When the Guide Stopped Playing a Villainess, the Obsession Began - Chapter 26
That’s why Calix wanted to say he trusted Daisy, but he held his tongue. That was actually the best way to keep her by his side for a long time.
Daisy, as if she hadn’t expected a response in the first place, simply took the empty plate and disappeared.
While waiting for dessert, Calix once again found himself unconsciously glancing toward Lea’s palace, lost in thought.
She had always been someone relatively easy to deal with, and now she had suddenly changed. The reason behind it wasn’t so easy to guess.
She had even grown more cunning.
As he debated how best to handle Lea from now on, Daisy brought over black tea and macarons, and he discreetly swallowed.
It was a tea from the same region his biological mother had liked—one he had enjoyed drinking as well.
After Daisy left, Calix spent a quiet moment savoring the tea.
But the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it felt, and he bit into a sweet macaron with force.
Poking a slice of apple with his fork and popping it into his mouth, he chewed slowly while once again looking toward the red-roofed palace.
As he mulled over yesterday’s events and his current situation, he spotted a small animal lingering by the balcony window.
“You again!”
The same fox that had visited a few days earlier had returned, and he felt a spark of delight.
Its coat gleamed under the sunlight, its sheen so well-kept it looked like someone had been taking care of it. Calix’s gaze narrowed.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
“To think I’ve come to suspect even a beast…”
Fed up with people, he felt as though he was sinking deeper into an endless swamp of suspicion.
As if to shake off the suffocating feeling and clear his head, he gave his head a light shake and rose to open the balcony window.
The fox, as if it had been waiting, slipped inside the moment the door opened and tilted its head up at him.
Its golden eyes shone even brighter under the sunlight.
The fox circled his feet and whimpered. It seemed to be asking to be picked up, and without hesitation, he scooped it into his arms.
“Came because you were hungry again?”
Just like last time, he naturally ruffled its fur and rubbed its belly.
It almost felt like the fox was embarrassed by his touch, but he brushed it off as his imagination.
Though not as flat as before, the fox still looked quite small for an adult.
“You’re not a baby fox, are you?”
If so, then it was far too well-developed.
Running a hand through his long blond hair, Calix studied the fox before placing it on the table.
The fox neatly placed its front paws on the table and stared at him.
The way it gazed only at him, as if he was the only one in the world, made him chuckle.
“Want some more fruit?”
“Kyang!”
It sounded exactly like it was saying ‘yes’, and Calix picked up the remaining apple next to the macarons and placed it in front of the fox.
Lea absentmindedly bit into the apple and snapped back to reality.
‘Ah… this wasn’t why I came…’
She hadn’t come here for help or anything, but she didn’t want to hurt him anymore either.
And now that her actions had only made things worse, she was flustered.
Seeing the chest of gold coins sitting idly in her palace had made her want to cry—and had somehow made her long to see Calix.
So even though it was daytime, she’d impulsively transformed into a fox and gone to see him, risking being caught.
It was a reckless decision, but she was glad he welcomed her.
She felt pathetic and cowardly, taking comfort in nothing more than his smile, but even so, she was glad just to be near him, even like this.
Ever since she’d returned to life, Calix had become the very ground she stood on.
But then, as she saw him looking coldly into the distance, it felt like her heart tumbled down a hill.
He was staring in the direction of her palace.
It seemed he was still seething over what happened yesterday.
She knew full well how relentless he could be. Back when she had been tortured, he had compiled every crime she had committed into a detailed document and handed it over to Ilion.
With his sharp memory, not a single petty detail had been omitted, forcing Lea to relive all her past misdeeds as she was interrogated.
The memory of those days made her feel like she was sitting on a bed of nails.
