Chapter 75
“…When will that thing die?”
“B-Beepㅡ?”
“Aga! My child was surprised!”
“It’s a doll, so it probably won’t understand.”
“What?”
The smooth bridge of my nose wrinkled at the absurd retort.
I showed my anger.
“Can’t you see that the kid is so shocked that its purple fur has turned white?!”
I stroked Titi’s head to see if it might get hurt, and as expected, Titi was shaking.
‘It’s already made of cotton, so it’s a weak child.’
I hugged the sad cotton ball as hard as I could.
“Titi, I gave you a name, so you will live a long time. I have a lot of Magi, you know, I’ll keep replenishing you.”
“Beep, beep… Beep…”
But it was no use.
A mournful cry echoed through the treatment room.
A small, insignificant cat doll desperately burrowed into my arms as if it was scared.
It was clear that it was frightened by what Agasa said.
“…Gosh, poor thing.”
To explain this situation in which I protect Titi from Agasa, I have to go back in time.
A couple of weeks ago.
Titi, who contributed greatly to the building collapse incident, was immediately dismantled as soon as it arrived at the mansion.
Does a cat doll really have life?
That is, because many people questioned whether it was really possible to create life with Magi.
The problem is that people like Agasa attacked the doll with a scalpel.
“…Gurgle.”
When its seam was torn apart, Titi was startled and ended up fainting.
“You’re tearing flesh without anesthesia! That is an act against humanity!”
Having witnessed that terrible scene with my own eyes, I protested, holding on to Dad’s pants.
In the end, Dad couldn’t overcome my protests and stopped the surgery.
So currently.
People recognized Titi’s human rights and chose an ethical method.
It was in the same context that I received a regular checkup from a doctor once a week.
“…Its heart is still racing.”
As the doctor looked at Agasa in surprise, he rubbed his chin as he watched.
“No way.”
“Would you like to listen?”
“…No. I trust you, Doctor.”
However, despite saying he believed, he was deep in thought.
Looking at the expression on his face, it looked like he wanted to rip the doll’s seams and dissect it.
This bastard?
“…Aga.”
“Yes?”
“Dad told you not to, but you won’t touch Titi, will you.”
“Of course.”
Agasa laughed softly.
“But I can imagine.”
“You’d better just imagine.”
With the belief that I would protect my cub, I fired a laser into his eyes, and Titi gained courage and raised its head.
“Beep.”
And it glared at Agasa along with me.
Agasa, who was smiling as if it was cute, changed the topic.
“…Anyway, it’s surprising that its life continues even though the Princess didn’t provide Magi.”
“Hmm, maybe it’s possible.”
“Yes?”
Agasa and I looked at the doctor at the same time.
The doctor who groaned once guessed.
“The Princess’s discharge of Magi was powerful enough to set the forest behind the Duke’s castle on fire.”
The doctor placed the stethoscope on Titi’s buttocks, who were hiding in my arms.
The frightened Titi flinched.
“That doll is a creature born when the Princess released Magi. Because it absorbed all that enormous Magi at once, it’s bound to be tough.”
Agasa narrowed his brows as if he was even more surprised at the good guess.
“So you’re saying that that creature is storing Magi?”
“That’s how I interpret it.”
“…The ability to control inanimate objects is already amazing, and it even stores magical energy to sustain life.”
He exclaimed small.
He had an expression on his face that said what he heard didn’t make sense.
“…There has never been such a Magi in the history of the world, yet it exists right before our eyes.”
The doctor shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, anyway, there’s nothing major wrong with the doll. It looks healthy, so let’s hear the researchers’ opinions next.”
Titi’s research ended today with only questions left.
After leaving the treatment room with the doll, I stroked my chin with my hand.
Lisa’s long tail, showing off her skills, swayed gently.
It seemed like Titi was just happy to be out of the treatment room.
‘Actually, Titi’s safety was the top priority in the treatment room, but it’s still a mystery.’
The symbol of destruction creates life.
Even with the divine power of saving a dying creature, it was impossible.
Titi, who made a great contribution in the building collapse incident, will play a pivotal role in Isilis’ future fight.
Of course, our family was so powerful that there was no need to worry.
Due to the Empress’s emotional actions, Vallois now began to monitor Isilis’ movements in earnest.
‘But just like Dad and the brothers, I have to deal with Magi as freely as I can.’
While walking down the hallway, I folded my knees.
When my eyes met the cute button eyes, I tilted my head out of curiosity.
“Anyway, how are you really alive? I have never injected Magi into you until now.”
“Beepㅡ?”
“Hmm. Does it last long because of Magi activation as uncle doctor said?”
While I was muttering to myself, someone pulled the hem of my dress.
It was Titi.
“Beep-beep, beep-beep?”
Titi spoke a lot of foreign language as if it was responding to what I said.
Of course I couldn’t understand, so I nodded roughly.
“This sister is pretty, you say?”
“Beep-beep! Beep!”
Titi tilted its head.
“Ah, so this sister does all the pretty and cool things?”
“Beepㅡ!”
Perhaps because it was annoyed, the round button shrunk to a straight line.
“Hmm, what should we do? Either I understand your beep-beep language or you learn the Imperial language… Titi, where are you going!”
“Beep!”
It was then.
Titi became so frustrated that it folded its arms, and as it couldn’t stand it anymore, Titi tried to escape outside.
“Titi!”
Surprised, I belatedly followed Titi.
‘Titi looks like an excited monkey when it runs, but why is it so fast?’
My breathing became so heavy that the wind filled my lungs, and after pausing for a moment, Titi turned its head.
In the distance, its thick front paws were clucking as if telling me to follow.
I was already going to catch it.
While wandering around alone, someone like Agasa could kidnap Titi and dissect it…
“Aaaah! Titi!”
My terrible imagination brought me to my senses and I chased Titi at full speed.
Titi ran towards the center of the garden.
Not far away, a familiar iron gate appeared between geranium vines.
It was where Mom was sleeping, then Titi opened the iron door and went in.
“Hey, Titi! That’s my mom’s bedroom!”
It was a mountain beyond a mountain.
It was the moment when the iron door that was about to close was opened again and hit Titi.
“Ugh!”
Something glimmering as far as I could see hit my face.
I quickly snatched it up and saw that it was paper.
It’s not ordinary paper either.
“…It’s a letter from the sender, right?”
[My, baby. Anyway, I’m glad the serious matter was resolved.]
“…Baby? My baby?”
I felt strange reading the letter.
The only people who call me baby are Dad, Mom, and the annoying Agasa.
“…I was going to bring it to you, but you’re here, chirp?”
It was then.
A familiar cooing sound rang from the sky.
I was wondering something, but a bird flew in and landed on the top of my head.
Turns out it escaped before the building collapsed and survived.
“So you ran away out of fear at that time and survived?”
“What am I running away from? I was just there to deliver a letter, chirp!”
“I see, you went to deliver a letter, I understand.”
Although it was a drag, but it was actually fortunate that the bird escaped.
It was a dangerous situation, so if possible, the bird had to survive.
Anyway, there was something else I was curious about.
“Birdhead. What is this letter? It calls me ‘baby’, you know?”
“Aheeeeemm!”
The bird screamed in response to my question.
“This is the harvest I got after all my crying and screaming, chirp!”
“What?”
“Turn the letter over! I already asked the regressor to introduce themself, chirp!”
When I see it showing off like this, it means there’s something there.
What?
When I turned the letter over with the chirp, chirp sound, I saw a line drawn in the otherwise plain space.
…Is there a space where replies can be made? Just when the thought occurred to me.
[By the way, I’m your mom.]
“…?”
Taken aback, I read the sentence again.
Just in case, I read it by underlining with my sharp fingers, yet the answer was the same.
So, I mean, who is my mom?
The owner of this letter is Vivian?
“God allowed two-way communication, chirp.”
The bird sitting on the top of my head was puffing out its body proudly.
***
I couldn’t react for a while.
Are you saying that the clear, cursive handwriting was written by Mom?
Vivian is the owner of all the letters sent up to this point?
“Beepㅡ?”
As I was looking at the letter blankly, Titi seemed curious and clung to my leg.
It didn’t feel real.
First of all, Mom is lying on the bed next to me right now.
“…My mom is here, though.”
I stared at Mom’s eyelids wrapped in tight eyelashes.
Transparent skin.
Thin, petal-like pink hair.
Vivian is here.
For some reason, I felt bad and my face wrinkled.
‘…Is this a joke?’
I pouted my lips.
“…I can’t believe it, though?”
“Chirp?”
“Beepㅡ ?”
I muttered inaudibly, yet the bird and Titi were able to understand and react.
The letter paper in my hand was crumpled like tissue paper.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“You won’t believe it, chirp?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong with this fellow? If it says my mom on a letterhead, is it all Mom? How can one do fraud so shamelessly and without any evidence…”
Flashㅡ
“Baby, what do you mean fraud.”
Vivian’s closed eyes opened.
C-Crazy!
“Aaaah! It’s a ghost!”
I was startled by a strange voice that came out of nowhere and fell flat on my ass.
Vivian, who opened and closed her eyes like a machine, slowly raised her upper body.
What is this, a genre thriller all of a sudden?
Scary!
I was so shocked that as I was struggling, I felt her get up from her seat beyond my invisible vision.
“Kyaaaak!”
“…Oops, I guess I surprised you.”
Soon gentle hands lifted me up.
“Baby.”
“Aaaaah!”
“Baby, Billishia.”
Mom’s voice?
“…Mom?”
A voice that made me feel homesick grabbed my senses.
I stopped struggling with my legs.
As I slowly lifted my closed eyelids, Vivian’s face appeared in clear vision.
“Do you understand now?”
“…?”
Blue eyes that resemble the transparent depth of water.
Pink hair curling down her shoulders.
A kind smile.
It was neither a dream nor a fake.
The moment I realized that, my eyes opened wide.
“…Are you really Mom?”
“Of course.”
Mom, smiling mischievously, hugged me.
As I entered her warm embrace, the quiet perfume invaded me like water.
“…Billie?”
“D-Don’t hug me.”
However, I pulled my head back in contemplation.
