The Fluffy Baby Fox Only Bites the Crazy Villain - Chapter 66
I was bewildered to be so openly disliked by someone for the first time.
It might be arrogance, but since entering the northern castle as a baby fox, I had been loved every day and had come to expect such affection as natural.
Yes. I’ve been too arrogant, intoxicated by my own cuteness.
People were enthusiastic about every little movement of the baby fox, and without realizing it, I must have developed a celebrity complex.
After a moment of self-reflection, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
Perhaps Lady Yudis was keeping her distance from me due to a physical issue. For example, a severe fur allergy.
“Does Lady Yudis perhaps have a fur allergy or dislike animals?”
“As far as I remember, Lady Yudis didn’t have any fur allergies.”
“T-then, was she perhaps bitten by a dog or fox when she was young and has trauma?”
I asked desperately, clutching at straws.
I honestly couldn’t accept that she disliked me without any reason.
Betty pondered seriously for a moment before her expression brightened.
“Ah, she was friendly with the training dogs. The dogs were very fond of Lady Yudis too.”
“Oh, I see.”
My shoulders slumped dramatically.
When my expression became gloomy, Betty seemed to notice something was wrong and looked concerned.
“Lady Shushu, what’s wrong? Do you have something troubling you?”
“Huh? No, it’s nothing. I’ll be going now. Take care, Betty.”
I brushed it off and quickly crossed the corridor. As I was running toward the training grounds’ dining hall, I ran into Ron.
Ron hugged me tightly, delighted to see me.
“Shushu, can you eat with me today?”
“Yes, of course.”
Ron smiled brightly and hugged me tight, rubbing his cheek against mine.
I was grateful and comfortable with Ron, who treated me naturally whether I was human or fox.
We were in the training grounds’ dining hall, eating bread and soup together and having a lively conversation.
Soldiers who came to the dining hall spotted me and greeted me cheerfully.
Just then, the noisy and bustling dining hall suddenly fell silent.
What’s happening?
I was lapping up chicken soup with my tongue when I looked up.
Yudis and Captain Burke were entering the dining hall.
Yudis had an expressionless face, and Captain Burke was explaining something beside her, looking quite uncomfortable.
For Captain Burke to be so uncomfortable, it must be true that Yudis had been a knight commander with powerful charisma who was responsible for the northern castle’s knights.
When Yudis appeared, the senior knights and soldiers turned pale as if they had seen a ghost.
They were all people who had grown up in the northern castle.
They reflexively stood up from their seats with vigor and, placing their fists on their chests, shouted in unison:
“We greet the Chief Knight Commander!”
“Have you been well?”
“It is an honor to see you again.”
Yudis acknowledged their greetings with a slight tilt of her slender chin.
She looked around the dining hall with sharp eyes at the soldiers seated there.
The soldiers who met her gaze either froze, averted their eyes or stopped eating.
Yudis’s expression was calm, but there was a distinctive coldness to it. When expressionless, she resembled Karden to a chillingly accurate degree. Blood doesn’t lie, they say.
“This place remains the same. Nothing has changed.”
Yudis’s cold voice echoed through the deathly quiet dining hall. Burke scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
“Indeed. Though five years have passed, it remains the same. This place too.”
“Yes. Still full of dull and weak fellows just wasting food. Have they forgotten that tomorrow they could become monster food themselves?”
“I-I’m sorry! We will rectify this immediately!”
Burke, his face turning pale, immediately shouted energetically according to military protocol.
The fallout landed on the innocent soldiers.
“How long are you lot going to just stuff your faces! Everyone assemble at the training grounds right now!”
The soldiers threw down their forks and rushed to the training grounds, competing to be first.
Ron and I watched the scene in bewilderment.
The dining hall, which had been bustling with soldiers, emptied in an instant.
Yudis clicked her tongue and turned to leave, but then stopped.
Her gaze was directed precisely at me in the corner of the dining hall.
I tensed up immediately and hugged my fluffy tail tightly.
It was a habit that emerged when I was nervous. At times like this, I should be showing the dignity of a proud fox shapeshifter!
Yudis’s ice-cold eyes looked me up and down, and then she turned around and left the dining hall.
“Shushu? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Ron asked, but I couldn’t say anything. I was frozen by Yudis’s gaze just now.
Ron looked at me with a face full of curiosity and suggested.
“Shushu, shall we go to the training grounds too? Yudis was the Chief Knight Commander, right? I wanted to see her training.”
“U-um? Well, let’s do that.”
The training grounds were filled with the powerful shouts of soldiers receiving disciplinary training.
More precisely, it was filled with the agony of soldiers undergoing extreme endurance training to avoid falling behind.
The soldiers were running while carrying thick logs, and beside them, Yudis was shouting while wielding a riding crop.
“Weaklings lead their comrades to death. Fighting monsters requires thorough teamwork. If one person falters, the formation breaks down and everyone can be annihilated. Remember that everyone must fight with their lives on the line for all to survive!”
Yudis’s powerful voice echoed across the training grounds.
I stared blankly at Yudis’s imposing figure from behind. She’s a bit scary, but such an impressive woman.
Ron grinned and hugged me.
“Shushu, you seem to like Yudis’s training style more than the Grand Duke’s?”
I wagged my bushy tail and wrinkled my nose.
“She’s so cool. It would be nice to have such a strong big sister.”
“Yudis will come to like you too, Shushu. Don’t worry.”
I can’t bring myself to tell Ron the truth.
Perhaps Yudis extremely dislikes me. Her expression hardens terribly whenever she sees me.
Yudis, who was focused on training the soldiers, turned her head and looked in my direction.
Her glaring eyes conveyed a strong hostility as if she wanted to capture me and turn me into a fox scarf.
‘S-scary!’
I shuddered with goosebumps all over my body and burrowed into Ron’s arms.
“Huh? Shushu, what’s wrong? Are you cold?”
As Ron was patting me in confusion, a calm voice echoed across the training grounds.
“What are you doing right now?”
It was Owen. He walked toward Yudis with a stern expression and perfect posture.
The soldiers suffering from the harsh training brightened as if they had seen a savior.
“How dare you stop me? You’ve lost your fear.”
Yudis, who had been cracking her riding crop on the ground, stopped. She retrieved her riding crop and frowned her beautiful eyebrows.
Yudis’s long black hair fluttered in the wind.
She glared fiercely at Owen with eyes full of wariness.
“Who are you? What is your position?”
“I formally greet you. I am Knight Owen, in charge of training the defense corps.”
Owen truly had a strong heart, not even flinching under Yudis’s murderous gaze. I respect that.
I enthusiastically cheered for Owen in my heart while wagging my tail gently. Of course, just slightly so Yudis wouldn’t notice.
“Why are you training the soldiers so harshly? This training is not in the regulations. After meals, there should be a 30-minute rest followed by wall patrol and internal security duties.”
“You know who I am, yet you’re this disrespectful? Do you dare interfere with my work?”
Yudis frowned and rebuked him coldly.
That expression was exactly like Karden’s, making me newly appreciate the fearsome power of genetics.
“I’m not interfering, but asking you to follow the regulations.”
Yudis placed her hands on her hips and glared at Owen with an intimidating posture.
“I’ve come to the northern castle after a long time and am directly checking how well the soldiers’ discipline has been established. It will be over soon, so Sir Owen, please do not intervene further.”
“According to regulations, I understand that Lady Yudis does not have the right to command or train the defense corps. This is clearly overstepping your authority and violating regulations.”
The soldiers were amazed at Owen’s boldness, responding without backing down and adhering to logic and regulations.
Everyone else was so intimidated by Yudis’s aura that they couldn’t even make eye contact.
Yudis’s expression grew as cold as the north wind in midwinter. A vein bulged on her smooth forehead.
The corners of her red lips twisted upward in a cold sneer.
“Sir Owen, draw your sword. I will personally verify if you are qualified to train these soldiers.”
