CH 20

I had no talent or confidence in dancing, so I started moving my body with Askari with a more relaxed mind.

The beastmen around us shone like wild beasts hunting their prey.

‘Alice, Loen… Everyone said that the mistakes of a child would be cute.’

Is that the kind of gaze that will embrace a child’s mistakes as cute?

The eyes surrounding me were so blatant that I wondered if it was the Hyena Tribe, not the Myo Clan.

However, I finished the two dances safely without a single mistake. The beastmen who were expecting an interesting spectacle showed signs of disappointment in their hearts.

Conscious of the gazes of the beastmen, Askari, who forced a smile on his face, clenched his teeth.

“Hey. Why didn’t you step on my foot.”

“Ah, right. I’ll just step on it later.”

I, who had completely forgotten the deal with Askari because I was concentrating on dancing, burst into a smile.

“What is all this…”

Askari, who was about to say a bad word to me as usual, bit his tongue and turned around harshly.

‘Oh. What’s wrong?’

I looked around as I followed Askari, who was walking towards the podium where Licht was.

‘There are a lot of people my age this time.’

At the first banquet, I could only see a few tall figures like Licht.

At this banquet, beastmen of the same age as me and the princes stood out quite a bit. They were looking at me with curious eyes because I didn’t have ears on my head, clinging to the side of the beastmen who were supposed to be guardians.

‘So cute.’

The beastmen of the Myo Clan all boasted outstanding beauty. It was the same for children who were still growing up.

“Yernian.”

As I got up on the podium, Licht stared at me.

“I’m disappointed.”

Why is it that my seat is the only one next to Licht?

Unlike the seats of the princes that were a certain distance from the podium where Licht was, my seat was right next to Licht’s throne.

“Huh? Why.”

Exhausted quickly, I sat lightly on the chair and asked, stroking my sore leg with my hand.

“I thought you were going to dance poorly. Why are you dancing so hard?”

…You want to fight, now?

His cool body temperature reached through my trembling eyelids, unable to overcome my rising anger.

“So, did you like dancing with Ash?”

“Yesh. It wash good.” (Yes. It was good.)

“How much.”

Why are you so curious about that?

I, who got nervous after being thrown into the cage of beastmen, pouted my lips.

“Licht, by any chance, are you jealous?”

“…What?”

“Jealousy is a dangerous emotion that makes both people and beastmen ugly, Mir said that.”

To be more precise, it was a word added when Ryan, who betrayed Akamar, was explained.

Licht’s gaze slowly turned to the back of the throne.

“You taught her everything, Mir.”

“I’m flattered, Your Majesty.” Mir stretched out his chest and smiled proudly.

Well, Mir. I don’t think that’s a compliment.

My pupils trembled as I watched life passing through Licht’s eyes.

It was clear that he was seriously contemplating whether to kill Mir or not.

“Licht. I, that.”

I deliberately pointed to the dessert in front of me in order to divert his attention.

“What.”

“I want to eat thath.”

When I deliberately made a short-tongue sound and whined, Licht let out a gigantic laugh.

“Do you think I’ll do what you want?”

Although Licht said that, he flapped his hand at Mir.

After a while, he held the plump pudding that Mir had handed over to him and gave an arrogant chin to me.

“Say, aaa.”

“…I also have hands.”

“You asked me to feed you.”

Hey. When did I say that.

Licht was glaring at the spoon, and a faint shadow fell over his head.

“Yeni.”

Noha, who was sitting not far away, approached me with slow steps.

When I glanced at the place where the princes were, I couldn’t see where the Second Prince had gone, and Askari was surrounded by nobles.

“This tastes better than that.”

What Noha offered was a pudding topped with chocolate, unlike the milk pudding that Licht was holding.

“Thank you, Noha!”

I accepted the pudding that Noha gave me with a wide smile.

After last night, I felt a little closer mentally with Noha.

‘The reason Noha is good to me is because of the stars.’

Whatever. Much better than dealing with one-sided hostility,

Snap.

…Huh? Snap?

When I turned my head to the sudden harsh sound, I saw Licht holding a broken spoon in his hand.

“…Yeni?”

“Yeah. Yeni.”

“Since when did Yernian become Yeni?”

…What is this. Why is he like that?

Even though either Yernian or Yeni were all referring to me in the end, Licht looked very sarcastic.

On the other hand, Noha, who gently gave me the small spoon in my hand, responded in a calm voice.

“Since yesterday.”

“Who wants it?”

“Yeni wants it.”

“Yernian. Is it true?”

No, is this supposed to be this bloody in the first place…

Fortunately, Mir, who was watching, intervened before I even opened my mouth.

“Your Majesty. It’s now time for the gift giving ceremony.”

“…Let’s talk again later.”

Licht sometimes lost focus in odd parts like now.

‘No, I think it’s always odd.’

Feeling the sudden drop in sugar, I quickly scooped out the soft pudding and shoved it into my mouth.

Licht went down from the podium and hugged Askari with his own hands.

“Happy birthday, Ash.”

The immediate royal family of Persian can enjoy the honor of sitting on the throne at a banquet celebrating their first growth.

It was a special tradition handed down only to the royal family of the Myo clan.

When Askari, who had been brought to Licht, took the throne, nobles scattered throughout the banquet hall began to gather in an orderly manner near the podium.

‘Because it was said that the nobles gave gifts in the order of their birth.’

Alice promised to bring down the present I had prepared on time.

Thanks to this, I was able to relax and enjoy the dessert while reclining on the chair.

Noha, who didn’t return to his place, sat next to me and watched the gift-giving ceremony for Askari together.

“Happy birthday, Your Highness the Fourth Prince. This is a special dagger made from the horns of the Wild Boar Tribe…”

Nobles representing the nineteen families of the Myo World lined up presents at Askari’s feet, accompanied by servants with colorful boxes.

I whispered to Noha sitting next to me as I swallowed the pudding that was filled in my mouth with a happy expression.

“Did Noha do that too?”

“Yes. Although I was disappointed because it was all just trivial things.”

It seems that there was no gift related to the stars.

As I glanced at the increasing number of genuine products at Askari’s feet with curious eyes, I met Licht’s eyes.

Licht’s mouth twitched, making up a single word.

“Tri… vial…”

Yernian? He is really!

While I was raging inside, the procession dwindled and the end began to appear.

“Princess. I brought you the present.”

Alice approached me silently and handed me a gift box with a blue ribbon.

“Thanksh, Alice.” (Thanks, Alice.)

“Then I’ll see you later.”

With a wrinkle on one of her eyes, Alice disappeared, scrambled out of the banquet hall.

“Ash.”

The gift Licht had prepared was a bow specially made for Askari.

Askari, who had been dealing with the nobles with a grim expression throughout the presentation ceremony, brightened in an instant.

“I’ll use it well, Brother.”

“One day, you too will participate in a hunting contest. I look forward to it.”

Licht, who stroked Askari’s hair once, retreated.

Then the Second Prince, who had disappeared somewhere, appeared with a giant rabbit doll on his side.

“Happy birthday, Askari.”

Askari’s ears twitched the moment he found a rabbit with a cute ribbon.

‘Why is he reacting like that?’

It seemed similar to the reaction he had when he met the Second Prince, but it was subtly different.

Normally, he felt afraid because he was reminded of something through the Second Prince, but now…

‘He feels afraid of that rabbit doll itself.’

The distance between the Second Prince and Askari was getting narrow. A blue tendon stood out on the back of Askari’s hand, which was holding the armrest.

“I remember you especially loved dolls since you were a baby.”

The eyes of the Second Prince, who turned his head at an angle, turned to me, not to Askari.

The Second Prince, who had his eyes stained with incomprehensible malice fixed on me, spoke in a soft voice.

“Askari. My precious little brother.”

“…”

“It’s late, but congratulations on successfully completing your first growth.”

This is a gift from Brother.

My body reacted a little faster before the bunny doll that the Second Prince was holding with a friendly smile fell on Askari’s lap.

***

The nightmare became a reality and appeared before his eyes.

Askari looked at Ignis walking with the same doll as that day, forgetting to even breathe.

‘No.’

Askari’s chin was tightened.

He couldn’t go back to his original form in an unsightly way in front of the nobles of the Myo World.

As a noble member of the Persian royal family, he couldn’t disgrace the royal family.

‘If I did that, I might be hated forever.’

Then again, he might be left forgotten somewhere in the main palace. Until someone found him again.

Askari clasped his trembling fingertips and tried everything to contain the fear that was brimming with panic.

“Askari. My precious little brother.”

A terrifying bunny doll just came up to his nose.

Soon, that doll will be shredded, and the nightmare prepared by Ignis will come out.

He could feel his sharp claws tearing through the flesh of his palm, yet Askari couldn’t move.

Ignis whispered something into his ear. He couldn’t even hear it properly because of his tinnitus.

It was overwhelming just to suppress the desire to run away from this place.

That’s why he noticed the buzz around him a bit late.

“Just now, Her Highness the Princess…”

“What’s this, this rude…”

“It’s true that humans are less intelligently developed than beastmen…”

Askari quickly pushed up his eyelids, which had been closed instinctively.

“Huwaaa, sowry, Askari.” (Huwaa, sorry, Askari.)

A doll, covered in chocolate pudding with Yernian’s face that was about to burst into tears, caught his eyes.

“…Huh?”

Askari, unable to grasp the situation, simply stared at Yernian who was weeping blankly.

“I wanted to give you a present quickly, so I rushed and fell.”

At the end, thick tears began to drip from Yernian’s eyes, who was raising her hands covered in chocolate.

Then, Licht, who was watching the situation from afar with an unknown expression, hardened.

“Ignis.”

“…Yes, Brother.”

“Is this Yernian’s fault?”

Ignis, who was gazing at Yernian with eyes as if he were looking at a rare monster, had the corner of his lips flinched.

For the intent of Licht’s question was clear.

Ignis, who was holding back the laughter that was about to escape, smiled brightly.

“We can’t blame the young little sister for her mistake, Brother.”

The nobles who had been babbling about Yernian’s mistake shut their mouths all at once.

Askari just stared at all of this with a bewildered look.

Yernian crying, Licht who quietly hugged Yernian, and Noha who jumped up from his seat the moment Yernian fell.

As everything felt unreal, Yernian’s clear voice began to dispel the nightmares that were raging before his eyes.

[I don’t know why you’re afraid of the Second Prince, but you can’t escape by just running away.]

[I know it well because I keep running away too.]

[That’s why, stop and get out of there.]

At the last minute, Yernian’s clear voice made Askari jump up from his seat without realizing it.

And he put into practice his most impulsive act in his whole cat life.

“Such a thing…”

“…?”

“I don’t need anything like this, you keep it!”

Askari, who had lifted the terrible doll with mana, flew it towards the smiling Ignis face.

For a moment, a chilly silence passed through the hall.

Even Yernian, who was leaning on Licht’s shoulder and sniffling, widened her eyes.

Without realizing it, Askari looked back at Yernian like that, and power suddenly drained from his body.

“Askari!”

Finally, at the startled Yernian’s voice, Askari lost consciousness.