Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Snow Rabbit
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The image of Karma instantly stepping between me and Letra was seared into my mind.
"Karma."
"Yes, Young Lady."
Karma looked a little surprised, as if he hadn't expected me to call him.
"Thank you for pwotecting Aileen."
"...I was only following orders."
"Still, thank you."
If he hadn't helped, Letra would have caught me for sure.
I hugged Kaide again. My startled heart still hadn't calmed down. I could feel it pounding in my chest.
Kaide patted my back ceaselessly, trying to soothe me.
Just when I thought it was over, Letra called out to Kaide as he was turning away.
"Gaju-nim! P-please, spare me just this once. I will never make such a mistake again. I'll even pay double the toll—one hundred gold coins!"
Thud.
Letra dropped to his knees.
Just moments ago, he had been fuming that fifty gold coins was too expensive. He must have been truly desperate.
I didn't quite understand the value of money yet, but I could tell how large a sum one hundred gold coins was just from the murmurs rippling through the crowd.
But Kaide ignored Letra's plea and turned away.
"If you desire other terms, I will fulfill them all! Gaju-nim!"
When Letra finally tried to stand and approach, members of our family blocked his path.
Kaide really is cold.
"Aileen."
"Hmm?"
"Do what you did earlier again."
"Do what?"
Returning to our original table, Kaide sat me down to face him.
Perched on his lap, I tilted my head.
What I did earlier?
The corners of Kaide's mouth lifted playfully.
"He's my daddy."
Ah.
My face grew hotter and hotter. When my ears started to burn, I quickly covered my face with my hands.
"You said it so well before. Are you shy now?"
That was 'cause I was so angry!
Set and Arban were also watching me, pretending they weren't. It seemed they were secretly looking forward to it.
"...He's my daddy."
"That's not quite it."
"No. Aileen did it like this."
Kaide frowned, unsatisfied.
Baon, who had returned after handling the rest of the situation, pretended to wipe away tears of emotion.
"I am deeply moved, Lady Aileen. I don't know what to do with myself now that you have personally swept the Letra family out of the South."
"Indeed."
"Your tendency to act first and think later seemed somewhat familiar, and I realized it's a bit like the Gaju-nim's."
"That sounds like an insult."
"...I meant that you were very brave. It was quite magnificent."
Baon quickly changed his tune, giving a thumbs-up. Kaide withdrew his murderous gaze and looked down at me.
"Be more careful from now on. What would you have done if I wasn't there? Hmm?"
He flicked my forehead gently.
"Ack!"
"You came back covered in tiger pheromones. Explain. Set. Arban."
"...A tiger?"
But I've never seen a tiger.
I sniffed my clothes. Tiger pheromones?
Seeing me like this, Set sighed.
"I believe I warned you not to go too far."
"Aileen didn't go far. I only went to pwaces I know."
"She doesn't get it if you beat around the bush. You have to tell her straight: 'There's a tiger nearby, so be careful.' Everyone else knows, but she's the only one in the dark."
No way.
A sense of dread crept over me at Arban's words.
...The Sage I've been playing with all this time is a tiger?
Roar?
So I made friends with a tiger?
"It seems you didn't know."
So that's why he was so good at climbing trees and so strong.
It felt like the pieces were finally falling into place.
"Aileen was pwaying with a tiger all this time...?"
"Why? Are you scared now that you know?"
"Nuh-uh, no. Aileen isn't scared at all."
I continued, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Daddy will pwotect Aileen."
I knew that everything that happened in the estate reached Kaide's ears. And today's encounter with Karma had made me certain of it.
I was safe here.
At my words, Kaide's eyes widened in surprise.
The hand rubbing my forehead paused for a moment.
"Right?"
"...That doesn't mean you can go around bringing tigers with you."
"He seemed quite on edge, yet you managed to befriend him. You're quite talented."
Having grown accustomed to the pheromones of my family, I didn't sense danger unless it crossed a certain threshold.
Kaide's pheromones, in particular, were so intense that I likely hadn't even registered Sage's.
Kaide said gravely.
"We'll need to start your pheromone training soon. Along with lessons on what the other clans look like."
"That would be best. Young Master Set and Young Master Arban can now freely shift between their true forms and human forms, but the Young Lady is a late bloomer."
I'm late again.
What am I going to do, always being so behind?
My shoulders slumped helplessly. It felt like everyone was growing up so fast, while I was the only one stuck as a child.
The gap felt even wider, especially being among the Black Mambas, who matured exceptionally quickly.
As if sensing my worries, Kaide took my face in both his hands and met my eyes.
"What can you do?"
"Hmm?"
"My daughter is special, so I'll just have to accept it."
***
His first attendance at the banquet in ten years had produced an interesting situation.
Muhella, the leader of the North, recalled the recent events and chuckled.
It was a rare sight, one that would be talked about for ages and never seen again.
"I'm glad I attended this banquet. I almost missed such an amusing spectacle."
Muhella tucked a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear and lightly shook her glass, the ice within it clinking.
Her deep blue eyes shone with amusement.
The banquet hall was now in an uproar.
You could almost hear the gears turning in the heads of those eager to fill the vacancy left by the Letra family.
Surveying her surroundings with a leisurely air, Muhella took note of a few particular families.
They weren't making any direct moves yet, but they were closely watching the unfolding situation.
Muhella leaned back leisurely in her chair.
"Sage."
"Yes."
"I hear you've decided to befriend the Astrofel family's youngest child."
Muhella gestured toward Aileen, who was sitting on Kaide's lap, being fed.
With her round eyes darting about as she eagerly accepted the food, she looked just like a baby bird being fed by its mother.
Sage turned only his head to look at Aileen. Every time she chewed, her white, chubby cheeks moved with her.
Surrounded by the Astrofel family, Aileen looked exceptionally pale, reminiscent of a northern snow rabbit.
"To think he had a child he cherishes so dearly."
"Indeed."
A faint smile played on Sage's lips.
Seeing Sage, whose thoughts were usually inscrutable, show a rare flicker of emotion, Muhella's eyes narrowed.
"It seems you've taken quite a liking to that child."
"She's like a snow rabbit."
"You mean those things you tease whenever you're bored? She does resemble them."
Imagining Aileen among the snow rabbits living in the castle, the image didn't feel out of place at all.
Muhella's eyes twinkled.
"What did you play with her?"
"Tag."
"The rules must be different from the North's, I imagine."
In the North, 'tag' was a game designed to teach hunting methods, so it allowed for rougher tactics than in other regions.
A game of concealing one's presence and swiftly taking down the prey before it could notice was what they called 'tag' in the North.
"We decided to play again next time. I was caught at the end."
"...What?"
Muhella looked stunned, as if she'd heard something unbelievable.
"You were?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
There wasn't a problem, but...
It was just hard to believe that Sage, who was exceptionally competitive, had yielded.
Sage stretched out his body and rested his chin on his hand languidly.
If he were in his true form, his tail would probably be wagging.
"Mother."
"Yes."
"You're not supposed to eat your friends, are you?"
"..."
"My mouth kept watering, and I was so busy holding back that I ended up getting caught."
In other words, he had let the little bird catch him because he was trying to suppress his appetite.
Muhella choked on a cough at her son's shocking words.
Frowning in deep thought, Sage clenched and unclenched the left arm Aileen had caught in the garden.
"...Sage."
"Yes."
"This is largely my fault."
"What is?"
It's my fault for raising you this way.
Muhella couldn't bring herself to answer, letting out a troubled groan instead.