Chapter 55
<Chapter 57>
Calips had his doubts.
Could a kitten really transform into a human?
If it did—if that were actually true...
Then how was he supposed to view that damn cat that had been on Aisha’s bed while she slept a few days ago?
A beast? A man? A cat?
Surprisingly, in Calips’s personal encyclopedia, all three words carried the exact same meaning.
‘...If a cat has killed a human, there is a possibility it may transform into one.’
The moment he heard Knox’s words in the dungeon, Calips had no choice but to sprint down the hallway like a madman.
Praying it wasn’t true, he flung open his daughter’s bedroom door—
“...Dad?”
A startled Aisha widened her eyes like a surprised rabbit.
Standing beside the child was a boy of similar height.
White hair that brushed over his forehead. Purple eyes, the hallmark of a monster. A face that bore an uncanny resemblance to that cat.
“...”
The veins on the back of Calips’s hand bulged as he gripped the doorframe as if he might crush it.
If Aisha hadn't been there, the curses he was muttering under his breath would have erupted from his mouth.
However—
“Boy. You, out.”
Aisha was watching.
“Why should I?”
The boy asked back, blinking his innocent-looking eyes.
He was even using informal speech?
‘They said he could speak the human tongue, but a beast is still a beast.’
Letting out a short, dry laugh, Calips walked toward the boy menacingly. Then, he grabbed the boy's wrist roughly.
“...?”
The boy’s eyes went round as he was dragged away.
“Kyle! Don't kill him, don't kill him! Dad, don't kill him either!”
To the sound of Aisha’s urgent, cryptic cries, Calips slammed the bedroom door shut. Slam!
* * *
And so, in the office.
“They say you become human if you kill one. Are you really that kitten?”
Calips’s jaw tightened as he asked the absurd, crazy question.
The boy looked up at Calips, his expression still devoid of fear.
Then, letting out a long sigh, he nodded.
“To be precise, I can transform into a human if I drink human blood.”
“Then why did you go straight to Aisha the moment you took human form?”
“To go home.”
Home?
Calips, who had been clenching his teeth to suppress his rage, raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Home. If I lost it, I have to find it again.”
“What are you talking about?”
Perhaps because he was a beast, the way he spoke was incredibly strange.
Knox, standing nearby, cautiously interpreted the boy’s words.
“I believe... when the Majin lived as a cat, he always slept in the Lady’s bedroom. It seems he refers to the bedroom as home...”
Crack—
Knox quickly shut his mouth at the sound of the chair’s armrest splintering.
It wasn’t something to get angry about with a boy who hadn't even hit puberty, but annoying was annoying.
‘I should move on to a different topic.’
If he kept listening, he felt he might break the left armrest as well.
Closing his eyes for a moment to steady his breathing, Calips pointed out another issue.
“Then why did you kill the maid? Did you want to become human?”
“Humanization isn't something you can only do by killing someone. You just have to drink human blood.”
“Then why did you kill her?”
The boy fell silent for a moment at Calips’s question.
Calips felt a surge of anger at the boy's still-fearless, blunt expression.
“I didn’t intend to drink her blood.”
He couldn't stay angry, because the boy’s subsequent words were unexpected.
“...What?”
“I just intended to kill her. I got scolded by Aisha for it, though.”
The expressions on Calips’s and Knox’s faces shifted slightly.
He intended to kill her from the start?
“Aisha only nags me when I become human. That’s why I didn’t want to be human. I wanted to stay a cat forever.”
The boy muttered, kicking the floor as if the mere thought of it was unfair.
“Then why did you kill the person?”
“That person didn't have a scent.”
“A scent?”
“Humans usually have a scent. You have one. You have one, too.”
Pointing at Calips and Knox in turn, the boy continued.
“A scent of being connected to others. A scent that says, ‘Ah, someone will look for this person if they disappear.’ But that person didn't have a scent.”
“...What does that mean?”
“People like that are usually just waiting for the day they die alone.”
The boy answered promptly, but Calips’s gaze was fixed on Knox. He was asking for an interpretation.
“I am not sure myself, either.”
But even Knox, the president of the Masamo Club, shook his head.
Good grief.
His head was becoming increasingly complicated.
Frustrated, he swept his hair back and continued to coax a proper answer.
“You say they have no scent. So why did you kill them?”
“Because there was a high chance they would kidnap Aisha.”
Suddenly, a shocking answer that required no interpretation whatsoever burst forth.
“...?”
“?”
Silence filled the office for a moment.
Calips and Knox, who had been looking down at the boy with slightly surprised eyes, stared at each other.
“Kidnap? Did something happen at the Royal Palace?”
“When I found the Lady, she had already disappeared through a portal with that boy. I don't know what happened before that, but...”
Knox, pushing up his slipping monocle, muttered belatedly.
“It seems there is a need to investigate something.”
Naturally.
Besides, the kid didn't seem smart enough to lie. It was clearly the truth.
“Kidnap? What do you mean by that?”
Now that the conversation had truly begun, Calips stood up from his chair and knelt down to meet the boy’s eyes.
The boy answered with the same fearless expression.
“When Aisha took me far away. A human with no scent was following Aisha and watching her the whole time.”
Thump—
Calips’s heart dropped. Someone had been watching Aisha? Since when? How?
No one had noticed it.
“I happened to want to become human because I had something to ask Aisha. But that person had no scent, so I figured Aisha wouldn't be sad even if I killed him.”
“...What?”
He couldn't understand the whole meaning, but he understood one thing clearly.
Was this beast... concerned about Aisha being sad?
The question flashed through Calips’s mind, but he didn't speak, wanting to hear the rest of the boy’s story.
“But that person suddenly kidnapped Aisha. At first, he called her name, so I thought he was someone Aisha knew and just watched.”
“And then?”
“He slapped the sleeping Aisha’s cheek. So I thought, ‘Ah, it’s okay to kill this man,’ and I killed him.”
“...”
Silence descended on the office once more.
This time, it was heavier, and far colder.
“Is that why you killed the maid, too?”
“Yeah.”
It was a relief, really.
Even though the expression he was making now must be quite terrifying, the boy just nodded without a second thought.
Then, the boy stared at the ceiling for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something.
“I thought it was weird because there was no scent. But there was something else strange.”
“What is it?”
“After that person visited, the man in the next room was talking a lot. Saying things like, ‘I’m escaping now’ and ‘The Duke of Pose’s service is great.’”
“A spy.”
“He was a spy.”
The boy’s decisive words settled the entire situation. The Duke of Pose had planted a spy on Aisha.
The reason was obvious. It must have been to monitor whether she was carrying out her mission well.
“...For now.”
He had to bring down the House of Pose by using the Berserk Potion issue. As quickly as possible.
Lost in thought, Calips stood up and then looked down at the boy again.
So, this Majin. What should he do with him?
“...?”
At the steady gaze, the boy tilted his head curiously.
When he’d found him in the bedroom, he’d seemed like a beast that deserved to be beaten to death.
‘He distinguishes spies by scent?’
After talking to him, he seemed quite useful. He was perfect as Aisha’s guard knight.
Calips crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.
And then—
“Good job.”
“...Huh?”
“Killing the person with no scent. You did very well.”
He roughly patted the white-haired head.
“But Aisha said killing people isn't allowed...”
“People with no scent aren't people. So, if there’s anyone without a scent around Aisha next time, kill them.”
“...Huh?”
The boy, who had been staring blankly at him with purple eyes at the sudden praise, nodded.
A few days later.
“Hi.”
“...Did you move into our castle?”
The humanized Kyle began to appear at the Crost Duchy Castle.
And quite frequently, at that.