Chapter 50
<52화>
‘Has the effect of the eye-color alteration potion worn off already?’
The beast’s eyes looking up at Aisha flickered with an ominous violet light, the hallmark of a monster.
‘The leader of the monsters, he called it. It seems Queen Consort Grace’s words were true.’
From a distance, it appeared the monsters were reacting to Aisha, but Knox knew better.
They weren’t looking at Aisha; they were looking at the cat padding along nonchalantly by her side.
“Perhaps we should save the conversation for later. Why don’t you take Lady Aisha back to the castle first and settle the situation here?”
“…Fine.”
“Your Grace, I’m not finished yet.”
Knox lowered his voice as much as possible for the next part.
“It seems the monsters won’t be returning for a while, so why not leave the cleanup to the Knight Commander? I have something urgent to tell you.”
“……?”
Calips’s brow furrowed slightly. Knox continued to gaze at him with a neutral expression.
“…Very well.”
After a few seconds of silence, Calips seemed to realize.
That there was a matter more important than the current situation.
Still holding Aisha firmly in his arms, he finally shouted to the surrounding knights.
“The situation is resolved. We will repair the Ice Wall as soon as the cleanup is done, so move the wounded first. Those in charge of the carcasses, dispose of the dead monsters.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
“Understood, Your Grace!”
The moment his eyes left Aisha, Calips returned to the cold, composed ruler they all knew.
Once the knights, who had been saluting with tense faces, departed—
“Let’s get home. Look at your face. Your hair is a mess, too.”
His expression softening again, Calips playfully nudged the tip of Aisha’s nose.
“But I made it back safely, didn’t I?”
“If you hadn’t caused trouble in the first place, you wouldn’t be in such a state.”
“Hmph.”
When a pouting Aisha slumped into his chest, Calips finally looked satisfied as he stroked the child.
Of course, the moment his eyes met Knox’s, his expression turned icy once more.
A short while later.
“My Lady—!”
As soon as we returned to the castle, Brad, who had been waiting anxiously at the entrance, ran toward us with tears in his eyes.
“Where on earth did you go? Do you have any idea how worried Aide Knox was?!”
“Exactly! I happened to see him in the hallway, and he was breaking out in a cold sweat!”
One by one, the servants gathered and threw in their two cents as I clung to Dad’s neck.
“I’m sorry….”
Boy, this is really embarrassing.
I mean, I must have been crazy to think I could go to the End of the World with just a single poisoned needle.
‘I didn’t expect it to cause such a stir.’
Feeling sheepish, I pulled myself closer to Calips’s neck, trying to escape the situation.
However—
“Scold her as much as possible. She did something wrong.”
I guess Dad is a strict dad when he needs to be.
“Dad?”
“What, brat.”
He gave a short laugh and flicked the tip of my nose.
Then, he set me down right in front of the formidable butler and the gathering servants and simply vanished.
“…Dad? Dad!”
Tramp, tramp.
Dad didn’t even look back.
“My Lady?”
“…My Lady?”
The servants, having received their orders, surrounded me with fire in their eyes.
Flinch.
I took a step back, looking around warily with a terrified expression.
This man had utterly shattered the cliché of the doting ‘daughter-fool’ father often found in romance-fantasy novels.
‘Calips. Just you wait…’
“Oh my, My Lady. Where on earth did you lose your hair ribbon? Let me hold you for a moment.”
“Ack!”
“My Lady, where did you wander off to get this dirty? We really have to scrub you clean today…”
“By the way, why are you wearing these rags…”
“Kyaa! Lynn! Put that robe back on her! It’s snowing, and the Lady is only wearing her pajamas!”
Dozens of hands lifted me up and headed into the Duke’s Castle.
“Ugyak, gyaak—”
After being bathed so thoroughly I felt like my skin might peel off, I was dressed in warm, lined pajamas.
By the time I came to my senses—
“…….”
I was sprawled out on my bed.
‘I’m definitely cleaner than before, but why does my body feel like a heap of rags?’
It was then.
“Meow.”
“Baby?”
I bolted upright at the familiar cry.
“Nya.”
As if waiting for that moment, Baby hopped onto the bed and leisurely stretched before burrowing into my arms.
“Baby, where have you been?”
When did he get to the bedroom?
Whether Knox had brought him from the palace or not, Baby had been right there next to Calips when I met him.
I was worried his purple eyes would be discovered, but it seemed he had avoided people and made his way to the bedroom on his own.
“Good boy, Baby.”
“Mew.”
At my gentle voice, Baby blinked his purple eyes and snuggled deeper into my embrace.
‘So cute….’
My mouth curled into a soft smile. How could I not sleep with something this adorable?
“Let’s sleep under the covers together again tonight.”
As I pulled the duvet over us while holding him.
“Baby, are you asleep?”
Curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked under the covers—
“Purr…”
A curled-up ball of fluff was sleeping with its eyes closed in a satisfied line.
‘I guess today was exhausting for Baby, too.’
I drifted into thought, reflecting on the day.
A lot had happened, but the thing that stuck in my mind the most was, of course, that boy.
“…Did he make it home okay?”
Staring at the dark ceiling, the face of the boy standing in the shadows of the forest suddenly came to mind.
White as an angel. With purple eyes like a monster.
“Hmm….”
I lifted the blanket and looked at Baby.
“You kind of look like him,”
Gasp. How rude of me.
I quickly covered my mouth and shook my head.
No matter how pretty that boy was, he couldn’t compare to Baby.
It was an insult to Baby, who was both beautiful and kind.
“That boy was… a bit peculiar, after all.”
Still, he didn’t seem like a bad person.
Yawn.
The warm, fluffy heat radiating from my arms made my eyes drift shut on their own.
In the early hours of the morning, while everyone was asleep.
Rustle.
The covers shifted slightly, and a white, fluffy cat poked its head out.
Aisha was fast asleep.
She must have been exhausted, as she was even snoring slightly with her arms flung up over her head.
‘My home. It is your arms.’
The cat licked its paw while watching Aisha.
He was still a bit disgruntled about being scolded earlier.
And yet, despite saying she hated him, the moment he returned to his cat form, she let him sleep in her bed again.
‘Aisha, you blockhead.’
He vowed to himself that he would never transform into a human again.
Human blood tasted awful, and he had realized that if you kill a person, you have to run away.
“…….”
The cat sat in a loaf position beside the sleeping Aisha, watching over her until dawn, just as he always did.
As a reminder, cats are nocturnal animals.
There was a reason the cat slept so soundly during the day.
While the cat was watching the sleeping Aisha.
A conversation was taking place in Calips’s office.
“You’re saying the reason the monsters stopped was because of the kitten that was with Aisha?”
“Yes.”
Calips looked at Knox, finding it hard to believe, but the aide was more serious than ever.
In the end, Calips let out a hollow laugh.
But soon, his brow furrowed as he ran a hand through his hair.
He wondered if he could actually believe this.
Communicating with monsters?
Calips didn’t like the premise to begin with.
Monsters were incapable of communication.
They lacked intelligence, were irrational, and followed their instincts like beasts; if they were hungry, they would devour humans and animals alike without distinction.
In fact, monsters usually lunged, drooling, at the mere sight of any moving living thing.
And yet, communication with them was possible?
This was not a matter for the Crost Duchy to handle alone.
He needed to speak with Queen Consort Grace.
“Good work. For now, I’ll send word to Her Majesty the Queen Consort regarding this matter…”
“Your Grace. There is something else.”
Calips, who was about to end the conversation, looked up.
“What is it?”
“As I mentioned, they are called Majin because they are creatures capable of communicating even with humans.”
“Right.”
“Regarding the fact that they can take human form, there is one point that troubles me.”
“Go on.”
“I was told that until they reach maturity, they must drink human blood to be able to take human form.”
A moment of silence followed.
His mouth set in a firm line, Calips tapped the desk once with his finger and stared at Knox again.
“Where is that cat now?”
“…It’s in the Lady’s bedroom…”
“What?”
The red eyes staring at the aide turned cold in an instant.