**Stalker Duchess Episode 17**
**Stalker Duchess Episode 17**
For some reason, he seemed angry again, but I didn't feel the need to correct his words.
Based on the pattern so far, the Crown Prince would get angry and then quickly return to normal.
If I ignored him, he'd snap out of it soon enough.
Feeling a bit wronged, I pulled my clothes back up and lifted the child to avoid the Crown Prince's sharp glare.
"Yay, it's better. My shoulder's better. Hooray."
"Are you really excited about that...?"
The Crown Prince watched me emotionlessly lift the child and spin them around with a fed-up expression.
After playing airplane with the child for a while, the Crown Prince suddenly snatched the falling Elf Child out of the air.
He then spoke to me with a dissatisfied look.
"Doing this at a time like this?"
"...Um."
Embarrassed, I averted my eyes from the Crown Prince's glare.
The Crown Prince sighed and set the child down on the ground. Then he immediately turned and walked away without lingering.
I stroked the child's head and gave a final goodbye.
"Sorry. Take care. And thank you for fixing my shoulder."
I wasn't sure if the child understood, but I thanked them anyway. The child beamed brightly at my words.
I dragged my reluctant feet to follow behind the Crown Prince.
But the Elf Child we'd planned to leave behind started toddling after me.
No matter how fast I walked, they stuck close and wouldn't fall behind.
Even when I told them not to follow, they just tilted their head as if not understanding.
"......"
The Crown Prince raked a hand through his hair in annoyance.
In the end, we gave up on shaking the child off. I played hand games with the child while following the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince walked three or four steps ahead, so I could only see his back and had no idea what expression he wore.
The Elf Child was truly adorable.
They felt like the epitome of purity, never once tainted by the ways of the world.
The Elf Child neither spoke nor seemed shy—they simply stayed silent.
Even when laughing, they covered their mouth and giggled quietly.
It would be nice to have a little sister like this. As I walked lost in such thoughts, the Crown Prince suddenly stopped.
He called me in a suddenly serious voice.
"Serabi, come here."
There was no way I'd rush over to the Crown Prince at his words.
As I stood blankly, he furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.
I thought I'd get an earful, but he simply turned his head and stared back into the forest.
I followed his gaze into the woods. Gradually, from the previously empty forest, the shape of a beast-like figure emerged.
It was a heterorace.
The heterorace growled threateningly at us, poised to pounce at any moment.
The one charging at the Crown Prince up front suddenly halted.
Blue energy rippled around the Crown Prince's entire body. It seemed the heterorace had realized he wasn't ordinary.
The heterorace abruptly turned its head and glared at us instead. It had apparently changed targets to us.
From the heterorace's perspective, we probably looked far weaker than the Crown Prince.
Realizing this, I hugged the Elf Child protectively to my chest.
But the heterorace staring our way suddenly wore a fearful expression upon seeing something.
After gazing at us with terrified eyes, the heterorace suddenly turned tail and fled.
Momentarily confused about what had happened, I stood dazed—then the child in my arms suddenly shoved me away.
"Huh?"
As I nearly fell, the Crown Prince caught me from behind and said,
"As expected, not just any elf."
"......"
The child glared at the Crown Prince with a wronged expression before clicking their tongue softly.
The air around the chick-like child suddenly turned icy cold.
Having only seen their pure smiles and wide-eyed curiosity until now, the gap was huge. I was considerably flustered by the change.
After glaring at the Crown Prince for a while, the child let out a small sigh and spoke in a deflated voice.
"Busted."
The child's first words had an unexpectedly husky tone.
I'd thought they couldn't speak since they'd stayed so quiet without even a laugh...
Once the Elf Child started talking, they bombarded the Crown Prince with questions nonstop.
Pointing at the Crown Prince, the Elf Child said,
"I've been wondering since earlier, but what are you? You look human, but that magic power of yours feels really unpleasant. Are you a dragon in Polymorph? There can't be a dragon I don't know about."
The Crown Prince gave no response to the Elf Child's endless questions.
Instead of answering the elf, he asked me, who stood dazed,
"You okay?"
He asked me indifferently, but I stood without replying.
Finally snapping out of it, I swatted away the Crown Prince's hand supporting me and yelled at the child.
"Why'd you stay quiet this whole time?!"
"The Village Chief told me not to talk to humans."
The Elf Child answered my question nonchalantly.
So that's why they just followed silently without speaking?
I'd had no idea and thought they were just an innocent child.
"I-I had no clue and played airplane with you, gave you my hair to play with... Must've been fun, huh?"
"Yeah, it was really fun!"
Despite my sharp tone, the Elf Child smiled innocently without a hint of guilt. They seemed genuinely delighted.
I wasn't even asking if it was fun...
"And stop treating me like a kid—I'm 229 this year!"
Another shock that left my mind blank.
I pointed at the Elf Child in stunned disbelief, alternating glances between them and the Crown Prince, but he looked like he'd known all along.
He grimaced and let out a sigh-like mutter.
"I knew it from when you smiled that creepy smile in Serabi's arms."
"What are you talking about? I never smiled creepily! Serabi, don't misunderstand. Okay?"
The Elf Child looked up at me with innocent eyes while saying that.
The pheromones wafting from them were so strong that, had I been clueless, I'd have wanted to pat their head and say, 'Yes, you're right about everything.'
But the Elf Child's next words were so out-of-left-field that they snapped my mind back to reality.
"That guy's just jealous between you and me."
"Huh?"
As I tilted my head in confusion, the Elf Child smirked slyly, unbecoming of their pure appearance.
"I can sometimes hear people's hearts. Actually, that guy's...!"
As the Elf Child started to say something, the Crown Prince rushed over with a panicked face and grabbed the back of their neck.
Clamping the Elf Child's mouth shut, the Crown Prince's face flushed red, as if hit right where it hurt.
Probably from anger.
"W-what are you looking at? You don't believe that nonsense, do you? Don't get your hopes up."
Who said anything about hopes...
I knew better than anyone that the Crown Prince couldn't like me.
The Elf Child had just made a mischievous lie to fluster him, no doubt.
"Anyway, why'd you follow us? You must have some ulterior motive."
Shaking off the Crown Prince's hand in disgust, the Elf Child replied to my question.
"You guys are here to subjugate heteroraces, right? My subordinate told me yesterday. Said a bunch of black humans invaded the forest."
The black humans must mean Distian's soldiers. I nodded.
By the way, subordinate? I eyed the Elf Child questioningly.
"Strictly speaking, the recent heterorace rampage is my fault, so I have responsibility too. They're officially my subordinates by lineage, but they don't listen to me. Because my power's weak. Since I haven't had my coming-of-age ceremony yet."
In short, the Elf Child was the leader of the heteroraces, but too weak for them to obey, causing them to rampage—even kidnapping villagers.
Mulling it over internally, my thoughts slipped out unbidden.
"I see. Still, for such a little girl to be the cause of the heteroraces going wild..."
The Elf Child yelled at me indignantly, as if asking what nonsense that was.
"Elves before their coming-of-age are genderless!"
"What?"
According to the Elf Child, elves determine their gender upon their coming-of-age ceremony.
Having heard the explanation, I scrutinized the Elf Child once more.
They were pretty-faced, but with a husky voice and subtly thick neck, they did have boyish traits on second look.
"Sorry. My mistake."
"Don't do that to other elves."
"......"
