I Raised a Nine Tailed Fox Wrongly

She felt depressed when the forgotten curse came to mind.

Excessive use of holy power could worsen the pain. But she didn’t want to leave the gloomy Ran as it was.

Scyllia rubbed her brows and shook her head.

“Never mind.”

“You can spend more without negative impact, right?”

“Yes. I have enough.”

Shula, who had been watching Scyllia’s face with squinted eyes, asked again.

“Really?”

“Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Seeing Scyllia’s hard face, Shula took a step back.

“No.”

The secret of the curse had to be tightly kept because in the Holy Kingdom, heresy was considered a great sin.

With a nod, Scyllia immediately began to work that night. 

She was worried that Ran would not eat his fill of energy, so she hurried while cutting sleep time.

The barrier was created by enclosing the space with stones filled with holy power and blessings, but it took a lot of energy to fill the stones with only holy power.

Although the excessive use of holy energy was likely to cause a seizure, which had been a long-standing ailment, Scyllia did not stop.

She felt sorry for Ran.

‘Knowing how painful it is to be locked up, it didn’t get across to me, not anyone else, that Ran was having a hard time.’

The more Scyllia thought the more her heart ached, and the sorrier she felt. So she ignored the signs of the throbbing curse and finished the job in three days.

“Ran. I have something to say. Come here.”

Ran couldn’t move easily because his energy had waned in the meantime.

Compared to adults, a cub was weaker and more dependent on the energy that was provided from outside sources.

He was starving for three days, so it was natural for him to lie down all day with no energy.

Scyllia walked directly to the corner while she was deeply reflecting and crouched down. She gently reached out a finger and poked the soft meat cushion on Ran’s front paw.

Ran wrinkled his nose.

“Are you still very angry?”

Ran, who had not even raised his head these days, slowly lifted it up. Then one side of his fur was pressed flat so badly, that his skull was being outlined.

Scyllia chewed on her tongue to hold back the laugh, which didn’t match the current mood.

“Will you listen to me?”

She asked, rubbing the little fox’s paws. The soft and consistent feel was strangely addicting.

Hoping to look serious, she continued

“I’m sorry, Ran.”

Ran’s ears twitched.

“Okay?” 

She grabbed Ran by the back and rocked him back and forth. Ran, who was shaking like a cradle, snorted and purred while chewing Scyllia’s wrist.

It was a gesture of anger, but it didn’t hurt.

“Look at me. Huh?”

Scyllia touched Ran’s big ears this time. As she carefully scraped the protruding fur of the pinkish surface on the inside, ticklish Ran shook off his ears

Rruuu. Ruarruk!

Ran finally made a sound when she persistently touched him even though he continued to shake her off.

“Puh!”

“Look at me.”

Phumf.

Ran sighed and looked up at her with irritated eyes.

Scyllia spoke with a sincere expression on her face.

“I think I didn’t know very much about your feelings of being locked up at home and having to eat the same thing.”

“……”

“It may be tasteless food for you, but I wandered through the forest for a long time to feed Ran the best animals I could.”

Ran, who had been motionless, finally got up from his seat. It had been a long time since they had looked into each other’s eyes while sitting facing upfront like this.

Scyllia continued with a throbbing heart.

“I want to make up.” 

At some point, the little fox who was only blinking as he looked at her, slowly approached.

Ran rubbed his face against Scyllia’s squatted knee and then her collarbone. Scyllia, who felt a friendly apology from the gesture, smiled.

“Thank you.”

Scyllia, who had a smile, hugged the fox. She could feel the fresh smell of a beast and the smooth fur of Ran.

“I prepared a present as an apology.”

Ran raised his head in curiosity.

Holding Ran, Scyllia opened the back door of her residence.

Since it was a cub who was always looking for a way to escape, she thought he would jump out as soon as she opened the door, but strangely, Ran was quietly held in Scyllia’s arms.

“From now on, you can freely go back and forth.”

Ran looked at the vast forest in the distance.

‘Why does it looks like you don’t have any lingering feelings?’

Scyllia curiously looked at Ran.

The fox was really quiet, with no sign of reluctance or a hint of inclination.

‘Did you expect me to take measures to prevent you from running away?’

Scyllia struggled to understand.

‘Right. It’s a child who grew up running around in the woods, he can’t help it.’

“It’s not that big, but it should be enough land for you to take a walk or catch a small animal.”

“Kyung.”

“Oh, and because you haven’t been able to eat energy these days.”

Scyllia entered the forest with Ran in her arms. Ran was busy while looking around. He looked like a countryside child who had his first outing to the city.

Scyllia, who curiously tilted her head, stood near a huge structure.

It was an iron cage covered with a cotton cloth.

Pulling the cloth, Scyllia proudly said.

“I prepared a bear.”

“……”

“Eat as much as you want.”

Ran looked up at the bear with his mouth open. 

It was knocked unconscious by an anesthetic, but he was clearly a living beast. Scyllia was an overachieving person who doesn’t know limits.

Seeing Ran’s tired eyes, Scyllia misunderstood that the little fox wanted to play quickly.

“Have a good meal and come home on time, because it is dangerous.”

“Kyuu.”

“There is a barrier set by holy energy. Don’t go near the barrier.”

Scyllia freed Ran and walked away without any regrets.

As she entered the living room and poured water into a glass, she heard a scratching sound at the back door. She thought she heard it wrong and ignored it, but this time she heard a sound.

“Kyaeng!”

It was Ran’s cry, puzzled, she opened the door.

The little fox was sitting in a sad mood.

“Why are you here? Don’t you want to play today?”

“Kurreung.”

Ran slid between her legs and curled up on a plush pet bed.

‘I think he wants to rest.’

Scyllia understood that way at first. But after a few days of watching, she realized that was not the reason.

The fox cub was unfamiliar with the forest. When she first realized it, she had to bite her lips tightly because her heart hurt so much.

“I will be here. Don’t worry, let’s go.”

Ran began to run fast like an arrow, but stopped in his tracks and looked back. He was checking to see if Scyllia was there.

She leaned her back against a wooden pole, sat down on the floor, and pulled out a book.

It was only then that Ran stormed into the forest. 

‘He must have been held captive by people for 19 years.’

Scyllia looked at her book with cold eyes, but she couldn’t read the words so she put her hand on her forehead.

‘Then who is Ran’s mother? What happened to the Heavenly Fox? Wasn’t he born in the forest?’

“What has happened since he was born?” 

It was expected that he had been abused.

When they had just met, he had struggled fiercely when Scyllia touched him, and she was even bitten all the time.

He still reacts very sensitively when she touches certain areas.

He especially hated putting things on or stuffing things around his neck, which Scyllia realized while trying to walk him.

This was the case when he bit her wrist as she tried to leash his neck, hoping that he might like a wider forest.

Ran later apologized by licking her, but Scyllia felt that she was the one that should apologize.

‘Is this also related to the fact that he doesn’t humanize?’

She thought hard and lifted her head.

In the distance, under the shadow of a dark tree, a bundle of gleaming silver fur was eagerly running around.

A droopy squirrel was bitten by the snout of Ran, who was panting and jumping.

His eyes which were round like candy were twinkling with happiness, so Scyllia smiled involuntarily.

‘Yes, if Ran likes it so much, that’s enough.’

Humanization can be done when Ran is ready.

So now he just had to be happy. if you are happy, then it’s fine

***

Scyllia thought 500 times a day that she was glad to have built a backyard for Ran to play in, but there were side effects. 

Whether it was because she had increased the size of the barrier or for some other reason, the seizures showed signs of slowly becoming more apparent.

And finally, the problem popped up.

It was when Scyllia sat in the Commander’s office and she was struggling with a growing problem of monsters.

As she was checking the documents, she suddenly felt a burning pain in her left shoulder.

Confused, she quickly recognized the source of the pain.

“Ugh…….”

Scyllia didn’t show any signs of pain, but this time her stone-like mask was broken.

It was a seizure that had come after a long time.

She curled her body at the mortal pain.

It was fortunate that this was the Commander’s room.

If anyone had seen her, they would think that by her reaction she had been hit by a poison arrow.

“Ugh, uh…”

Time passed terribly slowly.

She clenched her molars until her jaw hurt, waiting for the time to pass. It usually gets better after a minute or two, but today it was strangely long.

‘Die! Die, you monster!’

When the pain came, the abusive language that she heard in her childhood tormented Scyllia again.

Tears heated up and covered her eyes. 

She wanted to live

Ardently and so desperately…

Scyllia was gone for about five minutes.

As the pain subsided, she ran out of energy, like a person who had barely escaped from the pits of death.

Putting her forehead on the desk, she held her breath for a while. A dull pain in the left shoulder rang regularly to her heartbeat. 

She stood still until the aftermath of the seizures was completely gone. When she finally lifted her head, the desk in the Commander’s office was soaked with her cold sweat.

“Ha…ha…ha…”

Scyllia calmed her breath, nervously got up, and turned to the full-length mirror in the corner.

She unbuttoned the uniform, took off her top, and pulled it back lightly, then twisted her upper body to reflect her shoulder in the mirror.

The skin near the wing bones was shriveled to black as if it had just been burned.

It was a scar she had her whole life.

No one could figure out what it was or why it hurt. Scyllia just had to endure. 

While frowning and looking more closely at the scar, there was a knock on the door.

She quickly put on her clothes and buttoned them up.

“Come in.”

The door swung open and Eric rushed inside as if he was about to fall.