“Wahahaha! I lost. I really lost. You little cutie!”
“Uwah!”
After a brief silence, the head of the family’s booming laughter echoed throughout the room.
With that, the meeting room once again returned to its warm atmosphere.
“Indeed. There’s nothing better than Driblyane. What a wise answer! You’re better than me!”
The head of the family ruffled my fur all over and tickled my belly. Flipped onto my back, I was practically beside myself.
I don’t like it! I feel like I shouldn’t like it! But I do!
Danger! This is dangerous!
My rationality as a human nearly flew out the window.
Panting for breath, I hugged my precious pink belly tightly.
Perhaps realizing that I was telling him not to touch me anymore, the head of the family withdrew his hand with a little clicking sound of his tongue.
“You’ll have your own private bedroom starting today. Here, on the second floor of the main building. You may choose whichever room you like.”
“!”
“You’re still young, so I’ll also assign you a maid and a nanny. Let’s see… How old is the baby?”
“I-I don’t know.”
I shook my head from side to side in response to the head of the family’s question. I wouldn’t know until I tried humanization.
I couldn’t trust the documents I must have submitted when I entered as a maid, either. After all, something as simple as age could easily be falsified.
“Hmm. At most, ten years old. Or perhaps even younger.”
It was a shame. If only I could try humanization right away, I could find out.
Apparently, beastkin normally sensed Iculus naturally and used it for humanization, but no matter how hard I strained, I couldn’t sense it at all.
“I’d like to see what you look like after humanization. I’ll find a way.”
His dark eyes, which had begun to fill with warmth, turned toward me.
In that gaze, I could feel a sense of belonging that had only just begun to take root.
“As long as you support Driblyane, Driblyane will protect you. Never forget that.”
“Yes!”
The head of the family smiled warmly and held out his hand.
It seemed like he wanted me to take it, so I tentatively held out my front paw. The head of the family made a playful expression and shook my paw with his finger.
“Well, then. Welcome to Driblyane, little one.”
“……!”
My heart felt warm.
For some reason, my chest grew tight with emotion, and I gently wiped away the tears that had welled up in my eyes.
Now was probably the time for me to leave.
But… it’s not over yet.
I scurried across the table and lightly placed one of my hind paws on a certain area of the map.
“What else is there?”
The retainers turned toward me and asked kindly.
I shyly nodded.
Their eyes sparkled as they looked at me, as though they were expecting another piece of information that would make them a fortune or stick it to the Imperial Family.
Unfortunately, this time, it wasn’t the kind of information that would turn a small investment into a fortune.
But it was information far more valuable than a mere handful of money.
For some people, it would be information they would gladly exchange for an astronomical sum of wealth.
Military intelligence.
“A surprise attack will happen here soon.”
In an instant, silence fell over the room.
“Then here, here, and here.”
Why did I know all this in such detail?
Because there were occasional scenes in the original where the Holy Empire’s knights who were obsessed with Rahine went on and on about it.
That was why I remembered.
All I had to do was tell them the part I remembered—that the Holy Empire had launched a cowardly surprise attack and won a major victory.
Laphiren placed pins on the areas I had pointed out.
The head of the family’s expression was unusual, so I watched him carefully before slowly stepping away from the map.
Does he not believe me?
“Laphiren.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Inform them of this immediately. Make sure the message cannot be intercepted.”
“I shall obey.”
Laphiren didn’t ask a single follow-up question and immediately left the meeting room.
One of the retainers watching him tilted his head and asked,
“Pardon? My lord, you believe her? Even so… for a child to know about the front lines is a little…”
“She knows that spring is coming, too. If this is accurate information, it will save the lives of our soldiers. And even if it turns out to be false, it could still cause confusion among those Holy Empire bastards.”
“Ah…!”
“They were so arrogant when they had the Saintess on their side. This child may bring great fortune to us.”
“……”
“Perhaps… yes. Perhaps, just as Kiraxus said, she really is the Saintess of the Magical Empire. I don’t know where he found her, though.”
Oh!
I could almost see another layer of trust and curiosity settling into the head of the family’s eyes!
Still, there were no results yet, so I simply gave him a polite, bashful smile.
“Well, then. Go and choose your bedroom.”
“Yes!”
I hoped that many people would survive because of the information I had given them.
With that wish in my heart, I hopped back into my basket.
But… the next time the head of the family calls me, what kind of information should I sell him?
***
I chose a large, spacious room with plenty of sunlight as my bedroom.
There were several other rooms that looked similar, but I especially wanted this one because I loved the wallpaper. It was the same color as custard pudding.
And the bed in this room was a little bigger than the ones in the other rooms!
It was so enormous that if I started rolling from one end of it in my marten body, I could probably roll dozens of times before reaching the other side!
“Yum.”
Happy times seemed to pass so leisurely.
It was afternoon snack time now.
It was such a precious moment that I spent the entire day looking forward to it.
“D-dahkoo…”
“Sweet…”
Nina fed me chocolate pudding with a tiny silver spoon.
I took one bite after another, and every time the rich chocolate touched my tongue, my tail tingled.
It was so sweet that it felt like my tongue was melting. I was so overwhelmed the first time I ate it that even the tip of my tail trembled!
“Could I feed her just one bite…?”
“Nina, please give in just this once.”
“Damn it… There must be something rigged about the lottery! How is Nina in charge of snacks again today?”
The three people gathered around me were, in order, a maid, a nanny, and a guard knight.
Linda, who had become my personal maid, was a leopard cat beastkin and had just turned twenty. She had a lively personality, and simply watching her gave me energy.
Apparently, she was responsible for bathing me and dressing me.
Not that I ever actually wear clothes.
My nanny was a caracal beastkin in her fifties named Evangeline. She was plump and round, and her personality was just as warm and gentle.
She was responsible for my meals and snacks, as well as my overall care.
Lastly, there was John, my guard knight…
He was a bear beastkin.
A grizzly bear, to be exact.
He was absolutely enormous. The first time I saw him, I thought he was some kind of legendary monster.
“Can’t you see that the little lady is eating? All of you, kindly move your adorable asses somewhere far away.”
Oh, it seemed Nina had just told them to piss off.
Whatever kind of magic Kiraxus had used, it was still working.
So whenever Nina swore, I nearly died laughing.
Come to think of it, Kiraxus said he had inherited the position of heir to the family. He must be pretty busy.
Leaning against a soft feather cushion, I glanced at the glowing mass of light floating in the air.
That fist-sized luminous object was actually a golem.
A communication golem, probably handmade by Kiraxus.
The day I chose this bedroom, Kiraxus didn’t appear until nighttime.
“I found this lying around.”
And then he suddenly threw it at me.
“I made it because I thought you might want to say good morning and good night to me.”
What is with that confidence…?
I was bewildered, but he looked extremely proud of himself.
And shortly afterward, I learned exactly what the golem was for.
“If you tap its head twice, the baby-language translator will activate. Just speak normally, and this thing will translate for you.”
“Wow…!”
I’d been worried about having to say long things, but how did he know that, too…?!
I was still bewildered, but I gave the golem, which was now mine, a name.
“Pompom.”
At least, the fact that he gave me this seems to mean that he’s willing to forget my past as a spy and let me live. That’s a relief.
Besides, Pompom had another use.
A means of self-defense.
The daughter-in-law of Driblyane was a precious person, after all.
If I ever got kidnapped, I’d scream into that thing at the top of my lungs!
Then Kiraxus would come running, if only because I was being so noisy.
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