Before entering the bedroom, I waited in the small sitting room attached to it and tugged lightly at the pink ribbon around my neck. Since I was going to meet the Duchess for the first time, my nanny had tied it for me, saying I needed to make a good impression.
“You may come in now.”
My nanny stood up, looking extremely tense. There was caution in every one of her steps, which made me act the same way.
‘Is she really scary?’
I didn’t know what the Duchess was actually like, but my nanny probably did.
‘Could it be…… that she called me here to scold me for biting Gerd?’
Or was it because I should have acted friendlier and said I wanted to greet her first, but hadn’t?!
While I anxiously watched her reactions, a calmer voice than I expected came from inside.
“So you are the child Kiraxus brought here.”
“A-ah, hewwo.”
The moment I bowed in greeting and raised my head, I was overwhelmed by two things.
‘She looks like she’ll crumble into dust at any moment…… so fragile.’
So this was what a person who had completely exhausted all their vitality looked like.
Dry lips that seemed to struggle even to utter a single word. Skin with no liveliness at all because she hadn’t bothered to adorn herself. And…… eyes that had already died.
Lady Inna was alive, but it was as if she was merely breathing, not truly living at all.
‘And yet.’
The dignity and grace she had cultivated throughout her lifetime remained exactly as they were. If anything, they seemed to radiate from her with enough force to crush the person facing her.
I couldn’t easily say anything as I looked at the elderly lady sitting upright on the bed.
“I wanted to call you earlier because I was curious what kind of child you were…… but you were unconscious until yesterday, so I couldn’t very well call you.”
“Are you still sick……?”
“Yes, you could say that. Still, I’m much better today. Come closer. Let us have a little chat.”
Even after seeing my fur and eye color, there wasn’t the slightest hint of dislike in her refined manner of speaking. Until now, I hadn’t cared whether anyone ignored or hated me, but strangely, I felt like I might be a little hurt if this woman pushed me away.
“Evangeline. Are you taking care of this child?”
“……Yes, my lady.”
“Even when you were taking care of our Ari, you never could have imagined that such a future awaited us……”
At the faintly sorrowful voice, my nanny’s shoulders trembled.
I quietly listened to their conversation, wiggling my toes and perking up my round ears. I wanted to comfort her somehow, but there was nothing I could do.
‘So Nanny used to be Lady Ariadne’s nanny.’
I could only remember that one new fact.
“Child. There is a reason the head of the family assigned Evangeline to you.”
“A reason……?”
“Do you know about my daughter?”
It was the first time I had ever felt as though someone’s voice had sunk deeper and deeper beneath the surface of the water.
There was no change in her expression, but the moment she brought up her daughter, Lady Inanna’s face quickly turned pale…… and even the pheromones emanating from her became noticeably weaker.
“Yes, I-I heard…….”
I answered carefully.
“You are a perceptive child. Evangeline is the wet nurse who personally raised my daughter. When that radiant child ascended to the position of young head, of course Evangeline was by her side as well.”
“…….”
“The head of the family has given you…… the faction of close associates that Ariadne once had.”
When those words, filled with unbearable sorrow, came to an end, my round ears were flicking rapidly.
I had already noticed that there were several different factions within the enormous Driblyane family. They simply hadn’t revealed themselves yet because Head Immanuel was still in good health.
It seemed all the elders had quite a lot of schemes going on, each of them preparing to line their own pockets.
So I could interpret Grandfather, the head of the family, assigning Ariadne’s close associates to me as a declaration of his intent to solidify my power.
“Thank you.”
“You are a cautious child. Clever, yet wise as well. Such a nature is not easily found.”
As though she knew that I had understood everything, the corner of Lady Inna’s mouth trembled. She seemed to be trying to smile.
“My lady, the tea is ready.”
Just then, the head maid appeared carrying tea and cookies on a silver tray.
They were chocolate chip cookies with such a rich buttery aroma that they were enough to soothe the slight disappointment I had felt after giving Laphiren my caramel.
“Given your appearance, it must be inconvenient for you. Do you not know how to sense Iculis?”
I wanted to answer, but my cheeks were already stuffed full of cookies, so I hurriedly nodded instead.
“Iculis is spread throughout the entire world. If you learn how to gather the Iculis in the air, you will be able to take human form. It will be twice as difficult for you as it is for others, but it is not impossible.”
“Reawy……?” (Really?)
“Yes. Beastkin normally senses Iculis instinctively…… but for albinos, it is inherently difficult.”
That was why the original story had described being born an albino as practically a punishment.
I swallowed my cookie and imagined myself in human form. I had no basis for it, but I felt like I might be kind of cute.
“I suppose I will have to find a teacher who can teach you how to sense Iculis. Although we originally began as animals, you cannot remain that way forever. Usually, children take human form around the age of four or five…….”
Gasp. If that really happened, it would be more than perfect. Laphiren had told me earlier to come up with schemes, but as a white marten with a soft pink belly, there wasn’t much I could do.
And I was really curious how old I actually was, too.
“But…… Big lady. If I still can’t feel Iculis…… I can’t become human?”
“Big lady?”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to call her.
Big lady? Duchess? Lady Inna?
Or perhaps…… something a little more affectionate, like Grandma?
I couldn’t know for sure, so I chose the safest title I could think of and tried it out. But when she reacted with confusion, my shoulders instinctively shrank.
Should I have been more formal after all?
“Ah, you don’t need to call me that. Just call me Lady Inna.”
A moment later, the Duchess repeated herself as though she had slowly come to a realization.
“That would be better for Kiraxus.”
There was concern for her son woven into her quiet murmur.
“If I become close with Lady Inna, will that help Kitti…… I mean, the young head?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll come every day and show you lots and lots of fun things!”
If this were a company, Lady Inna would be my direct superior. I had so much I didn’t know, so I needed to learn from her.
For that, Lady Inna needed to regain her strength quickly……
‘I don’t know how painful it is to lose a child before yourself.’
I understood loyalty, but I had never learned about the bond between family members.
I knew about it because I’d read about it in books, seen it in movies, and heard other people talk about it. So I understood familial affection as information stored in my head, but I didn’t know what it actually tasted like, what it felt like, or what kind of law made it so deeply binding.
‘So this is how painful it is to lose a beloved child.’
I hadn’t even exchanged more than a few words with her, yet I already looked at the Duchess, who was breathing faintly, with pity.
The steam rising from the warm teacup was gradually cooling, yet the Duchess hadn’t even touched it. She looked almost like someone desperately trying to drive away the last of the life remaining in her body.
Perhaps it was like…… she couldn’t bring herself to die by her own hand because it would hurt those she left behind, but wanted someone to hurry up and take the breath from her dried-up body.
It felt as though everyone sitting here already sensed the Duchess’s death approaching, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Um…… can I look around the bedroom?”
It hurt too much in my chest to remain seated any longer, so I raised my hand brightly and smiled as cheerfully as I could.
“There are lots of shiny things over there!”
“Yes, you must be bored sitting there. Go have a look. You may look around.”
“Thank youuu!”
I bowed energetically and scampered off, looking this way and that as I explored the room.
The Duchess’s bedroom was magnificent, so there was plenty to enjoy looking at…… huh?
‘W-why is this here?’
And then, in the next moment. I spotted a certain piece of furniture and was so shocked that it felt as though my breath stopped.
A forgotten memory suddenly burst open in my mind. It was a memory from when I had been that damn tree.
“The blueberry tree has bloomed such pretty flowers, Mother.”
It was a leisurely, arrogant voice unique to someone who had been a ruler from birth. The woman smiled broadly at her mother, as if telling her not to worry.
“I will be back. Mother. Please stay well.”
“Don’t forget that this is the final war. The last one. And when you return, take pity on your old mother and go for walks with me often.”
“I will. I promise, my beloved Mother.”
Life as a tree was boring. There was nothing I could do except listen.
I soon grew bored, and after I had completely assimilated with the tree, there was nothing left for me to feel except the sap slowly flowing through my body and the aphids.
‘But…… there was one terrible cry that I remembered especially clearly.’
That elderly woman who always came over to wipe my leaves and water me had cried that day as though she were vomiting up her very lungs.
Crash!
She smashed every flowerpot within reach, and her usually neat hair had come completely undone.
Fortunately, she collapsed before she could lay a hand on me, but the grief she emitted was so overwhelming that it was enough to turn my once-vibrant leaves yellow.
“My baby! My baby, my proud daughter……! Take me with you. You should have taken me with you!!!”
Not long after that, I withered and died. Plants were sensitive to pheromones, and uncontrolled pheromones were being released from every direction, making it impossible for me to survive any longer.
‘That was what happened.’
The memory that had naturally been forgotten after possessing various bodies over and over again struck me the moment I saw the magnificent dressing table.
‘A solid-gold leopard ornament.’
I spun around, and saw an elegant green couch and collections of bluish porcelain.
‘No wonder I couldn’t recognize it right away…….’
There were no more family portraits in this room. There were no flowerpots, either. The place that had once been filled with the refreshing air given off by plants was now shrouded only in the shadow of death.
The change hurt my heart so much.
‘And it’s strange, too. How…… did I return to the place where I first possessed a body?’
How could this happen?
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