= Haku POV =
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a familiar ceiling.
Elysia’s room.
And the small blanket covering my body.
For a moment, I simply blinked in a daze.
‘……Is it morning?’
My body felt strangely light.
Until yesterday, it had felt as if my whole body were soaked cotton, heavy with water, but now it was different. It wasn’t simply the feeling of having slept well.
The mystic power flowing deep inside me was circulating far more smoothly than before.
If before it had felt like a thin skein of thread tangled here and there, now it felt as though someone had calmly wound that thread throughout the night.
I slowly lifted one forepaw.
A silver-pink spark formed at the tip of my small paw.
“…….”
I froze on the spot.
‘Huh?’
Before, it had taken quite a bit of concentration to make even one foxfire.
I had to gather strength at the tip of my paw, carefully draw up the mystic power within me, and hold it steady so it wouldn’t waver.
But now it was different.
The moment I thought of it, the spark formed naturally.
As if I were breathing.
I hurriedly extinguished the spark.
And even that disappeared far too easily.
It didn’t scatter, nor did it flare. It simply went out quietly, exactly as I had thought it would.
‘What is this?’
I looked down at my forepaw.
My body had certainly improved.
But it wasn’t just that I had recovered.
My control over my mystic power had become far better than before.
This time, I looked toward the box of fur clumps in the corner of the room.
The lid was closed, but I could faintly sense the presence of my fur gathered inside.
Before, I had to go right up to the box and pour mystic power into it directly.
But now.
‘Move.’
The moment I thought that, the lid of the box stirred ever so slightly.
Startled, I sat upright.
Through the gap beneath the lid, a handful of silver-pink fur wriggled upward.
The clump of fur gathered softly in midair, then formed the shape of a small hand far more naturally than before.
The ends, split into five parts, slowly curled and straightened.
The sensation of hands from my previous life.
As soon as I recalled that feeling, the fur hand responded almost immediately.
My eyes went round.
‘This…… works way too well?’
Just a few days ago, I had needed to focus with all my mind just to hold a single needle.
But now, even forming the fur hand itself had become much easier.
I carefully moved the fur hand and closed the lid of the box.
It barely made a sound.
At that moment, I sensed a small movement from the bed.
“……Haku?”
It was Elysia’s voice.
I turned my head.
Elysia was sitting up in bed.
Her face still looked half-asleep, but the moment her eyes met mine, they opened wide.
“Haku!”
Elysia came over almost as if tumbling out of bed and carefully lifted me into her arms.
“You’re awake. You’re really awake.”
I blinked in her embrace.
Her reaction was bigger than I had expected.
I cried softly.
“Kyawung?”
What’s wrong?
That was what I meant.
Elysia hugged me tightly, then soon loosened her hold as if startled.
“Sorry. Did I squeeze you too hard?”
I shook my head.
More importantly, I couldn’t quite understand the current situation.
‘How long did I sleep?’
Elysia hesitated for a moment.
Then she answered quietly.
“Today is the third day.”
‘……What?’
I froze where I was.
Three days?
I thought I had only overslept for about a day.
Flustered, I stiffened my tail straight up.
Seeing my reaction, Elysia almost smiled a little, but soon her face turned worried.
“You weren’t asleep the whole time. You turned over now and then, and you ate a little bit of bread. But this is the first time you’ve properly woken up.”
I stared blankly at her.
I slept for three whole days?
Had I really used that much mystic power?
I had certainly gotten carried away when making the scarf and pajamas.
I made fur hands, wove the threads, channeled mystic power into the scarf, and put a stable flow into the pajamas too.
But I had no idea it would take three days to recover.
‘I really overdid it.’
My ears drooped.
Seeing me like that, Elysia slowly stroked my back.
“Still, you look much better now. Your breathing is far more stable than yesterday…… and it seems like your energy has returned too.”
I nodded.
My body definitely felt good.
If anything, it felt too good.
After hesitating for a moment, I raised my forepaw.
Then I made a very small foxfire.
A silver-pink spark rose quietly.
It was far more stable than before.
Elysia’s eyes widened.
“Haku……”
I immediately extinguished the spark.
The flame vanished without leaving any trace.
Elysia seemed to understand what I had just done and quietly drew in a breath.
“It’s much more natural than before.”
I think so too.
Then I pointed toward the box of fur clumps.
From inside the box, one fur hand rose again and carefully waved at Elysia.
This time, Elysia seemed completely at a loss for words.
“……That moves better too.”
I nodded.
I didn’t know whether it was the price of sleeping for three days, or whether my body had adapted after using so much mystic power.
But the result was clear.
My control over my mystic power had improved to a degree that couldn’t even be compared to before.
Elysia looked at the fur hand for a moment, then held me in her arms and murmured softly.
“I’m happy, but…… even so, don’t push yourself like this next time.”
I obediently nodded.
I couldn’t argue with that.
When it became known at breakfast that I had properly woken up, the Valerion family each reacted in their own way.
The first to rush over was Camilla.
“Haku! Are you all right?”
I nodded from within Elysia’s arms.
Then Camilla clasped her hands together and let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness…… I was really worried because you kept sleeping.”
Mina placed warm water and softly cut bread in front of me.
“Lord Haku, please don’t eat too much all at once. Since you slept for so long, it would be best to eat slowly.”
I obediently ate the pieces of bread little by little.
Leopold looked at me for a while, then said in a low voice,
“It seems your vitality has returned.”
I nodded.
Lucius spoke as if intrigued.
“If your control improved significantly after nearly three days of recovery, it may have been closer to realignment than simple fatigue.”
“Realignment?”
Elysia asked back.
Lucius looked at me and said,
“Haku used his mystic power in an extremely delicate manner while making the scarf and pajamas.
In that process, his body may have learned a new method of control, and while he recovered, that sensation settled into place.”
I stopped in the middle of chewing my bread.
That sounded plausible.
Foxfire and presence blurring were training to bring out and handle power.
But knitting was different.
I had to shape mystic power into hands, hold the yarn, and weave the thread while maintaining a steady amount of force.
It was more delicate than any training I had done so far.
That delicate work may, in fact, have been a great help in improving my control.
Isolde smiled gently and said,
“In that case, the gifts Haku made helped not only Elysia, but Haku himself as well.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I bit into another piece of bread.
Grayden nodded.
“That is a good direction. If one uses power only to break things, it becomes rough.
If one uses it to create and weave, its texture becomes refined. It seems that kind of training suits Haku well.”
Those words made me strangely happy.
It felt as though someone had acknowledged that my power was not only something frightening.
Camilla’s eyes sparkled.
“Then does that mean Haku can make even more things from now on?”
I flinched.
So that’s where this was going.
Camilla said with a face full of expectation,
“Like a small wrist ornament, or a hair tie……”
I hurriedly shook my head.
Not yet.
No overdoing it.
Seeing my reaction, Camilla looked a little disappointed, but Isolde stopped her with a smile.
“Haku has only just woken up, so let him rest today.”
“Okaaay……”
I inwardly let out a sigh of relief.
That day, I really did not train.
Instead, at Grayden’s suggestion, we only did a very simple check.
It was not in the training hall, but in a small room inside the mansion.
Only the family and Mina were present.
I made a small spark at the tip of my forepaw and extinguished it.
Three times.
All three succeeded without wavering.
Next was the hand.
The clump of fur in the box floated up and took the shape of a small hand, then carefully picked up the wooden needle Mina had prepared.
It did not drop it.
Ironically, I had done nothing but sleep for three days, yet I had become stronger.
No, more accurately, rather than becoming stronger, I had become more delicate.
Before, it felt like I was forcibly drawing up my mystic power and holding onto it.
Now, it felt as though my mystic power understood my thoughts first.
Like opening and closing a hand.
Like breathing in and out.
Of course, it still wasn’t perfect.
If I let my guard down even a little, it would fall apart, and if my emotions surged, it might burst out again.
But I had clearly crossed one stage.
I could feel it.
That evening, I was in Elysia’s room, properly awake for the first time in a while.
Elysia was carefully folding the pajamas I had made.
“I won’t wear them today.”
I tilted my head.
Why?
Seeing my reaction, Elysia smiled.
“You just woke up. I’m worried the mystic power remaining in the clothes might affect your recovery.
Brother Lucius said it should be fine, but even so, I’ll leave them alone today.”
I looked at her for a moment.
She really worried a lot.
But I didn’t dislike that feeling.
I carefully made a fur hand and tapped the edge of the pajamas on the desk.
Then I shook my head.
‘It’s fine.’
Those clothes were already completed items.
I wasn’t sending power into them in real time.
Elysia seemed to understand what I meant and hesitated for a moment.
“Are you really sure it’s all right?”
I nodded.
Then Elysia smiled, looking a little relieved.
“Then…… I’ll wear them again today.”
Watching her hold the pajamas to her chest, I felt oddly proud.
Something I made was making someone’s day more comfortable.
This was a different kind of joy from becoming better at handling foxfire.
I climbed onto the bed and curled up.