“Hurts. Don’t hurt. Don’t hurt.”
After climbing onto Grandfather the family head’s shoulder, I gently patted his chest and blew on it.
I saw the tightly pressed line of his lips gradually loosen.
“Ah, did you see the blood on my collar?”
“You mustn’t hurt. If the family head hurts…… Driblyane hurts.”
“What a thoughtful little one. This is not my blood, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Of course it couldn’t have been the family head’s blood. But words had a way of meaning different things depending on how you said them.
And just then, one idiot who had absolutely no idea when to stay quiet butted in, his entire face plastered with spite.
“Where do you think you’re trying to pull something like that? Family head! That thing is savage! Look at what she did to me!”
The family head’s expression, which had been thawing like frozen earth melting beneath the spring sunlight, froze again in an instant.
This time, his black eyes turned toward Gerd with unmistakable anger.
Gerd flinched and took a step back.
“I will not speak at length. You will not leave the heir’s residence until you repent for your wrongdoing.”
“What? I told you I was injured! Can’t you see? Once the King, my father, learns that I’ve been hurt, he won’t just sit back and—!”
“If you dare disregard this order, know that I will strip you of your qualifications as heir by my authority and send you back to that country you love so much.”
Waaah, he’s finished!
How could someone be so spectacularly stupid in so many different ways?
‘How dare he bring up the king and argue with Grandfather, the family head right to his face!’
Gerd, go back to your own house!
“Then I will take the child who must have been frightened with me.”
“Yes. It would be better to postpone Laphiren’s lessons, which were supposed to begin today, until tomorrow.”
“Yes, Father. Then I shall take my leave.”
Kiraxus patted my back and was about to use teleportation magic.
I hurriedly waved my paw at Grandfather, the family head.
“Bye-bye, Family Head.”
The next moment, my vision blurred, and the surroundings changed.
It was my bedroom.
***
After sitting me down on the bed, Kiraxus ordered everyone not to enter.
Then he knelt down on one knee in front of me and carefully examined my tail.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“It aches a little. But I’m okay. Because Gerd got punished.”
“Yes, he was punished. Though he should have received a much greater punishment.”
Kiraxus muttered quietly, then ground his teeth.
‘Why is he…… treating me so kindly when it doesn’t suit him at all?’
Was it because I was a little more useful than he had expected?
‘But if that were the case, he hasn’t come to see me in awfully long time.’
Kiraxus’s reaction was a little embarrassing, and nice in its own way, but more than anything, it felt awkward.
He was now the young family head and would eventually become the nineteenth family head, so technically, he was indeed my father-in-law……
But that didn’t make him my father.
‘Why is he worrying about me so much?’
I pressed my soft front paw against the forehead of that villain.
“I’m weally okay. We don’t have to get married!”
“……John, who failed to properly protect you, will be disciplined and placed under restriction.”
“No, no! Don’t! John didn’t do anyfing wrong.”
“It is his fault for failing to properly protect the future lady of the house. What else would be his fault?”
“Th-That…… no.”
Argh, this is so frustrating!
I smacked Pompom, which was still hovering around me, twice.
“Powew! Can’t beat it!”
—How could John, who is nothing more than an escort knight, genuinely oppose the heir of Driblyane?
“He already took out his sword!”
—Just drawing his sword was honestly enough to warrant severe punishment!
“He didn’t fail to pwotect me. He didn’t have enough authowity.”
—John didn’t have the authority to take any further action. So you can’t blame John! You should have given him that authority in the first place!
Kiraxus stared intently at me as I huffed and puffed.
Then he slowly turned his head away and muttered, “Even the way you shout indignantly is cute.”
No, is me being cute really the important thing right now?!
“I’m always cute! Now! John! Talk!”
—I’m always cute, okay? The important topic of conversation right now is John! Why aren’t you paying attention?!
Ah, that felt so much better.
With Pompom properly interpreting my words, it felt like the lump stuck in my chest had finally gone down a little.
“……You always got angry like that whenever I was about to do something unreasonable.”
……What kind of nonsense was that supposed to be?
When I shot him a sidelong glare because he kept saying strange things, Kiraxus stood up with a strangely relieved expression.
“Fine. I will not punish John.”
“Mm-hm.”
“Laphiren was the first to find you earlier because he was supposed to take charge of your basic lessons starting today.”
“Lessons for a daughter-in-law?”
“Yes. Laphiren will teach you about Driblyane. Then, after assessing your abilities to an appropriate degree, I will find a tutor suited to your level and assign them to you.”
Oh, I can study!
An ordinary child would probably hate studying terribly, but I wasn’t an ordinary child.
‘I’ll study hard so I can keep my position as the daughter-in-law!’
Actually, everything a person could experience while alive was enjoyable.
I didn’t know what I would become if I died this time, but if I became a beastman again in my next life, what I learned in this life would be very helpful.
“Ah, and about your status.”
I flinched.
At the sudden mention of my “status,” my round ears twitched warily.
Kiraxus glanced at me before plopping down beside me.
It was a posture completely unbecoming of a noble, but even that somewhat unruly appearance suited Kiraxus.
“I’m working on it. There is someone who could become your adoptive mother, but the situation is a little complicated right now.”
“Adop……tive mother?”
A family?
Who would accept someone like me?
No, this wasn’t self-deprecation. It was an entirely objective fact.
I was an albino, no one knew where I had come from, and I couldn’t even transform into human form.
Of course, by now I also had the false reputation of being a saint……
“I know someone I can trust, but she is currently secluded in the Yanterosa Mountains, so I will have to go there myself to find her.”
“Yanterosa……?”
No way. That Yanterosa?!
I definitely remembered an episode in the original where Rahin encountered an avalanche.
I think an event had occurred where she ended up trapped in a mountain lodge with one of the male leads, unable to go anywhere.
According to legend, the entire harsh range of the Yanterosa Mountains had formed when the body of a dragon solidified……
That was why it was impossible to look into the mountains from outside using magic, and because a natural mana barrier had formed there, magical attacks were also difficult.
If someone needed to hide, it was the perfect place.
“Don’t worry too much and just wait.”
Perhaps because he thought I was worried, Kiraxus pressed down on my head and gently stroked it.
The look on his face was……
For a moment, it was so benevolent that I simply couldn’t understand it.
“Why are you so nice to me?”
Maybe that was why the question I had repeatedly pushed down because I didn’t want to stir things up finally burst out.
“You even lied and called me a saint…… You take my side, and you give me Pompom.”
When I counted all the things Kiraxus had done for me, there were more than I had expected.
The problem was, there was no reason for him to treat me that way.
I had let it slide until now, but look at what had just happened.
Anyone could see that Kiraxus had taken my side.
And now he was even going to give a proper status to someone who had been a spy?
Why?
“I naturally treasure my collectibles.”
“……I’m not a collec-twible.”
“I never wanted to get married, but I always did want a daughter.”
“……I’m not a daughter either. I’m your daughter-in-law…….”
Kindness without a price was frightening.
Because I was afraid it might gradually consume me.
If I received something after paying the price for it, I would feel at ease.
But I had nothing to give him.
At most, I could prevent the downfall of Driblyane, something that no one else knew would happen.
‘But even if Driblyane disappears, Kiraxus has the Magic Tower.’
So every time I received something from him, it felt as though I was only accumulating more and more debt.
“So you’re wondering why I haven’t exposed your true identity and thrown you out of here immediately.”
Was it strange that Kiraxus’s expression looked somewhat pained?
But he soon narrowed his eyes, hiding his expression, and gently stroked my head.
“You are the last proof that I still possess humanity.”
“Hmm……?”
I thought he was finally going to give me a proper answer.
But his answer was so absurd that I became even more bewildered.
I knew that because the original story was told from the perspective of the Holy Empire, the “villains” described in the original might not necessarily have been true villains……
Even so, the Kiraxus I was seeing now was, how should I put it?
He was genuinely warm.
It felt as though he was treating me like a daughter he had given birth to in his heart.
‘But there wasn’t even anything between us that could have led to something like that.’
We had only met a week ago.
“For generations, the masters of the Magic Tower have lost their humanity in the face of overwhelming power.”
“…….”
“Whenever I look at you, I realize that there is still a human heart within me.”
Uh…… so……
“A villain’s conscience guardian……? A human conscience talisman……?”
Oops.
The words I had meant to keep in my head slipped out.
When I covered my mouth and cautiously looked at him, he chuckled.
“Let’s call it that, then.”
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