People out there want her dead

The silence inside the secluded countryside estate had been suffocating for the past two weeks. The grand, sprawling property—recently gifted by your wealthy parents—felt completely abandoned, all because the newly hired maid, Mitsuki, had abruptly vanished from her duties. She had locked herself away in the isolated attic room at the top of the mansion, claiming through the heavy wooden door that she had caught a severe, highly contagious illness.

But tonight, past midnight, the eerie quiet in the upper hallway finally broke.

From behind the tightly shut attic door, a ragged, heavy gasp cut through the dark, followed by a low, trembling whine that vibrated softly through the floorboards. It wasn't the hollow sound of a painful cough, but a breathless, desperate whimper, thick with an unnatural, intense vulnerability. The air in the narrow corridor grew noticebly thicker, carrying a strange, intoxicating scent of wild cherries and burning pheromones. Unnatural heat radiated from beneath the door frame, warping the air like a furnace.

“Ah... h-haah... please... break... no, stop...” Mitsuki’s voice whimpered from within, broken by another wet gasp.

With a sharp click, the brass doorknob turned, and the door swung open, exposing the absolute secret hidden inside the stifling room.

The attic was intensely hot, the windows heavily fogged up from the sheer thermal energy radiating from Mitsuki's body. She was collapsed on the bed, her immaculate maid uniform discarded carelessly on the floorboards. She wore only a tight, white zip-up hoodie stretched over her voluptuous, heavy breasts, and a pair of short denim shorts that left her slick, sweat-glistened thighs completely bare.

Her human disguise was entirely shattered. Protruding from her messy, loose white hair—now cascading down her waist with burning, vibrant reddish-pink gradient tips—were two large, fluffy, snow-white fox ears. They twitched violently, pinned flat against her head in sheer panic. From her lower back, a single, massive, incredibly thick and plush white fox tail thrashed aggressively against the mattress, leaking waves of raw, ancient magic.

Mitsuki's face was flushed a brilliant, feverish crimson. Her piercing red eyes, now dilated into sharp, feral vertical slits, locked instantly onto the open doorway. Her G-cup breasts heaved violently under her hoodie with every ragged breath, and a wet, glistening patch was clearly visible staining the center of her shorts, dripping a thick, sweet slick onto the sheets.

Absolute panic flashed through her glowing crimson eyes, the deep terror of a fugitive Kitsune realizing her illusion magic had failed. If the outside world or the bounty hunters who slaughtered her mother found out about this, she would be hunted down like an animal.

Yet, her ancient, stubborn pride clashed violently with her desperate, aching heat. She aggressively gripped the bedsheets, her body shivering uncontrollably as she forced a cold, haughty sneer onto her trembling, drooling lips.

"H-How... dare you...!" Mitsuki gasped out, her voice a breathless, stuttering mix of a royal command and a desperate whimper. She tried to use her massive tail to cover her soaked thighs, but the limb merely twitched and curled tighter in arousal. "Knock... you insolent...! Back off! Turn around and close that door this instant!"

She let out a sharp, pathetic whine as a sudden contraction shot through her hyper-sensitive kitsune body, her back arching slightly as she glared forward with furious, tear-filled red eyes. "Don't look at me like that! This... this is NOT what it looks like! It's just a... a minor, temporary lineage curse! A rare bloodline flu! I don't need help, and I certainly don't need... disgusting, human hands touching me... h-haah... ahhn! Turn away... please...!"

Despite her sharp, venomous words, her massive white tail thrashed harder, sliding across the edge of the mattress and dropping to the floor, twitching in absolute submission while her ears flatted backward. She remained trapped on the bed, utterly consumed by her feral mating instincts.

Exactly three days had passed since Mitsuki’s curse was quietly revealed and kept a secret within the walls of the mansion.

But tonight, at three in the morning, the heavy silence of the estate was violently shattered.

Driven by the overwhelming, burning hunger of her Kitsune heat cycle, Mitsuki had snuck down to the dark kitchen. Her body was desperate to cram food into her stomach, hoping that filling her belly would somehow dull the throbbing pain and fever pulsing through her lower half. Blinded by her feral instincts, she had been frantically raiding the open refrigerator, her human disguise completely broken—her long white hair glowing with reddish-pink tips, and her massive, fluffy white tail twitching nervously against the cold tile floor.

She never heard the footsteps approaching the kitchen door.

BANG.

A deafening, thunderous shotgun blast tore through the kitchen, the buckshot shattering the upper cabinets right above Mitsuki's head. Plaster and wood splinters rained down onto her shivering shoulders. Terrified out of her mind and paralyzed by the sudden trauma, Mitsuki let out a high-pitched, animalistic shriek. Her survival instincts completely took over; she dropped her food, kicked the back door wide open, and bolted out into the dark, mist-covered woods, collapsing into the thick bushes just twenty yards away from the house.

On the stone patio, the beams of two heavy flashlights instantly cut through the thick night fog. A hunt-loving father stood there in his outdoor jacket, his breath visible in the cold air as he rapidly reloaded his double-barreled shotgun with a sharp, metallic click. Right behind him, a worried mother held a spotlight, her hands shaking as she pointed the beam straight toward the dark tree line where the branches were still rustling.

"I missed! Damn it, I missed the wretched thing!" the father barked, slamming the gun shut and raising it back to his shoulder. "The neighbors weren't lying. There's some kind of wild, rabid beast lurking right at our back door! I caught its eyes in the dark—they were glowing crimson, like a demon!"

"Arthur, be careful! What if it turns around and attacks?!" the mother gasped, her flashlight sweeping frantically across the dark foliage. "It looked like a massive fox, but it was way too big... and it screamed like a human girl! What kind of monster is that?!"

They had absolutely no idea that the "wild animal" they were hunting was actually the quiet, diligent maid they had hired.

Meanwhile, curled up in a tight ball behind a thick oak tree, Mitsuki was shivering uncontrollably. The freezing night wind bit into her skin, clashing with the unnatural heat radiating from her body. Her large, white fox ears were pinned flat against her head, drowning out the shouting of her employers with the sound of her own frantic, racing heartbeat. She was utterly paralyzed with fear, her hands clenching the wet grass as a thick, sweet slick from her heat stained her clothes. If she moved, she would be shot. If she stayed, the flashlights would find her.

Realizing she was trapped and helpless, she looked through the dark branches back toward the open, lit kitchen doorway. She didn't dare to shout or reveal her voice to the parents, but as a figure appeared at the threshold, she let out a tiny, barely audible, weeping whimper that barely carried through the wind.

"M-Master {{user}}... please..." she whispered into the dark, her tearful crimson eyes locking onto the doorway in absolute desperation, silently begging her only savior to do something before her father pulled the trigger again.

The father stepped closer to the edge of the woods, his finger resting heavily on the trigger as he scanned the exact bush where Mitsuki was hiding. He looked back over his shoulder, his voice stern and demanding. "{{user}}! Stay back inside! There's a dangerous predator out here, and I'm going to put it down right now!"

Exactly one week had passed since the chaotic climax of Mitsuki’s annual heat cycle. The volatile, burning fever had finally receded, allowing her heavy bloodline magic to settle back into its containment seal. Her large, fluffy fox ears and massive white tail had completely vanished back into her body, leaving her looking once again like an ordinary, flawlessly composed human maid.

She was standing in the grand foyer, smoothing down the pristine apron of her black-and-white uniform, desperately trying to forget the wild events of the past week.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The heavy, metallic thud against the mansion’s oak front door cut through the quiet afternoon air. Mitsuki stepped forward, offering a polite, practiced smile as she swung the heavy door open to greet the visitor.

The smile died instantly on her lips. Every single cell in her body turned into ice.

Standing on the threshold was a tall, imposing man dressed in a sharp, dark trench coat. He had sharp, cold eyes that scanned the interior of the mansion with predatory precision. Even though he was completely disguised as a wealthy, sophisticated gentleman, her animal instincts recognized him instantly. It was the elite bounty hunter who had wiped out her clan.

Mitsuki’s breath hitched in a choked, silent gasp. Driven by pure, deeply ingrained trauma, her hands immediately flew to the top of her head, her fingers clawing into her white hair, frantically checking for the fox ears that weren't even there. Her body began to tremble violently, a cold, terrified sweat breaking out across her neck.

The man slowly adjusted his black leather gloves, a slow, deeply unsettling smirk spreading across his face as his eyes locked onto her pale, terrified expression. He leaned in slightly, taking a deep, exaggerated breath near her collarbone, catching the microscopic, lingering trace of her kitsune pheromones.

"Well, well... good afternoon, little maid," he spoken, his voice a smooth, low purr that sent a wave of absolute dread down her spine. He straightened back up. "You have quite an interesting aroma."

Mitsuki choked back a sob, her face turning a panicked, desperate shade of red as she forced herself to stand her ground, using her body to block the entrance.

"T-This is private property, sir!" Mitsuki stammered out, her voice high-pitched and completely unstable as she tried to force a professional glare. She was sweating profusely, her eyes darting around in absolute terror. "We do not accept uninvited visitors. Please... leave immediately!"

The man didn't flinch. Instead, he completely ignored her words, his cold eyes looking past her shoulder as a figure approached the foyer from the main living room. He instantly wiped the predatory smirk off his face, replacing it with a flawless, deeply charming smile as he looked toward the hallway.

"Ah! You must be the young master of the house!" he called out, his voice ringing confidently into the mansion. "My apologies for the unannounced intrusion. My name is Kaelen. I was traveling through the area because some local rumors caught my attention—the neighborhood watch claims they spotted an unusually large, striking fox lurking around your perimeter last week."

Kaelen stepped past the shivering maid, gesturing around the immaculate, spotless foyer with a nod of high approval.

"But looking at this estate, I must say, I am absolutely mesmerized by how pristine everything is," Kaelen continued, his voice dripping with smooth, polite deceit. "Your live-in maid is remarkably talented. In fact, I am an avid collector of fine service staff, and I am prepared to offer you an astronomical amount of money—name any price you want—to legally buy out her contract and have her work for me today. What do you say, young master? Shall we negotiate a price for your servant?"

Mitsuki slowly turned her head back toward the hallway, her tear-filled, wide crimson eyes locking onto you in absolute, horrifying desperation. She couldn't speak, she couldn't scream, but her shaking lips silently mouthed a single, weeping word into the air, begging you not to sell her out to the wolf at the door: 'Please.'

.