this smell well.
‘The smell a malevolent spirit gives off…’
Miel’s eyes gleamed a touch more golden.
“Mother, Lisarr has come.”
“…!”
Miel’s eyes widened as Lisarr pulled her to stand before the bed.
‘She’s so pretty.’
On the soft, plush bed lay a beautiful woman with long, snow-white hair cascading down her back.
Her skin had a faint pallor, her cheeks were sunken, and the shadows beneath her eyes spoke of someone who had suffered illness for a long time.
A rare white fox-woman and lady of the Noctis Family.
Serniel Noctis.
The room was somehow terribly cold and chill, and that desolate cold emanated from the beautiful woman before her.
[So lonely… so cold…]
“I hope you have been well? Father has kept me from visiting often, so it feels like it’s been ages since I last saw you.”
[How much longer… how much longer must I remain here alone…?]
A voice thick with tears spread mournfully through the room.
Miel’s eyes went wide.
“…!”
Miel had heard about weeping spirits before!
“Young lady, when a spirit becomes separated from a living body like that, and begins to emit that rotten stench while crying—that’s a spirit on the verge of becoming a malevolent spirit.”
“H-hold… malev…?”
“Hahaha, is it too difficult? You see, even a good spirit will begin to harbor dark thoughts if it becomes too lonely, too exhausted, too tormented. Then it starts to absorb malice like a sponge, and before long it becomes a wicked spirit.”
“…even though she’s kind at heart?”
“It happens sometimes.”
Long ago, when the cat Miel had cared for suddenly collapsed and became translucent, a maid and butler had explained this to her.
How to cure a weeping, wicked spirit!
“I do hope you recover quickly, Mother. Father wishes to see you more often as well.”
Miel clamped her arms across her chest and closed her eyes.
“Nngh…!”
But unable to recall, she instead grabbed her head and crouched down.
“If it weren’t for me… Mother wouldn’t have become ill.”
“Mmm.”
“I must have been cursed, and it was passed on to Mother as well.”
After that there had been more conversation, but since the memory was from when she was younger, it didn’t come to her clearly now.
‘If I can’t remember this too, I’ll be the biggest fool under heaven…’
“But a spirit with a dark heart grows tremendously powerful and harms those around it. It seeks companions in misery.”
“Co… companions? Then what should…?”
“Well, in that case…”
It came to her!
“Just transfer the curse to me instead. I’ll suffer in your place…”
[….]
Miel’s eyes sparkled with light.
“That’s it!”
“What?”
“Hack!”
Lisarr, who had seized Serniel’s hand while sniffling and had been wholly absorbed in the moment, was caught in the grip of Miel’s grasp.
By the scruff of his neck.
“W-wait…!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Miel released his hand.
‘Hm, why is he so strong…?’
Perhaps because even a cub is still a bear.
While Lisarr was caught off guard, Miel spun around abruptly.
Whatever the urgency, his entire frame practically vibrated with excitement.
Lisarr’s eyes went wide as Miel bolted away.
“Hey, little bear—where are you going?!”
“Miel, I have to cry first!”
“What?”
“The bank repayment means Miel’s departure! Just wait a moment!”
Pop!
In an instant, Miel had transformed into a cub.
“Th-the bank?”
With fluffy fur trembling, Miel vanished in a heartbeat.
“…What on earth was that?”
Where was that innocent little fur ball hurrying off to?
‘I should follow and see.’
It was a shame to part with Mother so soon after this rare reunion, but there was no help for it.
‘The sweet-smelling bear might be hard to meet again!’
So I had to leave Mother and go.
“I’ll just step out for a moment, Mother.”
That was when Lisarr was about to take his first step.
[Lisarr…]
At the sudden sound of that voice, Lisarr’s feet froze.
“…Mother?”
Lisarr turned slowly.
[Come here, Lisarr. Stay with Mother.]
The woman who had been lying down just moments before was now sitting up. And she was smiling with a pallid, ghastly expression.
“…Mother! Mother, you’re awake? Mother!”
Lisarr’s eyes widened.
“I’ll call for Aura right away!”
It was the moment Lisarr, thinking of his physician, turned his body with animated hope.
Something coiled around him.
It crawled up from the floor, gently constricting his wrists and ankles, then slowly dragged him backward.
[Stay with Mother, Lisarr. I’m so cold… so lonely.]
“Mo…ther…?”
His head would not move.
Lisarr’s eyes rolled downward. What wrapped tightly around the boy’s body was pure white hair.
Spilling forth from Mother herself…
Lisarr drew in a sharp breath.
[If not for you, Mother would never have been alone…]
“…!”
Lisarr froze solid.
[You are all Mother needs. I am not lonely… as long as I have you.
So you will stay with me, won’t you?
]
Whoosh.
The dark crimson haze that filled the air seeped into Lisarr’s chest.
“Yes… Mother…”
Soon the light drained from Lisarr’s eyes.
Lisarr settled into his mother’s embrace and slowly closed his eyes.
“I’ve missed you so much…”
Serniel’s hand seemed to stroke the small head, and then slowly she turned her gaze upward.
Her lifeless eyes, contrary to their usual emptiness, lay fixed upon the door that stood slightly ajar.
Creak.
The woman smiled.
The dark crimson mist began to seep out through the doorway.

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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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