CHAPTER 248: DID YOU DO IT?

"Hey, Remi. What was that during the match? Care to explain yourself?" Felix asked, poking the fox, and...

No response.

Remi’s ears twitched, but he didn’t react. His sides were still rising and falling steadily with each breath, as he pretended to be asleep.

But how could Felix be fooled so easily?

"I know you’re still awake," he said, poking the fox once again, with a little more force this time.

Remi clearly flinched, as Felix’s finger dug into his side... And then, he returned to his sleeping act.

Felix let out a sigh. "I’m not angry or anything. I just need to ask you a few things, that’s all."

Still nothing.

Honestly, Felix didn’t understand the fox at all.

Or, well, at least he had no idea what was going through Remi’s mind at the moment. Felix already knew what Remi had done. He knew that the fox was not asleep, and he most certainly knew that he was not ’just a fox’, so what was the use of all of this pretending? All that Felix needed to confirm was whether Remi had done something during the match with Julien as well...

However, while he might not have understood Remi’s behavior at the moment, he still knew the fox relatively well in some aspects. So, he pretended to give up, and climbed under the quilt with a sigh. He lay down on his back, and closed his eyes, pretending to go to sleep...

But he was secretly pinching his thigh under the covers to stay awake. Although he was tired, he could force himself not to fall asleep for a while longer, no matter how warm and comfortable the bed was. He steadied his breathing, and then, he waited.

And eventually, just as he suspected, he heard rustling coming from right next to him. The quilt moved, as the fox sneaked under it, slowly approaching Felix. He crawled right to his side, trying to cuddle...

Just as he was about to curl himself up into a fluffy ball again, though, a pair of hands grasped his sides in a steel grip, and abruptly lifted him up in the air.

"Yeeep!" Remi couldn’t help but let out a startled yelp.

He didn’t expect Felix to only pretend to fall asleep, as it wasn’t a trick the Omega would typically use.

To be fair, Felix didn’t expect it to work so well. The trick was more effective because it wasn’t a common thing for him to do, but at the same time, because he wasn’t used to pretending to be asleep, there was a higher risk that Remi would notice that he was only faking it, and wait longer before approaching him...

And yet, he succeeded.

Looking at the fox in his hands, Felix couldn’t help but smile. Remi was wiggling around, trying to escape his grip, but how could he? He might have been a powerful witch, but at the moment, he was just a fox shifter in his animal form, while Felix was a werewolf. Felix had been able to catch him even when they had first met, when Felix was weakened from the weeks he had spent on the run, let alone now, when he was all recovered, well-fed, and well taken care of.

"Don’t look at me like that," he said, as Remi stared at him all pitiful, with his blue eyes filled with endless sadness. "I won’t let you off until you answer my questions."

Remi only whimpered in response, looking even sadder than before.

"Besides, I thought that you like being in my arms?" Felix added, quirking his brow.

Remi paused for a moment, thinking.

Indeed, he was the one who had approached Felix, trying to cuddle. And it’s not like the Omega was harming him in any way. His grip was tight, yes, but if Remi just let Felix hold him without trying to free himself, then it didn’t hurt. Perhaps it was a bit uncomfortable, but Felix was using only as much strength as he had to. And Remi wasn’t a normal fox, he could endure far more than that.

So, he stopped struggling, and just waited silently for whatever Felix wanted from him.

Felix stared at the fox for a bit longer, organizing his thoughts, before he finally asked, "Back during my final match with Lyla, in the second game. When I was about to lose, you used a spell to change the trajectory of the ball, didn’t you?"

Remi blinked innocently, starting back at him, and tilted his head. ’Me? I didn’t do anything! I’m just a cute, innocent fox!’ was what his eyes seemed to be saying.

Well, even though he was acting innocent, that was enough of an answer for Felix. It was obvious he had done it.

Of course, Felix had already known this right from the start, since he had smelled the familiar jasmine fragrance when the ball had suspiciously changed its trajectory in a way that he had been able to hit it with his paddle. He wasn’t asking it now because he needed any confirmation, but more to use it as a ’control question’. ’This is how Remi pretends that he didn’t do something that he obviously did’ type of thing.

And now that he had this ’answer’ from Remi, it was time to ask about the thing he was actually curious about.

"What about during the match in the semi-finals? There was a moment when Julien, my opponent, froze in place for a moment... Was that your doing?"

Remi blinked once again, although this time, with confusion, as if he had no idea what Felix was talking about. Genuinely.

"That was also in the second game, at the very end of it," Felix added to make things clearer. Even though the fact that he had to do it was already odd enough. "The last ball. You were still in my backpack at the time. I received the ball, sending it back Julien’s way, but he suddenly became completely motionless. It didn’t look natural. I think his eyes also flashed with a golden glow? I’m not sure though..."

Remi listened to Felix quietly. And when the Omega finished explaining, he tilted his head again.

’I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’

Did he know what moment in the match Felix was referring to? Yes, of course! More or less, at least. There was only one final ball in every game of the match, after all, and Remi had been listening to the matches, so he knew how they had gone.

But that was about it. Just as Felix had said, he was still in the backpack at that time. Out of sight, curled up in his animal form, like the obedient (?) ’pet’ fox that he was. He hadn’t used any spells - he couldn’t have done it even if he wanted to, not in that form - and he hadn’t even known EXACTLY what happened. Since he was hidden inside the backpack, he relied solely on his hearing to know how the match was going.

Which was rather frustrating, as all he could hear were the bouncing of the ball, rustling, countless hushed conversations between the spectators, and the hostess - Lyla at the time - announcing the scores. That’s why he had sneaked out during the last match, as he wanted to see how Felix was doing.

But the point was that back then, he still couldn’t see anything. He didn’t know anything about Julien freezing ’unnaturally’, nor did he have any idea about that ’golden glow’ Felix claimed he might have seen.

He didn’t explain any of it to Felix - he couldn’t talk without transforming into human form, and he didn’t want to do that - but there was no need to. Seeing his reaction, Felix could tell for sure that Remi had not been involved in whatever was going on...

IF there had been anything going on in the first place.

"Alright, you had nothing to do with it, I believe you. But, in this case..." Felix thought for a moment, before asking, "Can you sense when someone else uses magic?"

Remi nodded his head, answering honestly this time, without any games.

"Even if you’re in your fox form?" Felix asked again, just to make sure.

And Remi nodded again. He might not be able to use spells in his fox form, but that was because most spells required chanting. He could cast a lot of spells with inaudible chanting, but he still had to chant. Articulate the words with his mouth and tongue. And a fox’s mouth simply couldn’t move in a way to form the right words.

It was stupid, especially considering that some spells could be cast without making a sound, but apparently, it made a difference. It was possible to learn to bypass it and still cast a spell, his mother could do it, but he was still too young and lacked experience. With time, he would maybe be able to master it, but for now, he still couldn’t do it.

That had nothing to do with his magic sensitivity though. Even if he weren’t able to cast any spells, he could still sense magic, regardless of his form.

Getting this confirmation from Remi, Felix asked his final question: "Did you sense any magic during the tournament, aside from your own?"

He almost held his breath as he waited for the answer. If Remi had, that would mean that there was another witch around... And although they could potentially be on Felix’s side, judging by the ’spell’, the thought still made Felix a bit uneasy...

But Remi shook his head without any hesitation.

’Absolutely not.’