What a Terminally Ill Villain Needs Is an Arctic Fox 09

 

Chapter 09

“And……!”

Then Kyle turned onto the path behind the mansion and discovered a small lake.

It was midwinter, and the lake was completely frozen white. Kyle threw a small rock rolling around on the shore to see how solid the ice was.

The rock bounced with a thud. It had been thrown with considerable force, but only a small scratch remained on the solid ice surface. Kyle’s face lit up with anticipation.

“Fox, let’s do something fun.”

The fox, who had been sitting at Kyle’s feet and watching how far the stone he had thrown would slide, quickly grabbed Kyle’s arms and held onto him. Then Kyle jumped right into the lake. The solid layer of ice, as if he were standing on the ground, easily supported their weight.

“It’s a shame there are no skates.”

Kyle, holding the fox in his arms, created a boundary line with fallen branches.

“Whoever gets to the end first wins?”

The fox snorted and nodded at the familiar running race. Up until now, Kyle had never been able to beat the fox.

“Okay, then.”

Kyle chuckled and placed the fox on the ground. The fox stood on the ice, hunched over, looking uneasy.

“Start!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kyle’s body shot out, and the fox also ran away.

“Hahahaha!”

But soon Kyle burst out laughing and collapsed on the floor, as the fox, who had become a salt wolf on the icy floor, spun around and slid in a completely different direction.

When he tried to get up, he would become a salt shaker again, and even when he managed to keep his balance and tried to run, he would soon fall down onto the ice. Later, he was lying face down on the ice, not getting up, and glaring at Kyle with a blank expression.

“Haha, so cute.”

Kyle approached the fox, lowering his posture as if he was skating, and pulled the fox into his arms. The side of his belly that was touching the ice was cold, but the sound of his hot heart beating was clear, so Kyle closed his eyes while holding the fox like that.

“Kkiung.”

I envied the fox’s vitality. I envied its freedom. If I had any life left, I wanted to live no more, no less, just until the fox died.

“…….”

Kyle opened his eyes again. He looked down at the fox with calm, sunken eyes and rubbed his cheek against the fox’s.

“It was fun, wasn’t it?”

The fox snorted reluctantly and rubbed his head against Kyle’s chin.

“Should we go inside and see what else there is?”

Kyle wanted to play on the ice more, but he thought that the fox might get upset and run away, so he got out of the lake and lowered the fox to the ground. The fox shook its fur once and ran quickly down another path along the lakeshore.

“Let’s go together.”

Kyle chased after the fox, speaking urgently, afraid that he would lose it, but the fox, as if telling him not to worry, sat down on the ground and waited for Kyle to come to him. On the ground, it would have been a thousand years before Kyle could beat the fox.

The fox narrowed his eyes and smiled as he watched Kyle approaching him with a relaxed expression.

*

That night, after returning from his walk, Gray gave Kyle a notebook.

The rough leather cover, with its stitching marks clearly visible as if it had been handmade, was shabby, but the contents inside were filled with beautiful handwriting that would not be out of place to anyone who saw them.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Although there was no name written on it, Kyle could guess who had written the note as soon as he saw it.

“It looks like it might be an observation journal since it includes the date, time, temperature, and humidity, but I don’t have the hobby of growing things.”

“Me too.”

“Isn’t this something you wrote?”

“You’re right.”

“…….”

Kyle stared at Gray, speechless.

“Before Grand Duke Batman died, his wife, Lady Sophia, was pregnant. And this is the diary of raising Grand Duke Batman’s only heir by my own hands.”

Kyle looked a little surprised to find out that it was a parenting diary, although he had naturally assumed it was written by Gray. However, he soon discovered something strange.

“The successor?”

Gray blinked slowly. He didn’t seem to notice anything strange.

“There is a successor, so why should I…….”

Kyle’s face hardened as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

“Is he dead by any chance?”

“It’s similar. Because everyone knows they’re dead.”

“This.”

I didn’t hear the full story, but I knew that even if he were alive, it wouldn’t be possible to re-establish him as a successor.

Gray shook his head as he watched Kyle become discouraged as if it were his own business.

“That’s not the important thing.”

Gray corrected the conversation, which had briefly deviated from the topic.

“For 20 years, there has been no owner of this land. My wish was to serve His Highness the new Grand Duke before my life ends. Now that Grand Duke Rueldirman has come to that place, I think it is time to show him what I have protected all this time.”

Kyle’s brow furrowed. He didn’t like Gray’s one-sided approach. Gray looked like a child who wanted to be praised for what he had accomplished.

“Do I really need to read the parenting diary of my successor who is no longer here?”

“That’s what I thought. Whoever becomes the ruler of the North must know the truth about everything that has happened here.”

The moment Kyle met Gray’s gaze, his heart sank. He was already ready to tell Kyle everything.

“……As you know, I am cursed. I would be lucky if I could live even half a year, let alone a year.”

The land that Gray had protected would probably be lost forever because of Kyle’s death. It wasn’t Kyle’s fault, but Kyle was uncomfortable with Gray’s attitude of acknowledging himself as the Northern Duke. No, it was more accurate to say that he was uncomfortable with the conversation with him, who was saying that he would die.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see this.”

Even though he tried to forget it, the traces of the curse that were wrapped around his body like shackles shook Kyle’s heart dozens of times a day. Accepting death did not mean it was okay. What could he do, barely breathing, with a dark future on the verge of his eyes?

I am so envious of the life of a fox, who is nothing more than a beast.

“You won’t die.”

Kyle nervously shoved the book at Gray.

“Stop.”

“The day I first met His Highness the Grand Duke, I saw something special in His Highness the Grand Duke. For a moment, I thought I was seeing things wrong… but it was the protection of the Guardian Spirit.”

“Gray.”

Kyle called Gray’s name in a low voice. It was a clear warning. The air around him froze for a moment.

“Eww.”

A fox’s cry, which did not fit the atmosphere, was heard. The two looked down at the sound. The tense air between the two was relieved as the fox looked up with its transparent purple eyes.

I was just warming myself in front of the fireplace when I got here.

Kyle bent down and patted the fox’s head, slightly surprised that he had been so focused on Gray that he hadn’t even noticed the fox’s presence.

“Why? Are you hungry?”

Kyle’s warm expression and voice as he asked the fox was in stark contrast to his attitude towards Gray.

The fox shook its head briefly as if it understood Kyle’s words, then tapped Gray’s trouser leg with its forepaw. It was clearly a gesture telling anyone to leave.

Gray looked at Kyle with a puzzled expression, and Kyle nodded in return, echoing the fox’s tone.

“I want to rest.”

Kyle sat down on the bed with a tired look on his face and sighed.

The fox scurried over to Kyle and jumped onto the bed. It curled up next to Kyle, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and rested its head on Kyle’s lap. Kyle relaxed his tight lips and stroked the fox’s head.

“Then, I will step down.”

Gray stared at the fox and placed the note on the nightstand next to the bed. Kyle’s eyes were fixed on the fox the whole time, so he didn’t see it.

As soon as he heard the door close, Kyle took off his slippers and lay down on the bed. The soft fox fur that had become more familiar than the soft comforter soon burrowed into Kyle’s arms.