Chapter 14
14
Chapter 3. Because She's Cute (4)
Wow, seriously.
"Now you know, Shana. You shouldn't judge hastily by appearances."
"Cool..."
"What?"
Awesome! Crazy!
"Did you see, Raven? She transformed!"
"...Transformed?"
"She was a tiny puppy! Whoosh!"
"...Whoosh?"
"In the blink of an eye! Into a pretty lady!"
"Pretty... lady..."
"So cool!"
"......"
"Amazing! Cool! Awesome!"
"...What does 'awesome' mean..."
"The best!"
Raven wore an ambiguous expression. He muttered quietly, "What is she reading?"
Regardless, I only saw the small girl.
The girl looked to be around Raven's age rather than mine. She had long black hair, white limbs, and fiercely shining black eyes. There were blood-like stains around her mouth.
That must hurt. How injured must she be to have blood on her mouth?
I was sure that the wounds the puppy had were from being beaten somewhere. She wouldn't be throwing up blood if her insides weren't a mess.
Who on earth would do that to such a small child?
Her body, covered in rags, was terribly skinny, and her face with scabs was gaunt. Oh my god...
"Are you okay? Little one, you don't have to be scared, it's okay..."
"What do you mean, 'okay'?"
"Don't, Raven! You're scaring her! It's okay, come here..."
The white face glaring at us was pretty, but full of wariness, probably because she was frightened.
I pushed away Raven's arm, which was trying to move me behind him, and reached out my hand. Raven didn't budge an inch. How can a kid be so strong?
"Come here, little one..."
"That won't do, Shana."
"Maria?"
"I can't allow you to see any more."
Maria said firmly and picked me up. At the same time, Ella approached the girl. Bailey said.
"Ella, is it a poisonous species?"
"No. It belongs to a large dog breed, but it was a puppy. The human form is no different."
"Weapons?"
"None. Still, we don't know what it might do, so it's best not to approach it in human form. I'll take care of it."
The conversation... somehow feels professional... It felt like I'd discovered the double lives of my nanny and sitters. Rank A Mercenary, huh? Maybe it's true.
Raven shook his head and said.
"You're late."
"I judged that it wasn't dangerous."
Raven seemed to have a lot to say, but he closed his mouth. I tugged on Maria's clothes and said.
"Maria, don't hurt her!"
"That's what I should be saying. What is this? Look at all that blood."
"Ella, don't hurt the puppy! Got it!"
Ella replied with a voice mixed with laughter.
"I'll capture it alive without injuries. Shana, aren't you worried about me?"
"Ella too... be careful..."
"Yes."
The relaxed answer overflowed with coolness. My heart is... exploding...
Ella, who looked like a young lady from a wealthy family with her elegant and graceful appearance, subdued the frightened and biting girl very easily without much effort.
"Maria, let's go!"
"Where to?"
"To the puppy!"
"Oh my, I don't see a puppy."
"Don't joke around!"
"How could I ever win against Shana? Yes, yes. I'll go."
Raven sighed.
"I don't know if this is overprotection or neglect."
"If it were Anais, she wouldn't have allowed you to approach in the first place, of course."
"Ah, really?"
When did Dad get here? Ignoring the conversation coming from behind, I approached the girl in Maria's arms.
The girl was kneeling, restrained from behind by Ella.
Getting closer, the girl was even more terribly emaciated. Ella, holding her from behind, looked like a villain.
Seeing the girl's slender, venomous eyes, tears welled up in my eyes without me realizing it.
"Sha, Shana?! Are you crying?"
"What?"
"What did you say?"
Two surprised voices burst out simultaneously from behind. Raven, why are you surprised...?
"Shana, why are you doing this? Are you scared of the blood after all? I'm sorry, I'll clean it up quickly..."
"No!"
"Yes?"
"Don't hurt her, she's my Younger sister!"
"...Younger sister..."
Ella, Maria, Bailey, and Raven's eyes turned to Dad. Dad chuckled and said.
"Shana, Mom and Dad never gave birth to a Younger sister for you."
"I picked her up!"
"You can get a Younger sister by picking her up?"
"Don't hurt her, I'll be good to her..."
I struggled in Maria's arms. Now that I see it, Maria is incredibly strong. I'm struggling with all my might, but she doesn't budge...
I need to change my strategy.
"Put me down, Maria. Okay?"
"Even if you act cute, it won't work."
"...If you don't put me down, I'll hate you..."
"Ah. That's troublesome."
Maria pretended to hesitate for a moment, then gently put me down on the floor. And she said in a reading tone, as if wanting to be heard.
"Ah! Shana was so strong that I! Accidentally let go!"
"You're kidding me, Maria."
Bailey, who had come close at some point, picked me up again in a flash. Well, she was really kidding me.
"Shana, give me your hand."
"Oh, Mother..."
The boss has appeared.
I obediently held out my hand to Mother. The finger that the puppy bit had a wound that wasn't exactly small, but fortunately, the bleeding had stopped.
Mother's expression is very unusual...
'If I could have healed myself, I could have pretended not to know...'
Too bad.
Even in the midst of all this, I was worried about the kneeling girl and kept glancing at her.
Even though I had healed her wounds, her complexion was still pale and her breathing was rough. Should I have used more Healing Clay?
"...Shana doesn't hurt at all..."
"You're not in pain even though you were bleeding so much? Our Shana is strong, isn't she?"
"I don't hurt! Shana is strong!"
She doesn't seem as angry as I thought.
"The puppy was surprised, surprised..."
"Shana wants to raise a puppy, it seems."
"U-Uh huh! Will you let me?"
"Well, Mom..."
Mother lifted her lowered eyes. Her long eyelashes rose, revealing cold green eyes. Yikes.
"I don't know why I should forgive a dog... a mutt that hurt my daughter?"
"...O-Oh, Mother, scary..."
There was definitely a swear word after "dog."
"I came because it was strangely noisy, and Shana is hurt."
Ella, Maria, and Bailey flinched.
"I don't know why you were just watching when you were with Kyle and all."
Dad's face turned pale.
"Even with His Highness here..."
"I tried to stop her."
"How are you going to become a great ruler when you can't even handle one Shana?"
"Your wife's daughter is something else..."
Raven clicked his tongue. Is he really 8 years old?
"Shana, Mom is most afraid of Shana getting hurt."
"...Woo..."
"I'm sorry, but you can't raise that puppy. It might suddenly turn around and bite Shana."
"N-No, it won't..."
"Really? Can you guarantee it? When did you see that puppy?"
"But..."
"Shana, you may have seen a Shifter for the first time, but Shifters can turn into animals, and unlike humans, they are strong and fierce. They are beings that cannot be tamed without a slave collar."
"That child is hurt! She's in pain..."
"She looks fine to Mom."
That's because I healed her... But saying that would only add fuel to Mother's anger.
Mother looked the most firm and strict I had ever seen her. That means she cares about me that much, but conversely, I was really anxious.
The girl with black hair and black eyes especially overlapped with Mina.
Imagining Mina being abandoned, emaciated like that girl, made my heart ache.
Even if I couldn't keep her forever, I wanted to at least feed her a meal.
"Woo, woo..."
"Shana?!"
What is a baby's weapon?
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
Tears.
The crying sounded awkward because I was forcing it out. Tears, I need to squeeze out tears. I covered my face with my hands and tried to think of the saddest thoughts possible.
By the way, my hands are still much smaller than my face...
Oh, I need to think sad thoughts.
Is Mina doing well? It must have been hard for her when I suddenly died, right? For four years after Dad passed away, Mina and I were each other's only family, so we were very affectionate. We were affectionate before, but it was even more so in the past four years.
'Sister, please don't overdo it.'
I didn't overdo it. It wasn't hard even if I overdid it.
I miss her.
I was only trying to pretend to cry, but when I thought of Mina, tears really welled up. Mother's expression, which had been looking at me with a sigh at first, changed drastically.
"Shana... the child who only pretended to cry and never actually cried!"
So she knew I was pretending all along...
"Waaah, waaaah... Don't send her away."
"Shana, please don't cry. Uh, what can Mom do for you, huh?"
"That, Younger sister..., hic."
"Younger sister? Are you asking me to, to give birth to a Younger sister?"
No, surely not that far.
"I, I want to be with her... Huhuuh!"
"Okay, okay! Okay, so please stop crying. You're going to collapse..."
Tears are the best.
I wanted to stop crying right away as if I had never cried, but perhaps because I was thinking of Mina, the tears couldn't stop easily even when I blinked.
Now that Mother has allowed it, there's nothing to hold back. I got away from Bailey and approached the girl on my own feet. As I approached, Ella restrained the girl even more harshly.
"Let her go, Ella!"
"But Shana..."
"It's okay!"
"......"
"I said it's okay."
Ella reluctantly let go of the girl. I threw myself before the girl could run away. She could have left me to fall and run away, but the girl hugged me and caught me.
See, she's kind.
"It's okay. You can relax..."
I wanted to pat her back, but my arms were too short to reach her back. As I was flapping my arms, barely reaching her side, the girl said in a tearful voice.
"Why are you being so nice to me...?"
"Because you're cute."
"What, what's that..."
Isn't that the most important thing? You have to protect cute things.
So, can I please hug you just once when you're a puppy? Please let me kiss your nose once.
I will absolutely protect the puppy.
