Chapter 06…
It was a voice like a dream.
“I want to be with you, forever.”
Rone thought it really might be a dream. The night was so calm and beautiful.
If only the knights down below weren’t all shouting in unison that she should die.
“…But.”
Rone opened her mouth.
―How could such a person be sent to a holy place!
―Call the inquisitors from the temple at once…!
Outside, she could hear their voices debating openly how she should be “disposed of.”
―Silence! The lord has ordered us to keep our mouths shut!
“……”
Rone closed her mouth again. It seemed the Count had acted.
He must have ordered silence after hearing about the fox.
She could guess why.
The Count wanted, at all costs, to send Rone to the temple. And once she “washed away” her corruption there, he planned to sell her off to some merchant family for the benefit of their house.
A merchant family—those who worshipped money more than a distant god. That suited the Count well.
“…But you and I, we cannot be.”
Rone spoke firmly, swallowing her heart. She didn’t even notice her hand was still touching Nabel’s.
Father will do whatever it takes to sell me into a better place, so he’ll oppose it.
Then the outcome was clear. Once the knights swarmed in, there would be no way to protect Nabel.
Rone closed her eyes. As always, she repressed her desires.
I like you too.
If things went according to the Count’s will and she were married off somewhere, maybe they could meet again someday.
But if the temple truly branded her a heretic, she would be burned at the stake.
That would be farewell.
“……”
Nabel slowly closed and opened his eyes. A fox leapt lightly onto his shoulder, as if to comfort him.
Nabel watched its swaying tail, then returned the small fox—who nestled into his arms—to Rone.
“I will repay this debt, no matter what.”
It was the same thing he had said earlier. As if the small confession had been a dream, he repeated it.
“I never forget a debt.”
The fox rubbed against Rone’s chest again. Nabel didn’t dare reach out to touch her. It had been a refusal, but not quite. Now was not the time.
Instead, he stroked the fox in her arms.
“This fox will follow only you. Sometimes it will vanish, but when it does, then—like this.”
Nabel reached out and brushed Rone’s shadow. At that, the fox gave a pleased sound, as if he had petted its body directly. Rone’s eyes flew wide open.
“Stroke its shadow. Then it will appear.”
“How…?”
How do you know this so well?
She wanted to ask. She was curious where he had come from.
He wasn’t a slave. That much was certain.
“Where I came from, it could rarely be seen.”
Nabel bowed his head briefly.
“It will be your familiar—devoted only to you, standing only by you, and guarding you with its life. It will never leave you alone.”
Rone’s eyes widened. She knew this moment was coming, yet she had wanted to avoid it.
“Being alone is only temporary.”
Humiliation is temporary.
He echoed back the words Rone herself had once spoken, only slightly changed.
Just as she had once been calmed by that quiet conviction, he now hoped to calm her the same way.
He had grown so much since the day he arrived.
“Don’t forget me.”
I will come back for you. I will return here.
The scars on Nabel’s wrist were fading now. Only the faint marks of tender new flesh remained where shackles had once been.
Even if new scars formed there, it didn’t matter.
He had fixed his wavering resolve.
“…You’re leaving?”
Though she had always known he would someday go, Rone still wanted to hold him back.
I don’t want to be alone again.
Her thoughts flowed through their joined hands without her realizing, though she suppressed her longing.
“Being alone is only temporary.”
Nabel squeezed her hand tightly. With firm voice, he whispered:
“I will come back. I promise.”
So please, don’t forget me.
He closed his eyes.
“…Nabel.”
Rone murmured his name softly, lowering her head.
“…I’ll name the fox Bel. After you.”
It meant she would not forget.
This time of her life—the most special months she had ever known.
“Thank you.”
Nabel brushed the dust from her clothes. A strand of her hair, dull pink like withered rose petals, clung long to his fingertips.
“I will return. Without fail.”
Where would Nabel go?
She wondered, but didn’t ask.
No matter where he went, once the temple’s reply arrived, she would be erased from the world anyway.
They would never meet again.
She closed her eyes.
Chuu.
Then her eyes flew open at the soft touch on her forehead.
It wasn’t her lips—she hadn’t given permission. It was a brief kiss to her brow, and then it was gone.
Clatter!
After fixing her image in his eyes one last time, he leapt out the window. Rone closed her eyes.
Yes… better that he go.
Watching his final figure, she thought:
This place is not a happy one.
And thus, the most special moment of her life came to an end.
“The slave escaped?”
The Count’s household sneered at Rone.
“Even a slave couldn’t serve someone cursed by God!”
“Unless he wanted divine punishment himself…”
Rone gave no response.
For Nabel, leaving meant choosing happiness.
“……”
Only after he was gone did Rone learn what he had done, slipping out the window every night. Why the knights had seen him as such a thorn in the eye.
Under her window now, knights and servants gathered to gossip. They whispered the mansion was cursed, prayed aloud, and left.
She still had the habit of listening, half-expecting to hear Nabel outside. She closed her eyes.
Bang!
Lyn slammed the window shut.
“Ah, forgive me.”
She had let her emotions slip. Rone smiled at her.
“It’s fine.”
Thankfully, Lyn had safely returned to Rone’s side. Strictly speaking, no one else had wanted to serve her, so they had simply given Lyn back.
Until the temple came, they had to keep her alive.
That seemed to be the conclusion.
“……”
The fox Bel nestled in her arms, keeping watch toward the outside.
Drag that demon beast to the temple at once!
The Countess had shrieked so after seeing Bel. But the fox was stronger than she thought. Even when the woman screamed until her voice broke, Bel did not yield.
Kyah!
It was just as Nabel had said. Magic had no effect on Bel. Swords passed through the fox as if cutting air, leaving the knights helpless.
“……!”
And Bel had a special power.
It was as if he could read Rone’s mind—he always seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
Like that first time, when she nearly fell from the balcony—he saved her before she could fall.
When she asked him to protect Lyn, Bel shielded her maid from scalding water.
The limits of his power were unknown.
That wicked beast must be destroyed at all costs!
But one thing was certain: no matter how frenzied the knights became, they could not harm Bel.
Thanks to that, Rone’s life grew easier.
At least until the inquisitors came, no one dared torment her anymore.
The household staff backed away at the mere sight of Bel. If they tried to attack Rone, the fox bit them. And since divine spells failed against him, it was no wonder.
Whine…
Once the presence outside faded, Bel stretched out his body. Rone stroked him. He felt like the friend Nabel had left behind.
Smiling faintly, she thought:
“They may say it, but the temple won’t be able to send anyone soon.”
Lyn combed her hair, unchanged despite all the suffering. Rone felt grateful—and guilty.
If she were dragged to the temple, Lyn’s fate would also be uncertain.
“They say something happened at the temple.”
“Something?” Rone’s eyes widened.
“Heretics attacked it.”
Rone didn’t know whether to feel joy or sorrow. In the end, her sentence was postponed until the temple quieted down.
In fact, it was indefinitely delayed.
Keep the demon imprisoned and watch her.
That was the temple’s message.
They had already learned of the fox and branded her a demon. Yet since they didn’t label her an immediate danger, that was all they ordered.
And so, Rone took on a strange position in the mansion—living as though present, yet absent.
Someone no one wished to deal with. Someone they wished would disappear.
Thus, ten years passed.
In that time, upheaval shook the continent.
And at the heart of that upheaval—was the Western Continent.
