Episode 10
When Laria woke up in the morning, she looked at herself in the mirror.
“Kyahh!!”
She was still a baby fox.
Only then did Laria realize how serious the situation was.
‘What if I can never go back to normal?’
She had thought she would return to her human form by now. That was way too optimistic.
“Fluffy?”
The butler looked at her with a puzzled face and called out.
Laria cried and whimpered, trying to express her frustration.
But the butler didn’t understand her at all.
“Are you hungry?”
‘That’s not the point!’
The butler just thought she was an animal.
She needed to tell him she was a beastkin (half-human, half-animal).
“Kyong! Kyaaang!”
‘I’m a beastkin!’
Sigh…
But all that came out were fox sounds. She couldn’t speak words.
Laria ran around the room. It was a large space with only a desk, a bookshelf, and a chair.
She tried jumping onto the bookshelf but failed — her short legs made her tumble back down.
She bumped her head and groaned.
Nothing worked in this tiny body.
The butler, watching her struggle, helped her up onto the bookshelf.
Laria quickly grabbed a book with her mouth and dropped it to the floor.
The book opened, and Laria jumped down right away.
“Fluffy!”
The butler shouted in surprise.
But she was so light that she landed just fine.
Laria scanned the page full of words.
She stepped on the letters, one by one, trying to spell:
[I. A.M. A. B.E.A.S.T.K.I.N.]
But her paws were too big to point to the letters clearly.
The butler tilted his head, confused.
“Do you want to play with the paper?”
“Kyong! Grr!”
‘Bring ink too, please!’
The butler soon brought paper, a pen, and ink — maybe thinking she wanted to draw.
Before he could stop her, Laria dipped her paw in the ink and stamped it on the paper.
Immediately, the butler grabbed her paw and wiped it clean with a handkerchief.
“You’re not Fluffy now, you’re Stainy.”
Stainy?! Horrible!
Knowing he might actually call her that, Laria quietly let him clean her.
She tried again and again to reveal her identity — but failed every time.
A week passed since she was taken.
‘This can’t go on.’
She wasn’t changing back, and no one suspected she was actually a beastkin.
‘What if I really turn into a fox forever?’
Walking on four legs now felt more natural than walking on two.
She kept wanting to burrow into blankets like a fox den.
Even her food preferences had changed — she liked what foxes ate.
She needed to return to her original form before she changed completely.
‘I have to escape.’
Her family might find a solution if she could get back home.
‘If only he would take me back where I came from…’
But the man who kidnapped her hadn’t left his room or seen anyone in a week.
They only ran into each other once — and even then, he showed no interest in her.
He just passed by, even when she tried to get his attention and tripped.
He glanced down at her, then silently went back into his room.
Laria fumed inside.
‘What’s wrong with this guy?’
People just called him “Master,” so she didn’t even know his name.
But she did notice that everyone around him seemed afraid of him.
After thinking hard, Laria clenched her soft pink paw pads.
‘That’s it. I’ll leave tonight.’
She couldn’t live like this anymore.
That night, when the sun had fully set, Laria crept out of her bed.
She slipped into the hallway, which was dark and silent.
The only light came from the pale moon outside the window.
It felt like something might jump out of the darkness any second.
Laria swallowed nervously and ran like a hunted animal.
Soon, she reached the stairs and hesitated.
They were taller than she expected.
Taking a deep breath, she jumped — but didn’t land properly and rolled all the way down.
Her whole body hurt, and her soft white fur was a mess.
‘How am I going to get out of this mansion and find my way home?’
She had only gotten down the stairs and already felt exhausted.
Leaning against the wall, she stumbled forward.
She walked for a long time but still couldn’t find the front door.
It felt like a maze.
‘Maybe I should just go back…’
She probably couldn’t escape before morning anyway.
Maybe she should plan better and try again later.
CRASH!!
A loud noise behind her made her jump.
Something shattered — over and over again.
It was so loud, it could wake the whole house, but no one came out.
‘A thief?’
Laria crouched low and slowly moved toward the sound.
If it was a burglar, maybe she could follow them out.
But instead, she found the man — standing alone in the hallway.
Moonlight through the window shone on the long sword in his hand.
Broken furniture and shattered ceramics lay all around him.
Laria gasped. Her eyes shook.
‘He’s insane…’
Even if this was his house, who destroys everything in the middle of the night?
She tried to sneak away, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.
But he noticed her faster than she could run.
‘Eek!’
Startled, she let out a fox yelp.
He looked at her — and Laria saw it clearly.
Something was wrong with his eyes.
His golden eyes shimmered with something unnatural.
Her body froze. She couldn’t move.
He slowly stepped forward.
Laria braced herself — but he stepped back instead.
‘Huh?’
She let out the breath she had been holding and blinked.
Then —
Clang—
He dropped his sword.
Then collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
‘What the…?’
Laria nervously approached him and poked him with her paw.
“Grr?”
‘Hey, are you dead?’
He didn’t move. Her heart dropped.
Should she get someone?
She climbed onto his body and touched his nose with her paw.
She felt his breath — faint, but steady.
‘Whew, not dead.’
Just as she was about to leave, he groaned softly.
“Ugh…”
His face was twisted in pain.
His groans were so strained, it made her feel awful just listening.
It looked like he was having a horrible nightmare — he was even gasping for air.
Laria looked at him and turned away.
There was nothing she could do to help.
It was smarter to just go back to her room.
But after a few steps, she stopped.
‘I should leave him… but why do I feel so bothered?’
Even though he was the one who kidnapped her.
‘I don’t even know the way back. And I’m tired anyway…’
She thought of all kinds of excuses to stay.
‘If something bad happens while I’m gone, I’ll feel guilty.’
After hesitating, Laria curled up beside him.
His body was so warm — like a heated stone.
‘I hope he doesn’t try to kill me when he wakes up…’
His warmth made her sleepy, and soon she drifted off.
She fell asleep listening to his now calm breathing.
Some time later, she heard him stirring.
“…A fox?”
He tried to sit up, but Laria stretched out across his chest.
‘Why is my bed moving?’
Still half asleep, she slapped her paw down, telling him not to move.
He froze like a log.
As he breathed, his chest rose and fell under her tiny body.
Enjoying the warmth, Laria fell back asleep.
When the servants later came to clean up, they found the two of them sound asleep — snuggled up together.
And from that day on, something began to change between them.
