【Chapter 57】
Esadien remained tight-lipped, but even as his pointed ears lay flat, he continued to stare at Ramande without changing his attitude.
“I understand everything you say. I heard what you were saying earlier too.”
– How… did you understand?
Esadien hesitated and mumbled, and Ramande sighed and sat down with his chair backward.
“Well, I don’t know. I just understood it the moment I heard it.”
As if organizing his thoughts, Ramande tapped the back of the chair with his hand. Each time his fingertips touched the wooden decoration, a faint glow of divine power emanated from it.
“What is it that’s afflicting your body? It doesn’t seem to disappear even with divine power.”
Rather, it seemed like it was being sucked in.
Esadien’s tail swelled up like it was going to burst at the sound of Ramande’s murmured words.
– Priest, can’t you turn me back?
“….Why? don’t you like it?”
If what was in front of him was an ordinary cat, it would have been cute enough for Ramande to look at with fondness. But the core of ‘that’ was the damned Third Prince.
Ramande’s lips twisted.
“Let’s say there is still some attachment left in waiting in front of the mansion and appearing in front of Minuelle without even trying. But this new method is giving me goosebumps.”
– Tha—that’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t change because I wanted to!
In the gaze of someone who looked at him like there was no way to save him, Esadien desperately protested. He explained his situation, which seemed to be due to the “Love Potion,” but Ramande’s expression did not change.
“Oh. Is that so? Then why didn’t you go to the imperial magician?”
– What’s the point of going there when no one understands me!
“You didn’t even try.”
Esadien took a small breath.
“If you had at least tried to find the Crown Princess and make your existence known, the imperial family wouldn’t have been overturned with your disappearance.”
– That’s…..
Such an idea never occurred to him in the first place.
‘Minuelle told my sister about the assassin.’
So his sister must have been worried. Thinking that Esadien might have been harmed somewhere.
He felt guilty.
Ramande said coldly, looking at the top of Esadien’s head, which bent down without energy.
“I’ll take you to the imperial palace tomorrow. We should have some time even if it’s only for a short while.”
– I…..
Esadien knew it well. It was right to go back as Ramande said. Even if it would be hard to make the Emperor and the Crown Princess believe, if Ramande spoke up first, there were many ways to prove it. Even so…
– I don’t want to.
Esadien abandoned everyone.
Ramande, who did not expect it, crumpled his face and asked harshly.
“What? Are you really crazy? If you get caught, it’s over.”
– Are you worried about me? You’re also a priest, aren’t you?
“Don’t talk nonsense. Even though your engagement is broken, I didn’t want to make Minuelle sick thinking about the first person she loved.”
– What do you mean?
Esadien’s head was spinning from Ramande’s rant, which went beyond his imagination. However, Ramande continued to speak with a cold expression on his face.
“Think of Lafesch Celeste coming into your room like a flowerpot and watching you 24 hours a day. Would you like it?”
No way!
Ramande snorted at the sight of Esadien trembling and answering with his whole body.
“That’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”
– I…I’m different from her.
“What’s different? Oh, you can’t do the same thing with a plant in the bathtub. Isn’t the plant option better then?”
– I wasn’t planning on doing anything! I never even thought about it!
“Excuses. As a fellow man, it’s embarrassing to see.”
In a complaining tone, Esadien finally snapped. Ramande grabbed his neck and glared at him fiercely.
“You’re going back to the Imperial Palace tomorrow. Do you understand?”
– ……
But still, Esadien stubbornly turned away. Ramande was puzzled that despite all the logic being on his side, he was still resisting.
“Don’t you think you should go to the palace first, whether you return to being human or not? His Majesty would mobilize another temple or the Great Magician to release the side effects.”
Still, looking at Esadien’s silence, Ramande felt a hunch that something was wrong.
“Maybe you don’t want to turn back into a human?”
Finally, Esadien’s tail responded. Astonished, Ramande dropped him on the desk and sighed. Esadien landed gracefully(?) on his bottom and murmured in a gloomy tone.
– Minuelle likes me, who is not a human but an animal.
“Even if that’s the case…”
– I love her.
Ramande’s lips stiffened. Looking at his pale face, Esadien spoke sincerely.
– But she won’t accept me as a human. I just want to be by her side, no matter what form I take…
“You mean…. it doesn’t matter which form it is?”
As Esadien nodded his head slowly, he could vaguely understand. This priest, Ramande, was not by Minuelle side as only a friend.
No matter how much he pretended not to be, his heart was revealed at first glance.
‘That’s why I was jealous.’
Now that they were in the same situation, he could feel his emotions more clearly. Ramande, who rested his forehead on the backrest, gave a wry self-pity smile.
“Why do only guys like these keep bothering Minuelle?”
– So please leave it as it is, Priest.
He looked at Esadien, who was pleading, and suddenly asked.
“However, aren’t you thinking too lightly about it, Your Highness?”
– About what?
“If you can just be by his side, you will be satisfied. Just watching over her would make you happy… That may be how you feel right now.”
– It won’t change in the future.
“Then, what if Minuelle starts to like someone else?”
Esadien’s pupils widened. It was a shock as if a huge rock had fallen on his head.
– I…..
He never thought about that. Knowing that he was taken aback, Ramande continued calmly and cruelly.
“What if Minuelle gets married? If she has a child? Can you accept the sight of her forming a happy family with someone else, not you?”
Each question felt like a punch to Esadien, who had never considered such possibilities. Despite knowing how much he was shocked, Ramandee remained cruelly calm as he continued to ask. He had rushed to Minuelle without even considering such assumptions, but on the other hand, these were things that he had to address. Ramande laid Esadien, who was out of breath, on a folded blanket and spoke.
“Take your time and think it over. You seem to have plenty of time.”
That meant nothing more than accepting his true identity.
Even after a considerable amount of time had passed, Ramande could not precisely identify the reason why he had acted that way.
Was it because of empathy due to a shared experience, or was it a sense of maturity as someone who had also chosen to accept cruel circumstances, or perhaps because he didn’t have the confidence that Minuelle would believe him even if he revealed the truth about Esadien’s identity?
💧
As a nature lover, my father smiled happily as soon as he saw Elle.
“Is that Elle?”
“Yes. Isn’t he cute?”
“Well, yes.”
My father raised his paw to examine the black jelly and nodded his head.
“Your feet will grow quite big. I think he’ll walk well on the snow.”
As he shook his foot like shaking hands and held it. The advice was a bonus.
“You have to take good care of our Minuelle.”
It seemed that Elle understood that too and nodded his head. Elle hardly made any sound other than making a ‘mya’ sound when calling me. It was somewhat worrisome, so when I spoke, Father smiled as if it was nothing to worry about.
“Originally, cats or other animals are said to communicate in sounds that humans cannot hear. That’s why Elle is making noise; it must be purely to get your attention.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, so Elle making noise must be solely to get your attention.”
“Elle likes me a lot. Isn’t that right, Elle?”
“Myaa.”
Elle answered and then buried his face against my neck.
“Oh, you’re smart.”
I caressed Elle’s warm body and murmured with satisfaction.
“What do you mean by marriage….. Maybe I should just live alone and raise a cat.”
As soon as those words were spoken, both Ramande and Elle, who was in her arms, stiffened.
“Are you serious, Minuelle?”
“Mya?”
Why are you guys making a fuss? I have a lot of money, can’t I live alone?
I muttered, pouting my lips.
“I don’t know. There are choices like that too.”
“You said you’d collect handsome men.”
“Oh, come on! How long are you going to tease me about that?”
Father neither stopped nor cheered for us as we made silly noises. He just watched us with a smile. Meanwhile, the magician who had finished preparing said,
“The gate is ready.”
The luggage will come by land, and we will arrive directly at the Karnien territory through the gate. I held Elle tightly in my coat and hugged him tightly.
“Close your eyes well. All right, Elle?”
Ramande reached out to me while I was asking.
“Minuelle.”
Holding onto the hand of my trusty friend, I tightly closed my eyes. The magician began the countdown.
“Three, two, one. Depart.”
My closed eyes were suddenly filled with a bright light, and I felt a sensation of my body floating up.
“It’s 11:29. We have confirmed your arrival.”
A voice of a different magician than before, and noticeably colder air hit us.
We have arrived in the North.
“Are you okay, Minuelle? Are you not cold?”
Ramande, who shook his head to dispel the feeling of floating, asked.
“You know I don’t get cold easily. How about you?”
“It’s bearable.”
Come to think of it, is it because I’m a Northerner or is it the influence of spirits that I’m Come to think of it, I wonder if I’m resistant to the cold because I’m from the north, or if it’s because of the influence of the spirits.
With a light curiosity, I patted Elle’s bottom, who was cuddling quietly without being surprised.
“Oh gugu, oh gugu, our Elle, you behaved so well. You didn’t even get scared when it flashed. Aww, you’re so cute. Aww.”
Ramande clicked his tongue when I made too many short noises.
“Where did you learn that?”
“I just learned it. You know, this kind of thing just comes out naturally when you do something cute.”
“Cute… yeah. He’s cute, huh?”
Was Ramande more fond of dogs?
I slowly turned around and tried to hide Elle from Ramande’s gaze.
“Ah, why? I should have praised him a lot more.”
“Hmm. Yes. Praise…”
Ramande gave a subtle glance at Elle, who had been resting his chin on my shoulder and looking away for some time for a long time.
‘It seems like Elle is more calm than Ramande.’
💧
Thank you for reading!
