Plin Ch 2.10

“Tell him to come to my office when he recovers. I didn’t know he was still chasing after the white fox’s tail. He seemed to be calling for that fox just now, didn’t he?”

Hugo’s strange obsession with the white fox originated from an old fairy tale book that was in the library when he was a child, which told the story of a passionate love between a dragon and a white fox.

After that, when he visited his maternal family in the East, an old dragon elder made a cryptic prophecy, ‘Only a white fox can cure your pain,’ which added fuel to the already burning obsession.

But Lady Baek knew. White foxes were extremely rare in and of themselves. The old man had simply given wise comfort to his nephew, who was suffering from extreme karmic pain, so that he wouldn’t lose hope or, in despair, end his own life.

Hope through a symbolic medium. Something that seemed like it could be found if searched for diligently, unlike ‘rainbows’ or ‘flowing water’. So the white fox was like a bluebird. He couldn’t say, ‘There’s no answer,’ so he gave him a temporary solution.

“Yes. In fact, I already called him, so he should be here soon.”

“Good. You’re doing a good job, Thibeau.”

She looked down at her wristwatch and prepared to leave for her next schedule.

“Excuse me, ma’am, sir, but did Mr. Hugo take any painkillers recently?”

The doctor, who had suddenly intervened, had a slightly trembling tone. He was staring at Thibeau. Lady Baek also looked at Thibeau, waiting for an answer. Thibeau was puzzled by the question itself and answered.

“No. He hasn’t been prescribed any, has he?”

“Any new foods? It could be a natural painkiller.”

“Why are you suddenly asking these questions?”

At Thibeau’s answer, the doctor quickly replied, not even taking a breath.

“A drug test came back positive from the blood test. Traces of it binding to opioid receptors. Until now, we’ve tried over thirty different types of narcotic painkillers for each ‘period,’ but they had no effect, and the tests came back negative.”

The doctor added.

“This means that there was a strong, unknown drug that recently reacted to Mr. Hugo, which is an unbelievable fact.”

“…Recently, you say?”

There was a painkiller that reacted to Hugo? Thibeau’s heart felt like it was about to burst, and he held his breath for a moment.

“Within the last week.”

“When the ‘period’ didn’t come…”

Thibeau murmured blankly.

If the ‘period’ didn’t come and there was a painkiller effect in his body at the same time, it couldn’t be a coincidence. The period likely came. But something acted as a painkiller. What did he miss? Food… intake… something new… within the last week…

Various pieces of information floated in his mind like dust in a pit. As he traced his memory, he couldn’t recall anything useful.

He acted up. As usual, he was being a jerk. Eating… he always ate well, mostly meat… eating, food, drinks, fox drink?

No, he always drinks the fox drink before going to bed, so if that had a painkilling effect, the painful karmic pain wouldn’t be explained. Was there anything new he ate on a one-time basis…

Suddenly, a realization struck him like a flash of light.

“Around that time, he did consume something new.”

“W-What is it?!”

The doctor’s eyes widened, almost bulging.

“…White fox saliva, body fluids, and probably s*men too.”

“Oh, Lord…”

Lady Baek uttered a devout exclamation and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Around that time… he had, um, an experience with the white fox…”

Thibeau was going to say ‘first experience,’ but he corrected himself to ‘that experience’ because it felt like too much information. However, that didn’t lessen the shock of the people.

The mansion was plunged into silence.

A whole floor of the Ydrohan family mansion was a hospital ward. Medical staff were always on standby there, and when Hugo was sick, he received treatment at home 24/7.

The skilled medical staff, who were well-versed in the Ydrohan family’s affairs, were not surprised by most things. They were not surprised that if one accumulated karma and earned resentment, a dragony would suffer from karmic pain, or that even if he didn’t do anything particularly nasty, due to his innate disposition, he would have a lot of anger, and as a result, he would suffer from periodic karmic retribution beams, or that painkillers didn’t work for that karmic pain.

But everyone’s mouths dropped at Thibeau’s hypothesis that ‘s*xual relations with a fox produced bodily fluids that acted as a painkiller for the dragony.’ As if they had made a promise, everyone kept silent and couldn’t say anything.

As the clouds passed, sunlight poured into the hospital room again. Amidst the silence, even the ticking of the second hand of the huge clock that scanned the Roman numerals was loud. Since it was quiet, they had to be more careful. The fox took careful, very careful steps backward.

“The fox is here… catch him…”

The owner of the hospital room, who had fainted and then woke up, muttered in a hoarse voice, and this time, it was Thibeau, not someone else, who darted out.

***

A horse snorted. The landscape was monotonous, with white snow covering the ground and evergreen trees in the coniferous forest. A man jumped off the horse and took off his gloves, and a servant quickly took his belongings. The leather basket on the saddle looked quite full.

The man took out his cell phone with his bare hands, checked the messages, and couldn’t take his eyes off it.

A middle-aged man spoke to him awkwardly.

“It’s nice to enjoy this once in a while. Some people might say it’s old-fashioned to still hunt birds, though.”

He had gotten off his horse along with his companion, who had suddenly stopped.

“Yes.”

The answer was so short that it made the listener feel awkward, and his gaze was fixed on his cell phone. A pathetic twitch appeared on his frozen cheek as he forced a smile. Fortunately, a proper response came soon after.

“I apologize. I was momentarily distracted.”

Seeing him smile brightly, folding his eyes, the middle-aged man guessed.

“It seems like good news.”

“Yes. Things are getting interesting. I need to go back to City Forest today. I’m sorry, I was the one who invited you.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, there’s nothing to be done.”

Originally, this hunting gathering was scheduled to stay in a quiet suburb for about two days to build camaraderie. It was very rude to come all this way, taking time out of his busy schedule, only to have this happen.

The middle-aged man, who had been smiling out of courtesy, hardened his face. He unilaterally broke the promise without even looking at the other person’s expression and rode his horse ahead.

***

Plin pressed his feet firmly on the ground, trying not to be dragged away. But when he realized that his torso was caught in a large hand, his feet were already floating in the air. He was lifted in front of Hugo as lightly as a butterfly.

When Thibeau politely placed Plin on the ground, Hugo opened his eyes weakly and greeted him.

“Hello, fox.”

He was unfamiliar, tied tightly to the metal bed frame for patients. He breathed with a tired look on his face, and the smell of strong disinfectant filled the air.

“It sounds like the title of a self-help book.”

“You, get out.”

“Yes.”

As Thibeau moved back with a shasha sound, Plin also tried to back away, but his wrist was already caught. Even in his restrained state, tied to the bed frame, he didn’t miss the opportunity to grab the fox’s wrist.

“It feels like it’s been a while… since I saw your face.”

His chapped lips murmured. The blood that had pooled like a well in his exposed gums stained his teeth a dark red. Plin flinched and raised his shoulder, and his bloodshot eyes calmly watched the reaction.

His condition was evident. His pale fingertips, the ends of his eyelashes clumped with moisture, and the reddish bruises.

He felt sorry for thinking this about a sick person, but Plin had been terrified since a while ago. The huge horn, as tall as a child, was bizarre even from afar. It looked as if a tree had sprouted from the man’s head, using it as soil, piercing through his scalp.

Up close, its enormous presence was breathtaking. He imagined the horn growing bigger and bigger, piercing people and reaching the ceiling. It was an unrealistic fantasy. In the morning sunlight, the shadow of the horn across his face was strangely serpentine and eerie.

If I get stabbed there, it’ll pierce my stomach in an instant. Plin, whose stomach was weak, worried about his stomach first.

“A-Are you feeling okay?”

He thought he was a giant snake. Not a reindeer, not a reptile, what is he? Plin couldn’t take his eyes off the horn.

“As you can see.”

“…I hope you’ll be healthy in the future.”

Plin gave an awkward blessing and looked around hesitantly. The gazes piercing the nape of his neck were stinging. About thirty pairs of eyes in the hospital room were fixed on him, unmoving.

Staring at guests must not be an upper-class virtue… Was it because a peddler had entered the pristine white space, devoid of even a speck of dust? Plin shrank under the strangely intense atmosphere.

He had dressed up in the most formal clothes he owned, but in the well-lit space, the fluffy fuzz on his sleeves was, ironically, clearly visible. In his embarrassment, he tried to cover the fuzz.

“Release me, and everyone leave.”

Hugo said, looking at the back of the peddler’s head as he examined his surroundings. As if they had been waiting for the order, two medical staff quickly released his restrained limbs.

“And bring some tea for the guest.”

“Yes, of course.”

Their movements were efficient. After the medical staff and maids left in a hurry, a middle-aged, elegant woman looked at Plin with an unreadable expression. She was about to say something to Plin, but she turned around and left.