Then one evening, while Elysia had stepped out of the room for a moment.
I was sitting on a small cushion placed on the parlor sofa,
and Lucius was seated in the chair opposite me, reading through documents.
For a while, the only sound was the quiet turning of pages.
Then Lucius suddenly spoke.
“Haku.”
I pricked up my ears.
Without taking his eyes from the papers, he said,
“Elysia’s expression softens when she is beside you.”
I looked at him in silence.
“For that, I am grateful.”
Only then did Lucius set the documents down and look at me.
“But as long as I still do not know what you are, I cannot trust you completely.”
His words were quite blunt.
And yet, strangely, I did not find them unpleasant.
Lucius did not pretend to be friendly with false warmth.
Instead, he made his position clear.
“So for the time being, I will observe you. What kind of existence you are to Elysia.”
I looked at him for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Fine.
I had no intention of asking them to trust me completely from the start, either.
Seeing my response, Lucius gave the smallest of nods.
“And…”
He paused for a moment.
“If you allow it, may I touch you once?”
I blinked.
That was unexpected.
So this person had been curious too.
After hesitating briefly, I nodded.
Lucius rose from his seat and approached me.
Then, before reaching out his hand, he stopped once more.
“Would the head be all right?”
I nodded.
Only then did Lucius’s hand descend onto my head.
Compared to Camilla, his touch was far more careful and restrained.
Twice.
He really stroked me only twice, then withdrew his hand.
“I can see why the students would gather around you.”
‘Don’t make such a serious evaluation of that.’
With an expressionless face, Lucius returned to his seat.
But ever so faintly, it seemed as though the corners of his mouth had relaxed.
And Gradeon was… a little different.
He almost never tried to touch me.
For the first few days, he merely watched me in the garden or the parlor.
His gaze was so sharp that whenever he was nearby, I found myself straightening my posture without realizing it.
Then one day, when Elysia was swinging her sword in the garden.
I was curled up beneath the shade of a tree, and Gradeon had, at some point, come to stand beside me.
There had hardly been any sign of his presence.
‘You startled me.’
I was startled inwardly, but on the outside, I pretended to be as calm as possible.
Watching Elysia’s sword, Gradeon said,
“She is improving little by little.”
I looked up at him.
“Are you helping her?”
I hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod.
Gradeon smiled.
“I see. But do not help her too much.”
At those words, my ears twitched.
“A sword cannot be swung for another. You may show her the path, but in the end, it must be Elysia’s hand that cuts.”
I knew that as well.
I nodded.
Gradeon looked down at me for a moment, then slowly extended his hand.
This time, he did not stop above my head.
His fingertips touched my forehead, very lightly.
His hand was rough and firm.
The hand of someone who had held a sword for a long time.
But it was warmer than I had expected.
“Little fox.”
Gradeon spoke in a low voice.
“Whatever you may be, do not ruin Elysia’s sword.”
I looked at him.
Those words were both a warning and a request.
I slowly nodded.
As if satisfied, Gradeon withdrew his hand.
“Good.”
After that, very occasionally—truly very occasionally—he would stroke my head once.
He did not openly enjoy it like Camilla, nor did he politely ask permission like Lucius.
It was simply brief and calm, like a swordsman checking his scabbard.
And yet, strangely, I did not dislike it.
In that way, life inside the Valerion estate gradually began to change.
In the morning, Elysia brushed my fur, and Mina took care of my meals.
In the evening, Camilla would sometimes come by and ask, “May I touch you today?”
and when Lucius passed by and our eyes met, he would give a brief nod.
Gradeon would watch Elysia’s swordsmanship in the garden, then suddenly leave me with a word or two of advice that sounded like a warning.
Leopold and Isolde also began treating me more naturally, little by little.
Leopold was still grave and taciturn,
but if my plate was empty at mealtime, he would signal to a servant to bring more soup.
When Isolde thought I looked tired, she would quietly say to Elysia,
“It would be best to let Haku rest early today.”
Everyone in this house had a different way of doing things.
Leopold, with responsibility and vigilance.
Isolde, with consideration and observation.
Lucius, with judgment and courtesy.
Camilla, with curiosity and clumsy affection.
Gradeon, with the instincts of a swordsman.
And Elysia, just as she had from the beginning, held me in her arms.
Of course, that did not mean everything had become comfortable.
I still had not revealed my full identity.
The fact that I had once been a man from the modern world, the name Wolyeong, and the old memories sleeping within this body—I was still hiding them all.
But at least within the Valerion estate, I was no longer merely a “strange familiar.”
A small companion by Elysia’s side.
That much, at least, I was being accepted as.
And I, too, was becoming accustomed to the people of this house, little by little.
That fact was a little frightening.
But.
When I saw Camilla carefully stroking my head,
Lucius politely asking for permission,
Gradeon touching my forehead as if it were nothing,
Isolde looking after my meals,
and Leopold silently checking my plate.
‘…It’s not bad.’
That thought came to mind.
Truly.
Little by little, it felt as though a place for me was forming in this world.
And so the weekend came again.
As a slightly leisurely atmosphere settled in from the morning, I suddenly recalled the day I first arrived in this world.
It had been a rainy day.
Knowing nothing, I had wandered through unfamiliar streets,
until I was drawn by a sweet scent drifting by chance and stopped in front of a bakery.
There had been a middle-aged woman baking bread there.
Perhaps she had taken pity on me, standing quietly in front of the bakery while drenched by the rain,
because without a word, she had held out a small piece of bread to me.
It had been warm, sweet, and soft bread.
After that, I met Elysia inside an old box, and before I knew it, I had come all the way here.
Thinking back on it, it really was strange.
Because that one small piece of bread I received then had been the first kindness I was given in this world.
I explained the bakery’s location to Elysia and asked her to take me there.
Elysia looked a little puzzled, but soon nodded.
“If it is somewhere you want to go, of course I will take you.”
And so, carried in Elysia’s arms as we passed through the streets,
the scenery that remained in my memory began to come into view one by one.
And when we finally arrived in front of that bakery.
The woman was still there, baking bread.
The smell of freshly baked bread was drifting out of the shop.
There was no mistake.
It was the woman from that day.
Peeking my head out from Elysia’s arms, I looked at her.
At first, the woman seemed not to recognize me, but soon her eyes widened.
“Oh my… Are you the little fox from back then?”
I carefully wagged my tail.
I could not convey it in words, but I wanted to at least express how I felt now.
That I had been grateful back then.
That because of the small piece of bread she handed me,
I had been able to believe this world was not only a cold place.
I looked up at Elysia and pointed at the bread display with my forepaw.
Then I cried softly.
“Kyawng.”
Elysia looked back and forth between me, the bread, and the woman for a moment, then smiled gently.
“…I see. Haku, you wanted to say thank you to this lady.”
I wagged my tail slightly again.
Elysia bowed politely to the woman.
“I heard that you once shared bread with this child.
Thank you very much. Today, as thanks for that time, I would like to buy some bread.”
The woman seemed surprised for a moment, but soon smiled, her eyes gently curving.
“Oh my… You still remembered something like that?”
Her voice was as warm as it had been that day.
In Elysia’s arms, I curled up slightly.
I felt a little embarrassed, but it was not a bad feeling.
That day, all I had been able to do was receive a single small piece of bread.
But today, at least, I had been able to come back to express my gratitude.
Elysia chose and bought several pieces of bread there.
A round loaf fresh from the oven, a small sweet bun lightly dusted with sugar on the outside,
and even the bread filled with dried fruit that kept stealing my gaze.
Of course, since I was a fox, I could not choose directly.
Even so, each time I lightly pointed at the display with my forepaw,
Elysia somehow understood what I wanted and picked them up one by one.
“This one? Or… this one?”
“Kyawng.”
“Hehe, all right. I’ll take this as well.”
Watching us, the woman smiled with a pleased expression.
“What a clever child. It’s almost as if he understands human speech.”
Actually, I do understand.
I muttered that inwardly and, for no reason, averted my gaze.
It was not as though my identity had been exposed, but I felt strangely guilty.
After finishing the payment, Elysia accepted the bag of bread and bowed politely to the woman once more.
“Thank you very much for showing this child kindness back then.”
“Not at all. I only felt sorry for the little one, soaked by the rain.
Seeing him so healthy now makes me even happier.”
Saying so, the woman lowered herself slightly toward me.
“Take care from now on, little fox.”
In Elysia’s arms, I carefully lifted one forepaw.
I could not greet her like a person, but I wanted to convey at least this much.
Thank you.
That small piece of bread from that day had been a greater comfort to me than she probably realized.
I did not know whether the woman understood my feelings.
But she smiled at me gently, just as she had back then.
And that alone was enough.