I Received the Beast Male Lead as a Birthday Present

Episode 13

 

‘…Continuing to pretend to be a beast in front of the princess.’

 

At the unexpected remark, Mikael blinked his eyes.

At that moment, he wondered if he had heard correctly.

 

‘Does she hope that the princess doesn’t know I’m a merman?’

 

He looked at Elliot with a perplexed gaze. He couldn’t even guess why Elliot had said such words to him.

 

“…I can tell what you’re thinking just by looking at your face.”

 

Elliot, who had been observing Mikael’s expression carefully, let out a faint laugh.

 

“Even if I were to threaten you to leave my sister immediately, that would be more reasonable. I wonder why you’re making such an unreasonable demand.”

 

“…”

 

The moment he heard the response, Mikael found himself at a loss for words.

 

‘I’ve heard stories about the Marquis adoring his sister terribly, but… I never thought it would be to this extent.’

 

In a sense, it was truly a remarkable bond.

 

“If you think about it, this is not a bad proposition for you. Don’t you agree?”

 

Elliot looked down at Mikael with his fists clenched.

There was a sense of calm in his indifferent expression.

 

‘The Marquis is right.’

 

Mikael narrowed his eyes.

 

As Elliot had said, it was a proposition that held no harm for him.

 

Because all he had to do was continue as he had been doing until now.

 

“…Lord.”

 

In a low growl, Mikael expressed his acceptance of the proposition.

 

Fortunately, Elliot caught the meaning of his words accurately.

 

“Well, I’ll take that as a tentative agreement.”

 

Elliot nodded, a satisfied expression on his face, having received the answer he desired.

 

Watching Elliot, Mikael let out a bitter laugh.

 

‘To end so anticlimactically…’

 

The conclusion was so trivial that it made the brief tension seem pointless.

 

‘I thought humans despised Beasts. Was I mistaken?’

 

Mikael quietly cast his eyes downward.

Until now, he had never considered revealing the fact that he was a merman to those around him.

 

This was because he believed that all humans disliked and rejected Beasts.

 

Having been indoctrinated almost like brainwashing from a young age, he had only known it as the truth.

 

So, he had built fences around himself, pushing people away to ensure they couldn’t get close.

 

But now, with the discovery of another possibility…

 

For the first time, Mikael began to entertain the idea that his mother might have been wrong.

 

“Oh, by the way, I forgot the most important thing.”

 

As if he had just remembered belatedly, Elliot added,

 

“My keeping your identity a secret is based on the assumption that you play your part well. So, if you’re going to do it half-heartedly…”

 

Elliot stopped talking abruptly.

Mikael looked at Elliot in puzzlement but then noticed someone appearing behind him. He perked up his ears.

 

Before long, a clear and serene voice echoed through the banquet hall.

 

“Brother, what are you doing with our little puppy?”

 

What he had been eagerly awaiting was the return of Cynthia.

 

***

“We’ve arrived, Your Highness.”

 

“Yeah, good work today as well.”

After giving a small bonus to the hardworking coachman who had endured the drive, I headed straight to the western annex.

 

Passing through the corridor as usual, I arrived in front of the banquet hall.

 

‘…What’s going on? For once, there are no guards?’

 

I looked around in puzzlement at the unusually empty surroundings.

 

Normally, there should have been at least one guard in front of the banquet hall. However, for some reason today, there was no one standing watch.

 

‘…Could something have happened while I was away?’

 

A sudden sense of unease narrowed my eyes. I had a bad feeling about this.

 

‘Let’s go inside and check first.’

 

I went to the entrance of the banquet hall and pushed the tightly closed door with all my strength. With a creaking sound, the door opened, revealing a familiar sight.

 

‘I hope it’s not something serious.’

 

Entering the banquet hall with a slight tension, I paused when I saw a familiar figure from behind.

 

‘..What? Why is Elliot here?’

Since Mikael had been staying in the banquet hall, Elliot had never come to visit him even once.

 

He always assumed it was because there were only guards and, since Elliot never came himself, he thought he wasn’t interested.

 

‘Maybe our schedules just never matched?’

 

I chuckled and approached the two.

 

It was a bit strange that Elliot came when I wasn’t around, but I attributed it to a coincidence.

 

“Brother, what are you doing with our little puppy?”

Approaching them with a slight raise in my voice, Elliot visibly flinched and turned to look at me.

 

“…Cynthia.”

 

After briefly appearing flustered upon seeing me, Elliot quickly regained his composure and wore a nonchalant smile.

 

“I heard you went to the city for a while, so I thought you’d be back late. Came back sooner than I expected.”

 

“I hurried back as much as possible because I thought our little puppy would be bored without me.”

 

I shrugged lightly and spoke.

 

“But seriously, why did you come all the way to see our little puppy? You’ve never visited during this whole time.”

 

“Just dropped by to check. You know, it would be a big problem if that wolf caused trouble while you were out.”

 

Elliot, who shrugged along with me, pointed to the paper bag in my hand.

 

“What’s in your hand?”

 

“Oh, this? It’s a gift for our little puppy.”

 

I glanced at the paper bag and casually replied, “A gift.”

 

At my words, Elliot’s expression became momentarily peculiar.

 

It seemed familiar, like usual, but there was a subtle sense of unease in his expression.

 

“Did this wolf really win you over to the point of buying gifts?”

 

“Well, something like that, I guess?”

 

Well, I was worried about going somewhere and getting poisoned again.

 

I couldn’t bring myself to say that, so I gave a suitable response to Elliot’s words.

 

‘I dragged him here against his will, so I’ll do my best to take good care of him while he’s with me.’

 

As I spoke, I glanced toward the cage, and I could see Mikael staring at me with one eye open.

 

He stared at me intensely, as if trying to pierce through me. However, when our eyes met, he quickly averted his gaze as if caught red-handed.

 

‘Again today…’

 

Whether it was my imagination or not, it seemed like lately Mikael had been staring at me more often.

 

‘…Could it be, he’s not falling for me, right?’

 

I pondered that for a moment, then couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle.

 

“Well, there’s no way that would happen.”

 

Unless I had the affectionate and kind personality of the original Cynthia from the source material.

 

Thinking about the actions I had taken towards Mikael so far, the likelihood of him falling for me was close to zero.

 

‘At least, it’s a relief if he doesn’t dislike me.’

 

As I sighed internally, Elliot muttered to himself as if speaking to no one in particular.

 

“…Cynthia, if that’s what you want, then there’s nothing to be done.”

 

“Huh? I didn’t catch that very well, what did you say?”

 

When I asked curiously, Elliot shook his head, saying it was nothing.

 

Then, he ruffled my hair and spoke.

 

“I’ll go back to the knight order then. Cynthia, make sure you go in not too late.”

 

With a brief farewell, Elliot hurriedly left.

 

‘…Did something urgent come up?’

 

I turned my head, feeling somewhat dazed, as I watched the empty space where Elliot had been just moments ago.

 

There must have been a reason for him to leave in such a hurry.

 

‘Now that Elliot’s gone, should I bring Mikael out?’

 

I placed the paper bag I was holding on the floor and approached the iron-barred window.

 

Taking out the key I had prepared, I inserted it into the lock and turned it, easily unlocking it.

 

With a creaking sound, the iron-barred window opened.

 

“All right, you can come out now, little puppy.”

As I opened the iron-barred window and gestured, Mikael slowly rose from his spot.

 

While he stretched and twisted his body, I quickly checked his wounds.

 

‘There don’t seem to be any particularly bad places, and the wounds are almost completely healed now.’

 

If he continued to recover at this rate, I thought I could send him back, at the latest, by next week.

 

‘…I should tell my family soon that I plan to release him soon.’

If you tell him that you’re going to let the birthday present he got you go to waste, your father might be a bit disappointed.

 

However, that doesn’t mean you can keep Michael tied up here forever.

 

‘By the way, there’s not much time left until next week.’

 

When I first brought him from the auction house, I only thought about quickly treating him and sending him away.

 

Now that the day to part with him is approaching, it feels a bit regrettable.

 

“…Woof, woof. I have a gift for you, so would you come here for a moment?”

 

I picked up the paper bag I had placed on the floor and gestured to Mikael.

 

Seemingly interested in the word “gift,” Mikael obediently approached me.

 

As a gesture of praise, I lightly patted his head and then took out a box from the paper bag.

 

With skillful hands, I untied the ribbon, and soon the gift hidden inside the wrapping paper revealed itself.