Chapter 417: My Favourite Fox

Mika thought about how much Astrid had suffered in the past.

All the trauma she had gone through.

The way it had fundamentally changed her—twisted her from that bright, loving little girl into the cold, distant commander she was today.

He couldn’t help but feel horrible.

If he had been stronger back then—if he had been the person he was now—he could have prevented it all.

He could have saved not just her life, but her innocence.

Her childish joy. Her love for demi-humans. Her warm, open heart toward her own family.

All of that had been destroyed in that forest.

And she had become someone else entirely.

But then he stopped himself and looked at Astrid.

She was sitting there on the couch, her lap serving as his throne, one of her tails gently stroking his hair while she hummed a soft tune.

There was a satisfied, almost dreamy smile on her face—genuine and warm and happy.

And in that moment, Mika realized something.

Astrid wasn’t gone.

The real Astrid—the bright, loving, affectionate girl she had been before the trauma was still there.

She was just buried. Hidden beneath layers of protection that she had built over years of pain and betrayal.

That cold exterior? That was armor.

Walls she had constructed to keep herself safe from ever being hurt like that again.

Because if she let her true self out and got hurt again?

Someone like her, someone who loved so fiercely, so completely wouldn’t be able to survive that devastation.

So she kept the real Astrid locked away.

Safe.

Protected.

Only letting her out in moments when she felt completely secure.

Only letting her out with him.

Because she knew, despite everything that Mika would never hurt her. That no matter what, he would always be by her side.

And that realization hit him like a wave.

It was so sad.

So heartbreakingly sad.

That this vibrant, loving girl had to hide who she really was just to survive.

That she could only be herself in stolen moments, in secret, with the one person she trusted completely.

He must have been staring.

Because Astrid noticed.

Her tail stopped its gentle stroking. Her smile faltered. She looked at him with concern in her eyes.

"Mika? Are you alright?"

He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

She looked down, her expression shifting to something uncertain. Vulnerable.

"If...If you’re uncomfortable right now...if you’re not happy sitting on my lap..." Her voice grew smaller. "Then I’ll get off. I don’t want to force you to stay if you don’t want to. I don’t want to do anything that makes you upset."

She looked back up at him, her eyes earnest and worried.

"If you have any problem at all, just tell me, Mika. I’ll do whatever you need. I just want you to be alright."

Mika stared at her, at this girl who had been through so much.

Who had built walls around her heart to protect herself.

Who was still, despite everything, so concerned about him.

And he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Before she could react, he surged forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight, warm embrace.

Astrid froze.

Her entire body went rigid with shock.

"M-Mika?! What—what are you—"

But before she could finish, he spoke.

"I love you, Astrid."

Her breath caught.

"I love you so much."

He held her tighter, one hand gently stroking her back.

"I know I haven’t said it nearly as much as I should have. So maybe you started thinking that I didn’t care about you at all. Or that I’d stopped loving you. Or that I only tolerated you."

He let out a small, self-mocking chuckle.

"Maybe I even made it easy for you to believe that."

His hand kept moving comfortingly along her back.

"But trust me, Astrid...I love you more than you can possibly know."

Her fingers twitched slightly against his sleeve.

"I think about your well-being all the time." He continued. "I think about whether you’re eating properly, whether you’re resting, whether you’re overworking yourself, whether you’re brushing and grooming those ridiculous tails of yours the way you’re supposed to..."

He laughed quietly under his breath.

"I really do."

That small chuckle somehow made the confession even more real.

"And no matter what I used to be, or what I am right now, or what either of us becomes in the future...let me tell you this properly."

He leaned back just enough to look at her face.

She was staring at him like she no longer understood the language he was speaking.

And with a soft, almost helpless smile, he said,

"I love you from the bottom of my heart. That’s never going to change."

Her lips parted slightly.

Her eyes had gone glassy.

"You’ll always be..."

He lifted a hand and gently tucked a bit of hair away from her face.

"You’ll always be my favorite fox. And that will never change."

Hearing this confession, Astrid’s face went through a rapid series of emotions.

Shock. Disbelief. Hope. Fear.

For so many years, she had longed for this.

For Mika to show her love, to accept her, to want her.

But he had always been distant.

Always kept her at arm’s length.

And she had convinced herself it was her fault—that because of who she had become, because of the cold person she had turned into, he didn’t like her anymore.

She had carried that weight for so long.

And now—

Now he was here.

Holding her.

Saying he loved her.

Her voice came out as a broken whisper.

"Why...Why are you saying this, Mika? All of a sudden?"

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Do you...do you see that I have a fever or something? Are you sick? Is that why you’re speaking such nonsense?"

Mika laughed—a warm, genuine laugh.

"Why does everyone always think I have a fever when I say nice things?"

He shook his head, still smiling.

"No, Astrid. I’m not sick. I’m not delirious. I’m not saying this because something’s wrong with me."

He brushed a tear from her cheek.

"I’m saying this because I haven’t said it in so long. Because I’ve been keeping it all inside, pushing it down, acting like it wasn’t there. And I realized that’s not fair to you. It’s not fair to either of us."

He held her gaze.

"I owe you this, Astrid. After all these years of subtly pushing you aside, of keeping you at a distance—I owe you the truth. I owe you my feelings."

He smiled gently.

"And even if there was no reason at all—even if I didn’t owe you anything—I would still want to tell you. Because it’s the simple truth."

His voice softened to barely a whisper.

"I love you, Astrid. My self proclaimed big sister. My favorite fox. I..."

"...I love you."

Astrid broke.

The walls she had built for so long, they all crumbled in an instant.

She buried her face in his chest and sobbed—not from sadness, not from pain, but from overwhelming, soul-crushing relief.

He loved her.

After everything.

After all her coldness and distance and stubborn pride—

He loved her.

She wrapped her arms around him and held on like he was the only solid thing in a world that had been spinning for far too long.

"I-I love you too, Mika."

She cried into his chest.

"I love you so much. I’ve always loved you. I was just so scared—so scared that you didn’t—that I wasn’t—"

"Shh." He stroked her hair gently. "I know. I know. You don’t have to explain. You don’t have to say anything."

They sat there, wrapped in each other, as the tears slowly subsided.

And for the first time in years, Astrid felt truly whole.

Her little brother loved her.

And that was enough.

That would always be enough.