CH 133

“M, Mr. Hern!” 

I vigorously knocked on the door of Mr. Hern’s room.

There was a rustling sound from inside, and Mr. Hern opened the door.

“…Lady? What are you doing here?”

“Are you busy right now? I have a question for you.”

“All of a sudden?” 

Mr. Hern looked a little confused.

“Yes, can I come in?”

He told me to wait a moment, then looked around the room.

And he let me into the room, as if he judged that there was nothing dangerous.

“Then sit here. I will serve you some tea.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I will be back soon.”

“Is that so? Then, what you’re asking…” 

I looked at Mr. Herne clearly.

And I asked. 

“Is there a cure for Giles flowers?”

“Yes?” 

“On the way back from going out with father… A beastman who lost his mind attacked the carriage. It was like he was poisoned by the Giles flowers.”

“…So something like that happened.” 

“Yes, but father said he didn’t need my treatment.”

I fiddled with the hem of my skirt. 

“Don’t tell me the beastman who lost mind… you kill them all.” 

As I finished my words, I glanced at Mr. Hern’s eyes.

Mr. Hern was looking at me with a slightly troubled expression on his face.

“Then, I was wondering if you made a cure.”

For a moment, there was silence in the room.

Mr. Hern scratched his head as if in trouble, then opened his mouth.

“The Giles flower cure… not yet. But you can make something that weakens the effect. It’s not perfect, but…” 

He sighed deeply and spoke slowly.

I looked straight at Mr Hern and said.

“If there is such a thing… Why didn’t you tell me in advance? Then I would have been relieved. Besides, if there’s a way to alleviate the symptoms, there’s no reason to be afraid of Giles’ flowers like I used to be….” 

“That’s all there is to it. I can’t say more than this, either. Actually, I shouldn’t reveal this too, but I just meant that you shouldn’t worry too much.”

“….” 

“Sir Kendrick doesn’t kill beastman who has lost his mind. Don’t worry about that. Maybe the beastman who attacked… The head of the family must have solved it well.”

Mr. Hern comforted me.

I slowly nodded my head. 

“Yes, thanks for telling me.”

“It’s just a secret from the Lord. I don’t know how much I can tell you…” 

“You can tell me everything!”

“I can’t do that.”

Mr Hern cut the word flatly.

Tsk. He’s not falling for it.

I smiled shyly, then got up from my seat.

“Are you done with your questions?”

“Yes, I just needed to know that he doesn’t kill the poisoned beastman. A while ago, father came back with blood on his clothes… I was surprised.”

“Blood? You could have been surprised.”

I nodded.

“But I’m glad the beastman didn’t die. Father will tell me the rest someday.”

Kendrick rarely lied to me.

He was so considerate of us that even the smallest matters were decided after consulting with us.

And he was a very careful person.

There must have been a good reason if he didn’t tell me right away.

Mr. Hern nodded.

“Then go and rest, Lady. Come to think of it, Lady Leona and Young Master Cain came to the mansion to play, right? The two of them have already grown so much….” 

“Yes, would you like to meet them?”

I glanced back at Mr. Hern and said.

“Ah, never mind. It’s better not to see them as much as possible.”

Mr. Hern smiled and waved his hand. I smiled and nodded.

“Then I’ll really get going now! Thank you for telling me!”

“Good-bye, Lady.”

I left Mr Hern’s room and ran straight out to Arsene’s room. 

***

“Linsy!” 

Leona jumped up and came to me.

I said, familiarly holding Leona’s hand and sitting on the sofa.

“Where have you been?”

“To Mr. Hern.”

“Mr. Hern? Suddenly?”

“Yeah, I have something to ask him.”

But then.

Pong—! 

Suddenly, the familiar sound of an explosion was heard, and the room was filled with multi-colored smoke.

What’s going on?

I blinked.

At some point, my vision was very low. I quickly checked my body.

‘Isn’t it shapeshifting?’

“Chirp!” 

Red hairs came into view.

What’s going on all of a sudden?

When I was young, except when I was seven years old, there was hardly ever a time when I couldn’t control shapeshift the way I wanted. 

When I was just blinking my eyes in surprise,

“Chirp!” 

Someone stepped on my tail.

What!

Startled, I jumped up and struggled to get my tail out.

“Grrrr!” 

Sure enough, it was Leona who stepped on my tail.

The orange-furred lion hurriedly removed her front paws in a panic.

“C, chirp!” 

I bruised Leona and jumped in my spot to release my shapeshift. 

However,

‘Ah, it won’t work again.’

Just like when I was seven years old, the shapeshifting didn’t work out on its own again.

And that seems to be the case with Leona as well.

A huge orange-colored lion, with only two eyes wide open, caught my eye.

But why did the two of us suddenly shapeshift? 

I turned to Arsene and Cain to ask for help.

However, 

“….” 

“….?” 

As expected, Arsene and Cain were also shapeshifting. 

A huge black snake and a gray wolf stood tall and staring at us.

‘No, what in the world happened…’

That moment when I thought I should hurry up and tell Kendrick.

Pong—! 

Cain success change to his human form. 

The long black snake on the sofa disappeared, and a black-haired boy appeared.

“Suddenly, what’s going on… You guys, too, go ahead and release it.” 

Cain pushed Arsene as if urging him.

Arsene looked annoyed and soon tapped the floor with his front foot.

Then,

Pong–! 

Arsene changed to his human form, and Leona and I stared blankly at each other.

Leona then let go of the shapeshift. 

The giant orange lion disappeared in an instant, and a tomboyish girl with orange hair reappeared.

“Linsy, release it now. I think you can release it now….” 

“Chirp.” 

I nodded and jumped on my feet in place.

Then,

Pong–! 

The loudest explosion was heard, and soon the bird form was released.

I straightened my fingers and brushed down my messed-up hair.

“No, no, what’s going on…” 

Leona stood next to me as I mumbled and straightened my hair. She helped me fix my hair.

“Leon, didn’t you use your power?” 

Cain asked in a sharp tone, squinting his eyes. 

Certainly, obedience, the ability of the lion clan, could turn us into beasts at the same time.

“Do you think it’s my power? You saw how she didn’t know what to do because she was shapeshifting.”

Arsene pitifully looked at Cain and continued his words.

“That’s right, I was also shapeshifting. Besides, no matter how obedient my ability is, it’s not strong enough to turn all of you into beasts. Even my brother can’t do that? I don’t know if it’s my  Dad….” 

Leona nodded her head.

I agree with Leona.

Arsene and Cain were the heirs of the Wolf and Snake clans.

And I, too, knew that my abilities were strong enough to be among the best among the bird clan. 

Leona wouldn’t have been able to turn the three of us into our beast form on her own.

So what in the world is it?

We didn’t say anything for a while, staring into each other’s faces.

“…Shouldn’t we bring father first?”

It was me who opened my mouth first.

The room was completely ruined by the sudden appearance of big animals in the room.

Besides, my hair and Leona’s hair were messy.

It was the same with Arsene and Cain.

Arsene scanned the messy room and nodded slowly.

“I have to tell my father. Because it’s strange.”

“But are we, are we the only ones who have been shapeshifted?”

Then Leona opened her mouth.

“No I mean, we suddenly shapeshift. Then, couldn’t it be that other people in the mansion beside us have shapeshifted too?” 

A moment of silence passed.

“For example… Sir Kendrick?” 

We opened our eyes wide at the same time.

Without anyone saying first, we got up to go to Kendrick. 

***

“…What?” 

And Kendrick, fortunately, didn’t seem to change to his beast form.