Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Four-Legged Beast
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After the commotion ended, peace returned.
To be precise, it was a peace that was precarious at best. Arban spoke, his face indignant.
"You heard him, right? He was clearly picking a fight with us."
"I heard. Still, a commotion isn't good, Arban."
"......I was trying to hold back, for the most part."
Arban was still on edge from his earlier war of nerves with Sage.
Set let out a short sigh.
"Don't forget our position, Arban. Things aren't great right now."
"That's why I apologized."
As long as they were staying in the castle as guests acknowledged by the head of the Kiraas family, everything they said and did was as good as the will of the Astrofel family.
Nothing good could come from causing a disturbance here.
Besides, the relationship between the South and the North was still far from close.
It was best to be careful, as their relationship was a difficult one.
I smiled meekly and fluttered between the two of them, trying to lighten the mood somehow.
"It all worked out, so let's drop it and go inside. We have to go back tomorrow, we can't waste time feeling this upset."
"Right, we go back tomorrow. That bastard must be thrilled out of his mind."
Grrr. I could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth. I felt the smile on my face freeze.
I'd meant to calm him down, but it seemed I had just poured oil on the fire.
Arban's eyebrows shot up fiercely. The menacingly churning pheromones showed just how furious he was.
I stiffened, blinking slowly. Uh oh, this wasn't what I intended.
"Aileen. You can't forget this is a tiger's den."
"H-Huh?"
Why was he suddenly talking about a tiger's den? It was out of the blue, but Arban looked dead serious.
"Everything the Kiraas bastards do is suspicious. You can never tell what they're thinking."
A look of displeasure crossed Arban's face as if he had remembered something. I quickly looked around. Thankfully, we were the only ones in the stairwell.
I quickly stood on my tiptoes and clamped a hand over Arban's mouth just as he was about to say more. His crimson eyes widened as if to ask what I thought I was doing.
"Ah, haha. Brother. I think that's enough talk for now. You haven't forgotten that this is the Kiraas castle, have you?"
"Yes, that statement was a bit risky. It would be better to have that kind of conversation in our rooms."
Set nodded in agreement. I turned to look at him, dumbfounded.
You're not stopping him, you're telling him to talk about it in his room?! What am I supposed to do?!
Arban seemed satisfied with that answer and made no further attempt to speak.
I felt his lips close obediently beneath my palm.
To think that even Set, who I'd trusted, would betray me like this. Frozen in an awkward position, I stared blankly at him, and he gave me a faint smile.
"Aileen, you're too soft. We're leaving tomorrow, and I'm very worried about what might happen."
"I'm not a child. You two worry too much."
It's overprotective, is what it is. In response to my protest, Arban, whose mouth had been covered, easily pulled my hand away.
"No, it's not."
"Whoa!"
My body swayed, losing its balance as my hand was suddenly left hanging in the air.
Arban, who had been holding my wrist, gave a slight tug, pulling me forward as I lost my balance.
As I barely managed to stand steady, Arban clicked his tongue.
"You can't even keep your balance over something like this. What do you plan to do?"
"...This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't suddenly let go, you know."
"Oh, is that so?"
Arban's eyes narrowed with a knowing expression. Ah, what is it? Why is he looking at me so ominously?
The corner of his mouth, which had been curled into a meaningful smile, straightened and then opened.
"The cunning tiger now even evades our eyes to approach at dawn."
"......Dawn?"
Set asked, stopping in his tracks.
Gasp. I sucked in a breath. What, did Arban know everything?
I could feel my pupils tremble.
Come to think of it, Arban had also said he couldn't sleep until late into the night.
Arban, who had let go of my hand, nodded.
"That's what I'm saying."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Crisis had struck once again.
* * *
Thwack.
"Ah."
Something flew and hit him hard on the back of the head. Mesis slowly raised a hand to feel the spot.
It was snow.
Mesis let out a laugh of disbelief. His eyes, filled with a murderous aura, darted in the direction the snowball had come from.
The opponent had already erased their presence, but they couldn't erase the energy left on the snow.
A faint chill.
The culprit who threw the snowball was someone from the Kiraas clan.
Lately, a subtle war of nerves had been ongoing between the Black Mamba escorts and the Kiraas clan.
Perhaps it was to be expected.
The two clans had been rivals for a very, very long time.
Mesis, who had been sitting on a ledge halfway up the castle wall, twisted his lips at the faint presence he felt from under the roof.
"I know you're hiding, so come on out, you stupid four-legged animal."
"I trust you weren't referring to me just now."
"You answered because you thought it was you, didn't you? Hmm?"
Mesis looked down with an insolent posture.
The anonymous Kiraas clan member, his presence already revealed, showed himself.
His face was contorted with displeasure and a hint of dismay. His pride seemed wounded by the fact that his presence had been detected.
On top of that, being called a 'stupid four-legged animal' made him react fiercely.
Mesis clapped his hands, sneering at the predictable and consistent reaction.
"How can you guys react the same way to the same words every time? Are you simple or just stupid?"
"What did you say? And you things that do nothing but crawl on the floor have a lot to say."
"......Crawl on the floor? Should I make you really crawl on the floor? Huh?"
Grrr.
The agitated Kiraas's fangs were bared sharply. Mesis's eyes narrowed and glinted.
The two looked agitated enough to lunge at any moment.
Seeing this, Karma, who was concealed near the window of Aileen's room, pressed a hand to his forehead.
The South and the North always got on each other's nerves like this, and among the insults, 'stupid four-legged animal' was one frequently used by the Black Mambas.
As you might have guessed, the descriptor 'crawling' was a codename the Kiraas clan used for the Black Mambas.
The long-standing rivalry showed no signs of resolving, even with the passage of time.
"You're the one who threw the snow first. Ah, are you so stupid you've already forgotten?"
"And you're the one who deliberately let your pheromones waft near our territory."
It was a clear act of provocation.
Mesis said with annoyance.
"I don't recall ever provoking you with force."
"What's so hard about dodging that? Shouldn't you be shedding your skin again?"
"What? Shed my skin again? You've crossed the line. Do you know who I am to be saying such things?"
"And who might you be?"
Karma finally closed his eyes.
The other Black Mambas watching from the sidelines sighed.
But at the same time, their eyes showed they were curious to see how things would turn out.
The same went for the other Kiraas.
At the first interesting situation in a while, not only passersby but also Kiraas who were working inside the castle pretended not to look while peeking at the spectacle.
Isn't there a saying that watching a fire and watching a fight are the most entertaining things in the world? They couldn't miss such an amusing sight.
As more and more eyes began to focus on them, Karma stepped forward to stop the two.
"That's enough of this childish squabble. Neither of you is in the right."
"What, childish?"
Mesis's eyes flashed. The eyes of his true form were vivid.
This was bad. Karma flinched and stepped back. Very unfortunately, Mesis was now serious.
At what point did he become serious?
He couldn't figure out what had set off the man who usually laughed even if he had a hole in his stomach.
Mesis, with an uncharacteristically magnanimous expression, straightened his posture.
"Hey, the name's Mesis."
"......? I'm Ergo."
Ergo tilted his head at the sudden introduction.
Is he backing down this easily?
A flicker of disappointment crossed Ergo's eyes at the inexpressible anticlimax. Even so, he mulled over Mesis's name.
"Mesis? That name sounds familiar."
Where had he heard it?
Meanwhile, Karma, watching the situation unfold, felt troubled by the irreversible turn of events.
With a soft step.
Mesis took a step toward Ergo and let out a sleek smile.
"It'll be the first and last time you hear it, so burn it into your memory."
"What?"
Ergo, who had been narrowing his eyes, paused as if he suddenly remembered something.
Then he began to look Mesis up and down.
"Ah, are you by any chance... one of the Southern psychos?"
.......
A chilling silence fell.
Ergo's lips, who had been twirling a finger in the air, curled up. It was clearly intentional.
Pheromones began to spread around Mesis. The piercing in his ear glinted brilliantly.
"Four-legged beasts never change."
"Don't call us beasts, you reptile."
"They say a tiger leaves its skin when it dies. Shall I peel it off for you personally?"
Mesis's gloomy voice echoed. Ergo retorted with a sneer.
"Aren't you mistaken? You're the ones who shed your skin."
He didn't back down an inch to the very end. Just as Karma was about to intervene with force, thinking this would escalate into something serious.
Thwack.
Ergo's head snapped forward.