MHS | CH 07

~Chapter 7~

What on earth is going on?

I sipped my tea in the garden, looking troubled.

“I didn’t see that wrong, did I?”

“No, Your Grace. I also saw a leopard running after a rabbit just now.”

“…Do all northern estates keep a leopard in their gardens?”

“I’ve never seen such a thing before either.”

The maid and I blinked, frozen in place. The peaceful garden felt different; something seemed very wrong.

“Don’t move.”

“Y-Your Grace, what if next time the leopard tries to eat us instead of the rabbit?”

“Hmm, I don’t think that will happen.”

I waved my hand dismissively and popped a macaron into my mouth.

Flap, flap.

Hearing the sound of birds, I looked up and saw all kinds of birds nesting and chirping loudly. Why were there suddenly so many animals in the once-quiet garden?

“Chirp, chirp!” (There’s a lot of food here.)

“Chirp, chirp!” (This place is paradise. They even give out fresh rice.)

The birds were happily chirping away, singing loudly from the trees. Even the rabbits hiding in the grass were whispering.

“Squeak, squeak.” (That crazy leopard is scary.)

‘…’

The sound of all the animals was making my head hurt, but I had to pretend I didn’t understand. If the clever animals figured out I could hear them, they would never leave me alone.

‘I should stop drinking tea in the garden.’

And I also needed to figure out why so many animals suddenly appeared in the estate.

“Squeak.” (Please save me.)

Hearing the trembling voice, I shot up from my seat. A leopard had spotted the rabbit and was now charging at it. The maid screamed in panic and grabbed my arm.

“Y-Your Grace! We need to run! Hurry!”

“Lien, it’s okay. The more you panic, the more excited it’ll get. Calm down.”

“H-how can I calm down…?”

Seeing the leopard come dangerously close, Lien fainted. I stretched out my hand and said firmly,

“Enough. Running around the garden is distracting. You’re disturbing my peaceful rest.”

I already had so much to think about, and now this?

“Grrrr.” (What’s with this human?)

I raised my eyebrow at the leopard’s uncompromising attitude, then looked around and calmly walked toward it. Standing right in front of the leopard, I slapped it on the forehead.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Whimper, whimper.” (Ouch! You could’ve just told me!)

“You weren’t going to listen anyway.”

I crossed my arms and looked down at the leopard. It lowered itself flat on the ground, watching me nervously. I felt like there was never a day of peace around here.

“Alright, everyone, pay attention!”

At my words, all the animals in the garden started showing themselves. It was a strange sight—animals from all levels of the food chain gathered together.

‘A leopard, rabbits, little birds, and even birds of prey…’

It was pure chaos.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

It was clear that I needed to get things under control. It was odd for so many animals to suddenly appear, but if I left it like this, the garden would turn into a mess.

“No one is allowed to shed blood here. No hurting each other either. If you want to hunt, go to the forest. Not in front of me.”

If they broke the rules, they’d come to me begging for help, and I’d have to keep healing them. It wouldn’t just happen once, but over and over again.

“That’s the rule. As long as you’re here, I’ll make sure you have enough food. But if you don’t follow the rules, I won’t be so kind.”

The animals fell silent. They had no choice but to obey, as I could communicate with them and they instinctively knew to follow my lead, thanks to my special ability.

“And remember, act like we don’t know each other in front of people. Now, everyone, scatter!”

The animals quickly dispersed. At last, peace returned to the garden.

“Ah, much better.”

Hopefully, no one saw that. I looked around nervously but sensed no one nearby.

Relieved, I kneeled beside the fainted maid and gently shook her awake.

“Y-Your Grace?”

“Lien, are you alright? It’s okay now. The leopard left, probably full after eating.”

“Oh… Thank goodness. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me! I can’t believe I fainted and left you alone, Your Grace.”

Lien lowered her head, about to cry. Honestly, who wouldn’t faint if a giant leopard was charging at them?

I patted her shoulder and smiled, trying to reassure her.

“It seems like something strange is happening in the garden. I think I should speak to His Grace about it.”

“I’ll take you to him right away.”

“Lien. It’s fine; I can go alone. You look like you need some rest after that shock.”

“But…”

Her body was still trembling. At that moment, I spotted a flash of red hair walking in the distance. That large figure could only be…

“Sir Caben!”

I raised my hand and called out to him. Startled by my loud voice, he turned his head quickly. When he saw me, he rushed over.

“Y-You called for me, Your Grace,” he said, still catching his breath. His chest was heaving heavily.

“Take your time and catch your breath,” I said.

“Is something the matter…?”

“I just wanted to ask where His Grace might be.”

“He’s probably in his office.”

“I was going to ask him about why there are suddenly so many animals in the garden, but seeing what you’re holding, I guess I don’t need to ask.”

I glanced at the wildcat dangling from Caben’s hand, held by the scruff of its neck.

“Meow.” (Please save me.)

Its big, pleading eyes looked at me.

Caben must have caught animals and brought them to the garden.

Seeing my gaze, he hurriedly hid the wildcat behind his back.

“Well, this is, um…”

“…So you’re the one who brought the animals, Caben?”

“It was on His Grace’s orders.”

“His Grace’s? Why?”

I asked, clearly confused. He gave the order to bring animals to the garden? I couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

“I need to go see him. He’s in the office, right?”

I pointed in the direction where Cedric should be. Caben quickly nodded in response, his eyes shaking with nervousness.

“Are you going to take the wildcat with you?”

“Oh!”

Caben quickly put the wildcat down, and it ran over to me, trembling. I gave it a gentle nod to show everything was fine. Then it quickly darted deeper into the garden.

***

Cedric noticed the commotion outside and glanced out the window. He saw Claire and Caben. When he noticed the wildcat in Claire’s hand, Cedric scratched his chin.

“She seems pleased.”

He had brought the animals to make a friend for Claire, thinking she liked animals.

Watching her happy reaction made him feel a bit odd. He hadn’t expected her to be so excited about it.

“With these new friends, she probably won’t mention divorce for a while.”

If he could keep providing what she needed, she would eventually be satisfied with the marriage. It wasn’t hard for him to give her anything she wanted.

Cedric nodded and sat back down to focus on his work.

“…Maybe she wants a divorce because she doesn’t have enough money.”

If that was the case, he would just have to increase her allowance. He had made a lot of money during the wars, so giving her more wouldn’t be a problem. Even if she became extravagant and constantly asked for more, it would be better than divorce.

Cedric furrowed his brow as he looked at the amount of money allocated to Claire. He himself had few expenses since he didn’t care about clothes or luxuries.

1,000 gold. That was her weekly allowance. That added up to at least 4,000 gold a month.

Considering that a commoner’s monthly wage was around 100 gold, wasn’t that enough? Then again, she had lived in the royal family, so maybe it wasn’t.

He quickly crossed out the 1,000 gold and wrote 2,000 instead.

“This should be enough.”

At the very least, she wouldn’t ask for a divorce due to a lack of money.

He had also brought her animal friends and given her a generous allowance. Despite all this, Cedric still couldn’t understand her feelings, which left him feeling frustrated.

‘I should call the butler and discuss this.’

Ever since their walk in the woods, Cedric had found it uncomfortable to face Claire directly. There was something about it that made him feel strange—though it wasn’t a bad feeling, it was new, and he couldn’t quite identify it.

Bang!

Just then, the door burst open, and Claire stormed into his office, fuming.

“…Claire?”

Cedric tilted his head slightly and looked past her to see Caben standing behind her. Whatever was going on, Claire seemed extremely angry.

Caben waved his hands in apology and made a miserable face. Cedric shifted his gaze back to Claire, watching her closely.

“I’ll be outside,” Caben said, slipping out of the room.

Cedric sighed and stared at the closed door before turning to Claire.

“Claire, I know we’re married, but…”

To be honest, he still found it uncomfortable to be alone with her like this. But oddly enough, seeing her so upset didn’t bother him at all. In fact, she looked almost… cute.

‘Cute?’

Was something wrong with him? How could he think she was cute right now? Something was definitely off with him.

Just as Cedric was getting lost in thought, Claire suddenly shouted.

“Divorce me right now!”

“…What?”

His sharp, confident eyes narrowed into a glare.