Blink, blink—
Completely overwhelmed by the impossible array of people standing before me, I stood there with my mouth hanging open.
In front of me right now were:
Queen Consort Grace of the Kingdom of Frozen.
Marchioness Aria, who oversaw the entire southern region of Frozen.
Lady Maria, renowned throughout the eastern reaches of Frozen for her formidable mind.
And Count Delta, celebrated across the western territories of Frozen as the most dashingly handsome man alive.
Hold on, just a moment.
There were several people here—how on earth was I supposed to greet them all?
Normally I would simply introduce myself and be done with it, but standing before me right now was no less than the Queen Consort herself. And while I may have been five years old in body—I was a fully trained, officially commissioned spy who had navigated the social labyrinth.
‘Aisha, greet them!’
I snapped myself to full attention and stepped smartly before the Queen Consort.
“May the sun of the world shine upon the Kingdom of Frozen. How do you do, Your Majesty, Queen Consort Grace.”
Then I reached down with my small fingers to lift the skirt of my dress and attempt a proper curtsy—but.
“……?”
Something was missing.
I glanced down hurriedly. The skirt that should have been billowing with lace and puff and all manner of feminine flourish—was simply not there.
Instead.
‘For the love of—I’m wearing pajamas!’
My eyes trembled with the shock of it.
Here I was. Before Her Majesty the Queen Consort. In my nightclothes.
“Knox! My clothes!”
“Ah, my deepest apologies. I carried you directly from the inn to the palace, and we happened to cross paths with Her Majesty the Queen Consort along the way—Her Majesty instructed that you not be woken, and so you entered the palace in your nightclothes.”
“What?!”
My mouth fell open in a perfect triangle of despair.
Here I stood. In front of Her Majesty the Queen Consort. In my pajamas.
‘My pajamas have trousers—they look nearly identical to what Lucas wears!’
I cast a glance about me. Four of the most powerful people in the Kingdom of Frozen were staring at me with eyes full of unconcealed curiosity.
Collect yourself, Aisha.
If there’s no dress—if I happen to be wearing trousers—
Then I bow like a gentleman. That is all.
“I am Lady Aisha Krost. I present my sincerest apologies for appearing before Your Majesty in such improper attire.”
Ta-da!
I shifted one leg out at an angle, rested one arm across my chest, and bent into a formal bow.
Clap, clap, clap.
The onlookers applauded, as if they had witnessed something truly extraordinary.
“Is she a hamster?”
“Where did she learn to bow like that? What a peculiar, charming child.”
“Can I touch her?”
At the last question, I swiftly raised a small hamster-blade of a hand in warning and shook my head rapidly.
“No, you may not.”
This was the first time in my life I had been applauded simply for bowing.
Strange. These people were very strange.
“Welcome to the Queen Consort’s palace, Lady Aisha.”
Queen Consort Grace, who had spent a generous stretch of time watching my bow, gave a faint nod in return.
Strange as they were, I noticed, they didn’t seem unkind.
“Yes, ma’am.”
I looked up at Her Majesty with a slightly shy expression.
‘I had only read about her through the novel’s descriptions—seeing her in person, she’s almost offensively beautiful.’
Grace was the Queen Consort who commanded the greatest support among the common people of any in the Kingdom of Frozen’s long history.
At eighteen, she had developed a Creature repellent compound. At twenty-two, she created an automated plowing device powered by magic—as a hobby—for the benefit of the commoners. She lived without excess. Her deep interest in Creatures led her to maintain consistent correspondence with the northern regions, steadily importing magic-related knowledge and artifacts.
And there was the revolutionary fact:
The portals throughout the Kingdom of Frozen had been designed and built by this very woman.
‘Extraordinary.’
I gazed at Grace with barely concealed admiration.
Being human, however, she did have a flaw—small as a grain of dust. Or, accounting for her noble birth, perhaps slightly larger than that.
‘She was so absorbed in magical study and Creatures that she never troubled herself with high society at all.’
The novel described her as perennially awkward with the small talk that defined aristocratic gatherings—always standing like a marble statue at the regular court functions.
The original story hadn’t mentioned that she’d joined Creatures Anonymous—but I suspected this was the only gathering she actually attended of her own will.
“Speaking of which—you said you brought something else extraordinary with you?” Grace’s light spring-green eyes turned toward Knox.
At her question, Knox moved smoothly into the heart of the matter.
“Lady Aisha. If you wouldn’t mind—please take baby out.”
“Yes!”
This was the tearoom of the Queen Consort’s palace, opening onto a sweeping terrace.
“Baby. Just for a moment—shall we say hello to the members of the club?”
I gripped baby gently beneath her front legs and held her out toward the gathered group.
A warm early-summer breeze drifted in through the terrace. Baby, who had been nestling quietly, blinked open her eyes with a small meow.
“The eyes are truly…”
“…Violet.”
The mouths of everyone who saw baby fell slowly open.
“Honestly, when I received Knox’s letter, I thought he was simply exaggerating…”
“Those eyes—what on earth is she—a unicorn? Something of that variety?”
“Can I touch her?”
Lady Maria, who apparently intended to touch everything she found precious, this time actually reached out her hand—
Swat—
“Hissssss!”
Baby crinkled her nose furiously, hissed, and turned her face away into my arms.
“She dislikes everyone except me.”
At my words, Grace frowned with quiet curiosity.
“With a temperament like that, how did you manage to bring her here without drawing attention?”
“As long as no one approaches her first, she listens to me very well. She’s incredibly well-behaved.”
“Well-behaved?”
“Yes! She’s like a dog in a cat’s body!”
This—this must be what parents felt when showing off their children. I puffed up with inexplicable pride—
But unexpectedly.
“……”
Grace, whom I had fully expected to clap and exclaim, looked faintly troubled.
“Come, sit everyone.”
After staring at baby for a long, still moment, she schooled the faint distress from her features and gestured for all of us to take our seats.
‘What is it? Given everything I’ve seen of her personality, I would have expected a reaction.’
It was puzzling—but I hadn’t fully read Grace yet. Perhaps she was simply like this.
Everyone settled into their chairs at her invitation, and I moved to take my own seat—
“Lady Aisha Krost.”
Calm footsteps placed themselves between me and the chair.
It was Grace.
“Do you like desserts?”
“Yes!”
At my energetic answer, Grace smiled at me for the first time.
“Knox mentioned it before—that you like eating sandwiches in the garden.”
“That’s right!”
“The royal chef happens to be a crêpe artisan. How about enjoying some sunshine in the garden out there?”
Oh?
“……?”
She was dismissing me.
What was more, she had knelt—entirely contrary to what one would expect of a Queen Consort—to bring herself level with my eyes, smiling at me gently in a display wholly unprecedented for someone of her station.
The unexpected gesture prompted everyone in the room, Knox included, to exchange glances—but this was the Queen Consort’s word. No one present would dare question it.
“…Yes!”
After a brief moment of freezing up, I reclaimed my bright smile and nodded.
* * *
At Grace’s suggestion, a single drop of eye-color-altering potion was dissolved into a small dish of water and set before the kitten.
“Nya—”
Either she had been thirsty, or she simply drank without complaint—as the kitten lapped at the water, a deep shade of brown spread outward from the pointed edges of her irises.
Click.
The door closed.
With Aisha gone, taking head-maid Mai and the attendants and the kitten along with her, a cold stillness settled over the tearoom.
“Is there a reason for this?”
Knox, who had been sitting in composed silence, finally spoke.
Queen Consort Grace carried a title that meant she had far too many things to observe even in ordinary conversation. But with outsiders gone, she was now simply a member of Creatures Anonymous—a society that prized a horizontal, egalitarian dynamic above all else.
“How long has Lady Aisha been in the company of that kitten?”
“Let me think. The physician gave approval, she informed me the same day, and then we came directly to the capital… I believe a little over two weeks. Two weeks and two or three nights.”
“Two weeks and two or three nights.”
From outside came the sound of a young child’s laughter—joyful, song-like. Its quality was such that everyone in the room turned toward it automatically.
Beyond the terrace.
In the garden Grace had mentioned, the kitten could be seen launching itself at Aisha where she sat on a bench.
“Hehe! Stop it, baby!”
Rolling about in the meadow together, the two of them looked like a scene from a happy painting come to life.
But.
“Then separate Lady Aisha from that kitten within two weeks.”
The voice that said it was frost itself.
“…I beg your pardon?”
“She looks harmless enough right now—a weak little kitten. But the moment she catches the scent of human blood—”
Grace paused.
She chose her words carefully. And when she had found them, she spoke.
“She will become a monster.”
* * *
