Chapter 3 — My Little Vixen

In the past, when I woke up in the morning, I would hurl myself onto Vesper’s fluffy tail and roll around with it in sheer delight. Now, upon waking, I would stand at the head of the stairs and bow deeply to him.

“Good morning, Lord Vesper.”

Vesper’s hand, which was holding a glass of warm milk, faltered slightly.

“What did you just call me?”

“Lord Vesper.”

I replied with utmost solemnity: “Although we are legally married, we must still maintain proper boundaries and mutual respect between humans and beastmen.”

The dining room plunged into an oppressive silence. Vesper stared at me, and the faint flush at the corners of his eyes seemed to darken a fraction.

“You used to call me Little Fox.”

I shuddered. Here it was. He was beginning to dig up past debts. I immediately bowed my head in contrition. “That was inappropriate banter on my part. I am reflecting deeply on my past behavior.”

“You also called me Precious Fox.”

“I am guilty of grave indiscretions.”

“You claimed my tail was your exclusive private property.”

“My sins reach the heavens.”

“And you said that once I grew all nine tails, you would weave them together into a giant nest for yourself.”

I was on the verge of dropping to my knees.

“My crimes are unforgivable.”

Vesper fell silent. He lowered his gaze and pushed the breakfast plate toward me.

“Eat your breakfast first.”

I looked down at the steaming bowl of shredded chicken porridge, sitting on my chair as if atop a bed of burning coals. In the past, I had foolishly believed that Vesper cooking for me was merely a display of marital affection. Now, looking back with a clear mind, this was the King of Foxes personally lowering himself to cook for a mortal! What was the meaning of this? This was a complete subversion of social hierarchy! This was an escalation of my sins!

I hurriedly blurted out, “From now on, we can just let the chef handle the meals. You don’t need to go to all this trouble.”

Vesper’s hand froze. A porcelain spoon tapped softly against the rim of the bowl, emitting a crisp, clear chime. He lowered his eyelashes.

“Do you no longer like the food I cook?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why refuse it?”

I choked back my words for a long moment before finally squeezing out an excuse: “I am afraid of tiring you out.”

He raised his eyes to look at me. Those pale amber eyes seemed veiled by a thin layer of mist.

“You used to say that having me cook for you was your greatest happiness.”

A cold sweat broke out all over my body, drenching my clothes.

“I still like it.”

“Then why reject it?”

“…”

Save me, someone. Why is this Nine-Tailed White Fox harder to handle than the entire corporate board of directors?

I gritted my teeth and said, “Because I want you to have more personal time to yourself.”

Vesper gazed at me quietly for a long, agonizing moment. Then, he whispered softly, “I understand.”

I had no idea what on earth he thought he understood. I only saw him pick up that bowl of shredded chicken porridge and turn to walk back into the kitchen. The sound of running water trickled softly for a long time. I stood up, intending to go and check on him, but stopped dead at the kitchen doorway.

Vesper stood with his back to me, slowly pouring the porridge down the drain. His movements were steady, yet his broad shoulders were trembling faintly. For some inexplicable reason, my heart gave a painful squeeze. The next second, he raised a hand to quickly swipe at the corner of his eye. When he turned back around, he wore his usual gentle, tender smile.

“My lady, do you need a driver to take you to work today?”

I parted my lips, but in the end, all I could manage was, “No, thank you.”

From that day onward, the ambient temperature inside the villa began to plummet. It was not a normal kind of chill, but rather a gloomy, damp cold—the kind that emanates from a deep, ancient fox den hidden high in the mountains. Every night, the eerie cries of foxes echoed outside the window. Wail after wail, making my hair stand on end.

This only made me more steadfast in my resolve to get a divorce. Once we divorced, and he regained his true status as the King of Foxes, he could return to the realm where he truly belonged. And I would manage to keep my insignificant life intact.

The plan was absolute perfection. Until a snake beastman appeared on the ground floor of our office building.

It was a torrential, stormy day. I had just finished a marathon meeting when I noticed a commotion and a crowd gathering near the front entrance. Our young receptionist rushed over, looking flustered.

“Director Co, there is a beastman outside asking to see you.”

Frowning, I walked downstairs. At a single glance, I spotted a young man huddled at the edge of the stone steps. His raven-black hair was thoroughly drenched, and his skin was so translucent it looked almost ethereal, paired with a pair of stunning, brilliant green-gold eyes.

Even more fatal was the long, slender snake tail trailing behind him. Rainwater trickled down his dark scales, carving a slick, shimmering path across the pavement.

Catching sight of me, he lifted his head, his eye rims instantly turning a pathetic, fiery red.

“Big sister…”

“Could you please take me in?”

I: “…”

Wait a minute. This plotline was entirely wrong.

In the original story, the female protagonist indeed had a young male second lead trailing after her. But he was neither a fox nor a cat. He was a newly matured black snake beastman named Theodore. In the early stages of the story, he would feign utter helplessness and vulnerability, intentionally getting close to the female lead to sow discord between her and the terrifying antagonist, the Fox King. Ultimately, his actions drove the Fox King into complete darkness and madness.

I stared at the drenched snake beastman before me. Alarm bells were clanging frantically in my head.

“I am terribly sorry, but I do not take in snakes.”

He froze. Tears welled up and spilled over instantly.

“But I have nowhere else in the world to go.”

“The beastman rescue center is three blocks down.”

“They said they are completely full.”

“Then I can call and make an appointment for you—”

“Big sister…”

As he dragged himself forward by a fraction, his complexion suddenly turned ghastly pale, and he fainted right there in the pounding rain.

The surrounding employees all drew in a sharp breath of unison shock.

I: “…”

I knew it. A plot like this was not something you could escape just by running away.

In the end, I had no choice but to rush Theodore to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed him with severe malnutrition combined with the fact that he had just reached maturity; since snake beastmen naturally ran cold, being caught in a torrential downpour had easily triggered a state of physiological shock.

I paid his medical bills in advance and contacted the rescue center again. Throughout the entire ordeal, I maintained a strict, professional distance. No touching. No hugging. No letting him call me “big sister.” And absolutely no bringing him back to my home.

I felt I had handled the situation with remarkable maturity and composure.

Until I returned home that evening.

Vesper was standing right at the entryway, idly twirling a single black snake scale between his slender fingers. My footsteps instantly turned to stone.

He raised his eyes to look at me.

“A snake?”

My heart skipped a beat.

“It doesn’t belong to me.”

“I know.”

His voice was terrifyingly soft.

“The scent lingering on your clothes… belongs to him.”

“…”

I lowered my head to sniff my own sleeves. I couldn’t smell a thing. A beastman’s sense of smell was entirely too sharp!

Vesper slowly stepped closer. Today, he hadn’t bothered to hide his ears. A pair of pristine white fox ears poked out through his silver hair, the tips twitching backward slightly. It was a clear physical manifestation of displeasure.

Instinctively, I took a step back.

He saw the movement. His footsteps halted. The faint glimmer of hope deep within his amber eyes darkened into absolute shadow.

“You are afraid of me.”

I hurriedly denied it. “Not at all.”

“Then why are you backing away?”

“I tripped over my own feet.”

He lowered his gaze to look at the flawlessly dry floorboards.

I: “…”

Vesper asked softly, “What did he call you?”

I dared not answer. He stared at me intently, unblinking.

“Big sister?”

I drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

“How did you know?”

The moment the words left my lips, I realized I had walked right into the trap.

Vesper let out a low laugh. A laugh that was infinitely more tragic than crying.

“So it’s true.”

“No, wait, let me explain—”

“Is he very young?”

“Huh?”

“Is his tail pretty?”

My scalp went completely numb.

“I didn't pay attention.”

“Does he know how to wrap himself around people?”

“…”

Vesper slowly extended a hand, gently brushing against my sleeve.

“Snake beastmen are exceptionally talented at wrapping themselves around others.”

“Did you like it?”

What kind of lethal interrogation question was this? I blurted out, “Not at all!”

Vesper looked straight into my eyes.

“Then what *do* you like?”

I fell silent. If it were the old me, I would have answered without a moment’s hesitation: *“I like your tail!”*

But I couldn't do that now. That was forbidden territory. That was the sacred dignity of the Fox King. That was the criminal evidence that would one day get me locked away in a forbidden abyss.

I choked back my turmoil for a long moment and finally choked out, “I have achieved spiritual enlightenment and purity of mind now.”

The corners of Vesper’s eyes gradually turned crimson red.

“Even me… do you not like me anymore either?”

A sharp, unfamiliar ache pierced through my chest.

“That’s not it—”

But he had already turned his back to me.

“I understand.”

Outside the window, a desolate, mournful fox cry pierced the night air.

That evening, the entire city of Beicheng was swallowed by a thick, suffocating fog. Pure, blinding white. Streetlights could not pierce it, and car headlights were swallowed whole. The evening news reported it as a rare meteorological phenomenon, but as I stood before the window, I could see countless pairs of glowing, eerie fox eyes staring out from the shadows of the trees surrounding the villa.