The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

Sunlight streaming through the window poked at her eyelids.

Laria barely lifted her swollen eyelids.

“Are you awake?”

The voice coming from nearby chased away her sleep completely.

Zenox was lying right next to her.

Laria quickly got up and looked around.

It was the same room she had seen before falling asleep.

It wasn’t a dream, but reality.

“Kyaang!”

When did you wake up?

Understanding Laria’s question, Zenox answered:

“I woke up a little while ago.”

Then you should have woken me up.

She felt embarrassed for sleeping soundly without realizing he had been watching.

Worried she might have drooled, she rubbed her mouth with her front paw, but fortunately nothing was there.

Watching Laria do this, Zenox burst into laughter.

Zenox picked up a comb from the bedside table and skillfully brushed her fur.

Her messy fur from sleeping quickly became smooth.

‘I still haven’t returned to human form, after all.’

It was rather fortunate.

If she had turned back while sleeping, it would have been a very embarrassing situation.

Feeling good from Zenox’s touch, Laria completely relaxed.

Her pink tongue peeked out between her parted lips.

“Haah…”

As a long sigh fell over her head, Laria slightly raised her head.

With his hand on his forehead and a very serious expression, Zenox muttered:

“Cute.”

If it had been before, she would have dismissed it as him being like that again, but now her face inexplicably heated up.

Zenox fiddled with Laria’s front paws.

Then he naturally moved to kiss her face but stopped.

At his action, Laria also stiffened a bit.

All sorts of thoughts ran through her mind in that short moment.

‘Did he just realize?’

That the white fox in front of him wasn’t a real fox, but a beastman?

‘Even I would feel burdened if an animal I had been raising turned out to be a beastman.’

It was a concern she had worried about all along.

As she waited tensely for Zenox’s reaction, he asked an unexpected question:

“Are there any parts you don’t want me to touch?”

Surprised by his sudden formal speech, Laria only blinked.

‘Oh, is this… respecting me as a beastman?’

Or did he mean he would touch everywhere else except those parts? She was confused.

Laria shook her head.

As her body structure had completely changed upon becoming a fox, it didn’t particularly matter. It was too late for modesty now, as he had already seen every part of her.

Hearing her answer, Zenox seemed satisfied and fiddled with her front paws.

Just as Zenox was about to focus on her front paws in earnest, there was a knock.

Knock knock.

Along with the sound of knocking, Verdo’s voice was heard:

“Master. The Rohan family has arrived.”

Oh, they’re here already?

‘I’m not mentally prepared yet!’

Zenox readjusted his hold on the fidgeting Laria.

He too was silent for a moment.

But they couldn’t leave Laria’s family standing at the entrance.

“Show them to the reception room for now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Thump thump thump, the sound of her heart beating rapidly was transmitted to Zenox.

Zenox looked down at Laria.

“I suppose we should tell them the truth?”

“Kyuuu…”

Even if they smoothed it over with lies now, they couldn’t keep it a secret forever.

Above all, she didn’t want to lie to her family anymore.

‘Yes, if we explain well, it’ll be alright.’

She had been nervous, but hadn’t Zenox accepted it well?

Maybe she had been thinking too negatively.

“Kyaung!”

Having made up her mind, Laria let out a brave cry.

Suppressing a smile, Zenox headed to the reception room with Laria in his arms.

Arriving at the reception room, Count and Countess Rohan and Herdin were waiting.

The three’s gazes immediately fixed on Laria.

“A fox…?”

As Theodore tilted his head, Herdin answered:

“It’s that fox we brought back last time.”

“Ah!”

Laria raised her front paw to greet them.

The family’s eyes softened a bit.

After being completely absorbed by the fox for a while, they belatedly came to their senses and examined Zenox.

“I don’t sense any traces of the brainwashing spell.”

“There don’t seem to be any external injuries either.”

Theodore and Herdin said in succession.

As soon as they confirmed Zenox was fine, Semela asked:

“Where is Laria?”

The inevitable moment had finally arrived.

After a brief silence, Zenox held up Laria.

“This is Laria.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Semela and Herdin made expressions as if he were talking nonsense.

Zenox repeated with a serious face, without a hint of amusement:

“This really is Laria.”

“La-La-Laria?! This cute fox?!”

Theodore, who had been trembling, let out a shriek.

Semela, momentarily at a loss for words from shock, grabbed Theodore and asked:

“Could it be a side effect of an elixir?”

“I’ve never heard of such a side effect.”

“It’s not even partial beastman transformation, but a complete fox form.”

Semela and Herdin denied it, saying it was nonsense.

Unlike the two, Theodore, who was less skeptical, suddenly asked Laria:

“Are you perhaps Laria…?”

“Kyaang!”

“It is Laria!”

At Theodore’s exclamation, Semela and Herdin’s expressions crumpled.

“Really, it’s Laria?”

As Laria nodded her head vigorously, the parents’ faces became troubled.

She had reacted as if she actually understood what was said.

“Since when could our child transform into a fox?”

“Laria being the Grand Duke’s fox… Then we practically handed Laria over to him with our own hands last time, didn’t we?”

“Wait. The Grand Duke’s fox…?”

At Herdin’s words, Semela seemed to realize something.

Her gaze instantly sharpened.

“Since when have you been raising this fox?”

After a moment of silence, Zenox answered honestly:

“Four years ago.”

It was exactly the period when Laria had gone missing.

Silence fell at the finally revealed truth.

And then the Grand Duke’s residence was thrown into an uproar.

* * *

Inside the carriage returning to the Rohan mansion.

Laria was cradled in Semela’s arms with her eyes tightly shut.

She had thought a war might break out between the two families if it was revealed that Zenox was the cause of her disappearance.

As expected, chaos had ensued.

If Laria hadn’t pretended to faint, someone would have shed blood.

Semela’s face upon learning the truth was something she would likely never forget.

Just recalling it made her body shudder.

Sensing movement, Semela asked:

“Are you awake?”

Feeling she couldn’t pretend to be unconscious any longer, Laria nodded slightly.

“Mother, please hand her over to me now.”

Herdin stretched out his arms as if he had been waiting.

“I’ve been waiting since earlier!”

As Theodore abruptly interjected, Herdin narrowed his eyes. But instead of handing Laria over, Semela stroked her fur and said:

“Mother’s arms are the best, right?”

“…Kyuu.”

Feeling a strange pressure, Laria reluctantly answered.

Semela wore a satisfied smile and gave a look that said ‘See?’

The other two raised their eyebrows as if unable to accept it.

“How did you end up becoming a fox?”

“Kyaang. Kyuung kyauwung!”

Though she tried hard to explain, they all just tilted their heads, not understanding at all.

“You’ll turn back, right?”

Giving up on explaining, Laria just nodded.

Gazing at Laria with soft eyes, Semela muttered:

“To think the Grand Duke was the cause of your disappearance.”

Laria’s ears twitched.

Herdin immediately followed up on Semela’s words:

“Getting engaged to the pet fox he had been raising isn’t sane in itself.”

“Kidnapper!”

Theodore exclaimed last.

The fighting spirit not to let the Grand Duke off the hook reignited in the family’s eyes.

Just when their impression of Zenox had finally improved… for it to become worse than when they first met.

“Laria, that man is the one who kidnapped you.”

Semela added, as if to say you might not remember because you lost your memories.

Her words stung Laria’s heart.

Laria had pretended to have no memories of the period she was missing. She thought if she told the truth, her family would immediately attack Zenox.

For that reason, Zenox had become a villain who had seduced an innocent girl who knew nothing.

‘How can I clear up this misunderstanding?’

Honestly speaking, Zenox had just picked her up without knowing she was a beastman.

She was already feeling overwhelmed.

Unaware of Laria’s feelings, her family just kept fawning over the baby fox.

“No wonder she seemed cute from the first time I saw her.”

“I said I wanted to raise her, didn’t I? I guess it was because she was our baby fox.”

“Shall we buy some supplies on the way home?”

They all adored Laria and didn’t know what to do with her.

Haah, Laria inwardly let out a deep breath.

Since she couldn’t communicate anyway, she had no choice but to wait until she returned to human form.

However…

Even after several days passed, Laria was unable to return to her original form.