CH 117

It was that evening that Arsene, Leona, and Cain’s shapeshift were released.

“Ah, finally!”

Leona shook her head. Her messy orange hair fluttered.

“Leona, are you okay?”

“E, eung. But I have very little memory of when I shapeshift.” 

Leona tilted her head and said. Beside her, Chloe nodded her head.

“Originally, there was a case like that when in your first shapeshifting. Are you okay, Young Master?” 

“Eung, I’m fine too.”

Arsene nodded. However.

‘Huh?’

Arsene seems to be slightly avoiding my gaze. Is it a mistake? 

“Don’t you remember it too, Young Master?”

“I… Eung, I’m not….” 

Arsene blurted out at the end of his speech.

“Really? Don’t you remember when you and Leon broke down everything?”

“…I don’t.” 

Arsene firmly shook his head. “It’s possible,” I thought, nodding my head. 

Arsene’s face looked a little red, but I quickly forgot about it when Mr. Hern came in.

Mr. Hern sat Leona, Cain, and Arsene side by side.

And,

“All three of you are healthy. But don’t be surprised, as there are times when you suddenly change into your beast form after your first shapeshift. Now you can get some rest.”

At Mr. Hern’s words, the children nodded their heads at the same time.

However, 

“Lady, please come here for a moment.”

Mr. Hern said a moment ago, pointing over the bed where the children were sitting and receiving medical treatment.

“Eung? But I’m not sick?” 

I widened my eyes.

However, since it was Hern’s words, I quietly obeyed.

Even though I didn’t feel any pain, Mr. Hern made me sit on the bed and examine every part of my body.

I looked into Mr. Hern’s eyes and asked carefully.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“No, I’m just looking around for a moment because I’m concerned.”

Mr. Hern’s expression when he said that was quite serious.

‘Uhm…’

I received medical treatment as instructed by Mr. Hern.

He said the treatment was over and left the room without saying anything.

‘Why are you like that?’

But I didn’t think for a long time. I thought that there must have been a reason for everything.

Shortly after Mr. Hern left, Kendrick came in.

“Father!”

Kendrick smiled and walked in, staring blankly at Arsene, who was standing quietly by the bed.

“Arsene.”

And after hesitating for a moment, he called Arsene’s name quietly.

Kendrick’s affectionate gaze was seen gently examining Arsene’s face.

‘Since it’s the first shapeshift.’

It was only natural that Kendrick looked at Arsene so fondly.

Moreover, Arsene has been told over and over that he won’t be able to shapeshift. 

After looking at Arsene for a while, Kendrick also looked at me.

“You worked hard, Linsy.”

As he stroked my hair, Arsene, who was standing next to me, looked up at Kendrick. However, unlike Kendrick, who looked at his son affectionately, Arsene looked at his father with a suspicious look.

‘Eung?’

What’s wrong with him? 

He wasn’t the kind of kid who usually looked at his dad with soft eyes, but—.

‘Today is a bit… Doesn’t it seem hostile?’

But there was no reason for Arsene to look at Kendrick hostilely.

I looked at Arsene and Kendrick alternately with a curious look.

Kendrick also seemed to notice that Arsene’s gaze was a little different than usual.

“Ha, Arsene. All right, all right. It’s really the first shapeshift.”

Kendrick spoke playfully, letting go of the hand that had been stroking my hair and sweeping Arsene’s head.

And he said pleasantly.

“Since the first shapeshift was successful, we will have a party soon.”

“Party?”

Arsene and I weren’t the first to blink at Kendrick’s words.

It was Leona.

Kendrick, noticing Leona’s sudden interest in the words “party,” said as if he couldn’t stop her. 

“You should go to your house soon, Leon.”

“But, you say you’re having a party, Uncle! Party, I want to party!”

“Isn’t there a party at Fernando?”

“No, but… there is no Linsy and Arsene.”

Leona said sadly.

In fact, Leona and Cain had invited us to Fernando and Hezeth several times, but—.

Kendrick told Arsene and me not to go to another clan’s territory without a guardian because it was dangerous. 

“I’m sorry, Linsy.”

Kendrick said the same thing every time we went with Leona’s invitation in hand.

“How about inviting Leon to Yeckhart instead? Since Hector is there, riding and playing with Hector would be nice.” 

Kendrick tried to appease us.

I understand Kendrick.

‘It’s because of Raniero…’

Since my father, Arthur Raniero, had fallen, he hadn’t openly targeted me.

However, since Raniero is basically a closed family,

There was no sound of Arthur Raniero’s current condition, and he said he couldn’t even know what kind of movement Raniero was making.

That’s the situation.

‘You want to be more careful.’

It would be a big deal if they kidnapped me.

Both Leona’s cheeks swelled up in the wind.

Kendrick asked Cain, pretending not to see such Leona.

“Cain, the Hezeth family is coming to pick you up.”

“…It’s too late.” 

Cain muttered and hid behind me.

However.

“Hey, don’t grab her.”

As Cain squeezed the hem of my clothes, Arsene spoke sharply. 

Cain was taken aback for a moment, but soon he let go of my clothes and stood upright.

“Arsene, what’s wrong?” 

I told Arsene.

After the successful first shapeshifting, he responded sharply to all kinds of things.

Even he showed a sensitive side to Kendrick, so there was nothing more to say.  

Should I say that I’m glad he didn’t say anything mean to me? 

Arsene quickly became obedient and calm when I pressed his hand.

Cain looked at the figure and dropped his head with a tearful face.

It seemed kind of sad that he couldn’t be with his family when he did his first shapeshift. 

“There was something going on with the Hezeth family, so it couldn’t be helped. You must be sad, but I hope you understand, Cain. Instead, they’re coming to pick you up as quickly as possible.”

“…Yes.” 

Cain bit his lips and held his head back as if he were holding back his tears.

As I listened to the story, I looked up and asked Kendrick.

“Did something happen to the Hezeth family?” 

“Yeah, I don’t know exactly. It’s just that something happened right after Creighton went back.”

After Kendrick explained lightly, he gave Cain a hug.

“So don’t get too upset. Your father would have wanted to come pick you up too.”

Cain nodded. Then Leona popped in.

“So when are you having the party? It’s time for the festival to take place—Ah, the festival won’t be held.”

At that moment, a small explosion sounded from Leona’s body.

Pong—! 

Then Leona’s ears and tail appeared. The orange lion’s ears and tail drooped.

Talking about the festival seemed disappointing.

‘Well.’

In the past two years, the festival has not been held even once.

Because of the Giles flower, there was a lot of tension in the beast society.

‘I heard that the Pope’s condition has worsened.’

In addition, Arthur Raniero, the head of the bird clan, has also fallen.

The festival was canceled for the entire year because it was considered unreasonable to proceed with the festival according to schedule.

Leona tried to match the dress to go to the festival every time but was disappointed to hear that the festival wouldn’t be held twice.

‘They said it was incurable because it was a chronic disease caused by aging…’

At that time, I remembered the image of the Pope I saw at a festival I went to when I was seven years old.

The Pope’s appearance was senile and looked somewhat unnatural to be sick.

But I didn’t think long and shook my head.

‘I must have seen it wrong.’

Since the Pope was really old, it would be normal to be old and sick, as everyone knows.

I got rid of thoughts of the Pope.

More than that.

At first glance, Raniero’s ability to heal seems like it could do anything. However, even with Raniero’s power, some things were still impossible. 

The first was to bring the dead back to life.

The second one is,

‘It’s to prevent aging.’

Diseases caused by aging can also be cured to some extent.

Just as I treated the elders of the wolf clan.

But anyone, like the Pope, who lives well beyond his life span, wasn’t easy to cure.

Few people knew the Pope’s age properly.

Everyone just says he’s lived so long that it’s hard to guess.

The Pope was a member of the turtle family.

‘I’ve heard last time that the shell started to crumble.’

It must have been a conversation between Kendrick and Lamont, or I had heard the conversation between the two while passing by.

That’s the situation.

‘To hold the fe festival again this year… wouldn’t it be hard?’

I glanced at Kendrick.

Kendrick narrowed his brows as if pondering for a moment and soon put his hand on Leona’s head and said.

“I don’t know. Maybe there will be a festival this year.”

“Really?”

“Yes, since the matter has been resolved, it seems that the head families are also reviewing it positively.”

The “matter” mentioned here must have been something related to Giles flowers. 

The eyes of Leona, Cain, and Arsene all sparkled at the same time.

But look at Kendrick, who’s saying things have worked out. 

‘That’s a relief. They must have handled the Giles flowers.’

Kendrick had been busy the past few days, worried that Giles’ flowers might have spread to the beastman clan.

“Did it work out?”

“Yes, for now.”

Kendrick smiled. I also smiled and nodded.

I didn’t even know that was the beginning.