My Pet Fox Is Actually A Demon Prince-Chapter 37: Embarrassing Memory

Kyva rose abruptly, lifting Snowpuff from her lap and setting him upon the bed.

"I need to wash," she said, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. Then her tone softened as she looked at him, raising a single finger in mild warning. "Stay here, and try to behave yourself for once. Can you manage that?"

Calhoun’s small paws curled inward, his claws pricking faintly against his own pads.

He was seconds away from snapping at her hand, just enough to remind her that he was no docile creature to be ordered about so carelessly.

But then— she smiled.

Even in her disheveled state, there was something unearthly in it, soft and luminous. It struck him with far more force than it had any right to.

He found himself staring.

Why was it that her beauty seemed to deepen in such moments? Why did it grow all the more unbearable when that smile was turned toward him, as though it belonged to him alone?

His thoughts faltered, and something in his chest gave a sudden, unfamiliar thug, a reaction that seemed to only happen when he was in her presence, or when he happened to think of her.

His tail flicked once.

Then, traitorously, it began to sway, quick and unrestrained behind him.

Calhoun stiffened.

The moment he noticed it, he twisted, attempting to catch the offending limb that he could not control. His tiny paws moved to stop it, like he could force it into stillness by sheer will alone.

Kyva let out a soft laugh at the sight, wholly misreading his struggle as play. He was so adorable, the way he twisted about, chasing his own tail with such stubborn determination. It stirred something warm in her chest, and for a fleeting moment, she very nearly scooped him up again just to hold him close.

Meanwhile, the object of her affection suffered in silence.

Calhoun eventually stilled, forcing his traitorous tail into submission. His ears flattened ever so slightly, his posture rigid with wounded dignity.

Someone... end him already.

He knew there were more reasons as to why he hated this form.

"I have so much to tell you when I return," Kyva said lightly, reaching out to tap the tip of his snout with her finger.

Before Calhoun could recover his lost dignity or composure, she had already turned, slipping through the side door that led toward the inner corridor and the bathing chamber beyond.

****

Not long after, the soft slide of the shoji followed, and Kyva stepped back into the chamber.

Fresh robes draped neatly around her frame, the pale fabric clean and uncreased. Damp strands of dark hair clung to her neck and shoulders, the ends trailing faint droplets that caught the daylight spilling in from the veranda.

She carried with her the subtle scent of clean water and herbs, light but unmistakably fresh.

Calhoun froze when he saw her, his golden eyes widening, if only slightly.

She looked far more radiant now. Her features, no longer dulled by exhaustion, seemed to come alive in the daylight, as though the very act of cleansing had restored more than mere strength. His eyes followed her as she crossed the room with ease, reaching for a folded cloth at the low table. Lifting it, she began to pat her wet hair.

Entirely oblivious of the storm brewing within her fox cub, Kyva turned toward him with an easy, unguarded smile.

"Snowpuff, did you know the medicinal herbs they used worked like magic?" She joined him, settling at the edge of the bed as a soft sigh escaped her lips. "I feel much better now. Perhaps things are finally turning for the better."

Calhoun did not respond.

He merely stared.

And Kyva, blind to the weight of his gaze, continued, her voice growing softer as her thoughts began to wander.

"It feels strange," she murmured, absently twisting the cloth between her fingers. "To wake and find everything changed so suddenly. Just yesterday, I was still struggling to endure the trial.... and now... now its as though I’ve been... given something I do not yet understand."

"But the trial was terrifying," she suddenly added. "It was nothing like I had imagined. There were monsters lurking in the jungle, and I came upon two. The second one was even more terrifying than the first. It devoured the fallen candidates. I really believed I would be next."

She drew in a slow breath, steadying herself and gave a small shake to her head.

Then, all at once, she froze.

Her breath caught, and her hands flew to cover her mouth, the sudden motion startling even the fox beside her.

"Oh no..."

She looked at Snowpuff, her earlier relief gone as worry crept steadily across her features.

"S-Snowpuff, I think... I may be in trouble."

Kyva, while in the midst of recounting her ordeal to the fox, suddenly faltered.

A sudden memory stirred, the one that had been haunting her even before she remembered it.

"No, no, no."

Kyva pressed a hand lightly to her temple, her thoughts unraveling with growing embarrassment. "I... I think I spoke to someone when I first woke up. And I called him Snowpuff."

Calhoun’s ears pricked up at that.

Silence followed.

"Oh no, he must think of me as mentally unhinged. Why did I even call him that?"

She let out a small, distressed breath, suddenly remembering that the handsome figure had not only heard her, but corrected her as well. He said he was a master.

But was that possible?

And she foolishly addressed him as though he were her fox. Surely... surely someone of his standing would not take offense over the ramblings of someone barely conscious?

Would he?

The senior adepts weren’t really nice, so what assurance were their masters?

Kyva shook her head, already dreading the thought.

"The Sacred Order must be vast. It is unlikely our paths will cross," she tried to reason aloud, though there was little conviction. "But... if fate is unkind enough to let our paths cross again, I shall have no choice but to offer a full apology," she said with an utmost quiet resolve.

Across from her, Calhoun watched the unease play so openly across her features, and a quiet amusement stirred within him.

She already feared him; this ’stranger’ she barely remembered, without even knowing who he truly he was. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Or rather... what he was.

In her dazed state, her thoughts had probably been scattered, drifting between sense and delirium. While he had bent his focus entirely on sustaining her, the name Snowpuff had slipped from her lips without thought.

She even touched his face.

At that time–

Something in him recoiled.

Sharp and unfamiliar.

For a fleeting instant, he had wondered if she had seen through him... if, in that fragile space between life and death, she had recognized him.

If he had been exposed.

But to his relief, that was not the case.

She had only been mouthing nonsense.

Nothing more.

But now, watching her fret over a memory she could scarcely piece together, almost made him laugh.

Her resolve to apologize... and her belief that she might someday cross paths with this ’stranger’ again, would happen far sooner than she imagined.

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