I’m the Youngest Daughter of the Serpent Family
Chapter 54
To reach the second floor, I had to pass through this hallway.
Still, knowing this was the final stretch gave me a lighter heart as I stepped inside.
A few people greeted me as I passed, but thankfully, no one stopped me to chat.
"Maybe it's 'cause Basad gave me the wish necklace. Everything's goin' so well, isn't it? Could it really be workin'?"
"Really? Suddenly makes me want one too. Make one for me as well, Basad."
"No."
Basad shook his head firmly.
"Just one."
"I said no."
"After all the years we've spent together?"
"Disgusting."
"You're so mean, honestly."
Paymon clung to Basad, miming wiping away tears.
Basad flinched, looking genuinely repulsed as he backed away.
The bickering behind me showed no signs of stopping.
I came to a dead halt.
Basad, who had one hand shoved against Paymon's head, and Paymon, with his arms stretched toward him, both looked at me at the same time.
"You two are bein' way too loud."
"……I apologize."
Basad dropped the hand pushing Paymon's face away. Paymon smoothed down his ruffled hair and fell silent.
The situation had been brought under control. I gave a shy grin.
"When we get to my room, Ireeng will give you a present, so you can't fight. Okay?"
"A present?"
"Yup. 'Cause both of you helped me."
I couldn't just let their help go unrewarded. Instead, I added a condition.
"But I'll only give it to you if no one catches us."
"Understood."
"Then let's hurry."
It wasn't much farther to my room now. Once we passed the entrance leading to the basement, the stairs would be right there.
From that point on, I wouldn't even need to hide behind the bag.
I had only recently learned that access to the second floor and above was strictly controlled.
Supposedly, only those who had received Kaid's explicit permission could enter.
Feeling a faint numbness creeping into my arms, I hurried my pace.
Having the bag straps slung over my arms for so long seemed to have strained them. Oh no!
Noticing my condition, Basad spoke up.
"Are your arms numb?"
"Yup. A little numb. But it's okay."
We were almost there anyway. Just a little more……!
"Is that you, Lady Irene?"
"Huh?"
Just as I was about to pass the basement entrance, someone called out to me.
I whipped my head around.
There was Durias, walking up from the basement while pulling on his gloves.
Gasp. ……Durias?!
Tension naturally spiked inside me. I offered an awkward smile and took a step back.
"Are you on your way to your room?"
"Yup."
"Then why are you stepping backward?"
"I'm not? Ireeng didn't do that!"
"Ho. Is that so?"
At my flinching, immediate denial, Durias's eyes narrowed slightly.
After examining the utterly suspicious bag closely, he let out a chuckle.
"I don't know what's going on, but I wish you the best of luck."
"Yup."
"After all, having a long tail always leads to getting caught in the end, doesn't it?"
W-What?
I froze completely stiff. Thud. The bag plunged to the floor. My overstrained arms tingled with sharp pricks of pain.
I stared blankly at Durias. Wait, how could he know I had a tail without even seeing it?!
"Hm? After I went out of my way to offer advice and wish you success, that reaction is rather disappoin-……"
Droop. My tail sagged downward.
Durias's golden eyes widened in shock, darting straight to the tail.
I couldn't say a single word out of sheer dismay. Was this what they called digging your own grave and getting caught by your own guilty conscience?
"So it is a tail."
"……You can't tell anyone, Durias."
"Yes, of course."
"Do you promise?"
When I looked up at him pleadingly, he didn't answer, merely grinning in response.
Right. He wasn't going to make any such promise.
The next day.
Rumors that I had grown a tail spread far and wide throughout the mansion.
* * *
From early morning, I stayed sulking beneath the covers. Rosaria sat by my side, trying to soothe me.
"Lady Irene. Please shake it off and get up now. Something like this really is nothing at all."
"I know."
"Then why are you like this?"
I threw off the covers and bolted upright. The blanket billowed and tumbled to the floor.
Though partially concealed beneath my white one-piece nightgown, the tail was still there.
It had grown much softer and prettier than before. That part made me very happy, but……
"I wanted to succeed on the first try too!"
"……."
"I wanted to look cool! But it moves all on its own, Rosaria. Ireeng's embarrassed! And……"
"And?"
Everyone else looks different from me.
Since everyone here was a snake and I was the only bird, I felt like I didn't truly belong.
I hadn't felt this sense of estrangement from the beginning.
Yet as I gradually came to understand my surroundings, the realization that I was genuinely the only bird here stirred strange, unsettling feelings inside me.
Every time I discovered another way I differed from them, a wave of alienation washed over me, leaving my heart uneasy. And so, fear seized me.
We lived together now, but would we still be together in the future?
When I was so completely different from them.
What if we failed to understand each other's perspectives and drifted apart?
"……I wanna stay here together for a long, long time. But once you become an adult, you have to become independent."
"Pardon? Our Lady Irene was having such worries?"
"Yup."
"However, successfully shifting into your beast form doesn't mean you have to leave the mansion."
"But Ireeng is……."
I'm just a temporary daughter. I swallowed the rest of the words before they could escape.
That was something only Kaid and I knew, a secret no one else was aware of.
'Come to think of it, having a daughter wouldn't be so bad. For the time being, that is.'
To this day, Kaid had never once told me that he would fully accept me as his real daughter.
Though I was living a luxurious life where I didn't need to worry about such things right away, those words constantly lingered in the corner of my mind.
Even so, I was too terrified to bring it up first. What if he had forgotten, only to remember and tell me to leave?
I was in a position where all I could do was wait for his decision.
Seeing my gloom, Rosaria's expression darkened as well.
"Rosaria."
"Yes, Lady Irene."
"What if I have to leave this place later?"
I didn't want to be alone again. I loved this house and its people so much.
Was I being too greedy?
If Kaid protected me until I reached adulthood, I ought to be grateful for just that, but……
I hated the thought. If that happened, all the bonds I had formed with the people I met here would be severed.
"Lady Irene, please don't worry about such things. If you don't wish to become independent, you can simply remain here."
"……Yup. Ireeng won't leave."
I'm going to stay here forever.
I hugged my pillow tightly against my chest.
Rosaria watched me quietly for a long while.
"Why?"
"……It is nothing. It merely hurts my heart to see you feeling down, Lady Irene."
"Ireeng feels better now."
Though it was only a fraction of what was inside, voicing my true feelings had brought me a little relief.
I wasn't going to step a single foot out of my room today. Durias was a big stupid dummy. My lips pouted outward.
I would just roll around in bed until it was time for Casana to arrive.
Today was a theory study day anyway.
To be completely honest, I wanted to beg Casana to teach me how to pull my tail back in.
That probably wasn't possible, was it?
While I was lost in my thoughts, a knock sounded at the door.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
Rosaria, who had been sitting beside me, walked over to the door.
……Who could it be?
"Oh my, Young Master Seth?"
Startled, I sat up and pulled the covers over myself. Seth of all people?
"Hello, Irene."
"……Seth oppa."
"I heard you grew a tail?"
It reached Seth's ears already? My face crumpled into a tearful pout.
Stepping inside, Seth clicked his tongue at the sight of me tucked beneath the covers.
"I really didn't expect you wouldn't even be able to turn back to your original form."
"……I didn't know either."
"At this rate, going on a trip will have to wait for a long time."
"I can still go."
"Sure you will."
So cold! Sullen, I dropped my head. I could feel my tail drooping right along with it.
After gazing at me quietly for a moment, Seth suddenly spoke.
"When you're humanizing, try imagining wrapping your original body in something."
"Huh?"
"It should make returning to your original form a bit easier."
"Really?"
"It did for me."
Why was he giving me this advice, though? I thought Seth had zero interest in anything concerning me.
It was completely unexpected, since I assumed he would just ignore it even if he found out.
"I heard the news and came to see what you were up to, so why are you looking so depressed?"
"……."
"Your tail came out halfway, so that means you're half successful."
"……Huh?"
Shocked, I stared at Seth. Could this possibly be his way of trying to cheer me up?
Seth rose from his seat.
"I have a morning class, so I'm taking my leave."
"Uh?"
"I said I'm leaving."
"……Okay. Seth oppa, bye-bye!"
Feeling dazed, I saw him off with a farewell wave. It felt as though I were dreaming.
"It seems the young master came to congratulate you, Lady Irene."
"Did it look that way to you too, Rosaria?"
So I wasn't just imagining it, right?
Rosaria smiled brightly, reassuring me that I wasn't mistaken.
I had assumed he came to scold me for being slow to develop despite not even belonging to the same clan, but that hadn't been the case at all.
"Ireeng feels cheered up now. I'm gonna change my clothes."
"Shall we? It might be nice to wear a dress today."
"Yup."
Rosaria retrieved a purple dress from the wardrobe. After changing out of my nightgown, my mood genuinely felt refreshed.
Knock, knock.
"Huh?"
"We have quite a few visitors today, don't we?"
Not long after Seth had left, a second guest arrived.
Please don't tell me people are going to keep visiting all day long?
The second visitor was none other than Hestia.