When Cheshire first met Hata.
The pitiful Hata had been discarded among a pile of trash.
Cheshire personally drove off the underworld dwellers who were circling, hoping to scavenge something to eat, and rescued Hata herself.
Hata was a dog beastman who had been abandoned after being experimented on.
Because grown dogs aren’t cute.
He was a being created from human greed—a desire to own a forever small and young puppy.
Due to side effects from the experiments, Hata was incomplete.
Unlike other beastmen who could fully transform into a perfect human form, Hata’s ears and tail remained visible, and his body ceased to grow.
He became trapped in a body that stopped developing at around seventeen years old.
Possibly from repeated experiments, his mind was also somewhat immature, and he had lost most of his memories.
So he wasn’t able to offer any useful information to Cheshire, who was trying to track down traces of her mother.
Even so, Cheshire healed the dying puppy and used fairy magic to conceal his ears and tail.
Saved from the brink of death, Hata desperately wanted to pledge loyalty to the fairy girl.
“Hata wants to stay with the Fairy Lady forever!”
It was nonsense—he could barely survive on his own.
Naturally, Cheshire ignored him and left alone.
But Hata was persistent.
He followed her around tirelessly, eagerly promoting his usefulness.
“Hata is helpful! Look at this. I made it for you, Fairy Lady.”
He gifted her hats and accessories he made himself.
He gave her all kinds of potions he had created with beastman strength.
“Hata found information!”
He sold items he had crafted to obtain usable intel and offered it to her.
He was just like a dog that had found a new owner, groaning and straining to earn her favor.
Hata was annoying—but not to the point of making her want to kill him.
Maybe it was because he had been experimented on, just like her mother.
Cheshire always went a little easier on him.
One day, as she wandered around, ignoring the tagalong Hata, he disappeared.
At first, she thought he’d finally given up.
But the suddenness of his disappearance felt off.
Troubled, Cheshire went looking for Hata.
She learned he had been taken by people who held a grudge against her.
This was exactly why she never wanted to keep anyone close…
Angered, Cheshire stormed off to rescue Hata.
She couldn’t even remember how many people she killed that day.
All that remained in her memory was that she had rampaged like the daughter of a mad fairy.
Drenched in blood, Cheshire finally found Hata.
And of course, his condition was terrible.
Lying sprawled out with his limbs twisted in unnatural directions, Hata had an axe pointed at him.
“Don’t ever show your face in front of me again.”
She pressed the blood-dripping axe blade against his jaw and gave a warning.
“Because I’ll kill you.”
She thought that, surely, he would understand now.
But then, Hata suddenly began to cry.
“I’m sorry… Hata’s not cute… Because he’s a big, ugly dog…”
Even with all four limbs broken, he hadn’t shed a tear or groaned until Cheshire arrived.
Now, trembling all over, he wept.
“Of course the pretty Fairy Lady hates Hata…”
The foolish dog beastman didn’t even know how to cry properly.
Hata smiled while crying.
“Hata is an idiot. A useless mutt.”
Cheshire frowned at the words he uttered so naturally.
They were probably things he had heard in the laboratory.
Repeated so often that, even with his memories lost, they remained vivid.
“A filthy, disgusting mutt… who doesn’t even know his place, ugh… trying to be with the Fairy Lady… I’m sorry… b-but…”
The corners of his mouth, forced into a smile, trembled.
Stammering through rising sobs, Hata pressed his cheek against the cold axe blade.
Even as a red line formed and blood trickled down, he paid it no mind and pleaded.
“Can’t I just… follow you from behind…?”
He was truly annoying and troublesome.
But maybe keeping a dog around wouldn’t be so bad.
Once Cheshire made up her mind to keep him close, the first thing she did was grab hold of his lifeline.
In the underworld, trusting others was the height of foolishness.
So it was the natural thing to do.
Pushing aside his torn, ragged clothing, she placed her hand on the left side of Hata’s chest.
A dazzling flower bloomed all around.
Surrounded by drifting petals and butterflies, Hata blinked blankly—
Then groaned in pain as he felt it.
“Urgh…!”
Despite breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain, Hata endured it.
At the end of the agonizing ordeal, a mark that bound his heart was engraved.
Upon confirming the floral pattern that had bloomed on his own skin, Hata wore an expression of ecstasy.
The puppy, now wearing the collar that bound its life and death, was overjoyed beyond words.
Looking at Hata, whose face had turned a deep red, Cheshire gave a command.
“From now on, live as my puppy.”
From that day on, Hata became the witch’s dog.
The loyal dog bet everything on Cheshire.
He did everything with more effort than necessary, and if there was anyone who posed a threat to Cheshire, he would be the first to run out and bite them.
To an excessive degree, in fact.
Still, despite looking like a fluffy dessert, the way he barked like a wild beast was so cute that she just let him be.
‘Not now! Why are you here already?!’
Cheshire felt like her soul was escaping her body.
Karha pulled her into one arm and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, while Cheshire screamed inwardly.
“Wait a moment.”
Clack—the moment the sword slid out of its scabbard, a dazzling flash of light streaked.
There was a sound like the air being torn, followed shortly by a heavy thud.
It was the sound of the fountain that had stood in front of Cheshire just moments ago being cleanly split in two.
The water gushed and flooded the garden lawn in a mess.
Swinging his sword, Karha gave a crooked smile.
“Let’s catch that dog first and talk again.”
Karha’s intuition, having just bisected the fountain, was spot on.
Hata had been hiding just behind the shrubbery, not far from the fountain.
With a butterfly that Cheshire had sent perched on his head to conceal him, Hata glared fiercely at Karha through the bushes.
Judging from the gleam in his violet eyes, it seemed he had seriously misunderstood the situation.
He seemed to think that Karha was harassing Cheshire.
Hata looked ready to leap out at any moment and bite Karha.
‘Hata! No!’
She desperately signaled with her eyes.
The growling Hata immediately calmed down as soon as his eyes met Cheshire’s.
The well-trained puppy looked at his master with gentle eyes.
As if asking what to do, he tilted his head, and Cheshire subtly jerked her chin toward the side, making sure Karha wouldn’t notice.
It was a signal to run away quickly.
But it didn’t seem like escaping would be easy for Hata.
And for good reason—Karha, who had tracked Cheshire with beast-like instincts, was now walking directly toward where Hata was hiding.
It was a completely different demeanor from when he had been cheerfully following her around, smelling the flowers.
There was a murderous glint in his eyes.
Cheshire glanced at Karha’s swords.
Two blades hung neatly at his waist.
They were sodoe, shorter than standard swords.
Judging by his light and agile movements, it was highly likely he practiced dual swordsmanship based on quick-draw techniques.
A style focused on extreme offense—this was the worst possible matchup for Hata, who, as a beastman, relied mostly on hand-to-hand combat.
For now, Karha had drawn only one sword since he was still holding Cheshire.
But if a real fight broke out…
Cheshire’s puppy might end up minced like a chunk of meat under the relentless assault of the dual blades.
‘That can’t happen.’
Cheshire’s gaze turned cold.
Just as she was prepared to use her power at the risk of exposing her true identity—
Suddenly, a tremor shook the ground.
It was the kind of vibration caused by dozens of horses galloping at full speed.
A bell rang from the castle tower, and lights began to illuminate various parts of the fortress.
The castle, previously engulfed in darkness, lit up in an instant.
At the clamorous tolling of the bell, Karha’s face twisted.
“…Tch.”
Startled by the sudden commotion, Karha gave up on chasing the dog.
“I need to check the front gate first.”
Instead of pursuing the fleeing Hata, he carried Cheshire and jogged lightly toward the castle gate.
Then, he hid his body behind a bush with a view of the gate.
His hand remained on his sword hilt, ready to draw at any moment.
In front of the gate stood a knight order waving red flags.
They bore the insignia of the Imperial House.
Kieren emerged slowly, wearing a simple robe draped over his sleepwear.
A noble who had arrived with the knights looked down at Kieren without dismounting.
He spoke arrogantly.
“Count Basilian, heed the imperial command.”
Kieren, his eyes half-closed as though just awakened, yawned.
The noble shouted furiously at his unkempt behavior.
“How dare you be so insolent! A noble receiving the emperor’s order behaving like this—!”
“Ah… well, it would’ve been better if you had come during the day, wouldn’t it?”
Kieren lazily replied in a sluggish tone as he messily brushed his tousled hair with his hand.
“Just tell me the command.”
The noble ground his teeth and pulled a scroll from his coat.
He broke the wax seal imprinted with the emperor’s insignia and read in a sharp voice:
“Count Basilian, upon receiving this message, you are to immediately present yourself at the Imperial Palace. This is a direct order from the Emperor, and failure to comply will be deemed treason. Furthermore—”
He pronounced each word with heavy emphasis.
“You are to enter the palace along with the adoptee you have recently taken into your household.”
─── ･ ｡ﾟ✧: *. ꕥ .* :✧ﾟ. ───
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