NOVEL NEXT The Fox Tames the Villainous Grand Duke
Chapter 2
Even after a thousand years, how can I forget the first time I was cursed as a fox?
The moment when the huge snake’s body wrapped around me and Imoogi’s wrath, which had ruined the years, poured out of the place where it was supposed to bite the Yeouiju is as clear in my mind as if it happened yesterday. “It will be easier if I give you the same pain!” I just made a sound out of curiosity and then became a fox. The moon was filled and turned several times, shedding tears of blood, resentment, and anger. My story spread so much that the nearby wild animals came to take a peek at the poor fox, and it reached the sky. A dark grayish cloud in the shape of an old man appeared before my eyes and took pity on me. “How pitiful. You’ll have to live in that body for more than a thousand years.” I knew at once that it was a Heavenly God, so I laid flat and complained of my injustice. “A frog was hit and killed by a stone that was thrown carelessly, but who will pay for the injustice of the frog? Your circumstances are pitiful, but the spiritual beings who have to spend a thousand years again are also pitiful.” The Heavenly God shook his head, saying it was the karma I deserved. But Heavenly God felt sorry for me and handed me a blue bead. “This is the path of a fox who wants to become a human since ancient times.” The tails grow one by one as power is accumulated in the beads through long training. After having nine tails that let me use nine different kinds of magic, I was finally able to become human by putting the spirit of the person with whom I share eternal love into the fox beads. “There is just one thing you need to keep in mind.” If my true identity is revealed to someone, according to providence, I will return to my cursed form. Its nine tails, as large as those of a tiger and so plentiful that it was impossible to see its back, were magnificent even without puffing up its body. Originally, I was a spirit creature, but depending on what people say, I can become a spirit creature or a ghost. “If humans reject you who want to be human. You will lose all your power.” And among those who saw my true self, there was no one who was not afraid. Not even one. * * * When I opened my eyes, I thought did I become a noble lady from a certain family? …Of course, the same thing didn’t happen. Unlike Seorak, which is beautifully decorated with autumn leaves, it is just standing on another mountain where the hot summer sun penetrates the green leaves and wets the ground. “Ah… really…” It seems that I have come to the world of the novel that the Heavenly God talked about a while ago, 『Passionate Memories with Him』. A long time ago, I heard a story about a spirit being trapped in a hanging scroll, so it must be similar. – “Then try becoming a human in a place where you are healed that way.” Ha. Do you think I can’t do this? – “There will be no Imoogi there, so no one will disturb you. In the world that encourages good and punishes evil, you can become a human as long as you live kindly.” It is a world without Imoogi. More than half of the reason for the failure for a thousand years was because of Imoogi. Even I know that Imoogi talked to the guy who took my money and said it would introduce him to a “good place to invest.” The ‘same pain’ it was talking about is about becoming a fool on the verge of success. ‘Without that brat Imoogi, becoming a human would be a piece of cake.’ Besides, novels have happy endings even with good supporting characters, so as long as I don’t do bad things, I can get a happy ending as well. However, the voice of the Heavenly God interrupted the confident heart. – “If you don’t become a human within a year, you will live as a fox forever.” Anyway, it’s a year. I’m running out of time. If I do something wrong, will I spend the rest of my life as a beast? ‘Imoogi… is really not here, right?’ Once I had turned into a little fox, I kicked my back foot hard, lifted up, and pulled a fox bead out of my chest. All nine tails stood up when I put the beads in my mouth. I closed my eyes and let go of all the power I had, trying to feel Imoogi’s traces from here to the end of this world. ‘I don’t think it’s within a 500km radius….’ That was the moment. Right here, I felt an explosion of great force. An unknown air stream passed through me like a very strong wind. “Oh! It surprises me!” I hurriedly landed on the ground and looked around. ‘Ah… I thought Imoogi was attacking me.’ I was surprised, but thinking about it for a moment, it was definitely not the power of the Imoogi. Magic appears in novels, so it’s probably something like that. “Phew. I almost lost my heart.” At that time. In my eyes, a truly heartbreaking landscape unfolded. Because I said it. Tump, tump. My fox bead was going down the hill with a very cute sound. “Ah! I’m doomed!” How could I make such a stupid mistake! Just like the Imoogi that dropped Yeouiju before ascending to heaven! I hurriedly followed the bead in the form of a fox. The fox bead was, in a word, my soul. I can become a human only if I put the human spirit into that bead. ‘To drop such an important thing—’ As I chased like that, I saw a little steep slope and a path below it, so I had no choice but to stop walking. ‘It’s human!’ Should I hide from people or run to find the bead? For a second, I thought about what to choose. My bead hit the head of a person just walking by and bounced back toward freedom. The man must have been quick-witted, and he grabbed the bead with one hand. ‘Ah…’ As soon as the bead touched the man’s hand, it disappeared as if it had been absorbed into the palm of his hand. The man waved his hand through the air in bewilderment. ‘I’m doomed.’ It was the first time in a thousand years. When I always marry a man, I put it in myself on the first night. Once the beads got into a person’s body, they had to seduce them again to get them out or kill them. “What’s the matter?” When the person behind the man asked, the man raised his hand in wonder. “No, I think I saw something like a bead. I must have seen it wrong.” A man with good eyesight. You saw it right. Then the man raised his head in the direction I was. “I thought something fell over there.” Hiding among the bushes, I stopped thinking for a moment as if time had stopped. Is it because of that angle looking up from below? Or is it because he has sun-like blonde hair and blue eyes that look like topaz’s? ‘Wow… He’s so handsome.’ It was a stunningly beautiful appearance. He is handsome, as if he is the main character in a novel. ‘Oh, it was in a novel.’ That’s right. Usually, characters in novels are all handsome. Now that I see it, the person behind the man was also quite good-looking. ‘Rather than killing something like this…Shall I seduce him and get the bead?’ It’s a waste of appearance if I kill him. ‘Yeah. Since it’s a novel, it’s a common cliché to have the fox bead stolen.’ I made up my mind and approached the man from among the bushes. Although it’s been a while. With the intention of trying to seduce the man properly, I approached slowly with a bewitching and alluring expression on my face. Then the man behind me said. “Are you a fox?” Ah… Tsk, am I a fox now? If a fox bewitchingly seduces you, who will fall for you? I’ve been looking at my phone in the corner of a mountain for the past few years. I didn’t know that I would make the mistake of dropping the bead and even meeting people in the form of a fox. “You have a lot of tails?” I also didn’t think he would find out I was a Gumiho. ‘Tsk. I didn’t do anything, but it’s a sad ending.’ * * * Do you know why Gumiho harmed humans in old stories? It was because of what the Heavenly God had said, and if humans rejected them when they discovered their true identity, they would lose all their power. Of course, it’s just a missing power so that they can fill it up again. Think of it as studying again from the first grade of elementary school after failing the CSAT once. Are you angry or not? Besides, I’m not the first in a thousand years to be caught. It was already the fourth, the fourth! ‘I’ll just kill these guys…’ Thinking that I should just kill him, I looked up and froze. I thought he was handsome at first glance. ‘Ah… He looks pretty too.’ When I saw it up close, it was really beautiful. Even though I lived close to a thousand years, this kind of man was very rare. The way the sunlight shone on her blonde hair as it moved in the wind was beautiful. It was as if the bright blue eyes, deep eyes around the eyes, a sharp nose that wasn’t too big or too small, and the angle at which the upper lip sticks out were all calculated before it was born. The finishing touch on this face is the smooth jawline that connects all of the features. Like a painting that could come out of an imaginary painting. Fascinated, the man bent his knees, bringing his handsome face closer to me. While mesmerized, the man bent his knees and squatted to bring the handsome face closer to me. As if looking at this face and asking for save me. But instead of saying that, he reached out to me. “Do you want this?” There was beef jerky on the fingertips that were as fine as delicate corn, and the savory smell stimulated the tip of the nose. ‘Don’t tell me, are you giving me something to eat save me?’ Did you think I would say, “I won’t eat you if you give me just one?” If I were a human, I would have just turned around and run away as soon as he saw me. There are two humans here, and if they get torn apart and run away, one might survive. However. Maybe it’s because I’m a fox or because all I ate in Seorak was grass. The shimmering beef jerky in front of me kept tickling my salivary glands. ‘It’s not polite to turn down food right in front of you.’ Like a fox in the Eastern Country of Courtesy, I took a bite of the beef jerky the man gave me. (t/n: 동방예의지국 means the country of courteous people in the East.) It was clear that the beef jerky was quite expensive because it wasn’t as hard as I thought, and the juices spread when I bit into it. ‘Certainly, from the clothes he’s wearing…he seems to be living well.’ I didn’t notice because he had a very handsome face, but I could see gold jewelry in his clothes, which looked like they had just been ironed. Then I noticed something was strange. ‘…Wait?’ Anyway, why am I still looking up at this man, even though my identity has been revealed? When I lowered my head slightly, I still had the appearance of a small, slightly insignificant fox. It’s strange. If the heavens revealed my identity, it was natural that I would have no choice except to reveal my identity. “That’s an interesting fox. It must be deformed.” I pricked up my ears at the voice of the man behind me. ‘Interesting fox?’ If it has nine tails, don’t you think it’s a Gumiho? Then the man answered the man behind him. “Right. The tail…One, two… there are nine. It’s fascinating.” In an instant, I had a deep realization that hit me like lightning, and my eyes widened. ‘Ah!’ Since this is a novel, there are no nine-tailed foxes here! If they don’t know what a Gumiho is. Even if I want to reveal my identity, I can’t! ‘What is this? It’s totally awesome in the novel!’
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