Mama Fox

<Zuri>

‘That! Decrepit! Old! Hag!!!’

He should’ve known better than to trust a country bumpkin!

Clutching the toilet bowl with a miserable expression, Zuri stared at the glass vial half spilt on the floor. That poison disguised as medicine ought to be the worst thing he’s ever had the displeasure of putting in his mouth. The bitter, harsh aftertaste it carried burnt his throat and disrupted his body’s equilibrium to the point he couldn’t keep it in. So far, he has emptied his stomach contents a grand total of four times.

‘Damn it….’

Zuri’s body, already in a poor state, was aching deeply. It was yet to recover from that night, but he kept pushing it regardless. Ignoring the pain and repeatedly soldiering on despite the major protests. Instead of resting like he should have, he was up and about like nothing happened. Conducting himself in his usual manner.

‘Damn it all to hell!’

Zuri pursed his lips.

It wasn’t like he had a choice in this matter, honestly.

If he didn’t act now, he was surely going to suffer later.

Listlessly gazing at the half-spilt vial, he reached out and grabbed the concoction. He still needed to drink that wretched thing and somehow stomach it. Throwing up definitely didn’t count as taking it in any real sense. With a resigned sigh, Zuri again downed about half of the remaining contents. His mouth burnt anew, but he again pushed on, with one thought in mind. The longer he takes to do it, the longer this problem persists.

Unfortunately, the problem proved to be stronger than anticipated.

The moment Zuri’s taste took; he couldn’t stop his involuntary reaction and immediately spat out the concoction.

‘For crying out loud!’

Forcing himself up from the floor, Zuri walked over to the sink and rinsed his mouth.

Tiny doubts eating at his mind.

‘…Will this even work?’

It appeared his body was completely rejecting the medicine, and that was without mentioning the other glaring issue. Staring at the vial, his doubt deepened. The concoction was three-quarters its original amount. Would the medicine still be as effective if he took one-fourth the original prescription? It wasn’t much to begin with, and a little was now remaining.

‘That hag…!’

At this rate, Zuri might have to visit her again soon.

Real soon.

Splashing water on his face, he refreshed himself.

There was no telling when he would get the opportunity to go there again. Cleodora’s current watchfulness was intense, and creating an opening to leave wouldn’t be easy. It was hard enough to get her to leave this time; doing it again wasn’t something Zuri was even remotely keen on attempting. His head hurt just thinking about it.

‘…But now is my chance, isn’t it?’

That fool was still listening, hanging on to his every word.

Her little ploy to win his favour after causing him to… wet himself at her eagerness.

‘Right, tomorrow then!’

It would’ve been best to go again today given the time sensitivity of this problem, but Zuri was a bit too battered for that. The distance between here and there wasn’t a journey he could do twice in his condition. Tomorrow would have to do. Hopefully by then, he would’ve been rested enough that he could do it.

Zuri studied his dishevelled appearance in the mirror.

… Even drenched in water with messy hair and parts of his clothes falling off, he still looked good.

He grabbed the comb nearby on the sink countertop.

But good was not great.

The next few minutes were spent tidying up his appearance.

Just because he now resided in a nowhere countryside didn’t mean he would let himself go.

While cleaning himself up, he also took the time to rid the bathroom of the small mess he left.

Taking the time to seal and hide the remaining contents of the vial in the bathroom cabinet.

It was best if Cleodora didn’t know anything.

There was no telling how she’d react to this.

Pushing the door open, Zuri exhaled gently.

A nap would be nice right now.

“Ah!?” (Z)

As the door opened wide, Zuri came face-to-face with a naked Cleodora.

A wet, dripping Cleodora with a flower in her mouth.

He instantly tried to slam the door shut, but Cleodora effortlessly held it open with one hand.

“W-Where are your clothes!? Go put on something, now!” (Z)

Pulling at the door in vain, he gave a shout.

Cleodora ignored his words while observing him with an almost… dejected gaze?

Abruptly, the door Zuri had been pulling at disappeared as it was unceremoniously ripped from its hinges and placed on the wall beside. It happened so fast and so smoothly that by the time he processed what happened, he was left holding only a knob with no door.

… It may seem something was wrong.

“My love… I heard you went to the herbalist today?” (C)

Cleodora’s uncharacteristically gloomy, sad voice posed a simple question.

The flower trapped in her mouth fell in slow motion.

‘Fuck!’

Zuri felt his heartbeat spike.

Someone had sold him out.

‘Calm down, calm down!’

Quickly reining in his nerves, Zuri analysed the situation. Sure, he had gone to the herbalist, but did that mean anything by itself? No, certainly it did not. His location had been sold out for sure, but that didn’t mean his acts too. Unless that hag directly spoke with Cleodora, she couldn’t know what he’d been there for. And even if she did, the hag didn’t seem like the type to outright say what he requested from her.

Zuri met the eyes of Cleodora with steel.

“I did.” (Z)

His voice even.

“Why?” (C)

“Medicine. I went to get medicine.” (Z)

Vague, obtuse and half-true.

The perfect comb for a lie or, in this case, a cover-up.

Given how she was reacting, she suspected he had done something but didn’t have proof.

“…I see.” (C)

Victory crowned Zuri.

And the spoils of the war were quick to follow. The atmosphere around Cleodora changed at once. Gone was the dejected sad sack, and back was the happy-go-lucky fellow.

“If it was just medicine, I guess that’s okay!” (C)

She laughed heartily.

Zuri let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Now he just had to get out of here before things went astray.

“…Let me get you a towel and clothes.” (Z)

From the pleasant aroma coming off her, it appeared she was fresh from the shower.

She must’ve been back for some time now….

Zuri needed to be more careful.

As he turned and started walking away, he felt his feet lose contact with the ground.

“P-Put me down!” (Z)

“Don’t worry about those things, my dear wife. I won’t be needing them!” (C)

Trapped in her arms, Zuri felt a pit form in his stomach as she began walking.

Heading directly to the closest available room.

“I thought you might be tired… but you seem so well!” (C)

She smiled, but it wasn’t one that reached her eyes.

“That medicine must’ve been something, huh?” (C)

‘Crap!’

Of course, she resorted to force when she didn’t get her way!

The pace towards the bedroom slowed as Cleodora locked gazes with him.

“Say, would you care to tell me what happened at the herbalist? Did she give you anything funny?” (C)

She chuckled dryly as they neared.

“I tried to ask… but you know how the elderly can be, right?” (C)

“I-I told you! It was just some medicine!” (Z)

Squirming in her grasp, Zuri tried to explain himself.

“It helps with pain!” (Z)

“Ah, I see.” (C)

Cleodora’s pace to the bedroom picked up.

“If it helps with pain, then I guess we can get back to where we left off?” (C)

“N-No!” (Z)

Despite his words, she didn’t stop moving.

In fact, his words may have motivated her to move faster.

Zuri felt his whole body start shivering.

He… he couldn’t take that again, yet revealing the item wasn’t an option!

“W-We can’t, please!” (Z)

“Why is that? I still need to make you get pregnant, you know?” (C)

Desperation does crazy things to people.

It may give a mother the ability to lift a car to save their child or allow a fatally wounded person to run for their life.

In Zuri’s case, it manifested itself in his words.

“Y-You don’t need to make sure I’m pregnant!” (Z)

“Eh? Why?” (C)

“Because I’m already pregnant!” (Z)