Chapter 026
“Ahhh! Stop, stop!”
Theo burst into laughter, shaking his head while holding a fish tightly. The fish wriggled in his arms, struggling, and eventually, Theo couldn’t hold it any longer and let it slip away. His face turned bright red as he spoke.
“Catch another fish for me, please!”
Theo’s hair, wet from playing, sparkled in the sunlight. I reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Did you have fun?”
“A lot! Let’s come back tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that!”
Theo chatted excitedly, his face shining with joy. I poked his cheek playfully. He never seemed to tire.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Hmm… a little?”
“Then let’s go and eat some sandwiches, and we can play more afterward. You can’t enjoy playing if you’re hungry.”
Theo looked disappointed but followed Charllote’s words. The knights who had been fishing and playing with Theo also came out, wringing the water from their clothes.
Theo, wrapped in a large towel, sat down next to her and took a big bite of his sandwich. He looked much more energetic than when she had first met him.
“There’s plenty, so eat as much as you want.”
Theo nodded eagerly. His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Not able to sit still, Theo stood up, holding his sandwich.
“Don’t wander too far, okay?”
“I won’t! I’ll stay here!”
Her gaze followed Theo as he wandered near the water’s edge. In a blink of an eye, a child could easily get hurt.
“Theo?”
“What’s this?”
Theo came running, holding something in his arms with a sandwich still in his mouth. What could it be? Had he caught a squirrel?
“Charlotte! Sister-in-law! Look, look! Isn’t it amazing?”
Theo proudly showed Luna and Charlotte a black lump in his arms. The creature was curled up, making it hard to tell what it was… was that… a lizard?
“Eek!”
Charlotte shrieked in surprise. She absolutely hated reptiles!
“Huh?”
“Theo, put that down right now!”
Theo’s face broke into a mischievous grin.
“I’m going to keep it! I’m going to raise it from now on!”
“What?!”
Why did it have to be a lizard? Couldn’t he have chosen something cuter, like a squirrel or a rabbit?
“Aha, Charlotte is scared of lizards, huh?”
“Get it away from me! Seriously… Ahhh!”
Theo chased Charlotte, and the others burst into laughter.
Ah, this was so frustrating!
Meanwhile…
Cassius was on a reconnaissance mission.
He bent down to check the nest. The knights searching the area bowed their heads.
“They left not long ago, sir.” Cassius frowned.
Snow leopards usually build their nests after laying eggs and stay there until their young mature. He had confirmed last winter that many snow leopard cubs had been born. It took about 10 months for them to mature into adults. Snow leopards typically moved their territory in the fall. But for some reason, they had been abandoning their nests and relocating since spring.
“…Did the cubs die?”
“No, sir. The last patrol spotted several snow leopard cubs.”
One of the knights who had been inspecting the nest spoke up.
“It looks like they are running from something.”
Cassius nodded. He had been thinking the same thing.
If they were constantly relocating, it suggested they were running away from something.
Whoosh!
A signal.
Cassius turned toward the sound of the signal. The ground was soaked in blue blood. Snow leopard blood.
He furrowed his brow at the sight.
“Duke, it’s a cub.”
The knight had found a snow leopard cub with deep bite marks.
“It’s only been dead for about a day. Judging by the bite marks…”
“…It’s a monster.”
The knight nodded.
Cassius’s blood ran cold. He now understood why the snow leopards had been acting strangely.
Something that shouldn’t be in this forest had appeared.
Cassius gritted his teeth.
“From now on, we change our search objective. We need to find the gate as soon as possible and identify the monster that crossed over.”
“Yes, sir!”
A cold determination filled the knights’ faces. Monsters were different from snow leopards.
Snow leopards only intruded on human settlements when they were starving. They also lived only for about three years, so their numbers were limited.
But monsters were different.
They had no reason, and they moved solely to kill. Sometimes when a gate opened, a monster would come through, causing great damage.
Cassius remembered when a monster had crossed over during his childhood. It had been called the Basilisk, a terrifying beast from the north.
That giant snake had slaughtered the north.
Cassius’ face turned icy as he clenched his fist.
Because of that monster, the Duchess had died shortly after giving birth to Theo.
And shortly after, the Duke also passed away.
It had been a great disaster that shook the foundation of Esteria.
If it hadn’t been for that monster, his parents would still be alive, and Theo wouldn’t have fallen ill with a rare disease.
The memory of that time came rushing back, and my blood turned cold. I unconsciously gritted my teeth.
“It’s likely still a cub.”
Cassius turned to his aide.
“You mean, a monster’s cub?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Giverny, bowing his head.
“They’re not skilled hunters. The fact that they attacked a cub suggests it was an easy target. Look at the bite marks.”
Following Giverny’s words, Cassius examined the bite marks on the corpse. As he had said, they were clumsy and small.
“It’s the right time to hunt it. If it grows…”
“It will become a huge disaster.”
At that moment, another knight stepped forward.
“But Sir Giverny, there’s something strange.”
“Strange?”
“Yes. The size of the bite marks here is different from those over here. Also, the pattern is different.”
“…This is.”
“You mean it’s not just one?”
“It seems so, sir! One is a cub, while the other is an adult. They’re different types as well.”
Cassius let out a bitter laugh.
Now it wasn’t just one, but two.
He raised his head and gazed out at the vast forest. The sound of rustling leaves in the wind reached his ears. Somewhere out there, the creature was hiding.
“…Increase the search speed. Whatever it is, we’ll find it and kill it!”
“Yes, sir!”
There was no need to worry.
They had prepared well for monsters. He couldn’t afford to lose anything again.
‘Nothing will be harmed.’
He would protect everything.
Despite my objections, the lizard eventually became part of our group.
While Theo was playing, I had put the lizard in a basket, but I had to resist the urge to throw the whole basket away.
Even then, the lizard didn’t seem to have moved. It was curled up tightly and hadn’t even raised its head.
I wondered if it was dead, but its chest was rising and falling, so it seemed it was just sleeping.
“It’s not weird, right?”
“The knights were with us earlier. It should be fine,” Luna said, trying to reassure me.
“The lizard itself is weird, though. Huh. Are you okay with this, Luna?”
“It’s not my pet. I’m here to serve the Duchess, not the young master, so it doesn’t bother me,” Luna replied simply.
She wasn’t concerned since it wasn’t her problem.
Theo was waddling around with the basket as big as himself, holding it tightly.
“Hee hee, I’ll give you something yummy! Let’s go eat something good, okay?”
With him so excited, I couldn’t take it away from him.
“You’re my little sister now! Little sister!”
Did he got permission from that little one? Whether it would be a younger sister or younger brother, I wasn’t sure.
“We’ll eat together, and then, um, we’ll bathe together! We’ll sleep together!”
Is it really that fun for him?
In fact, when I saw Theo’s smiling face, I realized this was a losing battle. That lizard was likely going to stay in the Isteria castle for a while.
I turned to Luna.
“…Find out what lizards like to eat. We can’t leave it hungry.”
“Yes, Duchess,” Luna answered with a smile in her voice. I felt uneasy as I thought about how often I’d have to see that lizard in Theo’s room.
Why did it have to be a lizard? Why?
I sighed deeply.
