Chapter 1
“Oh my goodness, did you just see that? On her forehead……”
“Yes. I saw it. How dreadful. So that child is the one.”
“That’s right. The one who was born carrying a pebble instead of a jewel.”
“The late youngest daughter of the family head supposedly gave birth to her outside……”
“Tsk tsk, she must have been cursed after being tainted by the outside world. Just look at that face.”
“A curse, you say? Don’t you know? That child’s mother was of the direct line, yet she had no jewel at all……”
“Hey! Watch your tongue. You know perfectly well it’s an open secret……”
At someone’s sharp rebuke, the woman hastily shut her mouth.
“Ah, in any case. A half-wit born from a half-wit—nothing particularly surprising about it.”
Tap-tap.
Behind the child who was waddling along earnestly with a small water jar the size of her own torso balanced on her head, the damp words continued to circulate.
Plump, soft baby fat that looked as if it would sink right in at the press of a finger.
Round, honey-colored eyes.
Messy beige hair sticking out every which way.
And, utterly out of place, a crude stone embedded in her forehead.
Her clothes were tattered and worn, her cheeks and body filthy as if she had rolled in muddy water, yet her expression alone was flushed with excitement.
‘Another successful hunt today!’
The great bear clan that protected the world from evil, the Berneir.
…and its illegitimate child, Miel.
After toiling all day in the mountain valley and finally succeeding in her hunt, Miel vigorously grabbed the fish flopping about inside the small water jar with her tiny hands.
At that very moment.
“Hey, Pebble!”
Thud!
Someone shoved Miel from behind.
“Ah…!”
The fish Miel had been holding soared into the air, traced a perfect arc, and crashed to the ground.
Flap-flap.
The fish thrashed on the dirt.
“My fish……”
Dejected.
The corners of Miel’s eyes drooped.
“What is this pathetic fish? Don’t tell me this is supposed to be dinner.”
“Just look at the state of you.”
“Ugh, doesn’t it smell like a sewer over here~?”
“Calling this food—how pitiful.”
They were Miel’s cousin and the collateral-branch children who followed him.
The children snickered as they looked at the frozen Miel, then stamped repeatedly on the dying fish on the ground.
Watching the fish being mercilessly crushed, Miel swallowed back her tears.
“No…!”
“How on earth do you eat these muddy little minnows instead of sweet honey cakes?”
Crunch.
Miel’s cousin bit ostentatiously into a cake dripping with honey.
The sweet scent made her mouth open of its own accord.
As Miel stared blankly with her little mouth slightly agape, her cousin and the other girl smirked.
“Want some? Shall I give you one?”
“……Yes!”
“Come now, that’s not how it works. If you want something, you have to show proper manners. How dense…. I’ve already taught you, haven’t I?”
“Ah!”
Recalling the lesson in a flash, Miel’s eyes sparkled as she quickly dropped to her knees.
Her cousin had once taught her the proper etiquette for making a request.
Kneeling, Miel bowed her head and held out both hands.
“Please give it to me.”
“Pwahaha!!”
The children, each a full head taller than Miel, burst into laughter.
“See? She’s so stupid that even after being fooled ten times she falls for the exact same thing again.”
“They said she’d do anything she’s told—turns out it’s true.”
Realizing too late that she had been mocked, Miel’s lips formed a little triangle.
Then her cousin deliberately swallowed the remaining cake in one gulp.
“……!”
Miel’s eyes widened.
“You said if I asked properly you’d give it to me.”
“Said~ properly~”
Seizing on the slip, the children giggled.
“You actually believed that?”
“That’s mean, you big liar.”
“Liar?! Hey! Did you leave a honey cake with me for safekeeping? I’m not giving it to you because your attitude is terrible! If you want it that badly, go ask your own servants~”
“……”
The children cackled as they stomped once more on the fish whose belly had burst open.
“It’s because of kids like you that bear beastfolk are branded dull and stupid! How can your head be so empty? Please study a little~”
Miel’s lips jutted out in a pout.
Sadly, Miel had no money.
That was why her servants wore clothes that were extremely old, shabby, and torn. Of course they had never tasted honey cakes either.
She had never even tasted the honey that every bear supposedly ate.
She had studied drawing a little with the servants, but she had never once studied writing.
Moreover, having had little chance to mingle with other people during her formative years, her speech was noticeably clumsier than that of other children.
“Ugh, if I stay any longer I’ll really turn into an idiot. I’d better hurry back and escort the fox clan out.”
“Oh right. Earlier I saw that one looking completely smitten with Unnie too.”
“Ahem, r-really? Well, I thought so as well……. Anyway, let’s go before the stupidity rubs off on us.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, stop wandering around the mansion like you own the place and go back to your filthy hut! You’re not even a Berneir anyway.”
“Unnie, seriously. Why would you say that out loud.”
“What, is there anyone in this family who doesn’t know she was a stray bear picked up from outside?”
“……!”
Miel’s eyes grew large.
“Just look at that ugly stone on her forehead—she’s clearly not one of us. We all born with beautiful jewels like this!”
“That’s true. Hey, Grandfather only took you in because he felt sorry for you!”
“Exactly. How dare a rolling-stone bear like you try to take a proper bear’s place?”
“A parasite living off someone else’s house without paying a single coin.”
“Grandfather’s going to kick you out soon, you know? I heard Father say so not long ago.”
As Miel kept her head bowed low, the children who had been chattering among themselves exchanged uneasy glances.
Then Miel’s cousin frowned and spoke.
“What, are you crying?”
“She really is a stupid bear, isn’t she. Can’t even answer?”
The children who had crowded around finally lost interest, snorted, and turned away.
“Unnie, do you think she actually believed that?”
“Who knows? Still, she is a bastard, that’s a fact.”
The children whispered among themselves and snickered.
“You stink, so get lost back to your hut! And don’t go wandering around the mansion!”
Right up until they disappeared, Miel’s cousin pinched her nose and shouted as she and her followers vanished.
Once the children were gone.
Miel placed the trampled, filthy, crushed fish back into the overturned water jar, balanced it on her head again, and headed toward the edge of the estate.
Waddle-waddle.
Miel walked for a long time, carefully keeping her balance so the load on her head would not fall.
Emerging from the dense thicket was a small, shabby hut.
It was Miel’s home.
This was the place her mother had once lived, and therefore tending the grave here was Miel’s duty, she had been told.
Gareth Berneir.
Miel’s youngest maternal uncle had informed her of this.
He had taught the parentless Miel that she must stand on her own two feet. And so from the age of three until now, at five, Miel had lived alone.
Of course!
The maids and the caretaker uncle had helped a great deal.
At first she had been so poor at hunting that she ate only once every two or three days, but now her skills had improved enough that she could manage one meal a day……!
But the truth was……
‘Miel…… isn’t a bear of the Berneir clan?’
In truth, the torrent of insults hurled at Miel barely mattered.
Something else had shocked her far more!
“……I’m not a Berneir clan bear after all!”
Gasp.
She blinked.
The next instant, Miel flung the water jar aside and dashed off at full speed.
The fish tumbled across the ground.
The child raced up the steps and flung herself onto the dust-covered bed.
“Achoo!”
Puff-puff-!
Covered from head to toe in dust, Miel shook her head vigorously.
“I’m home!”
“Oh my, Lady Miel. You’re a complete mess. Did the hunt go well again today?”
“Mm.”
“Goodness, but why do you look like a cabbage left to pickle in salt?”
“Those rotten direct-line brats bullied you again, didn’t they? I ought to shut the mouths of those infants whose blood hasn’t even dried yet……!”
“It’s okay.”
Giving cursory answers to the voices coming from every direction, Miel pulled a book out from under the pillow!
[The Ugly Bear Cub]
The child quickly flipped through the old, tattered fairy-tale book.
[The Ugly Bear Cub] told the story of a baby bear born with black fur in a house where everyone was born with white fur, who was scolded for being ugly and driven out for being different from its bear siblings, only to realize it was actually a cute panda and set off on a journey to find its family.
It was Miel’s favorite book.
“……!”
Although Miel could not read the letters, the fairy tale consisted mostly of pictures.
She carefully examined each of the faded illustrations on the yellowed paper once more.
And she recalled the scene that had just taken place.
‘The baby bear is exactly like Miel!’
That one has black fur! Miel has a jewel!
And then Miel combined every circumstance and arrived at an astonishing realization!
Gasp.
“I’m…… a panda!”
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Of course, Miel had no idea what a panda even was.
She did not know that pandas also lived under the Berneir clan’s banner, nor that their basic traits were completely different.
Anyway!
The protagonist of [The Ugly Bear Cub], the baby panda, could not hunt.
Because pandas ate bamboo!
How much had she been persecuted for being unable to hunt until now.
But!
‘Miel can’t hunt either—that’s right!’
Because……!
Miel was a panda!
“I have to go to the panda clan.”
“Pardon? Where do you say you’re going?”
“A journey! I’ll go to the panda clan and find Mommy and Daddy!”
Miel brought in the water jar she had tossed outside and began packing her belongings.
An old bear doll.
“Now, just a moment, my lady.”
“Ung?”
A small locket pendant.
“You’re leaving so suddenly?”
“Ung.”
Shabby clothes.
“Perhaps you might consider it a little more carefully.”
“No.”
The fairy-tale book [The Ugly Bear Cub].
“Ah!”
Having packed that far, the child seemed to remember something else; she dashed out and returned in an instant.
“This too!”
And even the dirt-covered fish with its belly split open.
The maid who had been watching anxiously edged closer.
“A journey is far too early for a little baby bear. It won’t be too late if you go when you’re a bit older.”
Having stuffed everything she had prepared into the water jar, Miel raised her head.
“But if I don’t go now, Miel will be sad every single day.”
“……”
“Miel wants to see Mommy and Daddy too. I’ll find Mommy and Daddy and come back!”
Poof!
Miel transformed into a baby bear!
An extremely small baby bear the size of two adult male palms put together, with white natal fur on its belly and a soft beige coat overall.
“Kyauung!”
I’ll be back!
“Grr.”
Clamping the handle of the bucket in her mouth, Miel pumped her tiny limbs and scrambled out through the doggy door.
“My lady!”
The butler, spotting the child bolting away as if afraid someone might stop her, reached out—only to freeze in place.
“……Shouldn’t someone try to stop her?”
“You and I are both stuck here unable to move an inch, so what exactly do you propose we do.”
“……She really doesn’t look back even once.”
And that was only natural, for although Miel was more naïve than most and swallowed whatever people told her whole, when it came to taking action she was an exceptionally capable panda(?).
The servants, dressed in old, shabby, and torn clothing, watched Miel grow smaller in the distance.
There were no shadows at their feet, and through their bodies the landscape of Miel receding was clearly visible.
Under a cloudless sky, the sun stood high.
