The Half-Seal Detests the Imperial Princess and the Young Grand Duchess (Part 2)
The door swung open.
Or rather, it hadn’t simply opened; the poor thing had been violently stripped of its very reason for existing. Just kill me already... the wooden frame seemed to groan in agony.
"Nox! You’ve got a seriously nice villa here, don't you? The scenery on the way up was absolutely breathtaking!"
A dazzling cascade of gold spilled into the room.
It was brilliant. Blinding. To be precise, the sheer presence of the woman standing in the doorway felt as though she had dragged the midday sun right in with her.
Elena Arcadia de Solear.
First Imperial Princess of the Arcadia Empire. The noble, golden lion born of the Sun's Throne.
Her magnificent golden hair flowed down to her waist, shimmering like a beast’s wild mane as it caught the sunlight pouring across the threshold. Sharp crimson eyes swept the room before locking unerringly onto Nox. Two golden lion ears perked forward with sharp interest, and a tufted tail swished lazily behind her.
"How’ve you been? You didn’t miss me, did you?"
Sharp canine fangs peeked through her cheeky grin. Clad in a tailored, practical military tunic and tall black riding boots hugging her long legs, she was a woman who looked far more natural wearing a scabbard than a ballgown. She was the sun of the empire, boasting no fewer than seven fan clubs across the academy spanning both genders.
A crimson half-cape draped over her shoulder fluttered in the breeze. Anyone looking at her could tell: she was royalty. She was an apex predator. She was—without a shadow of a doubt—a lion.
"Out of the way, nuisance."
Then, from just behind Elena’s shoulder, a second shadow glided smoothly into view.
Silvery-black hair fell in long, sleek strands. Rounded ears speckled with faint dark spots twitched atop her head, while clear, pale azure eyes set in an alabaster face remained as tranquil as if the concept of emotion had never been installed in her psyche to begin with.
Over a crisp black uniform rested a heavy, dark fur cloak, and a scabbard hung at her hip. A thick, plush snow leopard tail gently swept the floor behind her.
Calien Blake von Arbein. Sole heiress to the Arbein Grand Duchy that ruled the empire's frozen northern frontier, and the only daughter of the Northern Grand Duke revered as the 'King of the Snowy Plains.'
A lion and a snow leopard stood side by side. The two fiercest predators reigning at the very pinnacle of the Arcadia Empire were now crammed into the private bedroom of a single, defenseless half-seal beastman wearing nothing more threatening than a pair of fluffy wool slippers.
There were two predators. Not one, but two of them.
The strength instantly drained from Nox's legs.
In his house. Inside his beloved, cherished sweet home. In his peaceful retreat where there hadn't been a single beast of prey within a five-kilometer radius, two apex carnivores of the food chain were standing right in his doorway.
And of all the beasts in the world, one was the monarch of the savannah and the other was the sovereign of the frozen wastes.
While he... he was just a goddamn baby seal.
The edges of his vision blurred into snowy static.
Nox’s lips quivered uncontrollably.
"Y-Your Highness... Lady Calien... W-Why on earth are you two—"
"Why else? We came because we missed you!"
Elena gave a nonchalant shrug. Her lion tail swished with frantic excitement.
"Likewise."
Calien stepped forward half a pace, her plush tail waving in a slow, steady rhythm.
Two apex predators were closing the distance at the exact same time. Every route of escape vanished from Nox's sight.
The little half-seal deep within Nox's soul began wailing and thrashing in pure terror.
Run! Flee to the ocean! Find a breathing hole in the ice and dive!
What the *(vile Imperial profanity)* are you even babbling about, you stupid seal brain?! Where on earth is there an ocean in the middle of these hills?!
His survival instincts shrieked a five-alarm emergency. In this horrifying instant, the heir of a ducal house built purely on wholesale fish fortunes genuinely cursed the choices of his ancestors.
Why did you have to go and become a duke?! You should've just stayed a fishmonger, Ancestor!
"...Guhk."
The world spun in a violent circle.
As the boy tipped backward in a dead faint, both predators lunged forward simultaneously, reaching out with their hands. In his fading consciousness, their fingers overlapped into the terrifying illusion of heavy, padded feline forepaws.
"Wait, Nox?!"
"Nox—"
Mom, save me.
The sensation of a cool, damp cloth pressed against his forehead coaxed Nox back to consciousness.
He fluttered his eyes open to find an unfamiliar ceiling... no, it was his own familiar ceiling, but framed on either side by two monstrous predators staring down at him.
He nearly blacked out a second time.
Passing out twice in a row would utterly humiliate the proud name of House Grolent—though to be brutally honest, his dignity was already buried six feet under. Gritting his teeth, Nox pushed his upper body upright against the pillows.
"S-So... why did the two of you suddenly barge in here without a single word of notice?"
"I told you already. We came because we wanted to see you!"
"Ditto."
Elena gave another breezy shrug, her golden tail curled idly around the leg of a chair. Calien nodded in flat agreement, her clear azure eyes pinned unblinkingly upon him.
The corners of Nox’s eyes twitched.
"...You can’t possibly expect me to buy that. Stop joking around and tell me the real reason."
Elena and Calien blinked in unison. Then, as if sharing a single mind, both tilted their heads sideways at the exact same angle with identical expressions of bewilderment.
Watching two deadly predators tilt their heads in uncanny synchronization carried an unsettling, bizarre rhythm.
"That is the real reason."
"It is the truth."
A harmonious duet between lion and snow leopard.
They were entirely serious.
There wasn’t a single shred of deceit in either of their eyes. Nox sat frozen, his jaw hanging halfway open. A dead silence hung over the bedroom for three long seconds as the boy’s brain flatly refused to process the information.
Then Elena crossed her arms, her ruby eyes narrowing slightly.
"More importantly, Nox. Why did you take a Leave of Absence without saying a single word to me?"
"I received no word either. Why?"
Calien pinned her ears back against her head, flattening them in an unmistakably sullen, offended cat posture.
Nox's eyes went wide as saucers.
Wait. What was happening right now? Was he being scowled at and scolded?
Instead of a helpless seal on the verge of being devoured by apex carnivores, was this somehow an interrogation over why he hadn't texted his friends?
"T-That... due to unavoidable health concerns, I had no choice but to—"
"Cut the nonsense. You’re always fragile."
"You are as frail as a sheet of paper on any given day. What changed?"
"Could you please go easy on the brutal reality checks?!"
It was undeniably true, but hearing it blurted out so mercilessly by others still hurt his feelings.
Nox yanked the duvet higher up his chest, cleared his throat, and narrowed his eyes. He desperately needed to change the subject.
"—Then allow me to ask a question of my own. Your Highness, I read in the imperial gazette that you took a leave of absence citing 'health reasons.'"
"Yeah, that’s right."
"Your Highness. Just last semester during field training, you subdued a bear Magic Beast with your bare hands."
Elena's swishing tail froze mid-air.
"...T-That bastard picked a fight with me first!"
"Oh, right, of course. A fight. How very plausible."
Nox turned his head away with a huff before fixing his gaze on the other predator.
"And Lady Calien. You claimed 'personal circumstances.'"
"Correct."
"Last winter, you were out training your swordsmanship in short sleeves at minus forty degrees Celsius."
Calien’s rounded leopard ears twitched ever so slightly.
"...It was optimal room temperature."
Nox darted his suspicious gaze back and forth between the two of them, his eyes thinning into slits.
"Health reasons, you say. Just where on earth were you hurting, Your Highness?"
Elena’s gaze drifted away. Her lion ears flattened in guilt—before popping straight up again with brazen conviction.
"...My heart ached."
Nox paused.
"...Pardon?"
"The academy was boring without you."
Calien furrowed her brow slightly, leaning a fraction closer.
"My reasoning is similar."
Both predators fixed their gazes intently upon the trembling seal bundled beneath the blanket. Ugh, look at those vertical slit pupils. Absolutely terrifying!
More to the point... What did she just say?
Nox’s pale fingers clenched the bedsheets until his knuckles turned white.
"Wait. Hold on a second. Lady Calien, you just said your reason was similar, but your official filing was for 'personal circumstances.'"
"Yes."
"How on earth are 'personal circumstances' and 'an aching heart' even remotely similar?!"
Calien’s unblinking azure eyes locked dead onto Nox. She blinked once, serene and unbothered.
"Because you not being by my side is my personal circumstance."
Nox’s mouth dropped open, snapped shut, and fell open again.
Elena crossed her arms and shot Calien a ferocious glare. Her golden tail began thumping against the bedpost in irritated, rhythmic smacks.
"Hey! Snow Cat! Is that a confession or what?! Read the room, will you?!"
"I merely stated the truth."
"That attitude of yours is the problem!"
Nox buried his face in his hands, pressing his forehead down against his knees drawn up beneath the sheets.
"Fine... Let's just set that aside for a moment. Your Highness. Taking a leave of absence because 'your heart ached' makes zero sense! Did the academy’s administrative office actually accept that?!"
A sly, triumphant smirk crept onto Elena's lips.
"They did, actually."
"...You didn’t happen to 'encourage' them until they had no choice but to accept it, did you?"
"My, aren't you a clever boy?"
Her sheer brazenness was so pure it was staggering. Nox’s eyes drifted hopelessly toward the ceiling. A long, suffocating silence stretched between them as he mentally counted the wooden grain of the beams above.
"In any case... Your Highness, Lady Calien. Neither of you filed for a leave of absence solely because of me, right?"
Tell me it isn't true. Please, tell me this is just an elaborate, terrible prank.
Nox raised his head, his sapphire eyes pleadingly darting between the two women. Within his gaze flickered a desperate, fragile ember of hope.
Elena and Calien parted their lips at the exact same moment.
"It’s because of you."
"It is because of you."
Identical timing. Identical words.
Their gazes snapped toward one another, invisible sparks crackling violently in the air between them.
Nox pulled the duvet completely over his head. From beneath the cream-colored linen, a tiny, trembling whimper leaked out.
"...I want to go home."
"What are you talking about? This is your home."
At Elena’s dry observation, the mound of blankets shuddered faintly. It was impossible to tell whether he was quietly weeping or having a nervous breakdown.
Calien reached out, delicately taking the edge of the blanket and peeling it downward. Nox’s revealed eyes weren't quite crying, but they were certainly glistening with damp misery.
"Don’t cry. Want some fish?"
"Do you honestly think that's comforting, Lady Calien?!"
Elena hurriedly whipped a handkerchief from her coat pocket and thrust it in front of Nox’s face.
"Here! It’s a genuine silk handkerchief embroidered with the Imperial crest. You can blow your nose in it. Quite an honor, isn't it?"
"Your Highness's idea of comfort is completely backwards too!"
Ah... I wish everyone in this room would just drop dead and leave me alone.