Chapter 40
“Hey, kid, are you listening to your grandpa?”
“Bbi?”
Asil quickly raised her head.
Right now, Asil was visiting Elcai in her sickroom, perched on his bed.
“I asked if you didn’t like what your grandpa prepared.”
Though her tone sounded angry, it was actually due to awkwardness.
She gestured with her eyes toward the box placed in front of Asil.
“I heard your birthday was a few days ago.”
“Bbi…”
No, Asil’s birthday had passed a while ago.
But considering the knights had come yesterday to wish her a happy birthday and brought heaps of cat toys, it seemed like her husband had tipped them off.
“Bbi-ya, bbi.” (Thank you, Grandpa.)
Anyway, the more birthday gifts, the better!
Asil happily tore into the box. Then, she flinched at its contents.
Inside the box were toy gold coins, broken chess pieces, bottles filled with gem dust, and oddly shaped pebbles neatly arranged.
It was an exact recreation of what had been paid to bring Selena here.
Elcai said in an awkward voice,
“Ahem, I prepared it out of boredom. If you don’t need it, throw it away.”
How…!
It was the best gift ever. Touched, Asil looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
Selena, who was in the room for Elcai’s treatment, also held out a small box.
“My gift is this.”
If she was going to win Asil’s favor, now was the time.
Inside was a hair growth tonic, the latest craze in the capital, something even money couldn’t easily buy.
Elcai, shocked, shouted,
“What, why would you give a kid a hair growth tonic!”
“I noticed last time that she was worried about not having hair.”
“It’ll grow when she gets a bit older. Hand it over, I’ll keep it and give it to her when she’s bigger.”
“Bbi-ya. Bbi-ya-bbi!” (No way. This is Asil’s!)
Asil tightly clutched the hair growth tonic and quickly turned her back. But she flinched and looked back at the next words.
“If you use a hair growth tonic now, even your wings will fall out, and you’ll really end up bald.”
“Since you’re already bald without the eggshell… ahem, sorry.”
Bald without the eggshell…
The hurt bald baby dragon Asil’s eyes welled up with tears. What made it even sadder was that she couldn’t argue with that.
Taking advantage of the moment, Elcai quickly snatched the hair growth tonic and changed the subject.
“By the way, have you heard? They say an inquisitor will visit soon.”
“An inquisitor?”
Selena stepped forward in place of the dejected Asil, who had lowered his head.
She had been so focused on Elcai’s treatment lately that she was out of touch with the news, but the mention of an inquisitor made her ears perk up.
“It couldn’t be… Sir Arcian, could it?”
“How did you know? That’s the one.”
“Eek!”
She was so startled that a scream slipped out.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, but Asil and Elcai had already heard it clearly.
Elcai asked with a curious expression,
“Do you know him?”
“Uh… a little?”
She didn’t just know him—she was utterly sick of him.
That guy was the mastermind villain in the original story!
‘He pretends to be a devout holy knight, the saintess’s closest confidant, only to stab her in the back at the end.’
Because of him, Selena in the original story nearly died.
If Edenber hadn’t saved her, it would’ve definitely been a dead ending.
‘I don’t know why, but he harbored a deep grudge against the Monlepe Duchy, cursing the duke even as he died… Wait.’
If that’s the case, isn’t Asil, the divine beast of Monlepe, in the most danger right now?
An inquisitor could fabricate crimes if needed. If they found even the smallest excuse to drag someone to a holy trial, it was over.
‘The heroine must be safe for the family to be at peace.’
According to the rules of romance fantasy, when the heroine gets caught up in trouble, the male lead neglects everything to fix it.
Even though she was planning to escape to another country, with Elcai’s treatment still far from complete, Arcian’s arrival was a huge variable.
“lady Asil.”
She firmly grabbed Asil’s two front paws.
Having lived through her second life, she knew most things, but this was something she had to say.
“It’d be best if you stayed quietly in your room for a while. Inquisitors are no pushovers.”
“Bbi-ya?” (Inquisitor?)
What’s that? Asil tilted her head.
Elcai kindly explained,
“They’re people who check if the duchy is using its divine beast improperly. It seems like this is because of the friendly match’s outcome.”
“Bbi-ya-bbi?” (When are they coming?)
“Probably unannounced. If you see a stranger, don’t answer their questions.”
As soon as Elcai finished, Selena nodded fervently.
Seeing this, Asil swallowed hard. Just how scary must this person be?
But since she was aiming to be ferocious, she couldn’t back down here, so Asil puffed out her chest proudly.
“Bbi-ya-bbi-i.” (Asil is a ferocious black dragon.)
“Even a ferocious black dragon needs to know when to retreat.”
But Elcai’s single remark sank her.
I see. Even a ferocious black dragon needs to know when to retreat. That’s a good lesson.
‘Asil is a ferocious black dragon, but I’ll stay in my room.’
She tightly curled hee fern-like front paws and made a firm resolution.
* * *
That resolution crumbled in just three days.
‘Staying in the room is so stifling.’
Sure, the maids brought plenty of delicious strawberries and fun cat toys, but staying in one place made her body feel sluggish.
Opening the window for fresh air or stretching with a baby rabbit didn’t help either.
In the end, after much thought, Asil decided to go to the sub-hall near the divine beast’s room to play hide-and-seek with her rabbit friend.
“Kkyu!”
The rabbit, finding Asil hiding behind a vase, made a triumphant expression.
“Bbi-heung.”
Found so quickly! Not even noticing her tail sticking out, Asil pouted.
“Kkyu!”
The rabbit took off the paper bag it was wearing and plopped it onto Asil’s head.
It was a precaution to prevent him from sniffing it out.
Wearing a large paper bag with holes only for his eyes and arms, Asil carefully counted.
“Bbi, bbi-ya bbi- bbi-ya. Bbi-ya-bbi!” (One, two, three… nine, ten. All hidden? Let’s start!)
‘I’ll find my rabbit friend faster than he found me!’
Burning with competitive spirit, Asil spun around and began searching for her well-hidden rabbit friend.
“Bbi-yaa! …Bbi-i.” (Here you are! …Nope.)
She checked behind the vase and peered inside the decorative armor.
“Bbi-yat-bbi! …Bbi-i.” (I know you’re here! …Not here either.)
She opened drawers and even lifted the carpet, but the rabbit friend was nowhere to be found.
‘Where did he go?’
The paper bag narrowed her vision, so she missed the small gap behind the vase. Asil looked around for her rabbit friend.
Then, noticing the door to the outside slightly ajar, her eyes widened.
‘He must’ve gone outside.’
Tch. They’d pinky-sworn to play only here since a dangerous human might come.
‘Rabbit friend, you dummy.’
He might run into a dangerous human, so Asil had to rescue him first.
With puffed cheeks, Asil scurried out of the sub-hall.
She had no idea that the baby rabbit, hiding behind the vase, was watching her with a ‘Where’s she going?’ look.
Asil wandered the hallways, searching for places where his rabbit friend might be.
But he was nowhere to be found. Not a trace, not anywhere.
‘He hasn’t been caught by a scary human and turned into rabbit stew, has he?’
In Asil’s little mind, he pictured his rabbit friend crying, caught by a dangerous human.
Her slow steps gradually quickened. Then, at some point, they turned into a full sprint.
“Bbi-ya-bbi!” (Rabbit friend!)
Asil shouted loudly with all his might.
But only echoes answered, no reply.
“Bbi-ya-bbi! Bbi-ya-bbi!” (Rabbit friend! Where are you!)
Did he really get turned into rabbit stew?! In her anxious state, she hurriedly turned a corner.
“Bbi!”
Asil collided with someone coming from the opposite direction. Because she was running so fast, she rolled a few times as a bonus.
“Hm.”
The other party let out a short, displeased grunt.
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By Anna 💓
