What a Terminally Ill Villain Needs Is an Arctic Fox Ch 08

 

Chapter 08

Kyle straightened up from where he was comfortably leaning on the sofa while holding the fox, and let the fox go from his arms. He needed to drink his tea, but he couldn’t do it while holding the fox.

The fox slid back onto Kyle’s lap, and Kyle’s hand went up to the fox’s head, stroking the fur that was slipping gently between his fingers as he held the teacup with his other hand.

Kyle lifted the steaming cup of tea up to his lips and slightly lowered his gaze. Then, he took in the weight and said a word.

“It smells good.”

He took a deep breath of the fragrant tea he had just brewed, wetting only the corners of his lips.

“This is Vescha, a specialty of the north.”

“I’m sure you didn’t prepare the car to have this conversation, but it’s not a bad answer.”

Kyle looked at Gray. Gray was looking slightly lower than Kyle’s pupils, not touching the car in front of him. Silence fell between them for a moment.

“So, what do you want to say?”

Click, Kyle put down his teacup, and Gray’s gaze met Kyle’s eyes.

“Before I was a butler, I was a knight of His Highness the Grand Duke.”

“…….”

“I swear that everything I’m going to tell you from now on is true.”

Kyle, who had completely put down the teacup, stroked the fox’s tail again. The lush tail fur gave a different kind of softness than stroking the head. Gray was very serious, but Kyle was completely absorbed in the fox.

“Are you listening?”

“Oh, I hear you all. Tell me.”

Gray regained his composure, though his face looked dubious. Kyle leaned forward a little more to show that he was paying attention to Gray’s words.

The fox also peeked out from Kyle’s arms and listened to their conversation. Gray glanced at the fox’s sparkling purple eyes as if he was interested, and slowly opened his mouth.

“20 years ago, after the war with the Demon Dragon, the North was plunged into an endless winter. The once bountiful land known as the cradle of the Guardians became a mountain of death, covered in ice that never melted throughout the four seasons.”

After a brief background explanation and a brief pause, Gray continued speaking.

“Even before that, the Emperor feared the power of the Archduke Batman, the Guardian and Knight of Millet. Then, after he died in the war with the Dragon, and the protection of the Guardian was lost, the devastated lands of the North became easy prey for the Emperor. All the lands under the Archduke’s jurisdiction were returned to the Imperial Family, and even this mansion became the property of the Imperial Family.”

Although he continued to speak calmly, Kyle could see the resentment in Gray’s eyes. It was a deep emotion that Kyle, who had only recently arrived here after receiving the title of Northern Duke, could not fathom.

‘It’s heavier than I thought.’

It was too heavy a topic to be discussed just to satisfy one’s curiosity.

Kyle nodded in understanding.

“I see, I understand.”

Kyle swallowed the burden rising to the tip of his chin and spoke calmly.

“You must have had a hard time.”

Gray was attached to Grand Duke Batman and everything surrounding him, while Kyle was a stranger who had only arrived in the North a few days ago.

Even though it was originally the Northern Duke’s that had been passed on to the Emperor, it was still something that Kyle had not really felt. Furthermore, because of the curse, it was difficult for him to live past half a year, so he felt uncomfortable with such talk about something he could not take responsibility for.

“I think I can stop here. I think I misunderstood.”

“But there is a condition to this.”

Kyle tried to end the conversation, but Gray wasn’t there. Kyle reluctantly asked because the look in his eyes was so intense.

“Conditions?”

“The newly crowned Grand Duke would come from the North and after a year, all authority would be returned to him.”

For a moment, Kyle felt a ding in his head, as if someone had hit him with a hammer.

He thought that it was impossible for the emperor who sent him here to arrange for him to truly rest and die in peace. However, it was too shocking that the emperor, the person who had been cursed in his stead, was being used in a fight for a bowl of rice.

“Is that something the current emperor himself said before I came?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

Kyle was speechless.

‘If I had continued to be sick, wouldn’t I have died without even knowing this?’

For some reason, I haven’t been sick since I came to the North, but if things had gone as they were, I wouldn’t have had the time to have tea time with Gray or the energy to talk about this. And my body would have gradually been consumed by the curse, and I would have died within a few months.

‘Wait a minute, this isn’t it.’

A person who can die within a year. A person in the best position to be sent to the Northern Grand Duke.

For a moment, a chill ran down my spine at the thought that the two combinations were Kyle himself.

‘I deliberately made the Emperor put a curse on me…. No, this is too much. If I hadn’t been cursed in that place instead of the Emperor, the Emperor would have been cursed.’

But as expected, there were still a few questions that remained unanswered. However, like Pandora’s box, Kyle intentionally cut off the thoughts that were extending outward, as if he had crossed a river of no return once he reached the end of this line of thought.

‘No, it’s okay.’

Kyle tried to pretend like nothing happened and picked up the teacup, but then he noticed his fingertips were shaking and bit his hand back.

“Gray.”

Kyle said, stroking the fox with trembling hands.

“I want to be alone, can you come out for a moment?”.

With the sound of the door closing, Kyle collapsed onto the sofa.

It was only a suspicion that the curse was caused by the Emperor, but even if it wasn’t Kyle, it was certain that someone with a limited lifespan would have come here as the Grand Duke. When he felt his throat choke up and tears were about to fall, the fox came to Kyle’s bedside and licked his cheek. Then it lay down next to Kyle and leaned against him, and he felt his heart sink.

‘If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have met you.’

He stretched out his arms and hugged the fox.

The fox’s presence, which I had momentarily forgotten, felt so great that it made my ribs ache.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Even though he had a new life, Kyle had no happy memories.

Rather than the time he spent with the fox yesterday, it was the happiest and most precious moment of his life, more so than the time he spent with the fox in the past three years. It was joyful, warm, and sweet.

Kyle buried his face in the fox’s soft fur and enjoyed its warmth. His cold body and mind quickly warmed up after holding the fox. Just two days ago, he had warmed the fox’s cold body, and now the fox was melting Kyle’s frozen heart.

‘How lucky I am to know this guy before he dies.’

After rubbing his face against the fox’s fur, he raised his head and admired the cute Arctic fox’s face. The fox’s gaze, which met Kyle’s gaze, was so beautiful and lovely that it was hard to look at it over and over again. Kyle felt his heart pounding as he looked at the fox.

“Ha ha ha.”

Kyle suddenly burst into laughter. He was beyond happy with the fox, and was excited about the time he would spend with her.

‘I can’t waste the little time I have left like this.’

With that thought, Kyle jumped up from the sofa, still holding the fox in his arms.

Since I wasn’t feeling well anyway, there was no reason to obsess over it if I didn’t have to work.

“Shall we go for a walk?”

The fox’s ears perked up as it was held in Kyle’s arms like a baby. The fox escaped from Kyle’s arms and ran to the door in an instant. Then it turned its head to look at Kyle with eyes full of anticipation.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Kyle also ran towards the door, laughing like a child.

Gray, who had been waiting outside the door, looked momentarily puzzled at the sight of the Northern Duke and the white cotton ball running excitedly down the hallway, but soon followed after them with a faint smile.

“Your Highness, you should wear outerwear.”

Eventually, Kyle was caught by Gray, given permission to go outside after putting on his outerwear.

If yesterday I ran towards the main gate of the mansion, this time I turned around to go straight to the back gate behind the mansion. The winter scenery was all the same, but it was still quite exciting to pioneer a new path, even at my age.