Chapter 4
When Velburg's city gates finally came into view, I stopped and looked back at him.
Luciano was sitting by the side of the road, all nine tails lined up behind him, nice and proper. He tilted his head, watching me—way too obedient for a Celestor Orc.
Honestly, he looked more like a stray dog hoping someone would take him home.
"Are you planning to just keep trailing after me?" I asked.
He paused, then nodded with total seriousness.
"Didn't you say humans didn't deserve you?" I shot back.
Luciano's ears drooped again, and he mumbled, quiet as a mosquito, "I was wrong."
"Didn't you write the divorce letter?" I shot back.
"Wait, I wrote that?" Luciano's eyes popped wide in disbelief. "Whoa, my handwriting is seriously awful—"
"You wrote it yourself. Your handwriting's always looked like chicken scratch," I snapped.
"Oh." He went quiet for a bit, then muttered, "I'll go back and burn it then."
I took a deep breath and said, "Luciano, you should head back to Tharburg. You need time to get your memories back, not just follow me around like this—"
Before I could finish, he suddenly shifted into his human form and walked straight up to me.
His silver-white hair danced in the wind, his features so impossibly handsome they barely seemed real, and in those golden-brown eyes, my own reflection shimmered back at me.
His face was a mix of confusion and struggle.
"I know you don't believe me," Luciano said, his voice quiet and a little shaky. "Honestly, I can't believe it myself. I don't remember you, I don't remember anything between us. My mind keeps telling me a Celestor Orc could never love a human."
He reached out, his long fingers hovering next to my cheek, but he stopped short, not quite touching me.
"But," his voice trembled, "my tails won't do what I say."
His hand finally dropped, and he gently touched my hair.
"Ever since you left Tharburg, my tails stopped listening to me. All they want is to follow you, curl around you, and drag you back home," Luciano said.
He looked down at me, his golden-brown eyes practically begging. "I can't remember you. But every part of me just aches to be near you. So..."
He stepped back, his nine tails slowly unfurling behind him, and then, he bent so low that his forehead nearly touched his knees, folding himself into a position that looked almost comically impossible.
"Please, let me follow you," Luciano asked.
A Celestor Orc—the King of the Nine-Tailed Fox Tribe, one of the strongest beings on the continent—was bowing to a human.
Every orc passing by froze in place, like they'd just turned to stone.
I watched him, bent over like that, his tail tips trembling, and honestly, I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.
"Get up," I said.
He didn't budge.
"Luciano, get up," I said.
He pouted, "Not until you say yes."
"You—"
He said, "I can turn back into my fox form and be your ride. I'm super warm, and my tails can double as a blanket. I don't eat much."
I shot back, "You can eat thirty pounds of meat in one sitting, and you call that not eating much?"
He paused for a second, then quickly changed his tune. "I can go vegetarian. I'll eat grass."
"You're a fox. Since when do foxes eat grass?" I asked.
He finally sat up, giving me the most pitiful look. "Then I can eat less meat, like twenty pounds?"
I couldn't help but let out an exasperated laugh at him.
"Alright," I said, "you can come with me. But there's a condition."
His eyes lit up instantly, and all nine of his tails shot up, wagging like crazy.
The sight was absolutely stunning—a silver-haired, golden-eyed beauty with nine huge tails fanned out behind him like flowers in full bloom, swaying so hard they practically whipped up a breeze.
He looked at me eagerly. "What's the catch?"
"Don't go telling anyone you're a Celestor Orc. I don't need that kind of trouble," I said.
He nodded so fast I thought his head might fly off.
"And another thing," I added, "don't go shifting into your fox form just to scare people."
He nodded even harder.
"And if you're living in Velburg, you gotta make your own money. I'm not running a charity here," I said.
He froze for a second and then got super serious. "I can make money. I'm tough, you know."
"How are you gonna make money? Hauling crates down at the docks? Are you planning to use your nine tails to carry stuff?" I teased.
"I could be a bodyguard," he said, dead serious. "I'm great in a fight."
"You, a Celestor Orc, working as a guard for some merchant caravan? Aren't you embarrassed?" I shot back.
"Not at all," he replied instantly.
The way he looked at me, like he'd do anything for his wife, made my head hurt.
And just like that, a human woman who'd been dumped by a Celestor Orc strolled into Velburg, dragging along an amnesiac Celestor Orc.