The Baby Bear of the Black Fox Mansion - Chapter 8

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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 8
A woman with sharp, upturned eyes and a short brown bob, her irises the same warm brown, hesitated as she opened her mouth.
“It’s just… I went to attend to the lady again today, and…”
“Don’t equivocate.”
“My apologies. The lady—she’s awakened.”
……!
Before the words had finished, Zerpeon brushed past Aura’s side.
Aura hurried after him as his long strides carried him away.
“But something’s wrong!”
……?
“It’s hard to explain exactly what’s wrong, but… the young master hasn’t left the lady’s side, and even when I speak to him, he won’t respond properly…”
He slowed.
Zerpeon’s pace faltered for a moment.
“Is Lisar there?”
“Pardon? Oh, yes.”
He nodded and quickened his pace again, entering the Corridor where Serniel’s room lay—then stopped.
‘The cold…’
Until now, the chill had filled only the room, but now it suffused the entire Corridor. A shiver ran down his spine.
Zerpeon stepped into her room with worry etched across his face.
The air inside was frigid enough to freeze.
The Fireplace was not merely extinguished but its logs lay locked in ice, and Serniel’s face seemed even more pallid than ever before.
“…El?”
As Zerpeon murmured her name softly, struck by an odd sense of strangeness, she turned her head slowly.
Eyes of murky crimson, devoid of light, fixed upon him.
With pale lips curved in a faint smile, Serniel’s mouth moved.
“Jerry.”
“You’ve woken?”
“…Yes.”
A soft sound.
The corners of her eyes lifted.
“Come here. I’ve missed you.”
“…El.”
At her call, Zerpeon’s expression brightened slightly.
He knelt on one knee at the foot of the bed where she sat.
“Several renowned physicians have come and gone, yet none could resolve your ailment. What on earth has happened?”
Serniel stroked Lisar’s hair—the boy nestled quietly in her arms, ice-cold as her hands were—with fingers as frigid as ice.
“Transfer the Curse to me instead. Let me bear the suffering in your place…”
Serniel laughed.
“It’s all thanks to Lisar.”
“Lisar…?”
“Yes.”
Zerpeon turned his head, eyes narrowing, to regard Lisar.
“If you were going to stay by your mother’s side, you should have said something. I was worried when you vanished.”
……
“Why did you skip lessons yesterday and today both?”
……
Zerpeon posed the questions, but Lisar remained cradled in Serniel’s embrace, offering no response.
Life itself seemed to have drained from him.
“Lisar.”
……
Nothing.
Zerpeon’s brow furrowed deeply.
The moment his hand reached out to grasp Lisar’s—
Crack!
The hand was struck away.
……!
“Young master!”
Zerpeon’s eyes flew wide.
Not solely because Lisar had struck his hand away, though that in itself was shocking enough…
‘…His hand is like ice.’
It wasn’t merely cold. It was beyond freezing.
At this temperature, hypothermia should have set in long ago without question.
The Fox Tribe naturally ran warmer than humans on average.
“…Lisar.”
“Don’t touch me. When I think about how father brought mother here but failed to protect her properly, it makes me angry.”
“……What?”
Zerpeon froze where he stood.
“Father didn’t keep his promise to mother. Because of father, I’m the one people point fingers at for being cursed. Because of this black fur…….”
“…….”
“The truth is, I’m not the one who’s cursed. It’s father.”
“……!”
He drew in a sharp breath without thinking.
Within his wide-open crimson irises, Zerpeon’s pupils trembled finely, drawn tight in shock.
“Now, Lisar—is that any way to speak to your father?”
“…I’m sorry, mother.”
At her gentle reproach, Lisar whimpered and burrowed into Serniel’s embrace like a child.
Zerpeon, who had been watching the situation unfold in silence, rose from his seat. Serniel spoke then.
“I’m sorry, Zerpeon. It seems Lisar missed me very much.”
“…….”
Zerpeon gazed at the two of them without speaking.
This was the reunion he had longed for so desperately, yet the joy evaporated in an instant, vanishing like mist.
“…….”
“I’ll rest for now. I’ll comfort Lisar too, so he’ll be fine soon.”
“…Yes, I’m grateful he’s awake at least. Perhaps have Aura examine him first, in case there are any health concerns.”
“Next time.”
Serniel smiled.
“Serniel.”
“I’ll do it next time. Leave us now, I’m tired.”
At her firm dismissal, Zerpeon closed his mouth.
He stood there for a long moment in silence before giving a small nod and turning away slowly.
“I’ll return this evening.”
He exhaled a long breath. His breath froze in the cold, crystallizing instantly.
“Please, do eat something.”
“…….”
There was no reply.
Zerpeon left the room and lifted his head with a rigid expression.
Something was wrong.
The person he had spoken with was certainly his wife, Serniel, and their child, Lisar.
Zerpeon’s reason clearly identified them as the same people.
And yet his heart thrummed with unease.
“Aura, find out who has visited her room these past few days. Whether anyone came or went without permission.”
“…Yes.”
“And have the butler send word to Zeros Nordic. Tell him the debt I owe has come due, and to come with all speed.”
“I’ll convey it at once. As for the lady…….”
Zerpeon blinked slowly.
“Care for her as you always have, with attention to every detail. And if possible, arrange a health examination for both of them. Lisar’s body temperature was…… remarkably low.”
“Yes.”
Abnormally low.
“Go.”
“Yes, sir.”
Aura departed quickly.
‘Brainwashing? A Curse?’
If something had truly befallen them that he didn’t know about, the last thing he needed was to blunder in and make things worse.
‘Not this again…….’
Something undefined had gone wrong.
Zerpeon’s hands clenched into fists.
His temples throbbed.
“The truth is, I’m not the one who’s cursed. It’s father.”
As he strode down the Corridor, his pace gradually slowed until he came to a complete stop.
‘…Is it really because of me?’
The Crimson Mist that filled the Corridor coiled around Zerpeon’s ankles and began creeping slowly upward.
“Again…! A black fox again……! Ah! Damn it, I thought this generation would finally break free of this curse……! And now this from my own bloodline……!”
“The Black Fox brings Curses, they say. Have you heard? She nearly killed the instructor with her wicked sorcery.”
“Yes, it would be nice if she just dropped dead somewhere.”
“Well, in any case, the Black Fox will never become head of the household anyway. Why not send her into exile like the last black fox and let her die out there?”
“All you’ve ever done since the day you were born is make others miserable.”
A memory, long forgotten, suddenly clawed its way into his mind.
Zerpeon’s head sank slowly downward.
“…….”
The Crimson Mist that had crept upward now covered the lower half of Zerpeon’s body and was spreading across his upper half.
Sting!
A sharp prick in his leg made Zerpeon flinch.
In that instant, the dark and sinister thoughts that had filled his mind vanished without a trace.
Startled, he lowered his gaze.
“Are you okay……?”
A familiar child was looking up at him with a worried face.
“…….”
Was it because he was a little bear?
Everything about him seemed so round—his face, his small mouth hanging open in surprise, even his eyes.
It was an odd thought, but somehow a welcome one. The fog that had clouded his mind cleared in an instant.
“……So you’re my little bear.”
“Y-yes…….”
“…….”
For some reason, the child looked terribly bedraggled.
His cheeks bore small scratches, and twigs and leaves stuck haphazardly through his hair.
What’s more, he was completely damp, as though he’d been covered in dirt and then cleaned off.
He looked as though he’d just rolled down a mountainside.
At the sight of him, Zerpeon let out an involuntary chuckle.
“Little bear, why do you look such a mess?”
“……!”
But at his remark, Miel’s lips pressed thin before forming into a small triangle, and he quickly stumbled backward.
In an instant, a gap opened between them.
“……?”
Zerpeon blinked, utterly bewildered.

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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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