Chapter 121
Sol, gritting her teeth in pain, forcibly rose to her knees and silently apologized.
“……I’m sorry.”
It was a truly pitiful sight, but Princess Sunrise did not even blink.
She did not stop Sebastian from kicking with his boot from the side.
“You dare call yourself! The divine beast! Of the Sunrise ducal house?! With that attitude?!”
“…….”
Sol bowed her head deeply.
Despite the fierce violence, she did not dodge and took every blow until she finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
Soon, a sacred, dazzling light enveloped Sol.
The light seemed to grow in volume for a moment before fading away, leaving behind a single massive white tiger covered in wounds and unconscious.
Sebastian, panting after exhausting his stamina from kicking, asked.
“What should we do with her?”
“Leave her. She’ll be fine in a few hours anyway.”
As he said, Sol’s wounds were healing rapidly.
If Fear handled fire, Eter water, and Rune wind, Sol was the divine beast who commanded the earth.
Though her raw combat power was weaker than the other divine beasts, she possessed the special ability to recover from all injuries, which was also the reason Princess Sunrise could inflict violence on Sol without any guilt.
After all, everything would heal in a few hours.
Sol had stood by and allowed her parents deaths, inflicting an eternal wound on her and her brother, but she herself was not inflicting wounds that could not heal.
Princess Sunrise tossed the whip aside and bit her nail.
“But what should we do about Young Lady Erzébet? If she were a commoner, we could have killed her quietly without anyone knowing and retrieved the document, but since she’s a noble, we can’t do that!”
She had boasted and tried to educate an insolent commoner, only to end up losing something huge.
In noble society—especially for a high-ranking noble like Princess Sunrise—a promise was synonymous with credit.
It could not be broken carelessly.
Then Sebastian soothed her coaxingly.
“It’s all right, Princess. Even if she is a noble, killing her quietly without anyone knowing is possible.”
“……Really?”
“Yes. Just trust me.”
Sebastian’s eyes gleamed menacingly.
“The young lady will absolutely never be able to come before you with those documents.”
“Good. I’ll trust only you.”
Sebastian had been a capable attendant who had served her father and mother for a very long time, so he was trustworthy.
Princess Sunrise nodded arrogantly.
* * *
A few days later.
Asil headed to the Monlepe ducal house together with Snowa.
Originally only Asil had been invited, but since Snowa wanted to meet Edenber, they had postponed the date by a few days to go together.
“He had no claws and his teeth weren’t even sharp.”
Recalling Edenber whom she had seen in the garden at midnight, Snowa growled sulkily.
“You shouldn’t play with such a weak human!”
“No, Edenber is an incredibly strong human. If you actually meet oppa, I’m sure you’ll like him too?”
Asil wanted her family to like Edenber, whom she liked so much.
So she planned to use this opportunity to make oppa and Edenber close friends.
The carriage soon arrived at the Monlepe ducal house.
Edenber, who had come out to the main gate after receiving prior notice, extended a handshake to Snowa.
“I’m Edenber Monlepe.”
“Snowa.”
Both boys had intense gazes.
The atmosphere was almost like they were facing an enemy, but Asil, who had not yet noticed, simply watched with satisfaction.
(‘They’re staring at each other for so long.’)
They must be very interested in one another.
Moreover, the two did not let go of each other’s hands for a long time.
In reality it was a contest of strength, but to Asil’s eyes it looked as if neither wanted to let go.
(‘At this rate, they’ll become friends soon.’)
To become close, they needed to see each other often.
Asil decided she would bring Snowa to visit the ducal house frequently from now on.
Then she noticed something on Edenber’s clothes.
It did not seem like it would come off easily with hands, so Asil asked Snowa.
“Oppa, do you have a handkerchief?”
“Yes, in my pocket. Why?”
Since Snowa was still holding Edenber’s hand, Asil reached into his pocket herself, took out the handkerchief, and wiped Edenber’s clothes.
In an instant, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.
Snowa’s gaze toward Edenber grew even sharper.
Snowa said to Asil.
“It seems something got on my clothes too. Wipe it off.”
“Nothing’s on it?”
“Look closely—there’s something whitish on the jacket here.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“As Asil said, the young master’s clothes are clean.”
“I wasn’t asking the human…… no, the duke.”
Snowa spoke sharply and glared fiercely at Edenber.
Meanwhile, the people nearby exchanged bewildered glances.
It was one thing for Young Lady Erzébet since they were acquainted, but even the young master was treating the duke in such a manner.
Yet Edenber, who should have sharply pointed out the rudeness, said nothing.
This was all the more surprising because Edenber normally placed great importance on etiquette.
(‘As expected…….’)
(‘Young Lady Erzébet will become the future mistress of the house.’)
They looked at Asil with eyes that saw the future duchess.
It seemed they would need to start preparing for an engagement soon.
* * *
Edenber guided the group to the drawing room.
While Asil and Todori sat comfortably on the sofa as if it were their own home, Snowa, still tense from the unfamiliar human scent she was smelling for the first time, kept sniffing the air.
Then she abruptly got straight to the point.
“Don’t wag your tail at my little sister. You don’t even have sharp teeth or claws.”
“What are you talking about right now!”
I thought they’d become friends soon! Asil smacked Snowa on the back.
“Humans don’t have tails like that!”
“That’s not the tail I mean! Anyway, it’s true that your teeth and claws aren’t sharp. Asil, you should only play with beastmen who are as cool and as wonderful as me.”
“Ugh, there he goes again.”
Even in the forest he always told her not to play with other beastmen—such a nagger.
Asil shook her head and reached for the snacks on the table.
They had been prepared to welcome guests, and among the various fruits, there were the most strawberries.
The strawberries from the beastmen’s forest never tasted quite the same no matter how many she ate—how long had it been!
Asil picked out the largest strawberry and tried to put it in her mouth in one bite.
But Snowa snatched the strawberry, took a big bite first, then glared at Edenber.
“You didn’t put anything in this, did you?”
“…….”
While Asil looked at Snowa with the expression of someone who had lost her country after having the strawberry taken away, Edenber firmly shut his mouth.
He was reminded of the time years ago when he had tested Count Arcian’s cookies during a visit to the Erzébet count household.
Understanding how the count must have felt back then, he replied stiffly.
“There’s nothing in it.”
“Oppa.”
Asil narrowed her brows and placed her hands on her hips.
“Suspicion someone carelessly is a very bad thing.”
“……Sorry.”
“Why is Edenber apologizing?”
“Well…….”
Because I suspected your dad too.
Unable to say it aloud, Edenber averted his gaze guiltily.
At that moment, with a knock, the drawing room door opened.
Edenber’s aide, whom they had not seen in a long time, hurriedly entered carrying documents.
“I apologize for interrupting your conversation. But it is an urgent matter…….”
Edenber took the documents from the deeply apologetic aide and furrowed his brows for an instant.
Since Asil was present, he quickly returned to his usual expression, but Asil had already seen it.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly not nothing. I’ll help solve it.”
Although she was no longer the boss of Monlepe, she could at least resolve Edenber’s worries.
“Even if it’s hard, doing it together makes it only half as hard—that’s what the teachers said. I want you to feel only half as hard!”
“……Thank you. That’s why I really like you.”
Edenber smiled softly.
“You’re the only one who’s ever said something like that to me.”
“Asil says the same thing to her other friends too. So don’t get any weird ideas.”
Snowa shattered the emotion.
(‘Ugh, why does oppa have to be like this.’)
Asil narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
She had always been sharp toward male beastmen, but she seemed especially harsh toward Edenber.
She had thought they were getting along when he held her hand tightly earlier, but maybe it was just a strength contest.
Meanwhile, Edenber completely ignored Snowa’s words and looked at Asil.
“The Sunrise ducal house demanded compensation.”
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