My Pet Fox Is Actually A Demon Prince-Chapter 26: Working Together

Kyva watched the creature retreat back into the shadows, and she was unsure about what to feel. Her mind was basically torn between relief and uncertainty. The creature had not attacked her, which she was thankful for, but its unexpected retreat brought her no comfort, only a hollow, uneasy pause.

She sank to her knees when it dawned on her that she was truly safe, only now realizing how much they quivered. Her hands shook, betraying her as she clutched the dagger, whilst her eyes narrowed as she turned it in her grasp.It wouldn’t make sense now to say the creature had fled because it was scared of her dagger, would it?

The image of those tendrils nearly slicing her head off made her shiver.

If her wound had not healed, she would not have been able to run the way she did today. She thanked the heavens for healing her, though she doubted they could hear the depths of her gratitude.

Rising unsteadily to her feet, Kyva soon spotted the siblings a short distance away.

They were resting beneath the broad canopy of a great tree. The girl crouched beside her brother, her hands careful but tense as she checked the wound at his side. Even from afar, Kyva could see the blood had soaked through his clothes.

A twig snapped under her foot as she approached, and both of them looked up at once.

The girl reacted instantly, rising and stepping in front of her brother. She had her arms stretched out slightly, as if to shield him. The reaction left Kyva stunned, and she met her gaze, noticing how sharp and wary those eyes looked.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her breath uneven. "Didn’t the senior adepts say that the trial was to be done alone?"

That was not the gratitude Kyva had thought to receive after risking her life to save them. But she held her tongue. This was not the time to court needless enmity.

"I could ask you the same thing," she replied evenly. "I know no more of this than either of you. But arguing about it won’t help any of us survive this."

"Why would I–"

"She’s right."

The brother’s voice cut in, strained but steady. He pushed himself upright with a quiet grunt, pressing a hand against his wounded side. The effort alone made his face pale.

"Finn, don’t–" the girl started, half-turning toward him.

"I’m fine," he muttered, though he clearly wasn’t. His gaze shifted to Kyva, measuring her more calmly than his sister had. "We should be grateful to her, Vera. If she hadn’t stepped in earlier, that creature would’ve finished us at the spot."

Finn’s words gave the girl a pause.

He continued, slower now. "Whatever this trial is... it’s not what they told us. The three of us being here together might not be a coincidence either. We can’t afford to treat her like an enemy right now."

Vera hesitated, her jaw tightening. She looked like she wanted to argue. But then her gaze flicked to his wound, and something in her eyes shifted.

Reluctantly, she lowered her arms, crossing them begrudgingly over her chest, but she didn’t step aside completely. Kyva was glad that at least someone understood the situation and was willing to tolerate the other’s presence, if only for this trial. If that creature had fled in fear, then something far worse probably lurked in these woods. They shouldn’t stay here for much longer.

"We need to keep moving," Finn murmured, as if he had read her thoughts. "That creature could return at any moment. We need to find somewhere safe to hide before nightfall."

Vera didn’t argue this time. She moved quickly to his side, slipping an arm under his to support him.

But as they started forward, she shot Kyva a hard look.

"You can come," she said curtly. "But keep your distance from us, and don’t get too close. You may have been useful back there, but don’t mistake that for anything more. Risking yourself for people like us is what people like you are supposed to do."

She adjusted her grip on Finn, as if dismissing the matter entirely.

"We owe you nothing, understand?"

Kyva blinked, taken-aback by her remark.

Then she laughed.

It wasn’t loud, but it was sharp enough to make Vera stop mid-step. For a heartbeat, she just stared, caught off-guard, but anger quickly took root.

"What’s so amusing?"

Kyva brushed a thumb beneath her eye like she was wiping away tears, though her gaze was steady when it met Vera’s.

"Sorry," she said, without sounding sorry at all. "It’s just... ironic."

She gestured lightly at their uniform.

"We’re dressed the same. Chosen for the same trial. Out here, that’s supposed to make us equals. People who rely on one another to survive. But you’d rather hold onto your pride and pretend you’re above me? We’re surrounded by creatures that would tear us apart without hesitation, but you’re still clinging to your status like it means anything here. If it mattered so much, it should have saved you instead."

Vera’s expression darkened, but Kyva did not give her a chance to interrupt.

"I don’t answer to you, and I certainly don’t need your permission to walk beside or away from you. I saved you, and I don’t regret it. But if this is how you plan to treat me, then I’d rather take my chances alone. Goodbye."

She took a step back, already turning away.

"If you think so highly of yourselves," she added coldly. "Then survive on you own."

She hadn’t escaped the establishment just to end up bowing to someone else.

Damn them all!

"Wait."

Finn’s voice stopped her.

Kyva paused, looking back over her shoulder. He was speaking quietly to Vera now, but her expression remained tight, clearly resisting whatever he was saying.

For a moment, it looked like she might refuse outright. But then she exhaled sharply, her shoulders stiff. She simply averted her gaze and relented.

"...Fine."

The words sounded forced, like it had been dragged out of her.

Then, more grudgingly, she added, "Please... come with us."

Finn nodded, as if sealing the fragile truce. "If the three of us stick together, we’ll have a better chance of finding the orb and getting out before the trial ends. We only have a day left. We can’t waste it."

Kyva turned fully to face them, studying them in silence. She didn’t miss the way Vera avoided her gaze, nor did she mistake this for any real change.

But Finn was right.

Three stood a better chance than one.

"Alright," Kyva said at last. "But I get to walk wherever I please."

Finn inclined his head. "That’s fair."

Vera hesitated, but then gave a stiff, reluctant nod. Just like that, the three of them set off.

—-

By the time they came upon a shelter, night had already fallen.

The forest was no longer as it had been.

What had once merely felt tense now pressed in on them from all sides, to the point even Vera no longer spoke. But to the siblings shock, no other creature showed up to attack them.

They found the place almost by accident, and thankfully, it bore the semblance of safety.

Before them was a narrow outcrop of stone, jutted from a hillside and half-hidden behind tangled roots and hanging vines. Beneath it, a shallow hollow formed a natural shelter.

Kyva sank into a crouch near the entrance, scanning the surroundings before she stepped inside. "This will do."

Finn let himself sink down against the stone wall with a quiet exhale, the tension in his face finally breaking as exhaustion caught up with him. Noticing his state, Vera immediately knelt beside him, intent on checking his wound again. Her earlier hostility had been replaced, at least toward him, by tight, confused concern.

"I said I’m fine," Finn muttered, drawing back as she tried to inspect his wound. "It’ll be better by morning."

"How so?" she returned at once. "Stop your foolish pretense. You’re still bleeding."

"She’s right," Kyva couldn’t stop herself from intervening this time. She walked up to them and crouched beside Vera, her gaze settling on the darkened cloth at his side. "You’re not in good shape. If anything, you risk a chance of having an infected wound. Don’t ignore it."

With that, she carefully reached into the fold of her sleeve.

"Here."

She held out a small bundle wrapped in broad leaves, which she had tied together with a thin strip of bark. A faint, bitter scent rose from it, and Vera wrinkled her nose as she inhaled the unpleasant medicinal smell.

"I crushed what I could find nearby," Kyva explained, ignoring her reaction. "There’s ironleaf in it, it’ll stop the bleeding. The bitterroot will keep the wound from rotting. It’s not perfect, but it will do until tomorrow, at least, before real help comes."

"...Give it here."

Kyva passed it to Vera without comment.

"Clean the wound first," she added gently, making Vera pause. "There’s a small lake just outside. Using that to cleanse the wound is better than nothing. Also press some water into it and bind it tight."

"Are you like... some herbalist?" Finn asked. But Kyva replied with a small shrug. She never really saw herself as one.

She hadn’t learned those things by chance, but it had saved her.

Back at the slavery establishment, injuries were common to have due to how terribly they were being treated over there, and it was no rare thing for one to perish from the torment, left untended and forgotten. But she refused to suffer such an end. So she chose a different path. She pilfered what volumes she needed from the neglected shelves and eavesdropped to the murmurs of learned instructors.

Whatever fragments of knowledge she could gather, she committed to memory, and in hidden hours, tested them. Trials and errors did the rest.

It wasn’t kind hands that taught her all these things.

It was survival.

And by fortune, she had not forgotten.

"Hey... what happened to your scary fox?" Finn’s voice broke through her thoughts, as if he just noticed she hadn’t brought it with her for the trial.

But Kyva stared at him, her brows furrowed. She took genuine offense to that.

"Scary?"

Snowpuff wasn’t scary.

He was small, soft and adorable!

There was nothing remotely frightening about him.

"For a second back there, I thought he was the reason the monster ran away," Finn continued, but Kyva thought he was definitely mocking her.

"Wait, brother Finn," Vera’s brows furrowed slightly in suspicion. "Did you notice? We didn’t encounter a single beast on our way here."