“Tomorrow I’ll get the salt and use it, so just leave.”

Horang said a bit sardonically. His pride was wounded, and he was angry; his initial plan to just ignore the fox had gone awry. The spirit barrier he had put down was no good, only proving to make himself a laughingstock.

If this had been like before, when he was a beast— No, if this had been the first couple of years since he’d become a mountain lord, Horang might have already ripped out the demon’s throat. But he could now hold back because he could speak, because he could think. And he had learned that even those with strength must have restraint.

But the fox was stubborn enough to wear down the thin line of restraint Horang had learned.

“If you agree to marry me, I will leave.”

“This punk—!”

Horang forcefully grabbed the fox’s collar, growling intimidatingly. But the fox wasn’t frightened. He wiped off his smile, leaving an earnest expression with which he faced Horang.

As those clear, black eyes met his gaze without any hint of shyness, it was instead Horang who was flustered. Horang’s eyes quivered slightly.

The fox’s soft hand rose up to Horang’s face, cupping his cheek.

“I truly wish to marry Horang-nim.”

“If, if you’re mocking…!”

“I am not mocking. I was also not made to do this by another mountain lord. I do not want to disregard Horang-nim, either. I am being serious.”

“Th, that’s nonsense! W, who would believe that! You’re also a male…!”

“Nevertheless, I wish to marry Horang-nim.”

As he finished speaking, the fox wore a soft smile. Horang blinked his eyes in confusion.

He had never properly conversed with someone before. Since the day he had gone from a beast to a mountain lord, Horang had always been alone. The other lords ignored him, and those who followed after those lords naturally avoided him. Even the stronger of the demons ignored him.

There were very few who Horang saw and talked with, and even those few he didn’t see often.

Horang didn’t know how to act with other people. Beasts and people were too different. When he displayed his beastly anger, others criticized Horang, calling him unlearned. He had learned patience, but there were still snide remarks. So Horang frequently found acting like a mountain lord was too difficult. Unlike taking care of the mountain, having to think before acting was very difficult for him.

It was like that now. In a situation like this—where the other party acted seriously, but he couldn’t tell if it was the truth or a lie—he believed the other readily. Like he had as a beast.

No matter how he racked his brain, it seemed like a lie, but when faced with such an earnest face speaking so wholeheartedly, Horang’s heart believed it could only be the truth.

Horang’s head told him that wasn’t the whole story. Sometimes when mischievous spirits would mock him, they would act sincere and genuine on the outside, tricking him into believing them, and then mocking Horang later. It was only a few years ago that Horang had learned that those were lies.

‘It’s a lie. The whole thing’s a bare-faced lie. It’s all an act.’

That’s what his head told him, but Horang’s heart was already a little moved by those earnest eyes. But of course, he wouldn’t just accept it. Marriage wasn’t such an easy question that could be solved by an earnest face. But at least it was enough to take the fox’s proposal seriously. Even if his head denied it, his heart was moved.

“Enough! Stop with the crazy talk and go away! No matter if someone put you up to it, or if they didn’t. If you’re serious or if you aren’t—it doesn’t matter! Your proposal, or whatever, I reject it!”

Horang pushed the fox away and hurriedly ran to retreat into his room. Thinking of the earnest face with which the fox proposed, his heart raced.

Not once, not once had someone ever wanted such a special and close relationship with Horang. He didn’t even have friends. When he had been a beast, there had been that person who had treated him specially, but since becoming a mountain lord, he hadn’t seen their face even once. He couldn’t even remember their face. For whatever reason, many of his memories had become hazy.

That being said, the fox was knocking on the door like he was going to barge in.

‘Come on, what use is it. It’s obvious he’s lying. Someone put him up to this. If it’s not the lord of the next mountain, then it’s probably some demon. They knew I don’t have much experience, so they got that crafty guy to…’

Horang pressed a hand to his racing heart and caught his breath. And as if matching the beat of his heart, the shabby windows and doors rattled. Horang was so startled his heart skipped a beat, and he jumped to his feet.

“Who, who is it!”

“Horang-nim, this pillar out here looks like it will fall, shall I repair it?”

It was the fox’s voice.

‘He isn’t gone?’

Horang had firmly rejected him and pushed him away like that. He thought the fox surely would have left. But it seemed he followed him all the way inside the cave.

Horang, a bit alarmed, opened the door and ran out. The fox, holding the pillar at the end of the maru with his hand, smiled as he met Horang’s gaze.

“I said so before, but this pillar looked worrisome. Couldn’t you be hurt if this fell?”

“Wicked demon! What’s wrong with my house! See how strong it is! Forget it, no matter how strong it is or isn’t, what does it matter to you?! Hanging around and saying this and that about someone else’s house! Don’t stick your nose in my business and just leave!”

And again—tak! He hit the wooden pillar with his palm. But then—crack! The sound rang out through the cave. Horang slowly turned his head. Drrk! Drrk! An alarming sound came one after another, and the pillar leaned like it would collapse. Startled, Horang hurriedly stepped back, the fox wrapping his arms around Horang’s waist and pulling him back.

Drrrchk! The alarming noise sounded again. Horang had hit the pillar, but—perhaps because he didn’t think it would really collapse—Horang was shocked, the fur on his ears and tails standing on end.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“H, huh?”

There was no way he was hurt. The pillar had half-crumpled, and the roof was leaning and unstable-looking, but it hadn’t completely collapsed or fallen apart.

But the fox who had asked the question, his attitude was so sure that Horang was momentarily dazed, nodding his head at the fox’s question. The fox inspected every inch of Horang’s body very naturally, then looked in the direction of the collapsed pillar worriedly.

“It seems sleeping inside would be dangerous.”

Horang looked at the fox’s gaze which seemed much too close. His big eyes blinked at him.

Something seemed strange, but the fox’s attitude was so natural Horang couldn’t tell what it was. Horang tilted his head.

“Do you have a residence anywhere else?”

“You, you…!”

“Yes?”

“Let, let me go! What are you doing?”

Horang realized a little slowly that the fox’s arm was wrapped around his waist. His appearance was so pretty, and his slender form looked soft and squishy. But the arm wrapped around Horang’s waist was unexpectedly strong. Also, now that Horang mentioned it, the fox’s arm held his waist even tighter. The trim waist that complimented Horang’s solid and large frame, the fox pulled it a little closer with a solid arm.

“What are you talking about?”

“This, this! This ar, arm is what I’m saying! How, how dare! A mountain lord’s…!”

“This was out of my control. And as the pillar may collapse or Horang-nim may get hurt, it can’t be helped.”

“It, it didn’t collapse! So, so let go!”

The fox said he had been taken by surprise, but what reason did he have to keep holding him? Horang—to whom this was the first time touching someone like this—didn’t know how to best push the fox away. So he awkwardly grabbed the fox’s arm and pushed it away. But the fox grabbed his wrist and shook his head.

“How, how is it dangerous! I’m this far away, even if it collapses I’ll be fine!”

“A house collapsing is something that could make one’s mind and body weak. First, until you find a place to rest your body, I will help…”

“Wh, whatever!”

Horang pried the fox off of him with some effort. Firstly, he was a mountain lord while the other was a demon, so from spiritual power to physical strength, he was of course far beyond the fox. No matter how strong a mere demon was, they couldn’t be compared to a mountain lord. In the end, the fox was pushed away by Horang, disappointment overflowing on that pretty face.

Horang’s face turned red and purple, and as if he didn’t want to even face the fox, Horang made to go back inside his house, but the fox hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“No matter how much you don’t want to see me, that house seems like it will collapse soon, so I think it is better if you don’t go inside until it is repaired.”

Horang, who was about to slap away the fox’s arm, also looked at the halfway collapsed pillar, choosing instead to shake off the fox’s hand for now, and then plopped onto the ground.

“Isn’t it because of you? For saying that a perfectly fine house would fall apart!”

“Is it not because Horang-nim hit it?”

“It’s because you jinxed it!”

Horang pouted his lips. The house he’d been living in just fine. The house he could have lived in for a hundred more years. Now it was looking like it would collapse, all because of the fox. He had been the one to hit it, but there would have been no reason to hit it if not for the fox. Was what Horang thought.

As if thinking that a pouting Horang was more troublesome than when he was shouting angrily, the fox smiled with a slightly uncertain expression. And, looking back and forth between Horang and the house, he went over to the house.

“You said it was dangerous. Why are you going over there?”

“Are you worrying about me?”

“Who is!”

The fox really took and twisted his every word. Even when he said pretty things with his pretty face, Horang still wasn’t sure about him; but he really just said such gross things. Horang just lay on the floor of the cave, grumbling, and the fox let out a quiet laugh.

Horang, who hadn’t been planning on sleeping anyways, was curious what the fox was up to behind his back. Horang could hear the rustling of the silk clothes the fox wore whenever he moved, as well as the tak-tak sound of hammering. And he felt the fox’s demonic force going away and then coming closer, and his demonic force growing bigger then smaller.

And, curiously—perhaps because he was a fox demon—his footsteps made no sound at all.

Guessing where the fox was wasn’t difficult. When Horang thought he was close, his demonic force instead felt very far away. And when Horang thought he was far away, he heard the sound of his breath from right behind him. Horang twitched when he thought the fox came too close, and when he thought he was far away his ears perked and searched for movement behind him.

“Are you alright sleeping on the cold floor?”

The fox’s demon force had felt distant, so Horang’s senses were focused away from him, but suddenly the voice came from right behind his back. Horang was badly startled, his body flinching, and he heard the fox laugh.

‘Why does even his laugh sound so nice, making me even more embarrassed.‘

Horang didn’t even look back with his slightly reddened face and replied bluntly,

“Whatever. The mountain is my home, what need do I have for another place.”

“Even so, won’t you need at least a pillow?”

Horang lay there for a moment longer and sat up and glanced up at the fox, then he looked back down to the ground. And as if he was thinking of what to say, his tail moved slowly.

The fox carefully hugged his own fluffy tail so that it wouldn’t trail on the ground and also sat, facing Horang.

“Horang-nim?”

“Wh, what is a pillow?”

“Pardon?”

“Wh, what is that? Is, is it something used when sleeping?”

As if asking something he didn’t know was embarrassing, Horang slightly averted his eyes. The fox’s eyes widened, but then he smiled softly. And he plopped down to sit a little closer to Horang.

“What do you usually rest your head on when sleeping?”

“I just go to sleep…”

Horang, who didn’t know what any of that was, just shook his head. Because his appearance had become that of a human, he had become curious about their way of life. The house itself was just an imitation of a crumbling, abandoned house. Horang didn’t know anything about how humans had lived inside it.

Truthfully, asking the fox was also embarrassing… But if not now, he would have no one else to ask.

Horang was the type that—no matter how much he hated the other—if he had a chance to ask, he would ask. That was the reason he could act like a mountain lord until now, despite everything. If he hadn’t, he might have already been dead, eaten by demons.

But the fox didn’t actually answer, instead looking at Horang with a smiling face and said something unrelated,

“For now, I have roughly secured the house with my demonic force, but I think I will need some time to completely fix it.”

“I’m a mountain lord! Are you belittling me? I can also do that sort of thing with my strength.”

“I did not do it because I thought Horang-nim wouldn’t be able to, I did it because I wanted to do it for you.”

The fox suddenly thrust his face into Horang’s space. Horang, who had been slightly averting his gaze in embarrassment, exclaimed in surprise and flinched back. The fox was still smiling.

“If you do not have a place to sleep, would you come to my house? I will put out a bed and blankets for you.”

“I, I’m fine! And if you’re going to give me those, you should give me everything! Why are you leaving out the thing called a pillow?!”

Before the fox even finished, Horang leapt up with his face flushing red. The fox also lifted his head, following him. If Horang had been able to read the fox’s thoughts, his face might have become even redder.

“H, how dare you mock a mountain lord! Leave right now! Right now!”

He didn’t know what an ‘arm-pillow’ was, but from the expression and attitude of the fox who said it, he could basically tell it was some sort of sneaky act.

“Didn’t I say that I need your agreement to marry me in order to leave?”

“Didn’t I already reject that!”

“So then I can’t leave.”

“Such obstinance!”

Horang beat his chest in frustration. And with a resolute expression he stood and went to the back of the house. Of course, the fox followed, and Horang’s steps became quicker. The small pool in a corner of the cave, Horang went to the place where the mountain’s spiritual energy gathered. And before the fox could follow him, he extended his soul force in the area.

This place was illuminated by a small crack through which light came down from the sky. The small wellspring where the mountain’s very spirit gathered. This place was where Horang nurtured his strength, and also where he filled his stomach. Horang’s power was the most whole and strong here. To Horang—for whom this mountain was his foundation—in the same way that this place was the heart of the mountain, this place was the very core of him.

Horang’s powerful soul force spread through the area.

The fox, of course, found his path was blocked. And perhaps he hadn’t foreseen this, as he had the most surprised expression so far. Seeing that expression on his face, it tasted rather sweet to Horang.

“You can never enter this place, so just go away.”

He thought he’d won. The fox would have no choice but to turn back. Instead, he unexpectedly plopped down on the spot and smiled up at Horang.

“If I can stay next to you like this, I have no complaints.”

And the fox reached out, putting his hand on top of the soul force that Horang had extended. The soul force hummed and rang out. It moved as if it was responding to the fox demon’s own demonic force. Horang was bewildered; no one had come into this place before, and so this kind of effect was a first.

“Wh, what did you do!”

“I’m only doing this because I want to be together with you.”

Horang felt like the back of his neck was becoming itchy, and he hurriedly wiped and covered his neck with his hand.

“I will just be right here, so Horang-nim should rest comfortably as well.”

Like the fox was really thinking about staying here while Horang enjoyed a nap, he got comfortable in his spot. Horang hadn’t intended to sleep, or even rest. When the fox gave up and left, Horang had planned to go out to patrol the mountain. But now he was even more confounded by the fox’s attitude.

‘No way, is he just going to sit there?!’

The other mountain lords and demons didn’t like Horang’s shabby cave. Of course, they didn’t really like Horang either, but even when they had to meet with him, they didn’t enjoy coming to Horang’s cave. Horang’s cave was originally the cave he’d used when he was a tiger beast. Simply put, the cave where an animal lived. Of course they all disliked it.

He’d thought the fox would be the same. If he didn’t let him approach and didn’t let him talk, of course he wouldn’t want to be in this place and just leave.

The fox who was sitting comfortably, leaned on a protruding rock, looked at him while smiling.

‘How the heck am I supposed to sleep when he’s watching me like that!’

Horang felt that even his soul force would be pierced by the fox’s gaze.

“I’ll chase you out like last time!”

“But you are not doing so?”

“Th, that’s! Be, because I already did it once and you still came and found me!”

“Yes, you know it well. If you chase me away I will come find you again.”

“Why in the world are you doing this to me!”

“Haven’t I been saying that it is because I want to wed? Please marry me.”

At first, that face had been like the maiden Hang-ah, but it was becoming more and more shameless. Even his smile began looking crafty and sly.

The fox was indeed a fox.