Chapter 91
“You’ve grown old, so instead of drawing your sword, you just talk a lot.”
“What? You little—!”
Enraged, Elcai tried to draw his sword, but Ikart leisurely blocked the motion with his scabbard.
“For my part, I think a divine beast is far better than a young lady whose inner thoughts are impossible to read.”
“I, for the sake of an heir, would rather have that Asil kid than……. No, but why are we even discussing this? In the end, the final decision belongs to Edenber—”
“Then, I’ll be off.”
Before Elcai could even finish his sentence.
As if he had said everything he needed to say, Ikart vanished with a whoosh.
……That damn brat. Why does he only get more insolent with age?
Left alone, Elcai glared in the direction his son had disappeared.
* * *
Lately, Grandfather has been acting strange.
“You brat, love is something you forget with new love.”
He says weird things like that while introducing me to a male lizard friend, or buys me heaps of delicious strawberries so I won’t be too heartbroken.
“Edenber may be a hopeless fellow, but he’s still my grandson, so there’s nothing I can do about it. Still, you……”
Elcai glanced at Asil with eyes that looked as though he’d been betrayed by the very axe he trusted, then said,
“You said you were going to marry five people.”
It wasn’t just Grandfather who had become strange.
Even Father, whom I only saw occasionally, had turned strange.
“You’re far better than that unfathomable Lady Erzebet.”
He kept badmouthing Asil right in front of Asil, and even brought several crates of the finest strawberries as if competing with Elcai.
Today was the same.
I had eaten my fill of the delicious strawberries both of them gave me until my stomach was about to burst, and was dozing in the garden with the bunny.
Suddenly Father appeared and held out a box full of cat toys.
“You must not lose to Lady Erzebet. And marrying five people is absolutely not allowed.”
“……Piiyaaaa. Pii.” (……Asil won’t fight. Asil will definitely marry five people.)
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and answered, and Ikart immediately furrowed his brow hard.
“No. Marriage is only with one person. And even if you don’t want to fight, you have to fight to win my son.”
“Pii…….”
“So, what did Grandfather give you yesterday?”
“Piiyaahm…….” (Strawberries……. Yaaawn.)
“Tch, that old man’s head only contains strawberries. Look at this. I brought new cat toys.”
Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he vanished again with a whoosh. Hmm……
‘Father is weird.’
Asil shook its head, placed the box of toys beside it, and closed its drowsy eyes once more.
Just as it was about to drift off to dreamland—
“Ikart! That brat came again, didn’t he!”
Elcai suddenly appeared, grinding his teeth and shouting.
Though he told no one, lately he had been engaged in a sort of non-fight fight with Icart.
“You introduced a lizard to the divine beast. The results aren’t even out yet—why are you already trying to plant a sense of defeat?”
“Sense of defeat! I’m simply preparing for the possibility that Edenber chooses the young lady—”
“That very thought is the problem. Instead of cheering for victory, you’re preparing for defeat.”
And then they would shower Asil with gifts and subtly goad it not to lose to Lady Erzebet.
Not wanting to lose to his son, Elcai poured out even better gifts than Ikart.
Because this kept repeating, Asil—who was caught in the middle—kept receiving piles of things without knowing why.
Elcai glared at the box of cat toys, then abruptly pulled Asil to its feet.
“You brat. No matter how listless you are, how can you just lie around all day!”
“…….”
Asil looked at him with half-lidded eyes.
Asil had been playing and jumping around until just a moment ago before lying down. It had even played together right in front of Grandfather.
“If you just eat and lie around, you’ll turn into a pig. Let’s go for a walk with Grandpa.”
“Piiya.” (Black dragons don’t become pigs or anything.)
“Oh come now, if you go for a walk with Grandpa, I’ll buy you lots of pretty jewels.”
Jewels!
Asil, who had been about to lie back down, jumped right up.
This definitely wasn’t because it was tempted by the promise of jewels. It was just going out to exercise so it wouldn’t become a pig!
Asil scurried back to the divine beast’s room, wrapped two strawberries in the cloth it always carried when going out,
then woke the baby bunny and went out for a jewel-shopping walk with Elcai.
* * *
These days, which ducal house is the most prosperous?
Isn’t it the Monlepe ducal house?
The staff gave the very best treatment to Asil, the divine beast of Monlepe.
The moment it stepped down from the carriage, they laid out a red carpet so its feet wouldn’t touch the ground, and the manager followed carrying boxes full of jewels.
“The service here is excellent.”
Even Elcai, who rarely praised anything, said as much.
But Asil itself was completely absorbed in admiring the jewels.
It wore one jewel on its head, wrapped another around its waist, and put still others on its legs and tail, until its whole body sparkled.
Looking in the mirror like that, it really did look like the Christmas tree Mommy had told it about.
Asil stared intently at itself in the mirror.
“Piihyaaaaa.”
It was so happy that a gasp of admiration came out on its own.
“Kyuuu!”
The bunny beside it clapped, saying it was so pretty.
Meanwhile, Elcai was busy praising himself, thinking, “As expected, I’m still better than that Ikart brat.”
Just as the exciting shopping was finishing and Asil was waiting in the reception room, wagging its tail while Elcai settled the bill,
“Did you hear? About the outcome of the Skya ducal house inquiry.”
The conversation of the noble ladies sitting nearby reached its ears.
“They finally admitted they lost their divine beast, right?”
“Yes. I heard a sacred trial will soon be held to punish Duke Skya.”
They were talking about the Skya ducal house, which had recently been the hot topic making the capital buzz.
“At the hunting festival they summoned it just fine, so in the end it means the deceased Prince Briden or Princess Lilibet was the real master……”
“Perhaps it left the ducal house out of grief over its master’s death?”
“Who knows. Anyway, for two houses in a single generation to lose their divine beasts—what kind of misfortune is this?”
“What is happening to the empire……”
The noble ladies, deeply engrossed in their conversation, didn’t notice Asil was nearby.
So they freely spoke of things that would be awkward to say in front of Asil.
“I heard Duke Skya submitted a petition asking to be allowed to summon a divine beast again, just as Duke Monlepe had done.”
“I heard the temple is strongly opposing it. They say breaking the rules once was already enough……”
The lady shook her head.
“Especially the Saintess is the most strongly opposed. She says the Skya divine beast hasn’t completely vanished.”
“Still, I heard Duke Skya visits the palace every day to persuade His Majesty?”
“If he doesn’t, he’ll end up locked in the abandoned tower like the previous Duke Monlepe. Whether His Majesty will grant permission is another matter…… Ack! Th-the divine beast?!”
Only then did the lady who spotted the wiggling Asil gasp in shock.
“Piiya.”
Thanks to them, Asil had heard clearly how the Skya ducal house was faring these days.
As a sign of gratitude, Asil shot them a big thumbs-up.
But inside, it was thinking something else.
‘If a family falls apart like that just because they don’t have a top divine beast, what will happen to my husband if Asil returns to the forest?’
* * *
Meanwhile, around the same time, at the Crown Prince’s palace.
Duke Skya, driven to the edge of a cliff, was on his knees begging.
“Please, Your Highness. Persuade His Majesty to allow me to summon a divine beast again, just as Duke Monlepe was permitted.”
“I told you the temple’s opposition is severe and it’s difficult.”
The Crown Prince’s voice was thick with irritation.
It was because his recent failure at image management had earned him rumors of having the qualities of a tyrant, putting him in a bad mood.
“Well…… there is one method, though it’s not entirely impossible.”
He glanced at the magician who had silently entered the room.
It was the very magician who had pierced the barrier of the Beastmen Forest and summoned Asil.
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