Translated by EunEun

Edited by Zil

At the Duke’s Castle hallway.

Beatty walked to the dining room and without realizing it herself, she turned her head.

Her eyes met with the maid who was giving her a smile, then after she saw that, she hurriedly turned her head again.

‘..It’s strange.’

The Duke’s Castle was a strange place.

The warm hospitality, the big and beautiful room, the kind people. It felt like a Cloud Castle that was surely inside a fairy tale.

‘Like the Cloud Castle, it would be great if it didn’t disappear after being blown...’

Somehow, the feel of the floor touching her feet from her steps felt light as if she was stepping on a cloud.

Beatty arrived at the dining room after walking down the long hallway with such plump steps.

Click.

“Did you sleep well, Tiny Kid?”

“Older Brother Carl!”

Carl had already arrived in front of the long dinner table.

“Did you sleep comfortably last night?”

Laugh.

Today, too, Carl laughed a little at Beatty’s unnatural way of speaking and touched Beatty’s head as if it were natural. Then he said,

“Yeah, I slept comfortably.”

“...”

Gently.

The hand that was stroking her hair was tickling.

Beatty, who was blushing with an embarrassed look, said, “Ah!” and asked as if she remembered something.

“Are you going to have breakfast now?”

“Yup.”

“Then, I’ll be going up until you finish eating!”

Without being noticed.

This was suggested purely out of goodwill.

‘Because I don’t want to ruin your mood.’

Her brother was still fascinating, and a being that she didn’t know well of, but Beatty didn’t hate him.

No, actually, she also wanted to look a little better.

‘So that his appetite would not be ruined, if I avoid him first, I’ll look good as a sensible kid, right?’

Beatty didn’t notice that her common sense was wrong.

It was because she spent most of her time alone with a limited absence, without being educated separately and having the opportunity to hang out with ordinary people.

The only person she ever met was her aunt, who would always frown every time she looked at her.

“Tsk. You’re ruining my appetite.”

Beatty remembered her aunt’s expression of displeasure and her words when she saw her in the garden, not knowing that it was wrong.

The only thing a child who grew up by being locked up knows was learning from an abandoned book in the warehouse.

So the child’s world was narrow and distorted somewhere.

‘Because if he looks at my face and eats, his mood will be ruined.’

Beatty naturally turns her back to excuse herself from the dining table, but.

“Where are you going?”

Carl’s voice that was heard from behind caught her.

“What did you leave behind?”

“Yes? No, it’s not that.”

“Then, why are you going out as soon as you came in?”

“Um.. so that Older Brother can eat comfortably..?”

Beatty was puzzled, so she raised her tone at the end of her words as if she was confirming.

Beatty saw Carl who frowned and she was flustered.

‘Is this not it?’

Scrape.

As he got up from his seat, Carl asked.

“Do you dislike eating with me?”

“Yes? No.”

“...”

“That’s not me...”

‘Isn’t Older Brother the one who dislikes eating with me?’ Even before she could finish her words.

“Sit down.”

Carl’s firm voice was heard.

The chair on the other side from where he sat was directly moved.

“Quick.”

Carl rushed with a glance.

Beatty had hesitated for a while and was pushed back to her seat in an unguarded moment.

After confirming that Beatty was seated, Carl returned to his seat and ordered the servant to bring in the meal.

As if she had waited for it from the beginning, Beatty stared at the just-released appetizer soup and asked.

“..Are we eating together?”

“Obviously?”

It was a firm voice as if it was asking if there could be any other conclusions.

“...”

And again, her insides were tickling.

Being unfamiliar with the gentleness, Beatty focused on the food in her eyes to shake off the awkwardness.

***

Beatty remained guarded at first.

For Beatty, who had never been treated like a child, the Duke’s Castle people were unknown beings.

‘There is no way there is a person who will be nice to me for no reason.’

When people gave her things because of her smiling face. When they made her wear clean clothes and pour out compliments that they didn’t know what was the meaning of it. And also, when they give out delicious meals.

‘But I’ve already suffered from it once, right?’

How did Ritter, the one who she trusted as a friend, betrayed her.

Beatty recalled it again and again, so that she would be on guard.

However, the more she got used to the warmth of the voice that called her.

“Tail Fur.”

Instead of flinching her shoulders at what he called her, she listened intently as if she had been waiting.

Beatty, whose insides had become soft without herself realizing it.

Ssshk. Ssshk. Ssshk.

Every time she had something to think about, she would turn into her squirrel form and climb up a tree, just like a habit.

Beatty agonized at the tallest tree branch.

‘..By any chance, could it be that they just didn’t know?’

It has already been five years since her father left the Duchy because of the war. Maybe that’s why they forgot what kind of existence she was to her family.

‘Ah, maybe! It could be that they thought of me as a blot but they just didn’t talk about it at all!’

Beatty nodded to her own speculation that was also a pretty strong hypothesis.

The shameful squirrel shapeshifter, which was born into the lion family. Surely, it was something that he doesn’t even want to talk about.

Maybe, that’s why the people who don’t know her father’s heart, treated her like a real Young Lady.

‘Then, if Father has come back...’

Will these warm-hearted people change, just like the people in the past that were in her aunt’s mansion?

She tried to imagine her brother’s golden eyes, which used to be like honey tea when he looked at her, unlike his cold impression, was giving her a cold and icy look.

“...”

For a moment, her heart ached.

“Chu chuut!”

‘Get yourself together!’

Slap. Slap.

In order to easily hold onto herself again, the squirrel moved her small hands quickly and dry-washed her face.

‘If they changed into being cold.. so what? Originally, it’s a natural thing that they were supposed to be on that side.’

It must have been that she was a little influenced by the strange Duke’s Castle.

People who are kind to her.

It was a strange thing that they treated her like that, so it was simply just her greed to be sad that it will go back to the way it was.

‘Yeah, let’s not be greedy.’

She mustn’t forget the end of the fairy tale ‘The Arrogant Traveler’.

After all, rather than have lingering feelings for what was not supposed to be given to Beatty—

‘Instead.. before they change, it’ll be fine if I just say thank you, right?’

Even if it was a mistake, she wanted to repay the warmth that they had given her.

“Chuub!”

‘Great!’

Ssshk. Ssshk. Ssshk.

Ssshk. Ssshk. Ssshk.

Beatty, who wandered around the garden enthusiastically, picked the fruit that was attached at the top of the tallest tree and handed it out to the people.

That day, the Duke’s Castle became a crucible filled with emotions.

***

In the northern mountain range at the top of the ice cap, there were scattered chunks of ice that had not melted even after winter had passed for a long time.

And the lower middle of the mountain. There could be seen a figure who was climbing the rocky hill with bare hands.

Putting his finger in the rock with sheer force, he stepped on a hill that had never allowed people.

“Huff.”

A boy who swept his black bangs back as if it was troublesome, Carl looked around.

‘Is it here?’

What was he looking for..?

Carl stepped into an overgrown packed forest that seemed like it would go missing as soon as an ordinary person entered.

Oh my—!

As soon as he entered, a big black wolf that hid in the dark shadow rushed in with his mouth wide open.

However, this naturally high-spirited assassin killed it with a single sword.

In the blink of an eye, the part of the land that the wolf fell off turned red.

The boy didn’t even look at it, and after he cleaned up the sword and put it in, he looked here and there around his body.

It was to see if there was any blood that had splashed on his clothes.

‘If this was before, I wouldn’t even care about things like this, but...’

“Aack—!”

Stomping on the shoulders of the man who was screaming painfully, Carl pulled out the sword with an indifferent expression.

An assassin who broke into Aslan with a grudge was like a dessert after a meal.

‘I can’t even exercise after meals.’

Although it can’t be called a delicious dessert.

Carl felt bored and put the sword back into the scabbard at the waist. However, the blood that wasn’t cleaned up splattered on his clothes.

“Young Master! Don’t tell me you’re going to visit the Young Miss’ room like that, are you?”

“.. So, I can’t?”

Carl tilted his head at Johanna’s unusual enthusiasm.

“Huft. Young Master. You shouldn’t look like this in front of Young Miss. What would you do if the Young Miss was surprised and got sick?”

“What? Just with this?”

“Yes. The Young Miss, even with ‘just with this’, she can be surprised.”

Johanna declared while pointing to the bloodstains at Carl’s clothes.

“You know that the Young Miss’ body is weak, right? Maybe you didn’t know this, but, even with just getting surprised a lot, a weak person can get sick.”

“!”

Just because the person was simply surprised, it’ll get sick? How can a person be so weak?!

“Now, you know, right? In the future, you have to be careful, Young Master.”

Carl nodded quietly at Johanna’s request after giving such shocking information.