TFHID 03

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Chapter 3

Walter looked coldly at his aide for a moment before lowering his gaze back to the documents on his desk.

“She was small.”

“Yes. She looked younger than other children her age.”

“She was far too thin, too.”

“…Do you think she was being abused by her family?”

“Most likely.”

“My apologies for overlooking that.”

“It seems they’ve done a good job of keeping things quiet within the household. There may be other information we’ve missed as well. We need to investigate thoroughly.”

“Yes. I’ll have our intelligence network focus on it.”

Walter narrowed his eyes.

Even though he had deliberately treated her warmly, the image of his young daughter-in-law shrinking back timidly and constantly watching his expression remained vivid in his mind.

Even the dress she had been wearing had been too small, clinging tightly to her frail frame.

If her parents had truly cherished their daughter, then even if they couldn’t afford to buy her fine clothes, they would at least have altered what she had so it fit properly.

The fact that they hadn’t even shown her that basic consideration made it easy to imagine how Rayleigh had been treated in her family.

“Make sure the child is given plenty of good food.”

“Understood.”

“And have everything she needs purchased—from clothes to jewelry. The things she was wearing were too shabby to look at.”

“…”

While writing down the Duke’s orders, Yuan stared silently at his master for a moment.

“…What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking that Your Grace seems to have taken quite a liking to the Young Madam.”

“Nonsense.”

Walter clicked his tongue and dismissed the remark.

“As long as she lives in the ducal castle, she should receive treatment befitting its standards.”

“…”

“Besides, we have no way of knowing yet whether that child is someone who can remain with us until the end. You understand that as well.”

“My apologies for speaking out of turn.”

“That’s enough.”

After discussing other matters for a while, Yuan carefully asked,

“What are your plans for the next Day of Rest?”

“If we call it an illness, the child will only worry. We’ll simply say we’re leaving to inspect our territories.”

“Understood. I’ll arrange the schedule.”

If beastfolk remained in human form for too long, the imbalance in their mana would eventually cause them to lose control.

Some would go mad, while others would suddenly transform into animals regardless of their own will.

To prevent this, they needed to spend at least one full day in animal form every two or three months, allowing their mana to stabilize.

Among beastfolk, this was known as the Day of Rest.

Within the House of Elestain, only those bound by contracts of loyalty shared this secret and helped protect it.

Several vassal families and trusted servants were included among them.

Yuan was one of those people.

“It would be wonderful if the legendary Witch of the Moon really existed.”

“Now that’s nonsense. If such a person truly existed, do you think my ancestors would have suffered for generations?”

The Witch of the Moon was a legendary figure passed down among those of demon blood.

She was said to be the beloved child of demons, standing opposite the Saintess of the Sun, who descended into the world blessed by the gods.

The Witch of the Moon was described as a transcendent being capable of controlling immense magical power at will, someone who could even calm the berserk mana of demon descendants.

There had once been a time when Walter had hoped the Witch of the Moon might appear.

It was merely a childish dream he had long since abandoned.

Even the historical records claiming she had existed were of questionable authenticity.

“If the legend were true, neither Your Grace nor the Young Master would have to suffer like this.”

“Serge still causes trouble because he hasn’t learned to control his mana yet, but he’ll get used to it eventually. If you have time for idle chatter, you should get back to work.”

“As you wish. If you require anything further, please send a familiar for me immediately.”

“I will.”

After Yuan left the office, Walter slowly opened one of his desk drawers.

With hesitant fingers, he took out an old locket pendant.

When he opened it, the tiny compartment inside—barely large enough for two finger joints—was completely empty.

Only one small word had been engraved inside.

Lima.

Walter let out a bitter, mocking laugh before placing the locket back into the drawer and shutting it with unnecessary force.

In the end, other people could never truly be trusted.

Promises to spend a lifetime together were as meaningless as bubbles floating on water.

Whether his precious daughter-in-law would betray them or not…

Only time would tell.

After all…

The test prepared for her was already waiting.

*

Now that she had met her father-in-law, it was time to meet her husband.

Following behind a maid, Rayleigh made her way through the castle.

She was currently staying in the guest wing and had not yet moved into the same residence as Serge.

Although they were technically husband and wife, both of them were still children.

She had been told it would be uncomfortable for them to share a room immediately.

Though it’s probably because sharing a room would make it much easier for their secret as beastfolk to be exposed.

The guest wing where Rayleigh stayed was in the west wing, while Serge lived in the east wing.

The considerable distance between them made the family’s intentions perfectly clear.

Besides, even if he was her husband, he was still a complete stranger she had never met.

Being forced to live together from the very beginning would have been awkward.

For Rayleigh, the arrangement was actually a relief.

Come to think of it… there isn’t a Duchess of Elestain, is there?

She remembered hearing that the Duchess had passed away many years ago.

She had even been repeatedly warned to be careful not to bring up the subject.

Judging from the fact that Walter had never remarried, perhaps he had loved his wife very deeply.

I’d better not mention her by accident and make that soft-hearted man sad.

Lost in thought, Rayleigh soon arrived at the east wing.

“Welcome. Young Master Serge has been waiting for you.”

“Ah… y-yes!”

Rayleigh swallowed nervously.

I wonder what my husband is like.

If he resembled his father, he would surely be an extraordinarily handsome boy with black hair.

The classic cold, sharp-featured male lead of a fantasy romance.

Maybe the moment they met, he’d sneer,

“Hmph. So this is supposed to be my wife?”

The kind of arrogant attitude that matched his handsome face.

Mentally preparing herself, Rayleigh stepped into the reception room.

But—

“…?”

There was no sign of anyone waiting inside.

Hasn’t he arrived yet? But they said he’d been waiting for me…

She hurriedly looked around, wondering if she had missed something.

Then she spotted something unexpected.

Behind the sofa, a patch of glossy black fur was sticking out.

“Hm?”

She cautiously walked over for a closer look.

…

Curled into a tiny ball behind the sofa was a small black furry creature, trembling all over.

Instead of a handsome black-haired boy, the one waiting for her was a little black fox cub.

“…”

Looking more closely, she noticed part of a child’s clothing sticking awkwardly out from beneath the sofa, as though it had been hastily shoved there.

After only a brief glance, Rayleigh became certain.

That’s my husband. He suddenly transformed into a fox!

According to the original novel, young beastfolk had poor control over their magical power.

As a result, their mana would sometimes go out of control, causing them to transform into animals unintentionally.

Her husband, Serge, seemed to be experiencing exactly that.

It was said to happen most often when they became overly emotional or stressed.

Perhaps meeting his wife for the first time had made him nervous.

After transforming, he’d probably panicked and hurriedly shoved his clothes under the sofa.

…No, now isn’t the time to calmly analyze the situation!

Although he was still young, if he’d transformed because of a mana rampage, there was a chance he had already lost his reason.

After all, in the original story, many beastfolk who lost control under the growing influence of their demonic power had gone mad, committing destruction and massacres before their identities were exposed.

Eventually, the Saintess and her companions would seal away the demonic power and bring peace to the world…

But that wouldn’t happen for more than ten years.

At this very moment, Rayleigh was honestly frightened.

Still, she couldn’t simply run away.

She absolutely had to pretend she knew nothing about the Elestain family’s identity as fox beastfolk.

I-If he looks like he’s about to attack me… then I’ll run.

Suppressing her fear, Rayleigh forced herself to think calmly.

Assuming she didn’t know his true identity…

What would be the most natural reaction?

“Oh my… Is this the puppy your family keeps?”

Normally, Rayleigh wasn’t the sort of person to talk to herself.

But this time, she had no choice.