Chapter 102
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Gresha (2)
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"Hmph hmph hmph!"
"Nyaah...."
"It's okay. You need to eat a lot to get better fast!!"
"Nyaah nyaah nyaaang!!! Nom nom nom!!"
"Hehe, aww, you eat so well!"
Smooth smooth smooth—
"Nya~"
In the deep forest near the lord's castle of the Duke of Gresha's family.
A silver-haired girl dressed in a gown that was a bit inconvenient for wandering through the woods was beaming with a fresh smile as she watched a beastkin child eat.
"Tasty?"
"Nya?"
The small, young cat beastkin who only came up to her waist was devouring her food at Mion's words, then looked up, met her eyes, and tilted her head.
After her older sister Sion had been confirmed as the successor around age ten, the family head had decreed that there were no particular expectations or demands within the household, so she should live freely as she pleased. This sparked Mion's curiosity-driven personality, where she loved diving headfirst into new experiences.
She would spin wild imaginings from the stories told by her maids and nannies, and sometimes wander the territory trying out all sorts of things. For a duke's daughter, she lived rather too willfully.
This time, her curiosity had turned to the profession of hunter, so she had been dashing through the mountains near the lord's castle.
Her two dedicated maids were panting as they trailed after her. After about ten days of turning the forest upside down all day every day, she finally stumbled upon a beastkin child collapsed in the woods, covered in wounds and drenched in blood.
Startled, she approached to treat the injuries.
"Hya啊啊啊!!!!"
"Mommy! This kid n-needs treatment.... Eek!!"
"Miss!!!"
The beastkin thrashed about like it was having a fit at the sight of a human, making it impossible to take her back to the castle for treatment. They could only barely wrap some emergency bandages that one of the maids had on hand before retreating.
A few days later, after patiently spending time to convince her that she wasn't a dangerous human, Mion could finally touch the beastkin child.
"Miss, we can't do proper treatment in the castle."
"That's right..."
She tried to quickly take the now less wary beastkin girl back to the castle for further treatment along with the maids, but troubled looks crossed their faces.
"Huh? Why...? A doctor could treat her wounds much better... Bandages and emergency meds have their limits... Look, all her nails and claws are ripped out, and there are way more signs of torture than just one or two."
"Well...."
"Um... Truth is, the lord doesn't like异種族 lingering in the territory."
"Huh?"
Her father was gruff with little emotional expression, but he was loved by the territory's people for his rational and equitable policies. Mion felt a twinge of doubt at the maid's words that he disliked异種族.
"Eh? But the markets in the territory have dwarf forges and elves, don't they?"
"Weren't you planning to take this child to the doctor in the castle to treat her, Miss?"
"Yeah."
"We don't know about taking her to the clinics or church aid stations in the territory, but bringing her into the castle proper is forbidden by the lord."
"Why?"
The dwarves and elves all looked just like people, and everyone treated them normally. Her father even extended lenient policies to commoners, so Mion was puzzled. One maid hesitantly explained.
"Ah... I think it's probably because of the young lady's constitution."
"Ah! Because Sis had that big incident touching a cat when she was little...?"
When Sion was young, she had gone to play in the servants' quarters and collapsed after trying to pet a cat they kept there.
That was when they learned of her rare cat allergy constitution. Now that she was older, Mion finally recalled it and understood why there were no cat beastkin servants in the castle.
"Y-yes... Because of the young lady's cat allergy constitution, it seems the family head has become even stricter."
"I see."
Mion, convinced by the maid's impromptu excuse, looked down at the beastkin girl.
"Then let's go to the church aid station in the territory and get some potions!"
"Pardon...?"
"Potions are expensive... But ugh, I have some saved-up allowance, so I can buy at least one. It'll be way more effective than those ointments."
"Ah... Yes..."
"Alright, let's go! Kitty, big sis will be back tomorrow."
"Nya!"
Mion stroked the head of the beastkin child, who had already grown attached and was wagging her tail against her, then returned to the castle with her maids.
Sometimes, petting this girl who reminded her of her sister's childhood felt just like petting Sion herself, and Mion secretly found it amusing.
"Miss."
"Ah, Marie!!"
"Goodness, what is this? You went to the forest again today?"
"Yup!"
Marie, Sion's nanny, greeted Mion upon her return with the maids.
She was technically responsible for both sisters, but after Sion's position in the family rose, she stuck closer to Sion, making it hard to see her often.
Still, Marie made time to visit Mion at least once or twice a day to chat with her.
"How long do you plan to keep up this latest 'experience'?"
"Hmm... A month?"
"That's quite a while. Oh dear, look how dirty your dress is. Time for a bath."
"Ack! W-wait, Marie!!!"
"You two there, hurry and follow. Maids who attend the miss need to handle this right away."
"Hah... Hah... Y-yes."
Grabbing Mion's dirty ears, Marie dragged her to the bathroom. After the maids helped Mion into the bath, Marie swiftly stripped and joined her, hugging Mion's body.
"Eek!! Sis! You just wanted to sneak a bath during work hours, didn't you?!"
"My, when did I ever say that."
When the sisters were born, the family head assigned a girl five years older than Sion as their nanny—that was Marie.
Sion, being mature early on, just called her "nanny," but Mion, who had grown up close like friends since childhood, often called her "sis."
"Eek, s-sis!!"
"Sigh... This nanny is heartbroken. Miss, you're almost an adult, and your chest is still so..."
"Kyaha, that tickles!!"
"At least it's not completely flat, so that's a relief."
Squish squish
"Take this!!!"
Splash!!!
Unlike Mion's modest chest, Marie had breasts as ample as Sion's, which Mion now kneaded wildly.
"Mm! Fighting back, huh? Not bad! This sis is impressed!"
"Eek!!"
As Mion and Marie playfully groped each other's chests in the bath, Marie caught the eye of one of the maids attending Mion and gave a signal with her eyes. The maid quietly slipped out of the bathroom.
".....That's the situation."
"I see?"
Shiver shiver—
Duke Leon Gresha set aside the documents he was reading and turned his gaze to the maid kneeling trembling on the floor of his study, head bowed in fear as she reported.
"Did the child seem suspicious?"
"No, sir. Family head, she... said she'd buy recovery potions from the church to treat the beastkin."
"Mm... Have the head butler give her one of the lowest-grade potions."
"Y-yes! Understood."
"Go."
The maid swiftly rose and exited the study at the curt order.
"Perfect timing. Sion starts the experiments in earnest today, so once the runaway recovers, I'll leave retrieval, the first test subject, and the experiments to her."
Flip—
The family head soon picked up his documents again and refocused.
The maid who had brought the recovery potion returned the next day, and after treating the beastkin's wounds, two weeks passed.
Dressing her in an old gown Mion had worn as a child made the beastkin girl look exactly like Sion in her youth—adorable like her sister, but with cat ears and a tail! Mion's heart nearly burst as she hugged the girl tightly and rubbed cheeks.
Spreading out a picnic blanket under a tree, Mion hugged and nuzzled the girl before trying to get her to talk.
"Nya nya!"
"Sis!"
"Nyani!"
"No... Why can't this kid talk?"
"Miss, sometimes beastkin from areas without humans don't know the common tongue."
"Oh?"
Mion nodded at the maid who had brought the potion, then turned her head.
"How does Matilda know all that?"
"....Uh...."
"She's really into stuff like this, Miss."
"Oh?"
"The kind of kid who knows useless trivia no one needs and chatters about it everywhere, hehe!"
"Bea...!"
"Pft, both of you stop it. Matilda didn't do anything wrong—she learned something new today too!"
Mion mediated the bickering maids, closed her eyes against the warm sunlight filtering through the leaves, hugged the beastkin girl, and took a nap.
"Si... sis!"
"Kyaa! Good job!!!"
"Hehe... Sisi!!!"
And three days later, the beastkin girl—sharp-minded as she was—began speaking simple common words.
"Matilda, Bea, isn't this kid super smart?"
"She really is. She can't form sentences yet, but she memorizes words incredibly well."
"She's seriously clever."
"Huh? Why are you two like that? It's not bad that she's smart."
"Ah... N-no, it's not that...."
Mion tilted her head at the maids' uncomfortable expressions.
"Her wounds are all healed now... Phew... Should I talk to Father?"
"You mustn't say things that could cause big trouble, Miss...!!!"
"Matilda...?"
Mion jumped at the maid's sudden outburst and stared at her.
"S-sorry, Miss... Whenever I think of that time after the young lady collapsed and the chaos that followed, I just get so scared..."
"Yeah, I guess... I don't even remember it, but if you react like that, Father must have been really shocked... Maybe I should just give up and tell her to live in this forest, and I'll bring food sometimes?"
"That sounds best."
The two maids sighed in relief at Mion's decision. Puzzled by their reactions, Mion turned back to the beastkin girl.
"Kitty."
"Yeah! Sis... Hehe."
"Sis will come again later."
"Not... tomorrow?"
"Can't come every day anymore."
"Why?"
Her eyes welled up as she looked up at Mion, tugging at her heartstrings, but even if she was told to live freely, wandering the forest daily for a month now was starting to draw eyes from the family.
"Kitty was sick, so sis came every day. If you live here, sis will visit sometimes."
"Really...?"
When Mion declared she'd experience being a hunter and specified this forest near the castle as her scouting area, the family knights and others had investigated beforehand.
There were no dangerous beasts—just safe herbs and fruit trees—so she could come here with just two maids like this.
This child had lost all her nails and claws, weakening her survival instincts, but just eating the wild fruits here would be enough to get by.
"Sis, come for sure!!!"
"Yeah, take care~"
Mion, thinking she should definitely have dinner with Sion—who hadn't sought her out in two weeks—left the forest with her maids.