The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

“Lady Rohan ,do you want to work at the imperial palace?”

“Don’t go that far.”

Zenox, who had been silently observing, intervened.

Ishel quickly closed his mouth and just rolled his eyes. It seemed as though he was gauging Zenox’s reaction.

However, Laria believed it was all an act.

‘If he really cared about Zenox’s opinion, he wouldn’t have forced this match.’

As the atmosphere quickly became chilly, Ishel changed the topic.

“When will you return to your original form? Your current appearance is… a bit…”

“Isn’t it cute?”

This time, Laria quickly responded.

Really? Ishel looked down at Zenox again.

Clearly, it’s a baby wolf, but… why does it look so scary?

Caught by Zenox’s piercing gaze, Ishel averted his eyes.

Love can even make someone as mighty as Zenox appear cute. Ishel thought so and grinned with satisfaction.

‘Why… What’s with that smile?’

Feeling unnecessarily irritated, Laria narrowed her eyes.

“So when are you two getting engaged?”

Finally revealing his true intention.

With her guard up, Laria quickly glanced at Zenox. When Zenox gave a slight nod, she responded as they had previously agreed.

“We thought we’d enjoy dating a bit more before getting engaged.”

Their plan was to delay the engagement as long as possible.

Once engaged, they would surely be pressured to marry.

But Ishel’s reaction was unexpected.

“Dating?!”

He reacted as if he’d heard something unbelievable.

Ishel, who had been moistening his lips looking at Zenox, earnestly requested:

“Please invite me when you have your engagement ceremony.”

Wanting confirmation with his own eyes, perhaps…

He was as keen as ever, a stark contrast to his usually frivolous demeanor.

“My proudest achievement was arranging a meeting between you two.”

Exposed by his straightforward remark, Laria couldn’t hide her displeasure anymore.

‘Of course, with this match, he would gain the most.’

He will boast about achieving unity between the fox and wolf clans.

Moreover, with Zenox, a royal cousin with rights to the throne, under control, the influence of the Rohan family wouldn’t increase.

Their conversation continued uninterrupted.

Most questions were thrown by Ishel, and Laria responded vaguely.

As Laria was entirely focused on Ishel, the bag by her side wriggled. Zenox, stretching out his paws, tapped Laria’s knee.

“Bored?”

“I think being in the bag has messed up my fur a bit.”

“Oh, let me fix it.”

Laria spread the bag wide and took out Zenox.

Upon placing him on her lap, Zenox’s ears perked up.

“I’ll comb it with a new brush.”

“Just patting it down with your hands should do.”

Laria spread her fingers slightly and stroked Zenox’s back.

Ishel, who was watching the two, opened his mouth in surprise.

Wow, what a show-off.

Unable to voice his thoughts, Ishel pretended not to notice.

“We seem to be approaching our destination soon.”

As Ishel half-pulled the curtain, an unfamiliar landscape unfolded. Densely packed cypress trees lined the dirt road, much like the buildings in the city’s bustling area. Following the seemingly endless path, a quiet village appeared.

The carriage carrying Laria and her companions stopped just before entering the village.

“We will walk from here.”

Laria put on a robe hood and held Zenox.

Ishel, having taken a potion that altered his appearance, merely wore a hat without hiding his face.

His escort knights decided to follow later.

They descended from the carriage and entered the village.

There were no villagers in sight, only people in robes like Laria. They all seemed like outsiders.

“Let’s follow them.”

As they trailed the people, an old temple appeared behind the village.

The building was eroded, and its white-painted roof was peeling, looking like an abandoned shrine.

The dispersed crowd all entered, like ants drawn to honey.

Realizing their destination, Laria whispered:

“If it’s an illegal auction, they won’t let just anyone in. How do we get inside?”

“We’re going to auction Zenox.”

At Ishel’s reply, Laria’s expression crumbled.

‘Is that what you meant by perfect for infiltration?’

If he wasn’t the Crown Prince, she would have slapped him.

Laria hugged Zenox and protested:

“How can you auction such a small and delicate creature?”

“Zenox, small and delicate…”

Ishel nearly blurted out, ‘That creature has destroyed dozens of illegal auction houses.’

Most of the smugglers in the capital had been dealt with by him, and the mere mention of Zenox’s name sent shivers down their spines.

Lately, since Zenox had been quiet, they had been sneaking out.

“It would be best to proceed as His Highness suggests.”

Zenox, who had been silent, sided with Ishel.

“Not all captured animals are auctioned.”

“…”

“I should infiltrate and search directly.”

White is not there.

Unable to utter those words, Laria bit her inner lip.

In the end, she had no choice but to accept Zenox’s opinion.

“Okay.”

After concluding the agreement, the two beastmen and the wolf cub approached the entrance of the abandoned temple. Before they could go inside, an armed gatekeeper stopped them.

“Show me the invitation.”

“Oh, we’re here to sell a product.”

“I don’t accept random merchants.”

The gatekeeper, whose attitude changed all of a sudden, waved his hand as if telling them to stop.

“You will regret it. Do you know what rare beast we brought?”

Ishel, who had transformed into a merchant, skillfully changed his attitude.

“Hmm?”

“It is a rare beast that has never been discovered in the last 100 years. The first on the continent!”

Isn’t he more talented as a scammer than as a Crown Prince?

Laria clicked her tongue internally.

The gatekeeper, seemingly intrigued by Ishel’s explanation, asked to see the item. Laria showed him the Zenox she was holding.

“It’s a black wolf, extinct long ago.”

“…Please  wait a moment.”

The gatekeeper went inside and soon returned with a man wearing a deep blue mask. The man seemed to be a smuggler and possibly the organizer of the auction.

“Oh, a black wolf…”

The man immediately exclaimed upon inspecting the Zenox.

It had a jet-black fur that couldn’t be replicated by dye.

“And those golden eyes!”

The man recalled the legendary black wolf.

Before the emergence of beastmen, the world was divided between humans and beasts. Among them was a wolf considered the origin of all wolves, described in legends to have jet-black fur like the night and golden eyes like the sun.

A wolf embodying both day and night…

Such a wolf, identical to the legendary one, would fetch a very high price.

The man’s eyes gleamed with greed behind the mask.

“Will you sell it to me for 30 million?”

Ishel was about to nod when Laria interjected:

“100 million.”

Ishel stared at Laria in shock, but she ignored his gaze. Why sell for less when you can get more?

“100 million? You don’t know the market price.”

Undeterred, Laria confidently responded:

“Actually, I think I priced it too low. 130 million.”

“Have you lost your mind?”

“You’ve probably never seen such an intelligent creature before, have you?”

Laria set down Zenox. Fearing it might run away, the man hesitated. But Zenox just looked up at Laria without moving. Laria crouched down and extended her hand.

“Left front paw.”

Zenox promptly offered its left front paw.

“Wag your tail three times.”

Its black tail wagged precisely three times.

“Cuddle.”

Zenox jumped into Laria’s arms. Laria looked at the man as if to say, ‘See?’

The owner of the auction house, as well as Ishel, were both speechless.

The man quickly reached for his pocket.

“How much did you say? 130 million?”

He pulled out a checkbook, to which Laria said:

“It just went up to 150 million.”