Chapter 4 — My Little Vixen

I finally realized it. Rong Wang was about to lose control. That night, my sleep was exceptionally light. Waking up in the dead of night, I found a figure sitting at the edge of the bed. Rong Wang’s back was turned to me, his nine tails resting silently upon the floor. He believed I had finally fallen asleep, and thus no longer needed to maintain his dignified facade. He bowed his head, his fingertips gripping a fragment of black serpent scale tightly as tears fell, drop by drop, into his palm.

"Clearly, I was the one who came first."

"Clearly, I waited for you for so long."

"Why did you willingly save him just because he called out 'older sister' once?"

"I have cried to the point of utter wretchedness, yet you still refuse to touch my tails."

His voice was exceedingly soft, barely a murmur to himself. Yet hearing it made my chest ache with a poignant sourness. I longed to speak, but a scene from the original plot flashed abruptly through my mind: "The Fox King feigns weakness, luring the wicked supporting actress into further trespass, only to turn the tables and enact his revenge." I stiffened beneath the blankets, not daring to move even a fraction of an inch. Rong Wang sat there for a long while before finally tucking the quilt around my shoulders and whispering, "Sleep."

"I will not disturb you."

The day the divorce papers were delivered to the house, Northern City was swallowed by a dense, century-rare fog. As I drove back to the estate, the road ahead was nearly invisible. Pushing open the front door, I found the entire house unlit. The living room was pitch black. The air was heavy with a chilly, lingering fragrance—white sandalwood, cedarwood, and the unmistakable, rich scent of the fox clan that refused to dissipate. The moment I took a step forward, my ankle suddenly tightened. I looked down. A snow-white fox tail had wrapped itself around me. My entire body went rigid.

"Rong Wang?"

From within the darkness, someone let out a low laugh.

"The eldest miss still remembers me, then."

A chill ran straight down my spine. The next second, the lights flared on. Rong Wang was seated upon the sofa. He wore a crisp white shirt, his long hair cascading over his shoulders, the corners of his eyes flushed a vivid red as if stained with rouge. His nine tails spread out majestically across the floor behind him—a sight of breathtaking beauty, yet fraught with extreme peril. On the coffee table lay the divorce agreement I had drafted myself, already opened and perused by him. A thin layer of frost rimmed the edges of the paper.

"Gu Mian."

He asked softly, "Do you wish to divorce me?" My lips parted slightly.

"I can explain."

"Explain what?"

He stood up, his nine tails swaying gracefully with his every movement.

"Explain why you suddenly stopped touching me?"

"Explain why you no longer call me your little fox?"

"Explain why you would rather tend to that serpent than spare me even a single glance?"

"Or perhaps, explain why you wish to cast me aside?"

My heart hammered frantically against my ribs.

"I am not casting you aside."

"Then what is this?"

He picked up the divorce papers. With a tightening of his fingertips, the pages shattered into a flurry of white fragments, drifting downward like falling snow.

"You said you wished to respect me."

"You said you wished to grant me my freedom."

"You said you would no longer touch my ears and tails."

Rong Wang stepped closer and closer to me. His nine tails fanned out behind him like snow-white shackles, blocking off every possible route of escape.

"Yet you were never like this before."

His voice was raw and hoarse.

"Before, you would embrace me."

"You would kiss me."

"You would curl up in my arms at night, complaining that my tails were not warm enough."

"You would deliberately nibble the tip of my ear, watching me blush until I could bear it no longer."

"And when I tried to pull away, you would smile and ask if I was playing hard to get."

My face burned with a scorching heat.

"Say no more..."

"Why can I not speak of it?"

The corners of his eyes were painfully red, and though tears slipped down his cheeks, a smile remained upon his lips.

"Were all those moments merely a game to you?"

"Just stroking a pretty beast-man, teasing a husband who had lost his memories?"

"And now that you have grown tired of the game, you simply discard me?"

"That is not true!"

He pressed me back until my spine was flush against the wall. His nine tails did not cause me pain, yet they formed a cage that was simultaneously tender and perilous. One tail coiled gently around my wrist; another wrapped smoothly about my waist. The sensation was overwhelmingly familiar, sending my heart spinning into disarray. Rong Wang lowered his head, pressing his forehead against mine. His tears fell upon the corner of my mouth, scalding hot.

"Gu Mian."

His voice was shattered.

"I do not merely want you to touch my tail."

"I want you to 'need' me."

"Just as you did before."

"Just as though you truly, genuinely loved me."

My entire body froze. Those words melted my heart far more effectively than any loss of control could have. For at last, I understood. Rong Wang’s anguish was not born of anger at being transgressed against; he was grieving because I had cut him off. I had foolishly believed I was merely protecting myself, but to him, I was not just weaning myself off fluffy things—I was weaning myself off *him*. I raised a hand, meaning to wipe away his tears, but Rong Wang gently caught my wrist and buried his face in my palm. He closed his eyes, his long lashes damp.

"Do not hide from me."

"I can be very good."

"If you dislike the nine tails, I will keep only one."

"If you do not wish to touch me, I can endure it."

"Just do not push me away toward someone else."

"Do not speak of divorce."

"It hurts me too deeply to hear it."

In that fraction of a second, a sharp ache bloomed in my chest, suffocating in its intensity. I stood on tiptoe and pressed a voluntary kiss to the corner of his eye.

"Rong Wang."

"Hmm?"

"It is not that I do not need you."

His breath hitched abruptly. All nine fox tails trembled in unison. Flushing brightly, I continued, "I only thought that... later on, you would hate me."

"Hate you?"

He looked at me as though he had heard the most preposterous absurdity in existence, and fresh tears welled in his eyes.

"How could I ever hate you?"

"I have waited for you to touch me for so very long."

I was utterly stunned. Rong Wang lowered his head and captured my lips in a kiss. This time, there was no longer any of the restrained, almost agonizing forbearance of the past. It was as though he had endured and feared for too long. The kiss was deep, smothering every instinctive attempt at retreat, yet it paused the very instant he felt me tremble ever so slightly.

"May I?"

His voice was thick and rough.

"Gu Mian, may I?"

Looking into his reddened eyes and wet lashes, my heart turned completely to mush.

"You may."

"But you must not frighten me."

Rong Wang’s throat bobbed. His nine tails billowed out behind him like a snowstorm finally yielding to the earth. One tail wound itself securely around my wrist; another supported my waist; several more quietly encircled my body, acting both as his guards to protect me and as the embodiment of feelings he refused to suppress any longer, eagerly vying to draw closer. He bent his head, kissing my eyes, then the tip of my nose, before finally lingering upon my lips.

"I will be very careful."

His voice dropped so low it was practically trembling.

"Yet I might... not be able to restrain myself quite as well as before."

My heart skipped a beat. The Rong Wang of the past had always retreated. I took one step forward, and he would pull back half a step. When I teased him deliberately, the tips of his ears would turn crimson as he tried to dodge away. I had assumed he was merely reluctant. Now I understood—it was never reluctance. He had been *too* willing, which was precisely why he had been so terrified of frightening me. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Then do not restrain yourself."

Rong Wang stiffened entirely. The next instant, the shimmering moisture in his eyes shattered completely. All nine tails tightened simultaneously, caging me securely within his embrace without a single gap. There was no pain, only an overwhelming, imperious demand that left no room for escape. His kiss was far fiercer than before, tracing from the corners of my eyes to my lips, then sliding down the curve of my neck, as if reclaiming every ounce of the insecurity, grievance, and repression he had suffered over the past days, bit by bitter bit. My fingers tangled into his long, silver hair as I heard him press close to my ear, repeating the question in a low murmur: "Are you still afraid of me?"

"No."

"Do you love me?"

"I do."

"When you wake tomorrow, will you still need me?"

My chest ached fiercely, and I leaned up to press a kiss directly to his fox ear.

"I always will."