Chapter 4
“…”
“…”
“…”
A deathly silence fell over the hall.
Even Duke Miruel—who had mercilessly exposed everyone’s mistakes in a relentless barrage of criticism without batting an eye—looked momentarily stunned.
…I’m doomed.
I lowered my head and clenched my fists.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on me.
My heart pounded wildly.
Cold sweat trickled down my back from the overwhelming tension.
Trying to steady my ragged breathing and ignore the ringing in my ears, I tightly gripped the hem of my dress.
“…Leave the house?”
Duke Miruel was the first to recover.
He looked genuinely puzzled.
“Yes…”
“That’s your plan?”
“Y-Yes…”
“Why?”
He asked as though he sincerely wanted to know.
There were countless reasons.
But I couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.
“I… I found out… the secret of my birth…”
I had been trying to think of an acceptable answer.
Unfortunately, my terrified tongue ignored my brain yet again.
Nooooo!
I’m going insane!
“…The secret of your birth?”
The phrase immediately piqued everyone’s curiosity.
Not only Duke Miruel, but everyone else turned their eyes toward me as well.
To keep myself from accidentally transforming into my beast form, I forced myself to stare directly into the duke’s eyes without blinking.
One of his eyebrows twitched.
“Are you saying there’s some secret about this family… that even I don’t know?”
He sounded almost incredulous.
“Y-Yes…”
“Even Grandpa doesn’t know…”
Well…
I’d read the novel cover to cover, so naturally I knew every secret.
But he didn’t.
No matter how thorough he was, surely he hadn’t gone so far as to perform bloodline tests on every family member.
“…”
“…”
Suddenly…
The room fell silent.
…What’s going on?
Feeling strangely uneasy, I instinctively put on my brightest smile.
The moment I smiled, Duke Miruel’s eyebrow twitched again.
People won’t hate you if you smile.
It was one of the truths life had taught me.
“Very well.”
“What secret is it?”
“W-Well…”
I swallowed nervously.
Oddly enough…
It sounded as though other people swallowed at the same time.
“Hoo…”
I took a deep breath to calm myself and avoid accidentally transforming.
“Nng…”
Almost immediately…
I heard someone sigh.
Then came the sound of fingers tapping rapidly against a table.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Almost as though someone was growing impatient.
Determined to overcome my fear of public speaking, I bounced lightly in place, took another deep breath, and carefully opened my mouth.
“W-Well…”
Glancing sideways, I noticed everyone leaning forward in their seats.
Not only that…
The expressions on their faces resembled neighborhood ladies eagerly watching the juiciest soap opera imaginable.
“I… actually…”
For some reason, that only made me even more nervous.
I’ve always been terrible at giving presentations!
“This family’s…”
Just as I finally forced out a few words—
“Your Grace! An emergency!”
A soldier burst into the hall, interrupting me.
“We’re in the middle of the New Year’s Assembly! What is so urgent?”
“Ha…”
Duke Miruel’s thunderous voice overlapped with someone’s disappointed sigh somewhere in the room.
The duke whipped his head around, his expression dark with anger.
The soldier instinctively faltered.
“I-It’s the floating stone mine!”
“It collapsed.”
“Several workers and a supervisor are trapped inside.”
“What?!”
“How incompetent must the safety management have been?!”
“Casualties?”
“N-No deaths have been confirmed yet.”
“Only several workers have been injured.”
Before the report had even finished, Duke Miruel shot me one hard look before rising from his seat with a furious growl.
“We’ll resume the New Year’s Assembly in a few days.”
“Until then, everyone will remain within the estate.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
Everyone snapped to attention, terrified of becoming the next target of his wrath.
As the duke started leaving while continuing to receive the soldier’s report, he suddenly stopped.
“You.”
“You.”
“You.”
“And you.”
He pointed at several members of the branch family.
The color instantly drained from their faces.
“I won’t waste words.”
“You hopeless, lazy trolls.”
“Wash your necks and follow me.”
“Y-Your Grace…!”
One of them called out desperately.
The moment the duke’s cold glare landed on him…
He immediately shut his mouth and hurried over with his head lowered.
“Hmph.”
“So you think my words are a joke?”
“N-No…”
“Then why haven’t you washed your necks?”
“Would you like me to do it for you?”
“N-No!”
The chosen men frantically searched their pockets, pulled out handkerchiefs, and began vigorously scrubbing their own necks.
Those without handkerchiefs hurriedly borrowed one from someone nearby.
I stared blankly at the bizarre sight.
Then…
The duke suddenly looked at me.
“You!”
“Y-Yes!”
Startled, I instinctively grabbed my own neck and answered so loudly that my voice cracked.
In the process…
I accidentally bit my tongue.
“You…”
“I-I…”
Perhaps because I’d been frightened so badly…
My eyes suddenly began to sting.
“I…”
“I don’t…”
“…have a handkerchief…”
Covering my neck with both hands, I mumbled the words.
I tried my best.
But I couldn’t stop my voice from trembling.
I’m so little…
Standing before someone so overwhelmingly huge awakened a deep, instinctive fear.
As though he’d noticed my trembling voice, Duke Miruel simply stood there without moving.
…Is he angry?
Everyone was watching me.
I knew I should move.
But my body refused to cooperate.
Don’t cry…
I was already a beastkin.
Already someone living under this family’s roof despite not sharing their blood.
I couldn’t afford to give them even more reasons to dislike me.
I loosened my grip around my neck, bit my lower lip, and forced the corners of my shaking mouth upward.
“I’m… sorry…”
“…for not having one…”
Perhaps my pitiful appearance tugged at their hearts.
One by one, people nearby held out their handkerchiefs toward me.
Even one of the guards standing watch carefully offered me his own—
A handkerchief embroidered with little hearts.
There were at least ten handkerchiefs stretched out before me.
I accepted the nearest one with both hands.
Everyone looked at me with the same sorrowful expressions people wore when seeing a soldier march off to certain death.
Somehow…
That only made me feel even sadder.
“Th-Thank you…”
After bowing politely, I slowly walked over.
Standing beside the others, who had forgotten to wipe their own necks because they were too busy staring at me, I lowered my head.
“…”
“…”
Silence filled the room.
Just as I unfolded the wrinkled handkerchief and carefully lifted it toward my neck—
It suddenly disappeared.
Someone had snatched it away.
“I—Ahem!”
“When did I ever tell you to wash your neck?”
“The next meeting will begin with you.”
“I meant that you’d better think carefully about what you’re going to say.”
…Did his voice crack for a second?
Or was I imagining it?
“I’m… not going to die?”
“Why would I kill a tiny little thing like you?”
“You’re so small and skinny you’re hardly more than a puff of fluff!”
“You wouldn’t even make decent cattle feed!”
My face turned even paler.
…Those other people become cattle feed?
As expected of House Etam, where people supposedly died every day.
Well…
This was a fantasy world.
Anything was possible.
Seeing me standing there with my mouth hanging open, Duke Miruel opened and closed his lips several times before clenching his fist.
“What exactly do you think I am?”
What…?
Was he asking what title I used for him?
Or was he asking philosophically?
If it was the second one…
The only answer that came to mind was a demon.
That definitely wasn’t appropriate right now.
“Gr-Grandpa…?”
“…”
Silence once again swallowed the room.
Even the people who had been busy wiping their necks seemed to have frozen with their mouths hanging open.
But my vision had narrowed so much that I couldn’t even look at them.
Sniff.
Wiping my runny nose, I timidly looked up at Duke Miruel.
“…What did you say?”
“G-Grandpa…?”
His shoulders jerked.
Was that the wrong answer?
“…Your Grace?”
“Ahem.”
“That’s enough, you little fluffball.”
“I’ll see you again in a few days.”
…He doesn’t mean he’ll kill me in a few days… right?
“Y-Yes…”
And so…
The New Year’s Assembly ended in utter chaos.
* * *
Why… did I say that…?
The moment I woke up the next morning, yesterday’s embarrassing memories resurfaced.
I buried my face in my pillow and kicked my blanket repeatedly.
After agonizing over my black history for quite some time, I ate the breakfast Myla prepared for me, happily finished off a pudding, and went out for a walk.
Or rather…
It was an excuse.
Every day I wandered around the estate under the pretense of taking walks so I could familiarize myself with possible escape routes.
Today’s destination happened to be a bench in one of the gardens I’d wandered into.
“Huh?”
“Hey, you’re that kid, aren’t you?”
“The one who cried in front of the Duke?”
A boy who looked two or three years older than me leaned in until his face was right in front of mine.
He held a ball in one hand.
“…I… didn’t cry.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That totally counts as crying.”
“So what are you doing here all by yourself?”
“…Just sitting.”
Still seated on the bench, I hugged my knees slightly as I answered.
“Really?”
“Aren’t you bored?”
“Want to come play with us?”
The freckled boy’s chubby cheeks bounced as he smiled and held out his hand toward me.
