Chapter 1

Prologue

“You’ve gotten yourself into something seriously wrong!”

Silia, who had been standing there blankly, flinched in surprise.

The old woman had suddenly become agitated and stepped right up to her.

“…Pardon?”

“Look at this! It’s a baby fox demon, yet it has nine tails!”

The old woman, said to have once been a priestess from the Eastern Continent, stared wide-eyed as she pointed at the fox.

Silia looked down at the injured creature.

Nine tails shimmering with silver fur.

The reason Silia, a holy knight, had searched high and low for a priestess from the Eastern Continent was because of those very tails.

It was obvious the creature was a yokai from the East, but something about executing it on sight felt deeply wrong.

Silia had good instincts.

And as expected, this was no ordinary yokai—the old woman’s face had turned grave.

“Fox demons are born with one tail, and every hundred years, another tail grows. The number of tails reflects the amount of demonic power they possess.”

“A hundred years? Then nine tails means…”

“A fox demon that has lived for nine hundred years. People call them gumiho.”

Silia shook her head.

“But this fox is just a cub.”

“That’s exactly the problem!”

The old woman’s spotted face sank into deep concern.

“If a baby fox was born with nine tails, then what do you think the mother that gave birth to a gumiho must be?”

Silia fell silent. She had no way of knowing.

The Western Continent was already struggling with the issue of animals smuggled in from the East.

The worst among them were yokai.

This fox demon had also been one of the “goods” prepared for sale to eccentric nobles.

Because the merchandise was a yokai, only holy knights could handle the situation.

If ordinary knights were exposed to powerful demonic energy, they would have no way to endure it.

“Unless it was conceived from the womb of a heavenly fox, a baby gumiho could never be born. Its mother is certainly a heavenly fox.”

“What is a heavenly fox?”

“When a fox demon that has lived a thousand years cultivates the Way and reaches harmony with the heavens, it becomes a heavenly fox. A divine spirit.”

As unfamiliar terms continued pouring out one after another, Silia’s expression darkened.

Clicking her tongue, the old woman rephrased it in Western terms.

“Think of it like a unicorn.”

Silia’s eyes widened.

“A unicorn? A guardian beast?”

“Exactly. And what happens when someone carelessly harms a divine creature? Divine punishment!”

“Then what do we do? Should we release it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

The old woman recoiled in horror.

“This creature may have been born from a divine spirit, but its nature is still that of a yokai! If you let it loose, it’ll mercilessly devour people across the Western Continent!”

The longer the conversation went on, the more a splitting headache pounded in Silia’s skull.

“If killing it brings divine punishment, but releasing it kills people, then what are we supposed to do?”

“That’s why I said you’ve gotten yourself into something terrible.”

At a loss for words, Silia shut her mouth.

The old woman stared into her green eyes before taking a long breath.

As if she were inhaling the clean, clear scent emanating from Silia’s soul, trying to determine whether it was genuine.

Then suddenly, amusement flickered across the old woman’s face.

“What’s your name?”

The old woman had once been a priestess who communicated with spirits, though she was supposedly exiled from the Eastern Continent after committing some sin.

Even if she was no longer a priestess, there was an irresistible force in her aged voice when she asked that question.

“I asked you. What is your name?”

Unable to resist, Silia answered reluctantly.

“Silia.”

“I see. Silia. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

Looking down at the panting gumiho, the old woman spoke meaningfully.

“Raise this child until it reaches adulthood, then take it back to the Eastern Continent.”

“…Raise it?”

“When yokai are capable of taking human form, they become extremely mysterious beings. Similar in significance to dragons in the Western Continent.”

“…”

“Depending on how it is raised, it may become the will of heaven… or a demonic fiend from hell.”

The old woman’s eyes gleamed strangely.

“Listen well. Once you reach the Eastern Continent, you must abandon this creature and return alone—if you wish to continue living the peaceful life you have now.”

‘The peaceful life I have now?’

There was something odd about the old woman’s words, but Silia’s attention was elsewhere.

“Wouldn’t people in the Eastern Continent be endangered then?”

The old woman let out a metallic laugh.

As though she had expected that question.

“No. It will instinctively seek out the traces of the heavenly fox that ascended to the heavens. Then its mother will come to retrieve it.”

“…”

“Silia.”

As if entranced, she met the old woman’s gaze.

The old woman’s clear eyes reflected her like a mirror.

“You must be the one to raise this fox demon.”

“…”

“If you do not wish to see the child of a heavenly fox become a fiend of hell, then follow my words. Do you understand?”

She wanted to ask why it had to be her.

But her lips would not move.

In the end, she could not answer at all.

And as if she had expected that, the old woman lifted the iron cage holding the gumiho and shoved it into Silia’s arms.

As though telling her to hurry and take it away.

Carefully making sure not to aggravate the fox’s injuries, Silia covered the cage with cloth.

This alley reeked so badly not even rats passed through it, but if luck turned against her, someone might still see.

“Thank you.”

After carefully checking that the cage was fully concealed beneath the cloth, Silia turned around.

“I will definitely repay you for this—”

She stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening.

The alley was empty.

No trace of the old woman remained. Only Silia stood there alone.

She stared blankly and looked around.

The old woman had vanished without a trace.

A sudden shiver ran through Silia’s body. For some reason, she felt deathly cold.

As though the sacred soul of the priestess had entered her body for a moment before departing again.

That night, Silia had a strange dream.

A man was embracing her from behind.

No… could that really be called an embrace?

One arm wrapped around her waist, the other around her shoulder, blue veins standing out along the thick forearm.

It was closer to restraint than affection.

The man was so enormous that Silia, who herself stood over 170 centimeters tall, fit entirely within his arms.

He was built like a bear—his broad chest engulfed her so completely that she looked as thin as a needle in comparison.

She twisted her body, trying to break free, but she could not move at all.

This was not human strength.

That much was certain.

“You taught me yourself.”

The deep baritone voice, drawn up from the depths of his chest, brushed across the back of her head.

Silia trembled involuntarily.

Warm breath scattered against the nape of her neck. She could feel the man smiling slowly to himself.

“I have instincts.”

His reddish lips curved into a breathtakingly sensual smile.

He was a dangerously seductive man.

“Even a well-trained dog still has instincts. So what do you think I’m like?”

“You… you misunderstood.”

“What kind of beast mistakes its instincts?”

The man whispered gently.

“I’m a creature worse than a beast. You know that too, Silia.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. You raised me well. I won’t do anything dangerous.”

“…”

“But you can’t run away.”

Strength entered the thick arms wrapped around her.

“Stay by my side and help me remain good, Silia.”

Forever.

Silia awoke from the dream drenched in sweat.