The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

When Laria woke up in the morning, she saw her reflection in the mirror.

“Kyaa!”

She was still a baby fox.

Only then did Laria realize the seriousness of the situation.

‘Could it be that I can’t go back forever?’

She thought she would be back to her original form by now, but that was too naive.

“Miss Fluffy?”

The butler called out to Laria with a puzzled look.

Laria whined and lamented her current state, but the butler didn’t understand her at all.

“Are you hungry?”

‘This isn’t the time!’

The butler only thought of Laria as an animal.

Laria had to reveal her true identity right away.

“Kyu! Kyuyng!”

‘I’m a humanoid!’

Haa…

She could only let out a fox’s cry; she couldn’t speak.

Laria walked past the butler and circled the room.

The spacious room only had a desk, bookshelf, and chair.

Laria tried to jump onto the bookshelf. However, her legs were too short, and she fell. Hitting her head, Laria groaned in pain. She couldn’t do anything in this tiny body.

The watching butler came over and placed her on the bookshelf.

Laria immediately picked out a book with her mouth.

When the book fell to the floor and opened, Laria quickly jumped down.

“Miss Fluffy!”

The startled butler exclaimed.

But perhaps because she was so light, the jump from that height didn’t harm her.

Laria skimmed the book filled with words.

Quickly, she put her paw on the letters in sequence.

[I. am. a. humanoid.]

There was a problem.

Her paws were too big to point to the letters accurately.

The butler tilted his head, clueless about what Laria was trying to do.

“Do you want to play with paper?”

“Kyu! Kyuu!”

If possible, please bring me ink too!

The butler got up and brought her paper. He also brought a pen and ink, thinking she might want to use them.

Without waiting, Laria dipped her paw into the ink pot.

She stamped her paw on the white paper, but the butler immediately grabbed her.

He carefully wiped Laria’s paw with a handkerchief.

“From Miss Fluffy to Miss Spotted.”

Spotted? That sounded terrible.

She entrusted herself to the butler, thinking he might genuinely call her Spotted.

After that, Laria tried various ways to reveal her identity.

Sadly, they all failed.

A week had passed since her abduction.

‘This can’t go on.’

There was no sign of returning to her original form, and no one even suspected her true identity.

‘I’m scared I might really become a fox.’

Walking on four legs now felt more natural than on two.

She constantly wanted to burrow into blankets, creating a fox’s den. Even her taste in food had changed to what a fox would like.

She had to get back to her human form before turning into a real fox.

‘First, I need to escape from here.’

If she returned home, her family would find a way to help.

Foxes can communicate, after all.

‘I wish he could take me back to where I was.’

But the man who kidnapped Laria had stayed in his room without meeting anyone.

Apart from the first day, they had only encountered each other once in a week.

When they did meet, he showed no interest in Laria and walked past, so she ran after him. However, he merely looked at the stumbling Laria and went back to his room.

Feeling ignored, Laria fumed inside.

‘Who the heck is he?’

He was called ‘master‘ instead of his name, making it hard to guess his identity.

But one thing she did learn: everyone felt uncomfortable and afraid around him.

After some contemplation, Laria clenched her pink jelly-filled paws.

‘Yes, let’s go out today.’

She couldn’t live like this anymore.

Laria decided to escape from the mansion that night.

When night came, as if chasing the set sun.

Laria snuck out of the bed the butler had prepared.

When she left the room, a dark corridor stretched before her.

The pale moonlight was the only illumination, making the empty hallway eerie.

It felt as if something lurking in the dark would jump out and swallow her any moment.

Swallowing hard, Laria ran through the corridor like a prey being chased by a hunter. After running for a while, Laria came to a staircase and hesitated for a moment. The stairs were taller than she expected.

After a brief breath, Laria jumped down the stairs. However, she couldn’t land properly and tumbled down.

Her body ached, and her soft white fur was a mess.

‘When will I get out of this mansion and go home?’

Though she had only descended the stairs, she felt dazed.

Laria staggered along the hallway, leaning against the wall. Despite taking quite a while, the entrance wasn’t in sight. It felt like wandering in a maze, going around in circles.

‘Maybe I should just go back.’

If things continued this way, it seemed likely she wouldn’t be able to leave the mansion before morning.

Perhaps after preparing a bit more…

Crash!!

Laria jumped at the sound coming from behind her.

The sound of something shattering echoed one after another.

It was loud enough to wake everyone up, but as if prearranged, no one came out.

‘A thief?’

Hesitating, Laria crouched and headed towards the source of the noise. If it was an intruder, she thought she could simply follow them out.

But when she got there, a man was standing alone in the corridor.

Moonlight, pouring in through the window, illuminated the sword in his hand.

Shattered furniture and ceramic fragments were scattered around.

Laria gasped, her eyes widening.

‘This guy is crazy…’

No matter if it’s his own house, who breaks stuff like this in the middle of the night?

Laria cautiously backpedaled.

There was no guarantee that she wouldn’t end up like those shattered objects if he noticed her.

Unfortunately, the man spotted Laria faster than she could retreat.

Eek!

Surprised, a fox-like exclamation slipped out.

“…”

The moment their eyes met, Laria could tell he had lost his sanity.

His golden eyes, different from when she saw them a few days ago, now glinted with an eerie light.

Frozen in place, her body wouldn’t respond.

The man who had been standing still lifted his foot.

She thought he was coming straight for her, but instead, he took a step back.

‘Huh?’

Laria took a deep breath, blinking in surprise.

At the end of their peculiar standoff,

Clang-

The sword slipped from his hand, hitting the floor. Like a marionette with cut strings, he fell.

‘What, what’s happening?’

Stiff from shock, Laria approached the man and nudged him with her foot.

“Kyu?”

‘Hey, are you dead?’

When he didn’t budge, her heart sank.

Should she call for help?

Panicking, Laria climbed onto the man and felt his breath with her foot. His faint breathing made it seem like he was just asleep.

‘Phew, he’s not dead.’

Having confirmed that he was alive, she was about to leave when a faint voice reached her ears.

“Ugh…”

The man, with a deeply furrowed face, groaned. His suppressed moans sounded so painful, as if he was having a terrible nightmare, and soon he was gasping for breath.

Watching him, Laria decided to leave.

There was nothing she could do for him.

She thought it best to return to her room without disturbing him further. However, after a few steps, Laria stopped.

‘I should just leave him…‘

She couldn’t figure out why she was so concerned about him.

Especially since he was the one who kidnapped her.

‘I can’t even remember the way back, and I’m exhausted.’

All kinds of excuses popped into her head.

‘It’d be nagging if something happened.’

If something bad happened after leaving him, she would regret it for a long time.

Finally deciding, Laria curled up and lay next to the man.

His warmth felt like hugging a hot stone.

‘I hope he doesn’t try to kill me when he wakes up.’

The man’s warmth soon lulled Laria to sleep.

Listening to the man’s now calm breathing, she drifted off.

Who knows how much time passed?

She heard a restless noise beside her.

“…Fox?”

As the man tried to get up, Laria stretched out over his chest.

‘Why is the bed moving?’

Still half asleep, Laria pressed her fluffy body against him and slapped his chest with her foot as if telling him not to move.

Then he stiffened like a log.

She could feel his chest rise and fall with each breath.

Enjoying his warm body temperature, Laria went back to sleep. She remained snuggled up to him until the servants came to clean up.

And from that day on, their relationship began to change little by little.