TFTVGD 05

Chapter 5 …

It was when only about one centimeter of distance remained.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

The one who grabbed my hand and blocked me wasn’t the Duke but his bodyguard, Fior.

At Fior’s loud shout, the Duke’s vacant gaze returned to focus.

‘I’m doomed.’

I thought the Duke was taking a walk alone, but apparently, Fior had been guarding him from a hidden position.

Why didn’t I notice that?

“What are you doing to His Excellency? Speak the truth!”

Are you crazy? Would you tell the truth in this situation?

I quickly shook Fior’s hand off and spun around to escape.

“Stop right there!”

Fior chased after me, but who would be better at running—me or a fox?

After doubling around the corner twice and momentarily losing Fior, I tore my maid sleeve and transformed into a fox to run even faster.

Turning another corner, I stopped, holding the torn sleeve in my mouth.

Counting silently to five, Fior jumped out from the corner and panted heavily as he looked at me.

“Huff… huff… did I lose it…?”

Once Fior caught his breath, the Duke slowly appeared behind him.

His head still throbbed from the effects of the seduction, and he pressed his palms against his temples.

“…Did you catch it?”
“No. It ran away.”

No, dummy. It’s right here.

“Clearly, you’re quite skilled. Too fast.”
“Aren’t you slow?”
“No… it’s just… way too fast…”

The Duke pushed Fior aside and lowered his gaze to look at me.

“So, it seems this one was chasing that person.”

I’m glad I tore my sleeve after all.

The girl who had been seducing him disappeared, and I appeared in her place. If the Duke suspected, it would’ve been bad, but he likely never imagined I could be that girl.

The Duke leaned down, stroked my head, and took the piece of maid uniform I had in my mouth.

“You’re even better than Fior.”
“Are you comparing me to a fox right now?”
“It must be an assassin, right?”

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Technically, it wasn’t an assassin—just a harmless thief trying to retrieve what’s theirs.

“Your Excellency, do you remember the woman’s face from earlier?”
“…No.”
“Then let’s first check if anyone left during mealtime.”
“She approached very boldly. She must have made an alibi before moving.”

The Duke handed the torn sleeve to Fior.

“First, find out if anyone’s clothes were torn. Also, see if any of the staff can use magic.”
“Magic?”
“I don’t know what kind, but it seemed magical. My head’s dizzy.”
“What kind of magic?”
“Well… while watering the garden, she dropped a bucket. Then, when our eyes met, I suddenly went blank. I couldn’t think… just… a little…”

The Duke sighed and continued.

“It felt like… desire was rising.”
“What kind of desire?”

At Fior’s question, the Duke flatly refused to answer.

I swallowed dryly. I had clearly underestimated these two.

Fior, who could guard nearby without even being noticed, wasn’t surprising, having seen many like him over a thousand years.

But the Duke… did he remember?

Usually, one forgets what happened before being seduced. No matter what, you couldn’t recall the event or how it happened.

It was like dealing with a supernatural being with similar divine power—completely unresponsive.

‘…What if this fails too?’

I really felt doomed this time. All I needed was to snatch the fox orb. This is maddening.

As my tail drooped to the ground, Fior spoke.

“In any case, we’ll increase security.”
“Right. The young lady of the Peluaga family will arrive the day after tomorrow, so quietly gather information if possible. There’s no benefit to an unsettled atmosphere.”

The young lady of Peluaga?

I pricked up my ears and looked at the Duke again.

The young lady of Peluaga arrives the day after tomorrow.

I finally understood why this situation differed slightly from the novel I had read.

The novel, inspired by “The Lady and Dolsoe,” wasn’t exactly adult content. It was about Roselia of a financially declining but honor-conscious count family and the love of a bodyguard protecting her family.

One day, the Duke’s family arranged a marriage with Roselia’s family, and her father, desperate for money, readily agreed.

Roselia, secretly continuing her love, had no choice but to marry into the Duke’s household. But she chose love over money and honor and fled.

The Duke then offered a bounty for Roselia, scouring the empire to find her.

Roselia endured severe hardships, so much that readers debated in the comments whether it was really a happy ending.

Roselia and the male lead, Lucas, had no path to ordinary happiness.

Royal guards chased her everywhere, and toward the end, their siege tightened further.

With nowhere left to run, Roselia decided to confront the Duke directly.

She had intended to find a weakness in the Duke to negotiate her release…

But the clever Roselia, experienced from many trials, discovered a huge secret: the Duke had long been preparing for rebellion.

She calmly collected evidence and reported it to the Crown Prince. The Duke met his end at the execution block—a fitting fate for a villain.

Yet, every time the Duke smiled at me, a fox, it didn’t match the villain in the novel, and it felt strange.

Hearing that the young lady of Peluaga was coming, I realized:

‘Ah… this is before Roselia married the Duke.’

So it was before Roselia fled and chaos ensued.

Well, he’s still a villain preparing for rebellion, but:

‘At least it’s not a tense, dangerous period every day.’

I turned my gaze to Tiris Mountain, where I had first met the Duke.

‘If I follow this plan, I can get the fox orb.’

I gave the Duke a parting glance and slipped out of his castle through a small opening.

Using the seduction technique had drained my magical power, so upon reaching Tiris Mountain, I transformed into my nine-tailed fox form.

‘Ugh… is it because I don’t have the fox orb? Using a little magic and already this exhausted…’

If anyone passed by, I’d need to hide my tails.

Being a small fox would burn fewer calories and feel less tiring, but:

‘I’m originally human.’

I had wanted to be human for a thousand years, not a fox.

Following the valley stream, I finally heard the grand, refreshing sound of water.

‘Here it is.’

It was the Rainbow Waterfall, said to have a rainbow all year round.

The water cascading down carried the dawn light, stitching seven-colored rainbows across it.

I lightly flew toward where the rainbow arched.

‘Alright. Let’s wait here.’

Soon, in the novel, the young lady of Peluaga would come to see the waterfall and accidentally drop her ring.

Though events followed from that, I intended to meet her and ‘slightly’ twist the story.

I perched on a rock like training, lightly stroking my tail as I waited.

How much time passed?

When the daytime moon hung white in the clear sky, a noblewoman emerged from the mist of the waterfall.

I felt a strange sensation upon seeing her.

The young lady of Peluaga had always been my favorite character in the novel.

Not because of her personality, but because her human appearance resembled mine—not when disguised as someone else, but truly human form.

A thousand years had passed, my hair had whitened, and my eyes had turned red after crying as a fox.

‘She really does look like me.’

The young woman had shimmering silver hair and red eyes like mine.

‘In Joseon, people would mistake her for a gumiho…’

But in this novel, apparently it was fine.

She watched the waterfall for a long while, then leaned over and dipped her hand into the flowing water.

As she stirred the cold water with a dark expression, her ring glittered and sank beneath the lake.

“Oh!”

Panicking, she withdrew her hand.

“Uh… what do I do!”

Her face turned pale.

You can’t just pull your hand out and expect to get it back.

‘Time for me to step in.’

I stood and leapt into the lake.

The waterfall’s strong current tossed me, but I soon retrieved her lost ring.

Rising from below the waterfall, smoke rose with a pop around me.

Startled, she stumbled backward, and I smirked.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve looked like this.’

No black hair or black eyes tailored for Korean society—my natural human form, silver hair and red eyes, similar to hers.

The nine tails remained to emphasize my presence, and the unfamiliar hanbok made me seem even more mystical.

Since it was our first meeting, I should gently indicate who I was.

I extended my hand.

On my palm were the other two rings I had just made: one of grass, one of wood.

“Is this grass ring yours?”
“…What?”

I raised an eyebrow; she shook her head.

“No… no.”

I then showed her the roughly circular wooden ring.

“Then is this wooden ring yours?”
“…No.”

Finally, I showed her the golden ring retrieved from the lake.

“Then is this gold ring yours?”

She covered her mouth with her hand and nodded.

“Yes…”

“You’re honest. I’ll give you the grass and wooden rings too.”

Like the story of the golden and silver axes—different from the original, but the symbolism is enough.

Using my divine power, I presented all three rings. She accepted them bewilderedly.

“Th… thank you.”

Right. I saved her from the trouble these rings would cause later.

I smiled calmly and stepped closer.

“You…”

Up close, she really resembled me. Of course, my features might be slightly prettier.

“Shall I help you?”
“…Help me with what?”

Do you know why clever, cunning people are called ‘foxes’?

“You… want to run away, don’t you?”

This was the plan from the start.

Become the fairy godmother and gift freedom to Cinderella.

“I’ll be Roselia Peluaga in your place.”

I would become the Cinderella gumiho version.