The situation was messy. The noise in the background blurred into young Mira’s ears in a painful earscrape. Young Mira heard her mother call for order then her father ordered everyone present to leave and not say a word till the matter was sorted.

That did little to aid with the situation, the people there already began spreading the news and it did not take long for the talk to reach everyone in the fox clan. Because of the pungent fox scent the dead animal oozed out and the fact that it was unrecognisable, it was hard to identify what exactly was dead but the animal was given a burial. And the matter was never sorted out. Hye Yang never gave a word or agreed to asking Mira to be there, there was also no proof that deemed Mira innocent. It was so hard to label young Mira free of the crime and this was not a matter that could be hidden either.

And that was how it began.

The entire skulk stayed away from the demon child who did such a thing to a fellow fox and denied the accusation constantly.

The parents of the presumptuously dead fox pup were in mourning and little Mira was paying for the sins of something she did not commit. Following the tradition, Mira was dressed in mourning attire and needed to pay her respects to the mourning family which heavily detested and cursed her every time. Sometimes they threw objects but they never harmed her physically with their hands. It was utter chaos.

Not even little Mira’s friends stood by her side and slowly yet surely, the order of hierarchy within the fox clan began to shift. People no longer wanted little Mira to be the first in line, not when she did that. And the love of the skulk shifted towards Hye Yang completely. Mira got nothing except from her parents and even her siblings were wary of her too.

And Hye Yang, she enjoyed every single bit of it and used the opportunity to get in everyone’s good graces.

A memory hit current Mira, it was a hazy thought of what the childhood Mira experienced. Even though her parents tried to be kind, little Mira knew how hard it was for them at this moment and it was all because she had trusted her sister. Again.

Ming Tao’s fist clenched. Watching the life of Mira through Hye Yang’s view was devastating and he could not believe she had to go through that. Especially when she was innocent.

Ming Tao looked at the woman by his side. "Are you okay?" He asked her in a concerned tone.

Mira nodded. "I am." She blurted out. To be honest, while the memories were sad towards the old owner of this body, since current Mira was not her, it was hard to be fully affected by these experiences and to make it worse, most were not in her head. It was as if when she was transmigrated, only the not so graphically bad memories were imputed into her brain.

Mira felt Ming Tao’s hand clutch around her waist to meet her stomach and he began to rub her gently. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I am so sorry you had to go through that. All of this. You were so young."

A smile formed on Mira’s face then vanished in an instant. From what she knew about the old owner of this body, not a single soul sympathised with her and it was part reason she became made the title ’demon of the forest’ more profound.

A sigh left Mira’s mouth. "It’s okay. And thanks." Mira said. The more Mira dived into Hye Yang’s mind, the more she began to understand the pieces of the old owner of this body’s lore that were not revealed to her.

The mist changed into a different scenery, it was just around the time the rumours of Mira was clearing that Hye Yang did the deed again. This part of the mist showed Hye Yang at night when most of the skulk were asleep. Unlike the last time where Hye Yang lured a fox cub out, this time, she dosed one to fall into deep sleep. That cub was an orphan so there were no parents to make stealing him from his place of rest difficult and while the cub did live with beast people, it was just way easier.

The mist began to darken as it showed Hye Yang’s line of sight as she carried the fox cub which she bounded by his hands, mouth and feet on her back. She crossed the border of the fox hobbit into a part of the woods no one should be in at such an hour at night.

Standing by the border was someone dressed in an attire that was foreign to the land that they habited. Gasps rose among the crowd as they watched this and murmurs sprung in the air.

"You’re late." The person at the border stated to Hye Yang when she approached them.

"Cut me some slack, I am just one teenager and it is a lot harder to acquire a beast cub now more than ever, especially after the first time." Hye Yang said to the person. The person’s face was not shown as he was covered in a cloak torn and shredded around the end part of the garments like a style. His face was also secured in the hood of the cloak.

"Run your mouth again, and you will see if my master’s privilege covers you." The person stated.

Hye Yang dropped the sleeping boy on the ground. "It does. And as far as you are concerned, you need to deliver these to your master." She said to him. She said ’deliver these’ like the cub was not a living being and the plural? There was going to be more? Mira questioned in her mind.

The man in the cloak made a grunt before carrying th fox cub. "Keep them coming and you will get the thing which you seek." The man stated.

"But of course, it is a transaction." Hye Yang said to the man.

The man let out a cruel laugh as he turned his back to her, about to leave. "I find it funny though, your people have stayed clear of us for so long yet there is you, someone so selfish she is willing to break a law to get why she wants. And someone so young. Your clan must be unlucky to have you." The man uttered.

A frown formed on Hye Yang’s face. "When I get what I want, the ’lack of luck’ you speak about will be fortune. Now do what you have to do and be silent."

The man laughed, he knew his words got to Hye Yang. "Silly girl. At your age, I was reading our history. Jealousy and greed really is a disease."

Hye Yang’s jaw went slack as she watched him go, her gaze burned with fury. "Very soon I will get the rulership that is rightfully mine and you will watch that tone of yours for the rest of your life." Hye Yang murmured to herself. Now she turned back and searched the ground like she was looking for something. It was then she found it, an anima tied in the bush, freshly butchered just as she wanted it.

"At least he knows how to keep his side of the bargain." Hye Yang said as she picked up the animal and hung it over her back. "Just wait for me, sister, soon, you will be so useless that nobody would want you and then, you will be out of the way for good and give way for me."

The most showed the Hye Yang returning back the path she took, it showed her reach for the fox clan and drop the dead animal in the room Mira was assigned to sleep alone ever since that incident. Hye Yang dropped chunks of raw flesh all over Mira’s bed and painted Mira’s mouth and fingers with the blood of the animal with fresh leaves branches till it looked like little Mira had torn and eaten the animal before dozing off then she ensured to spill blood all over in a trail that led to Mira.

Current Mira did not know how the old owner of the body did not inhale blood and wake up nor how no one else in the hobbit inhaled anything either till another memory hit her.

Hye Yang had organised a feast for everyone in the hobbit, it just occurred to Mira now that it was possible that she had the food they had eaten spiked with something that made them all fall into deep sleep like Hye Yang did the fox cub.

Mira put a hand to her mouth and made a barf noise, watching this made her sick to her stomach. Ming Tao turned to look at her. "Are you okay?" He asked, his entire concentration on his wife. Mira nodded.

"I’m fine, it’s just the baby." She lied. She hated the sight of blood and it made her want to vomit.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Ming Tao asked.

Mira shook her head. "No, I want to stay here and watch." She sounded determined and while Ming Tao was worried, he listened to her demand but with a condition that if it happened again, he would take her to rest with no questions asked. Mira agreed. She had to see this through, especially when it revealed memories she never had.

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