Episode 3
Zenox rushed out of the tea shop without even saying goodbye.
Laria sat there, stunned.
“He suddenly found Hayangi…?”
She frowned.
“It must be a false report.”
Or maybe they just found a fox that looked like her. After all, it had been three years — it’s not like he’d remember her face clearly.
“If he mistakes that fox for me, that wouldn’t be so bad…”
Wait a second. That would mean someone else gets the 10 billion peso reward?
Now that was frustrating.
Still, at least she managed to get through the meeting without being caught. That was a relief.
Laria held the flyer in one hand as she returned home.
While she was lost in thought, the carriage passed through the gates of the Rohan mansion.
The house was made of white marble, surrounded by gardens full of blooming flowers.
As she looked at the scenery, Laria let out a bitter laugh.
“The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it is.”
She had gone on a blind date with no information — just because the Crown Prince ordered it. What a joke.
Honestly, her family probably didn’t even know she had gone out today. If they had, there would’ve been chaos.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of the mansion’s main entrance.
As she got off, she saw a familiar face.
A silver-haired man with sharp blue eyes stood there with his arms crossed, staring at her.
Though he looked elegant, his face showed a fierce temper. This was Herdin Rohan, her older brother and the eldest son of the Rohan family.
“Why are you home right now?”
Herdin worked as the Crown Prince’s personal physician. He was always so busy that he often worked even on his days off.
It was rare to see him home in the daytime.
“Did you get fired?”
“…I’m on vacation,” he replied, giving her a tired look.
He lowered his arms and nodded toward her.
“I came back after a short errand this morning and heard you were out. Where did you go?”
His questioning made Laria sigh.
Her family always made a big deal whenever she stepped outside. Understandable, maybe, since she had gone missing for half a year once.
“I went on a blind date.”
“Yeah, a blind date— Wait, what?!”
Herdin’s voice shot up so loudly that even the servants working nearby turned to look in surprise. His cheeks flushed, and snake-like scales appeared on his face.
Laria blinked at his over-the-top reaction.
With a furious expression, Herdin grabbed her shoulders and spoke rapidly.
“Why the heck did you go on a blind date? Did Mom and Dad tell you to? Are you thinking about getting married now? Who was it?!”
“I went because the Crown Prince ordered me to.”
At that, Herdin’s pupils narrowed into thin vertical slits like a snake’s.
Laria calmly continued.
“The person was Grand Duke Zenox Crassium.”
All the strength drained from Herdin’s hands.
“…They set you up with that lunatic?”
Lunatic?
Before she could ask what he meant, Herdin nodded to himself, piecing things together.
His eyes gleamed with rage.
“I should kill him.”
“…Kill who?”
“The Crown Prince.”
He said it so casually — right there at the front door.
“You do know that killing royalty is treason, right?”
“Everyone should try being a rebel at least once in their life,” Herdin muttered.
Laria stared at him.
He’d completely lost it.
Worried he might actually do something, Laria pointed to the scales on his cheek and said,
“Let’s go inside and talk. Also, hide your scales.”
Herdin quickly shifted his eyes and face back to normal, and they walked into the drawing room.
Herdin slumped onto the sofa and pulled a small bottle of pills from his pocket, rolling it in his hand.
Laria watched nervously, wondering if it was poison.
“I mentioned you to the Crown Prince a few times. I guess he took it upon himself to set you up.”
The Crown Prince and Zenox were cousins.
The Emperor’s sister had married into the Crassium family, linking them to the royal line.
“I should’ve known something was up when he started saying Zenox was a ‘decent guy.’”
Herdin’s hands shook with anger as he gripped the bottle.
“…That’s not poison, right?”
Laria didn’t want to be executed just for being nearby.
She’d only planned to write a complaint letter to the Crown Prince — not commit a crime.
Instead of answering, Herdin opened the bottle and swallowed the pill in one go.
He showed her the label:
[Tranquilizer]
“If I don’t take this, I really will kill someone.”
His jaw clenched, still full of rage.
“Of all people… Zenox Crassium?!”
To be honest, Zenox had a much higher social rank and more wealth.
He was a Grand Duke — a title no one else had — and had the kind of money that could challenge the Imperial family.
But Herdin reacted as if the Crown Prince had introduced a criminal.
Laria understood, though.
Foxes and wolves didn’t just dislike each other — they despised each other.
Herdin scowled deeply and examined Laria’s face.
“You’re not hurt, are you? You look pale.”
“I always look like this.”
When she replied dryly, Herdin frowned.
To avoid getting lectured, Laria quickly changed the topic.
“So… why did you call him a lunatic?”
“Because he is a lunatic.”
Laria thought back to Zenox.
He had been cold, but didn’t exactly seem crazy.
If anything, the Zenox she met as a fox was more unhinged.
But over time, he had become more gentle… even soft.
As she zoned out, Herdin gave her a suspicious look.
“You turned him down, right?”
“He rejected me.”
“That jerk rejected you?!”
What kind of reaction was that?
“He said he wasn’t interested in marriage. Honestly, it seemed like he was forced to come too.”
Just thinking about it still made her heart pound.
They hadn’t seen each other in three years, and then — boom — she meets him as a blind date?
She was just glad her ears and tail didn’t pop out from the shock.
Herdin clearly didn’t like what he was hearing and frowned even more.
His eyes landed on the flyer in her hand.
“What’s that in your hand?”
Laria showed him the missing pet poster.
“Why’d you bring this home? We already have like a hundred of them.”
True.
Herdin looked down at the flyer in disgust and muttered,
“What’s so special about a fox that he’d go this far?”
Herdin usually didn’t care about Zenox, but now that he knew Laria had been involved with him, he was boiling with hate.
“Don’t marry a guy who’s obsessed with his pet.”
…And that pet is me.
Laria couldn’t say it out loud. She just thought it to herself.
If she revealed she had been kidnapped by Zenox, Herdin might go from “kill the Crown Prince” to “kill the Grand Duke.”
Her family still believed someone had abducted her, and if they learned the truth — that it was Zenox — they’d go to war.
And the Rohan family would lose.
But even so, they’d gladly throw everything away for her sake.
“It’s a good thing they think I lost my memory.”
Pretending to remember nothing was the best shield she had.
Herdin sighed heavily and muttered,
“I really don’t know what the Crown Prince is thinking. He’s always doing weird stuff…”
Then he turned serious and warned her.
“Anyway, I’ll speak to His Highness. You stay away from Zenox Crassium.”
“I will.”
Laria answered with complete confidence.
But just a few days later, her confidence was shattered.
“…Hayangi?”
Because she ran into Zenox Crassium again.
