CHAPTER 02
“Rendel.”
‘Has his voice not even broken yet? Well… Esteban is only thirteen right now.’
I carefully lifted my gaze and examined his face.
His shimmering silver hair looked like it was sprinkled with stars, and his blood-red eyes immediately caught attention.
Thinking about how he would grow into the most handsome man in the world in a few years, my tail started swaying on its own.
‘As expected, handsome men are the best benefit of novels.’
Nodding to myself in satisfaction, I suddenly felt a gaze from above and looked up.
Before I knew it, Esteban had come right up to me and was frowning as he looked down at me, crouched at his feet.
“Why is there a beast inside the mansion?”
“Y-Young Master, she’s not a beast; she’s the contractor sent from the Fenec family—!”
“What?”
Rendel hurriedly tried to correct him, glancing at me nervously, but Esteban only looked more incredulous after hearing it.
“How ridiculous.”
His gaze toward me showed clear distrust, without even trying to hide it. Seeing that blunt expression left a bitter taste in my mouth.
‘Yeah, I get it. A tiny desert fox that barely reaches a child’s knees claiming it’ll stop a mana rampage—it does sound absurd.’
Still, there was no way for me to communicate properly.
So, as a gesture of goodwill, I sat down and held out my front paw.
Esteban immediately turned his head away.
…Wait, does he seriously think I’m just a regular fox? I’m a beastkin. A beastkin!
“Send it back.”
“Pardon?”
‘What?’
At his unexpected words, I instinctively turned to look at Rendel.
Rendel also looked flustered as he asked,
“What do you mean, Young Master?”
“You don’t actually think a fox that can’t even transform into a human can stop a rampage, do you, Rendel?”
“……”
“Contact Fenec and tell them to send another contractor. I cannot accept this contract.”
Those were not words I expected from a thirteen-year-old.
I already knew from the novel how sharp his tongue was, but hearing it in person was completely different.
Even though I had endured the Grand Duke’s contempt earlier, this time I couldn’t hold it in.
“Kyap! Kyap!!”
I slammed my tail against the floor and shouted at him.
Rendel’s eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing that, Esteban smirked.
“Quite the temper.”
“Kyap!”
‘Look who’s talking!’
It felt like sparks were flying between us.
Caught in the middle, Rendel cleared his throat awkwardly and stepped in.
“Young Master Esteban, I apologize, but we cannot send Miss Poblyan back to Fenec.”
“Why not?”
“Because His Grace, the Grand Duke, has already approved it.”
Rendel explained calmly, like a kind grandfather.
After hearing that, Esteban—
“It seems Father plans to step down as head of the house soon.”
“……”
“He must be losing his mind.”
‘That’s Esteban for you.’
Even though he mocked heavily, once he heard that Hardiun had approved it, he didn’t insist on sending me back anymore.
Still, clearly dissatisfied, he slammed his door shut as if he were trying to break it.
‘Go ahead, break it while you’re at it.’
The loud bang echoed through the hallway, making my ears ring.
I carefully lifted my paw and touched my ears, wondering if they might be bleeding.
Rendel spoke apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Miss Poblyan. Young Master Esteban is currently very emotionally unstable.”
Seeing him apologize again—who knows how many times already today—I felt a bit sorry for him and swayed my tail to show it was fine.
Honestly, ever since my past-life memories returned, I have spent far more years as a “Korean-Confucian-style girl” than as Poblyan. So having an elderly man with graying hair apologize to me for something that wasn’t even his fault felt very uncomfortable.
Thanking me for understanding, Rendel smiled and soon left, telling me to rest.
Looking around, I realized just how wealthy the Winchester family was, giving such a large room even to a guest.
Of course, since it wasn’t my money, I wasn’t that impressed.
After glancing around, I jumped onto the bed without hesitation and curled up.
Tomorrow would be busy, so for now, I should sleep.
After all, my mother had said that stamina was essential for transforming into a human.
‘Popo, remember this. To transform and maintain a human form, stamina is essential. And then you must become skilled at handling mana…’
With my mother’s worried advice echoing in my mind, I quickly fell asleep.
Maybe I was more tired than I thought, because I slept an entire day straight.
I woke up to the sound of knocking.
Stretching with my back raised and front legs extended, I yawned as a maid entered the room and greeted me.
“Good morning, Miss Poblyan! My name is Rani, and I’ll be serving you from today!”
Rani had freckles and green eyes and looked about the same age as Ariel.
I wagged my tail in greeting, and she let out a small gasp.
“S-so cute…! Ah, I mean—sorry!”
Yes, this is the normal reaction!
I wagged my tail again to say it was fine, while she blushed deeply.
Rani bit her lip, trying to hold back her admiration.
“Ugh… too cute…”
Yes! This is it!
I wouldn’t say it myself, but objectively speaking, I was very cute as a desert fox.
Which made yesterday’s cold treatment at Winchester feel even more miserable.
‘But finally—today!’
After a full day, I finally received some recognition and felt oddly proud.
Rani cleared her throat and continued,
“Um, the head butler said a technician will visit today to install a secondary entrance so you can move around more easily. It might be noisy during construction, so if you’re okay with it, would you like to look around the mansion?”
Sounds great!
I nodded quickly.
I was planning to explore anyway—to learn Esteban’s usual routes and be ready to rush anywhere if something happened.
Satisfied, I jumped off the bed, and Rani quickly opened the door.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, so I’ll guide you to the dining hall first!”
I followed behind her.
The dining hall was located deep inside the first floor, and it seemed everyone else had already finished eating.
Rani pulled out a chair for me and went to inform the chef.
I jumped onto the chair and waited.
As I sat there, I remembered the servants I had passed earlier.
‘Come to think of it, humans and beastkin didn’t get along well… but no one reacted strangely. Maybe it’s different here?’
In the original story, the female lead—a deer beastkin—and the male lead, Esteban, who represented humans, eventually overcame deep conflict between their races and fell in love.
At first, the female lead suffered quite a lot from humans who hated beastkin.
She was often called a “beast” and was even served food she couldn’t eat.
Back then, I had thought people could be really petty when it came to food…
While thinking about that, I heard footsteps approaching and perked up my ears.
Turning my head, I saw Rani returning with a man who seemed to be the chef.
Seeing that only my eyes were visible above the table, Rani quickly brought a cushion and placed it under me.
Now at a proper height, I wagged my tail in thanks.
The man set a plate in front of me and introduced himself.
“I am Cooker, the head chef of the Winchester household. If you need anything, please let me know.”
I nodded and looked at the plate.
A silver cloche covered it—but strangely, I could smell something like blood.
Sniffing, Cooker smiled.
“As expected of a beast, you have a keen sense of smell.”
‘As expected of a beast?’
At his blunt wording—something usually said by anti-beastkin groups—I stared at him.
Still smiling pleasantly, he lifted the cloche.
“I wasn’t sure what to prepare, so I asked around. I heard beasts don’t eat cooked meat.”
“……”
“I hope it suits your taste.”
A foul smell hit me immediately.
On the plate—
was raw meat, still dripping with blood.
…Ah.
Of course things were going too smoothly for me.
