For cats, toys are necessary.
But Seria wasn’t interested just in any fun toy, since she was a cat beastman.
In that sense, Yuel Rickard was the best toy.
Of course, it was ambiguous to call Yuel a toy since he was a cat beastman like her, but in any case, Yuel was fun to tease.
“Yuel!”
“…Hiiik!”
Seria, who suddenly popped out of a grass thicket, pounced on Yuel at once.
The startled Yuel couldn’t even scream, collapsing to the ground. Soon after, he felt Seria’s weight on him.
“Se-Seria!”
Above Yuel’s jet-black hair, cat ears perked up, revealing their shape.
Beastmen who hadn’t undergone their second growth phase often involuntarily exposed their tails or ears when startled.
“Hi, Yuel. How was it? Did I surprise you?”
Seria chuckled mischievously and grabbed Yuel’s ears.
Pat. As her small fingers touched the sensitive ears, Yuel’s ears twitched reflexively.
Yuel’s face turned red, and his small blue eyes, tinged with tears, trembled.
Perhaps because of his naturally pale skin, the reaction was noticeable.
“G-Go away!”
With a flushed face, Yuel shouted angrily. Seria giggled and rose.
Seeing Yuel’s amusing reaction made hiding in the thicket worthwhile.
“Come on, get up.”
Seria, with her small white hands extended, smiled with her eyes twinkling. Within her golden-eyed gaze, the dark pupils were vertically elongated, unmistakably resembling a cat.
Her pink, short hair, prettily fluttering in the wind, didn’t quite match her mischievous expression.
Yuel, who had been staring blankly at Seria, suddenly snapped back to reality and turned his head abruptly.
“Forget it. I don’t like you.”
“I like you, though.”
Yuel’s body trembled at the answer that came without a moment’s hesitation.
His newfound cat friend, who appeared one day, never hesitated to say such cheerful words. In those moments, not knowing how to react, Yuel would fidget as if something was malfunctioning.
“Still, I don’t like you!”
Yuel, who spoke resolutely, quickly sprang up without Seria’s help. Contrary to his heavy words, he didn’t seem very angry.
Oddly enough, even though he frequently said he didn’t like her, it didn’t look like he really disliked her.
That’s why, taking a step closer, Seria spoke.
“Tch, still, I waited for you to play.”
“And who asked you to wait?”
“But Yuel, you waited for me, too.”
Yuel’s pupils widened significantly at such remarks. Thanks to that, his long eyelashes and the teardrops below his eyes became more noticeable.
‘Pretty.’ While entertaining such primitive thoughts, Yuel, staggering backward, suddenly exclaimed.
“M-me, waiting for you?!”
“Then who else? You kept looking around as if you were searching for someone. Besides me, who else would you meet in our house?”
Each word struck Yuel like a barrage. His face turned so red that it seemed like it might burst, and the child, unable to find any words, just pressed his lips.
Yuel’s plump lips, like a ripe apple, were particularly beautiful. The slightly upturned corners of his mouth made it look as if he was always smiling, making anyone who saw him feel good.
‘His personality is a bit edgy, though.’
Nevertheless, Seria liked Yuel just the way he was. He was pleasant to look at, and teasing him always elicited an immediate response.
Despite his blunt speech, his personality was somewhat reserved, and even on occasions when she teased him excessively, Yuel never reacted aggressively.
‘Of course, if he had, my brothers wouldn’t have stayed quiet,’ Seria thought, imagining her five brothers causing a ruckus; the mere thought gave her a headache.
Letting out a deep sigh, she suddenly realized that Yuel had discreetly distanced himself from her.
‘When did he manage to run away again?’ Slightly smiling, Seria raised her arm and waved it while speaking.
“Let’s play again tomorrow!”
“I’m not playing with you anymore!”
In response to Yuel’s defiant answer, Seria burst into laughter.
It was because he said the same thing every time they parted ways. Now it sounded like a greeting.
“Yeah, okay. Are you coming out again tomorrow?”
“…I’m not!”
A faint voice carried through the wind.
‘Why is he so frantic?’
This was why Seria couldn’t easily let go of him. Yuel was a good toy and, more importantly, the first “true” friend Seria had made.
━━━━━ ∙ʚ(✧)ɞ∙ ━━━━━
The reasons for Seria having no friends until she was ten could be broadly divided into two.
Firstly, she experienced delayed growth due to being born frail, and secondly, her five older brothers were overprotective.
To talk about this, we must begin by acknowledging the hard work of the duke and duchess, who unexpectedly ended up raising five sons. One can easily tell how much they had hoped for a daughter just by their names.
From the first son to the fifth son, all of them had names ending with ‘Ri,’ and the initial letter of each name followed the order of consonants. In other words, it went like this:
Gary, Najery, Danory, Loury, Marongry.
[The order follows, obviously, Hangul consonants.]
They might have been half-joking by the time of the birth of the second son, but after that, when only sons continued to be born, they decided to stick to the specific order for the names.
Thanks to this, even those unfamiliar with the family could quickly figure out which son was which just by hearing their names.
In that sense, Seria was special.
If she had been born a son, her name would likely have started with “B” and ended with “Ri.”
However, her parents wanted to give their precious daughter a beautiful name.
Therefore, it was only natural that the attention of everyone in the household was focused on her. She was already precious, and her fragile health only added to that sentiment.
Perhaps it was because of this excessive attention that Seria occasionally felt suffocated.
“Yuel, where are you?”
So, Yuel, who neither showed interest in her nor openly ran away, became a very different and somewhat comforting presence for Seria. Although Yuel was busy avoiding her, it was not that he truly disliked her.
‘He doesn’t hate me.’
He seemed to like her. If someone disliked Seria, even if they tried to hide it, she would sense it. It was partly due to the child’s inherent innocence, but also because Seria was perceptive in that regard.
So, this was a kind of game. A game in which Yuel puts in too much effort to hide, though.
‘He’s hiding again. Did he mean it when he said that he wouldn’t play with me anymore, right?’
Seria wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked around the garden. A bigger problem than being weak was that her physical condition suddenly worsened.
Since she often collapsed while playing a little too much, she couldn’t help but worry about overexerting herself.
‘I wonder if Yuel would play with me if I said I’m sick.’ That thought crossed Seria’s mind, and she shook her head.
After all, if Yuel started worrying about her as her older brothers did, it would probably ruin the fun of playing together, and her interest would plummet.
‘It’s a bit difficult, though…’
Seria took a deep breath. Her previously unstable legs were gradually getting heavier, and her face felt hotter, as if she were running a fever.
‘Maybe I should just go inside and rest.’ Although that seemed like the best option, her feet didn’t seem to cooperate.
While Marquis Rickard had business to attend to in the capital, he stayed at the Duke’s mansion. However, keeping him here for several months, even though all the work was done, was unreasonable.
Seria wasn’t immature enough to make a fuss about not wanting Yuel to leave.
‘So, I should play a lot while he’s here.’
Although now the usual fun game of hide and seek was somewhat difficult.
Just when she decided to go back, even though it was disappointing, she found Yuel hiding not far away.
“I found you!”
At the loud sound, Yuel’s ears perked up again.
The child turned around and looked at Seria with a strange expression as if he were sulking and almost crying at the same time.
“Why do you keep following me?”
“I didn’t follow you; I found you.”
Though not explicitly expressed, Yuel’s discontent seemed palpable up to this point.
Perhaps his reaction pleased her again. Forgetting her physical condition, Seria started running with enthusiasm.
Only ten steps. Just that much of a run, and Seria collapsed forward.
“Se-Seria?!”
Yuel, grumbling until a moment ago, widened his eyes, running hastily towards Seria like a cat. His ears and tail popped up.
“What’s wrong! Don’t play around!”
If you’re joking, I really won’t play with you anymore!
Regardless of the cute threat he made, the fallen Seria showed no intention of getting up.
‘Is something really bad?’ With thoughts of preferring it to be a mischievous prank, Yuel approached Seria.
Just as tears of the same color as his eyes were about to fall,
“Kugraaaaawww!” (Seria!)
At the strange crying sound coming from somewhere, the tears dried quickly.
Following the sound, Yuel raised his head and,
Oh, my god. It’s a dragon.
‘Is it an illusion?’
Blink~ blink~ Yuel blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed his eyes, but the illusion didn’t disappear at all.
Even more, it was moving his way!
“Seria!”
Seria, Seria…
As Yuel was hugging Seria with a dumb expression, Seria’s name was shouted simultaneously from all directions, like an echo.
However, the voices were so strangely different from each other that they couldn’t be called echoes.
“Seria has collapsed again!”
“Darn it, I told her not to play with that brat.”
“Brother Gary! Quickly transform into a human.”
“How’s our youngest?”
“For now, let’s get rid of that boy.”
The five men who appeared from nowhere were all different, but at a glance, they were strikingly similar to each other. Although their heights, personalities, and even animal types were different, they were all Seria’s older brothers.
There were five. All five of them were there.
Yuel hiccuped unintentionally after realizing this. His face turned pale, and his pupils shook violently.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Yuel apologized, thinking that collapsing next to Seria would not be such a bad idea.
Thank you for the chapter ^^