My Butler Was My Little Brother All Along
The hours in the Princess's Palace flowed peacefully. The fox swiftly adapted to palace life.
“Kyeng! Kyeng!”
“Kyuu.”
No, that's not what you're eating. Spit it out. Jiji.
At first it didn't move an inch under my belly, but now it had grown bold enough to eye the meat in my bowl. Of course, every time I pressed my paw on its head to stop it.
There was one unchanging thing, though.
“Oh, my, Foxie. Come here and let me see you?”
Hoddak.
When a passing maid reached out smiling at how cute it was, the little creature shot off like a bolt of lightning behind my rear, peeked out from between my legs with wide, wary eyes full of caution.
“Kong!”
Its wariness toward people remained thick. Especially when it spotted Rosalia and Lina from afar, it would vanish into my fur in an instant, playing dead.
“Kyuu.”
Good boy, my new butler.
The sight made me so happy I licked its face.
It was a lazy afternoon, enjoying a nap, when the butlers arrived.
“Blanc-nim, and Your Highness. I have a small matter to report.”
“What is it, Tower Master? What happened?”
Kailian had been scratching my belly but now lifted her head.
Rosalia adjusted her glasses once, then pointed at the fox curled up against my leg.
“This is regarding the fox.”
“The fox? Why? Did you find something weird again?”
“Visually it looks healthy, but since it's a wild creature, I thought a proper check wouldn't hurt.”
“Exactly, Blanc-nim. I'll use my holy power to examine it and confirm there are no bad 'impurities' or parasites inside.”
Lina chimed in too, so Kailian nodded.
“Mm… Yeah, nothing wrong with checking.”
Kailian kissed my cheek and said,
“Blanc, you heard? We'll take it away for just a bit. It'll be over soon. For you.”
“Kyuu…”
Of course, getting vaccinations is standard when raising pets…
I looked down at the fox still gripping my hind leg. The little guy had woken up and was trembling like a leaf in a storm, sensing something was off.
“Kyeng… Kyueu…”
Its golden eyes clung to mine desperately.
I sighed and tapped its head with my paw.
“Kyuu.”
Go on. Nothing bad will happen.
Then I gently loosened the tail wrapped around me.
“Kying!”
The fox let out a yelp and tried to cling to me, but Rosalia's magic was faster.
Fwaat.
With a flick of her fingers, the fox floated up into the air. An invisible hand of mana gently enveloped it.
“Then, we'll take it for a moment. We'll examine it safely and return it right away.”
Rosalia and Lina carried the floating fox out.
I clicked my tongue, watching its pathetic, teary-eyed gaze as it disappeared.
“…I guess I should follow.”
While Kailian was distracted, I quietly slipped away from my spot.
The room was perfectly sealed off from the outside, a warm cushion room. The fox was gently set down on a cushion.
“Ning…”
The little creature crawled into the corner and curled up tight. Every hair stood on end, looking like a porcupine.
Rosalia and Lina tried to soften the atmosphere as much as possible.
“Now, Foxie. You don't have to be scared.”
With a soft voice, Lina bent down to meet its eyes.
“We're not going to hurt you. We already know you're not a plain fox. To stay by the Divine Beast Lord's side, we need to know who you are, don't we?”
Rosalia too removed her glasses and set them on the table, suppressing her mana to the utmost.
“Precisely. We can't have mysterious beings near him. All we need is proof of who you are. Show your true self.”
Their demeanor was gentle, like they were handling a child, but to the fox that kindness felt even more terrifying.
The wild instincts of the fox were crushed by the aura radiating from their bodies.
“Scary… they'll eat me…”
The pressure was worse than the law of the jungle it had faced in the mountains.
“Kying…”
The fox backed up until it hit the edge of the cushion.
“It'll be fine. If it's too hard today, we can do it another time.”
Rosalia spoke quietly. She hoped the fox would open its heart and reveal its identity on its own.
“I could force a transformation release, but you might get hurt. It's better if you show it yourself.”
“Yeah, that's right? Just show us a little, okay, sis?”
To calm it, Lina stretched out her hand holding a snack.
The instant her fingers reached out, the fox's fear hit its limit.
“Help me!”
Pang!
With a bright flash of light and white smoke, the fox's body erupted in radiance.
Rosalia and Lina instantly took defensive stances, prepared for a massive gumiho to burst out.
But when the smoke cleared, the scene before them was nothing like expected.
“Hueu…”
On the floor, sitting slumped, was a young girl who looked about twelve years old.
Her silver hair was messy, white fox ears sat atop her head, and a fluffy tail waved behind her.
The child trembled in a white dress.
Tears welled in her golden eyes.
“Huaaang…”
The child burst into tears. Not a seductive yokai, not an evil magical beast—just a scared little kid.
“I-I messed up… I'm sorry….”
The child wiped tears with tiny, twig-like hands and sobbed loudly.
“Brother… huig, with Brother Blanc… so I did… don't throw me out…”
Rosalia and Lina's faces froze at the unexpected situation.
“Huh…? A little kid…?”
Lina dropped the snack she was holding, startled.
“What? It's a baby? Even a tiny tot?”
Rosalia frowned.
“It can transform into a human… but it's too young.”
They said it had come out as a child, so I, who had been subtly wary, felt like an idiot.
No matter how cold the Tower Master or Saintess were, guilt stabbed at their hearts. They felt like villains who had suddenly blackmailed a child.
“Hueee! I only ate a little… just let me stay next to Brother…”
The child sobbed pitifully, begging.
“When I go to the mountains… scary wolves chase me again… without Brother I die…”
The child curled up, wrapping its body with its tail. It looked so small and fragile.
Lina fidgeted, glancing at Rosalia.
“Hey, Tower Master. What do we do? The kid is too upset…”
“We were wrong… we should comfort it first. What will Blanc think of us if he finds out?”
Creak.
The tightly shut door of the research room gently opened. And from the gap came a head like a ball of white cotton.
“……!”
“……!”
Rosalia and Lina jolted and froze. The one they least wanted to see had opened the door and walked in.
I pushed the door open and strode confidently into the room. When I saw the scene, I stopped short.
“……?”
A silver-haired little boy was sitting on the floor crying. Fox ears on his head too?
I blinked in surprise.
What? Where did my new butler go!
I widened my eyes and stared at the child. The fox had disappeared, replaced by a child—magic?
Then, a familiar scent brushed my nose.
Sweet milk and a faint earthy note. Exactly the same smell I had smelled for days under my belly.
Sniff sniff.
I walked over to the child and sniffed its nose.
Yes. This scent, and those golden eyes. The same fox that had stuck to my legs like a tiny jelly bean.
“…Kyuu?”
I looked down at the child in a daze for a moment. A beast, but a human? Did it eat a lot of garlic and green onions?
Should I eat some too and turn human?
The child looked up at me and immediately widened its eyes, sniffling like it had seen a savior.
“Brother…! Hueee!”
The child jumped off the examination table and ran to me, wrapping its arms tightly around my neck and burying its face.
“Brother… scary… huig…”
I was surprised it had turned human, but soon calmed down.
Whether fox or human, my new butler hadn't changed. And right now this little one was terrified.
I sighed deeply and lowered my head, licking the messy face of the child.
Slurp.
My rough tongue wiped away the tears running down its cheek.
“……!”
The child flinched in shock.
Slurp, slurp.
I licked the tear-streaked corners of its eyes, carefully licked its messy hair, and tidied it up. Warm holy power flowed through my tongue to the child.
“Don’t cry. I’m right here.”
As I groomed it, the child's sobs gradually faded.
“Hiiing…”
The child rubbed its face in my fur and calmed down.
Rosalia and Lina watched with bitter smiles.
“Haa… Blanc-nim isn't even surprised.”
“We're the ones who feel like fools.”
They must have thought I already knew everything. After all, I started as a person and became a white tiger—how could I be surprised by this?
I wrapped the curled-up child's body in my tail. The child sighed in relief from the fluff and finally lifted its head slightly to look at Rosalia and Lina.
The earlier fear had eased a little, now that I was here, it felt safe.
The child hid behind my back, glaring at them with bloodshot eyes.
“Meong!”
It stuck out its tongue defiantly.
A really disgusting expression.
“Eh? Wha—?”
Lina burst into a dumbfounded laugh. Rosalia gave a bitter smile and adjusted her glasses.
I didn't care what the child did and walked out of the room, still wrapped in its tail.
The little one clung tightly to my back, humming a tune.
Warm. Light.
I needed to feed it more meat. It was getting too light.
