“I guess I’ll just sit and wait for now. I’ll ask the maid about it later.”
In other words, she had no intention of calling the maid immediately—she was implying they’d better clean up the mess before anyone arrived.
In his fox form, Serge perked up his ears and stared at Railey, then, as if sensing something, started cautiously walking toward the door, stealing glances her way.
Railey, who had been watching him and felt the situation was wrapped up neatly, suddenly sensed something odd.
‘Hmm?’
There was something unnatural about the fox’s movement.
He was limping on his back left leg—it looked like he had twisted it.
Perhaps he injured it while being forced to transform.
Railey immediately got up and rushed toward the fox cub. If he were in a frenzy and about to attack, that would be one thing. But if not, she couldn’t just leave someone injured.
Startled, Serge stiffened with wariness. To reassure him, she gently spoke.
“I’m not trying to hurt you. Hey, your leg’s hurt, isn’t it?”
“……”
Railey took a handkerchief out of the pouch she was carrying.
“It’s not good to move around too much on a twisted leg. You might end up with a chronic sprain.”
There wasn’t a splint to secure it firmly, but if she wrapped the injured area tightly with the handkerchief, it would reduce the strain at least.
The little fox simply stared up at Railey without resisting.
She carefully wrapped the handkerchief around his left leg to keep it stable.
She’d long grown used to tending to injuries herself, and her hands worked skillfully.
“All done.”
Serge stared intently at his leg for a moment, then began to walk again.
He was still limping a bit, but with the handkerchief tightly in place, his gait looked noticeably better.
The fox picked up the pace and walked to the entrance—then suddenly turned to glance back.
“…Ruff.”
And with that, he quickly dashed out of the drawing room.
‘Was that… his way of saying thank you?’
With a soft smile, she stood still, watching the swaying tail disappear from view.
Once she was completely alone—
“Haa…”
Railey finally let out a long breath of relief.
To someone like her, whose plan was to pretend ignorance and escape the family one day, what just happened was a serious crisis.
‘What if they find out I know the family’s secret? I won’t make it out alive.’
No matter how careless he might seem, the Duke was still the head of a grand noble house.
At worst, she could be killed to keep her quiet.
Even if she were spared, there was a good chance she’d be imprisoned, never allowed to leave the estate again.
And if that happened, it’d be like being dragged down by a drowning person—she’d sink along with the family when they fell.
That kind of future was absolutely out of the question.
With Serge’s magical powers in such an unstable state, there would likely be many more unexpected encounters with the little black fox in the days to come.
‘Still, he didn’t seem as dangerous as I expected.’
In the original story, he was portrayed as having lost control and turned violent, but now that she thought about it carefully, that was due to the deepening influence of demonic power.
As the story progresses in the original timeline, magical creatures start running rampant, and even half-demon beastfolk like the Elestines are described as being affected by it.
But right now, that chaos hadn’t reached a critical level yet—so the Elestine father and son, being beastfolk, were probably still safe.
If there had been a serious issue by now, their family secret would’ve been exposed and the Elestines would’ve been wiped out long ago.
‘So what’s important now is that I continue pretending not to know who—or what—they really are.’
She would just have to keep up the act—playing the clueless wife and dutiful daughter-in-law.
Just as she wrapped up her thoughts, Duke Elestine’s aide, Yuan, suddenly rushed in, looking flustered.
“My apologies, Young Madam! There was a mix-up. The Young Master was in the study, not the drawing room.”
“I’m fine. If he’s busy, I can greet him another time.”
“No, not at all! Please wait just a moment—I’ll bring him to you right away.”
Yuan, who was usually calm and collected, now looked genuinely rattled, and Railey couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.
‘Poor guy, must be tough serving such a handful of a master…’
As she sent him a silent message of sympathy, about ten minutes passed.
“The Young Master has arrived.”
Finally, she would get to meet her husband in his human form.
Still, perhaps because she had already met him in his fox form, much of her initial anxiety had faded.
Railey stood up, ready to greet Serge formally.
The drawing room door opened, and Yuan stepped in first.
But Serge—the one she was actually supposed to meet—was nowhere to be seen.
‘Huh?’
Yuan turned back with an awkward expression on his face.
“Young Master…”
“……”
Then, almost as if acting out the word ‘hesitantly’ itself, a boy peeked out shyly from behind Yuan.
Railey was momentarily startled.
It was because Serge looked completely different from how she had imagined—based on his father, the Duke.
His black hair was the same as his father’s, but the thick, high-prescription glasses completely distorted his eyes, making it hard to tell what he actually looked like.
Through the lenses, she could just make out that his irises were golden—just like Walter’s.
She knew he was the same age as her, but he looked a little smaller in build. Even considering how boys often grew slower than girls at that age, he was unusually petite.
It seemed that the unstable magical energy common to beastfolk like him had also affected his growth.
‘Well, appearance isn’t everything. What matters is character.’
Hoping that her husband had a decent personality at least, Railey greeted him politely.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Railey, and I’ll be living here at the Elestine estate from now on.”
“H-Hello…”
The boy stammered shyly, barely managing to return her greeting.
“I’m Serge… Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise, Serge. I hope we get along well.”
“Y-Yes…”
“…”
“…”
After that, the conversation completely dried up.
There were plenty of safe topics he could have brought up—like asking about her journey or what she thought of the estate—but he said nothing.
Trying to break the awkward silence, Railey decided to take the initiative.
“As we passed through the East Wing, I noticed the central garden. It’s absolutely beautiful! I’ve never seen such a well-kept place before. I feel honored to be staying somewhere so lovely.”
“Thank you…”
His voice was barely above a whisper, and his head remained bowed.
He was still clutching the hem of Yuan’s clothes like it was a lifeline.
Railey thought, He seriously has no social skills at all.
Yuan, watching anxiously from the side, quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“You must be very tired from your long journey, Young Madam. You’ll be dining with the Duke and Young Master later this evening, so perhaps this is a good place to pause for now?”
At that, Serge finally lifted his head and furrowed his brow slightly.
“You’re… tired? Then… I’ll see you… later…”
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness. You must’ve had a long day too, Serge—please rest well until dinner. I’ll see you then with the Duke.”
“…Yes.”
“I look forward to getting along with you!”
After bowing once more, Railey turned to leave the drawing room.
But just then, Serge called out to her.
“Uh… um…!”
“Yes?”
Startled by her turning back, the boy flinched.
But he seemed to muster all his courage as he slowly opened his mouth.
“The garden… feel free to look around… if… if you’d like…”
“…”
“If… you’re tired… you don’t have to, though…”
It was clear he had been thinking about the comment she had made earlier about the garden being beautiful, and was now carefully responding to that.
Though his words were clumsy and awkward, his sincerity came through.
“Thank you. In that case, I’ll gladly accept your invitation and take my time exploring it.”
“…Yes.”
That seemed to be the absolute limit of his social abilities, as Serge promptly bowed his head again.
‘Well, with how shy he is, I guess expecting him to offer to give me a tour or go for a walk together was too much.’
Now she understood why Walter had described his son as ‘a difficult one.’
Still, the mere fact that Serge had pushed himself to reply gave Railey a warm feeling inside.
Being shy, she thought, was far better than being arrogant or cold.
With that comforting thought, Railey left the drawing room behind.
Unbeknownst to her, golden eyes behind thick lenses followed her steadily as she walked away.
***
Outside, Yuan, the aide who had accompanied her, added an apologetic explanation.
“The Young Master… is rather shy around strangers.”
Calling that ‘rather’ seemed like an understatement, but Railey let it slide and nodded.
“Everyone has a different personality. I’ll try my best to get to know him better.”
“Yes. Please do be a source of strength for the Young Master.”
Perhaps because he knew the circumstances of the Duke’s household, Yuan looked more like a worried family member than a mere servant.
“Will you be heading back right away? Or, since the Young Master suggested it… would you like to take a stroll through the garden?”
“You’re right. Since I’m already here, it would be a shame not to take a look around.”
“In that case, please ring that bell over there if you need anything. A maid will come to escort you.”
Yuan explained quickly, and Railey noticed he seemed slightly anxious.
“Is something the matter? Do you have something urgent?”
“Ah, well…”
His expression clouded slightly.
