Chapter 10

Of course, it wasn’t strange for him to appear here since his lesson was due in an hour. It wouldn’t have been strange at all—if only I wasn’t looking at him right now.

‘But this is incredibly suspicious.’

To my surprise, Ellen was pacing back and forth anxiously, biting his nails—a far cry from his usual calm and gentle demeanor. Every single one of his gestures felt shady now. Just as I was tilting my head, wondering if he was waiting for someone, I heard footsteps approaching.

Ellen flinched at the sound, then let out a shallow sigh of relief when the person turned the corner and revealed their face.

‘Wait? That person is definitely…’

“You’re late, Beth.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Her Ladyship is in the middle of choosing a new chef to replace Cooker. I had to check in, just in case.”

“So he finally got fired? Didn’t you say last time it wouldn’t be easy?”

“We got lucky. That guy was as suspicious as he was incompetent, so I wasn’t sure if the plan would work, but it turns out he was anti-shifter. I used that to my advantage.”

‘What on earth is going on?’

I stared at them blankly, unable to process the situation. Ellen also squinted in confusion and asked, “Used the fact that he’s anti-shifter? What does that mean?”

“It means I used that fox brat. Honestly, I would’ve considered it a success even if he’d just been demoted, but this turned out better than—”

“W-wait? Fox brat? Are you talking about Esteban’s pet fox?”

Ellen asked Beth, his face frozen in shock. Beth narrowed her eyes for a moment before replying nonchalantly.

“Yeah, that’s right. That fox brat is the shifter they brought in to stop Esteban’s rampage.”

Beth shrugged as she spoke, and Ellen’s jaw dropped in horror. He practically screamed at her.

“Damn it! Why are you just telling me this now? Don’t you know if the plan goes sideways, we’re both dead?”

“Don’t get excited, Ellen. I only kept quiet because that fox isn’t worth worrying about anyway.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That fox can’t humanize. She can’t use her abilities. So, we just need to stick to our plan.”

As Beth spoke dismissively, Ellen clenched his fists to suppress his emotions before opening his eyes sharply.

“Are you sure that fox really has the power to absorb someone else’s mana?”

“That’s what they say, but I can’t be sure. Like I told you, she’s stuck as a beast, so she can’t use her power.”

‘W-wait a minute! What is all this? So Beth and Ellen are in cahoots, and they’re the ones trying to trigger Esteban’s rampage?’

My head throbbed at this unimaginable revelation. I knew from the original story that Esteban’s rampage was caused by someone else, but…

‘I never dreamed the culprits were Esteban’s tutor and Aria’s maid!’

Hearing that Beth had even orchestrated the incident with Cooker made me want to faint. Suddenly, Cooker’s strange reaction made sense; I realized I had been a mere puppet dancing in the palm of her hand. Looking back, it wasn’t “luck” that Aria appeared near the kitchen just as my meal ended.

‘So she goaded the anti-shifter cook into bullying me, then brought Aria to the scene to catch him in the act. And I was so happy thinking I’d chased him out myself!’

The realization that my “perfect timing” was actually Beth’s plan made my head spin. In short, they planned to lace Esteban’s food with Allium seeds to trigger a rampage—and I had personally helped them remove the one person (Cooker) who might have checked the food.

‘Agh! I’m so mad!’

I wanted to leap out right then and there and gnaw on their heads. But since I was in a state where I’d likely be kicked away before I could even land a bite, all I could do was glare at them from between the Bluebells.

Ellen, looking somewhat relieved, pulled something shaped like a pill from his robe.

“This is a drug made by mixing Bluebell and Allium seeds. If Esteban, whose mana flow is unstable, takes this, his flow will accelerate until he either rampages or dies. There is no third option.”

“…….”

“So, no matter what, you must get him to eat this. It’s best if the Grand Duke is away. That way, there’s no one to stop him once he loses it.”

Ellen held out the pill for Beth to take. As I watched, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘If Beth takes that and puts it in Esteban’s food, will I be able to check everything he eats?’

Before I could finish the thought, my body moved on its own.

“Agh!”

“What was—!”

“Catch it! It’s that shifter fox brat!”

I lunged out, snatched the pill right as it was being handed over, and bolted. Beth’s enraged voice thundered behind me. I ran for my life with the pill clenched in my teeth, the sound of their frantic footsteps closing in.

“Damn it, stop right there!”

‘As if I’d stop for you!’

Truthfully, stealing the pill was a purely impulsive move; I had no plan for what to do next. My only goal was to avoid being caught as I darted between the legs of startled servants.

Suddenly, I spotted the glass greenhouse garden that Aria loved so much. Seeing Ellen getting closer—perhaps using mana to boost his speed—I dove into the greenhouse.

My heart felt like it was going to explode. I scanned the garden and quickly dove under a plant with large, broad leaves. Just as I hid, Ellen burst into the greenhouse.

“Where the hell did it go?”

His eyes flashed savagely as he scanned the interior. Beth followed close behind him.

“D-did you find it?”

“No. But it’s trapped in here now. Close the garden door and make sure it can’t get out.”

Beth nodded and hurriedly shut the greenhouse door. I gripped my head with my paws, wondering if I’d made a huge mistake.

‘Agh! No matter how desperate I was, why did I run into a dead end!’

My heart hammered against my ribs as I watched Ellen systematically check every plant, getting closer and closer to my hiding spot. Honestly, there was no way a fennec fox weighing less than a kilogram could take on these two.

‘What do I do now…’

At that moment, I tasted the bitter tang of the pill in my mouth. I tried to swallow my dry saliva, then froze like ice.

‘W-wait, I shouldn’t be able to taste this, right…?’

“Found you.”

Startled by the voice just as the terrifying realization hit me, I tried to spit the pill out—but instead, I accidentally swallowed it with a loud gulp.

I tried to gag it back up in a panic, but it was already too late. I could feel the mana flow within me beginning to surge and churn. As Ellen reached out to grab me, I instinctively bit his hand with all my might.

“Agh, you little brat!”

The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and in the next second, Ellen threw me across the room.

“Kyang!”

My body slammed into a wooden trunk, and the mana flow I had been desperately trying to suppress began to spiral out of control. Ellen glared at me with murderous eyes, clutching his bleeding hand.

I tried to stand, but the world was spinning. My heart raced violently, and as I felt the mana rampaging through my body, I finally understood a fraction of the agony Esteban must have been enduring all this time.

My trembling legs finally gave out, unable to support my increasingly heavy body. Seeing me collapse, Ellen—still holding his hand—rushed toward Beth at the door.

“We have to get out of here! That brat swallowed the medicine!”

“What?”

“Her mana circuits might twist!”

“W-what does that mean? What happens if they twist!”

“She’ll die! She’s going to die! So let’s go. If we stay here, it’ll look even worse if they think we killed her!”

Their voices, though clear, began to echo and fade into a muffled hum. I tried to suppress the mana flow, but it was impossible. My joints ached as if they were being carved into, and breathing became increasingly difficult.

‘…Die? Am I really going to die like this?’

The absurdity of the situation—dying because I accidentally swallowed a pill in a panic—was almost funny. Now, it felt like the bones in my entire body were stretching like taffy.

‘You bastards… go to hell…’

Beyond my fading consciousness, I saw someone approaching.

“H-help…”

Along with a faint scent of mandarin, my consciousness cut to black.