CH 7

I opened the door and started walking carefully down the hallway, on my tiptoes.

But after a while, I had to stop walking.

All of a sudden, my vision went round and round. Perhaps because I was dizzy, I felt nauseated.

…Oh, what’s wrong with me?

To make matters worse, I was choking and couldn’t breathe well. I gasped and leaned against the wall.

Ah, come to think of it, I had a similar situation this morning.

I suffered from sudden headaches and high fever, and at some point passed out. When I woke up, I discovered that I was a human.

In the hazy vision, I felt my eye level drop sharply. It was as if I had returned to my original penguin form.

‘I… I can’t.’

‘If the whales find out who I am… I can’t.’

But contrary to what I thought, my body was already out of my control.

Thud.

My mind wandered as if in a dream. How long has it been since I fell to the floor?

A familiar voice was heard; it sounded like hallucinations.

“I knew this would happen. You don’t even know your own physical condition.”

I felt someone’s warm body temperature along with my body floating.

“You need to breathe slowly, Lia.”

At the low voice that penetrated my eardrums, I slowly inhaled and exhaled, as what the voice said.

“That’s right. You are doing well.”

Maybe it was because of his very friendly voice, the tears that I had been holding back started running down my cheeks.

‘Dad.’

‘I’m scared.’

I pretended to be okay, but I was really scared.

Suddenly becoming a human. Running away. And being kidnapped.

‘I’m afraid the Weils will find out my identity. I’m afraid I’ll be left alone on the bare ground with no one to turn to.’

Truthfully, I fear that my father would turn away from me. That was what I was most afraid of.

The man who gave me unrequited affection when I was in endless frustration and fear after being reborn as an animal.

The first person who made me realize what family love is.

Everything in my world.

‘How will I live if he leaves me?’

‘Please don’t abandon me. Please.’

“…It’s okay, Lia. When you wake up, everything will be fine.”

A warm feeling permeated my forehead. My head, which had been aching as if it was about to break, calmed down and started to feel comfortable.

“I’ll stay with you.”

That was the last time I heard that voice. I blacked out.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

The sun was shining in my eyes as if to announce that morning had come.

“Uung…”

I rebelled, twisting my body here and there, but finally, I lifted my eyelids with difficulty.

Uh…?

‘What am I seeing now?’

Is it a dream? If it wasn’t for that, there would be no way for Suradel to be next to me, who had just woken up.

‘Right? Isn’t this a dream?’

I rubbed my eyes several times at the unbelievable reality, but the scene in my field of vision did not change.

Silver hair that shone transparently in the sunlight.

Eyelashes extending downwards. A nose with a clear bridge as if it was measured with a ruler.

Lips that were dyed red as if he had applied something.

As I watched him, who was asleep, the thought that he looked like a sculpture entered my mind again.

It was like a pictorial even if he was just breathing.

“Young, crazy tall, and handsome…”

No. Now was not the time to praise his looks.

I slapped my cheeks, rekindling the anger that had been simmering before noting his appearance.

I knew well that he wasn’t an ordinary person, but I didn’t know that he would creep into my bed.

As if woken up by the sound I made, Suradel roused, slowly opening his eyes.

Immediately, he made eye contact with me, and his eyes curved like a fox’s.

“Did you come all the way here because you missed me, Lia?”

“What…!”

Just as I was about to say it was bullshit, I realized that the surrounding scenery was unfamiliar.

My pupils trembled as if an earthquake hit them.

‘Here, this isn’t the room I was assigned to by Bella yesterday?’

…Wait, didn’t I fall down in the hallway last night?

I think I even went back to my penguin form?

How did this happen? Was it just a dream?

While I tried grasping the situation with swaying eyes, Suradel pulled the blanket up to the tip of his nose and spoke like he was flustered.

“Thank you for coming to see me, but I think we are progressing too fast.”

What an abominable sight.

I liked it when he was sleeping quietly with his mouth shut.

“I didn’t come to see you!”

Suradel tilted his head when I shouted.

“Then may I ask why is Lia in my room, even on the bed?”

“I don’t know either. I woke up and found you sleeping next to me…!”

Wasn’t this a case of Suradel taking me to his room when I collapsed yesterday?

…Did he discover my identity?

As my doubts grew, Suradel clapped as if he had realized something.

“Ah. I guess that’s it.”

“What? What’s it?”

“Demibeasts, who have just humanized, often have fever and return to its animal form or even hallucinate. Losing the memory is a bonus.”

There was concern on his face.

“Are you sick last night, Lia? Like having a hallucination.”

Hallucination… 

If I think of it as a hallucination, the situation now would be roughly explained.

How I turned into a penguin last night and collapsed. And woke up in Suradel’s room.

Perhaps it’s more of… as soon as I came out of the hallway, I thought I had collapsed, but I actually broke into Suradel’s room.

I took a deep breath and began to sort things out.

“First of all, I can’t remember what happened, but I’m sorry that I entered your room arbitrarily.”

Suradel’s eyes widened as though he didn’t know that I could apologize in the first place.

“You must have been embarrassed. I’m sorry that I got angry at first. But I swear, I didn’t come here on purpose. I have no memory of it at all.”

“Hmm.”

Suradel looked down at me, cupping his chin.

“I like it? That Lia unconsciously came to my place.”

Huh. It was amazing that he could say such strange words in the midst of this.

With an uncomfortable expression on my face, I just drew a line.

“I’m telling you because I think you’re misunderstanding something, but I didn’t even know where your room was.”

“Wow, so you came into my room by chance? I guess you’re instinctively drawn to me.”

As I listened to his extravagant words, resentment came out of nowhere.

But I didn’t have anything to say to refute, so I just pressed my lips together.

Suradel, who had been smiling languidly with a sleepy face, slowly hardened his expression and opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t give more care because I was focused only how a killer whale demibeast had appeared.”

“Why are you sorry? Nevermind. Since it passed without incident…”

Suradel looked at me and made an incomprehensible, subtle smile.

“Lia, did you keep putting up with the pain all night by yourself?”

“I had a little fever, but it was tolerable.”

“Lia.”

Suradel slowly closed his eyes and reopened them, as if he had more to say.

“I may not seem trustworthy yet, but if your fever rises even a little, come and see me.”

“…….”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him.

It had been several years since I had seen Suradel every day, but I could tell he was really worried about me right now.

It was just that I was afraid I would turn into a penguin if I visited him when I was sick… so I couldn’t quickly give a response. 

When I didn’t answer, the tail of Suradel’s eyebrows drooped as if he was sad.

“Aren’t you going to promise me, Lia?”

“Even if it hurts or I’m sick, it’s okay.”

“Even like this?”

Suradel waved a pouch in front of me.

It was my money bag that was stolen by the kidnappers yesterday.

“That’s mine…! Give it to me quickly!”

I reached out and tried to take the pouch, but he raised his long arm to prevent me from grabbing it.

“Lia, how about a promise?”

I frowned at the shameless question.

“Ha, you’re using coercion?”

“I forced myself to hear that you endured the pain alone.”

“Again, that’s up to me.”

“Lia. I’m suggesting it because I’m really worried about you. It hasn’t been long since you humanized, so it’s still unstable.”

“…….”

He looked at me with low, sunken eyes.

‘Oh, really. Why are you looking at me with those pitiful eyes?’

“It’s really dangerous for whales to return to their animal form in the middle. You know that.”

“Ah…”

The situation was really awkward. I couldn’t even confess that I would be okay because I was not a killer whale…

At the words that continued to persuade me calmly, I nodded with the hope that it would eventually come to pass.

It seemed like things were going the way he wanted them to, but still…

I knew he was saying such a thing because he was really worried about me, so I couldn’t bear to be cold-hearted.

Naturally, I nodded, but it was a promise I could make because I didn’t really intend to visit him.

“All right. Let’s say this matter is over.”

Suradel returned the pouch to me and glanced at the clock in the room.

He raised his lips as if he had come up with something interesting.

“It’s a bit early for breakfast. Do you want to go do something fun?”

“Something fun?”

It was a tempting offer.

Even when I was a penguin, I liked to play and was curious, so I always went around the house.

‘But to immediately accept the offer… I’m a proud penguin. No, I mean, I’m not an easy penguin.’

“What are we going to do?”

Suradel’s smile deepened when I asked the question.

“Go to where the subordinates work and say, ‘Don’t mind me, just do your job,’ and stare at them.”

My mouth dropped open in amazement at his vicious behavior.

‘I thought he’s just going forward as the successor of Weil, but that’s really…!’

“It’s going to be so much fun. Let’s hurry up and do it.”

My heart was pounding with anticipation. ‘Oh my gosh. That kind of power is so thrilling, isn’t it?’