Chapter 13
“My Mouth Acts on Its Own…”
“I overheard someone talking.”
As soon as I answered, Idrish suddenly cut in.
“It must be Robero.”
Robero was the leader of the wolf beastkin.
His voice, which was always cold, carried clear anger today.
I carefully glanced between Idrish and Tesmilion.
A hedgehog being interrogated between two tigers… it felt like my heart and even my liver were shrinking.
“Speak properly and tell us everything.”
I was already going to say everything…
At Tesmilion’s urging, I began speaking hesitantly.
“So… one of them seemed like the person who broke in here before, and the other was… Serbiyan.”
“Serbiyan? You mean the leader of the snake beastkin?”
Tesmilion frowned.
“Yes. More precisely… Ojar Serbiyan.”
“That’s impossible.”
Tesmilion immediately denied my carefully chosen answer.
“But it’s true.”
“Nonsense. The Serbiyan family has no reason to attack us. Our family has been allied with them for a long time. When we were driven from the throne, the reason we weren’t completely wiped out and could survive like this… was because of them.”
“But Fer…ppur…pping thinks that’s exactly why—”
“…What did you just say?”
Both of them looked at me strangely.
I quickly covered my mouth.
Huh?
That’s not what I was trying to say.
I was trying to say that Percop was using that alliance to his advantage.
“W-well, when the… para-para goes… sirulu… then boom-bang—”
No! What is wrong with my mouth?!
The moment I tried to say that Serbiyan planned to strike from behind when Artigrado started a war, my words turned into nonsense.
“What on earth…”
Tesmilion looked at Idrish, as if asking for an explanation. But even he had no idea what was going on.
Even I didn’t understand it myself.
“Ojar… that part I can say. Serbiyan. But Perc—blub-blub…”
Even Percop’s name turned into weird sounds.
“Blub… what is that vulgar nonsense? Are you mocking me?!”
“N-no, it’s not that…”
Wait… could it be that I can’t talk about things I learned from the novel?
“R-Rodrio! The one who prepared to attack Rodrio was Ojar!”
See? The things I directly witnessed came out normally.
“But it was all because of… sirulu… bling…”
The part about Percop being behind it wouldn’t come out.
Tesmilion looked furious, but thanks to this, I confirmed my theory.
I couldn’t say anything I had learned from the novel.
Ah… this makes it hard to explain that Serbiyan is behind it.
Especially when Ojar was just being used, and the real mastermind is Percop… how am I supposed to tell them that?
My head felt like it would explode.
I glanced at Tesmilion nervously. He looked like he thought I was mocking him, his face turning red.
“She doesn’t seem to be in her right mind.”
“I am in my right mind! I didn’t do that on purpose—my mouth just—!”
I shouted confidently.
Beside me, Idrish shook his head.
“Take that crazy woman away immediately. I don’t want to see her.”
“No, Lord! Please just listen a little more. I definitely saw Ojar Serbiyan, but that was—bling-blong—!”
Ugh… my head hurts.
I grabbed my head.
At that moment, Idrish stepped in front of me.
“Grandfather. I also agree that she’s not in her right mind.”
What? You too?!
“But… it’s worth confirming. If not for Cecilia last night, we would have truly lost Rodrio.”
It was the first time Idrish called my name properly.
And the first time he stood up for me.
Well… he still agreed that I wasn’t in my right mind, but the important part is what comes after.
I stared blankly at his back in shock.
He didn’t look at me, so I couldn’t tell what expression he had or what he was thinking.
Still… I felt touched.
He finally believes me!
Tesmilion, whose face had been flushed with anger, calmed down again.
“What you said is true. However, I still cannot believe this. Serbiyan would never do such a thing. For hundreds of years, they have been loyal to Artigrado. When the rebellion happened, they even hid us here from the eyes of other beastkin. Without the Serbiyan family, we would have already been wiped out.”
That’s not it!
Frustrated, I hit my chest with my fist.
Tesmilion flinched and looked at me warily, but I couldn’t help it.
It was too frustrating.
They were being deceived, but I couldn’t tell them they were being deceived.
What Tesmilion said wasn’t completely wrong.
After the rebellion, it was true that Percop Serbiyan, the head of the Serbiyan family, hid Tesmilion and Idrish.
Of course they would feel grateful and trust him.
I understand that. I really do.
But there’s something behind it! A terrible scheme!
The truth is, the Serbiyan family were not truly loyal.
Especially Percop, the current head and Ojar’s father—he was ambitious. He wanted to become king.
To destroy Artigrado, he used the king’s trust and the tiger clan’s indifferent nature.
He began driving a wedge between the beastkin people and the royal family.
Reasonable demands from the people were twisted into hostility toward the crown, and punishments from the king were carried out more harshly than intended.
Naturally, resentment toward the royal family grew… until it exploded into rebellion.
But even after Artigrado fell, the Serbiyan family didn’t yet have enough power to take everything.
The eagle beastkin, Aguila, who played a major role in the rebellion, and the wolf beastkin, Robero—who suffered the least damage—would never allow it.
So Percop chose to keep Idrish and Tesmilion alive.
As a way to keep others in check.
In other words, when the wolves, eagles, and tigers exhausted themselves fighting, Serbiyan planned to swallow all the power.
In fact, this plan almost succeeds in the future.
Artigrado attacks the world as they are manipulated to do.
And when everything is reduced to ruins… Serbiyan destroys what remains and takes the empty throne.
Seriously… but how am I supposed to explain all this?
Ah… if I can’t explain it, then I’ll just make them see it themselves.
I can give hints, and let Idrish uncover the truth on his own.
I stepped forward, passing Idrish, and stood in front of Tesmilion.
As soon as he saw my face, he frowned again.
Is my face really that unpleasant…? I thought I was pretty…
“If you don’t believe me, fine. Then let’s find out from now on. First… how about we find out who owns the fang that injured Rodrio?”
Both of them stared at me at the same time.
Trying to figure out my intention.
It’s useless. I don’t have any hidden motives!
I smiled as innocently as I could.
Surely, with this smile, they’ll believe me—
“Get that thing out of my sight!”
Ah… failed.
* * *
A few days passed.
Tesmilion and Idrish still seemed to be considering my suggestion.
I didn’t like how long it was taking, but at least they hadn’t rejected it outright.
So I spent most of my time taking care of Rodrio.
After the bleeding stopped, his complexion returned to normal.
But for some reason, he still didn’t wake up.
Even his wounds seemed frozen, not healing further.
I stayed by his side all day.
At night, I still had to be with Idrish.
Looking at this… I’m basically the personal doctor of this house. I should be getting paid.
It was during one of those anxious days.
I was adjusting Rodrio’s pillow, lifting his head slightly—
His eyelashes twitched.
Huh?
Was that just the wind?
I looked toward the open window. The wind was especially strong today.
“I thought Rodrio moved. That scared me. Rodrio, wake up already. The weather is nice—when you wake up, let’s go on a picnic with Idrish—”
“Who… are you?”
“W-what?!”
Startled, I dropped his head.
“Ah!”
Rodrio cried out weakly.
“S-sorry…”
I stared at him blankly.
Then it finally hit me.
“Rodrio!”
“W-who are you…?”
Tears rushed to my eyes at his weak voice.
“You’re awake? It’s me—the Thorn King!”
“Thorn…?”
“Yes! The great Thorn King!”
It was embarrassing to say it out loud, but this wasn’t the time to care.
Rodrio slowly opened his eyes and looked at me up and down, suspicion in his blue eyes.
“The prickly Thorn King…? Really?”
“Yes! It’s me! Oh my god… you woke up. Thank goodness. I thought you were going to die—I was so worried.”
“Die…?”
“No, this isn’t the time! Wait here—I need to tell Idrish!”
Rodrio said something behind me, but I didn’t look back.
I ran out of the room.
“Where is Idrish?!”
I shouted at the servants as I ran.
They looked confused at my loud voice but pointed the way.
He was at the training ground outside.
I slipped twice on the marble floor but didn’t stop running.
“Idrish!”
