Episode 218
"Hmm-hmm~♪"
My master's fiancée, for some reason in high spirits, is humming a tune while strolling through the mansion with her hands behind her back.
"......"
And following behind her are her pet and I.
"...What are you looking at, human."
"I'm a pet, though."
"What?"
"Just like you, I'm also a pet. Not a person."
".....?"
Seeing that sight, I could tell that Master's words about 'human pets' being popular among nobles were true.
I had been slightly puzzled since I hadn't seen anyone walking 'human pets' on the streets, but it seems this was a hobby reserved for great nobles like the Duke's household.
"Then are you also... a beastkin?"
"Huh? I'm Master's bitch, though."
"I see. I'm a fox beastkin. Judging by your behavior, I thought you were a puppy beastkin. I guess I've developed some deductive skills."
The fox girl who heard my answer said that and puffed up slightly with pride.
- Twitch, twitch.
At the same time, her ears twitched and her tail swayed.
Looking closely, they were real ears and tail, not the fake ones made by a suspicious mage with dark designs in his heart.
"Did you have surgery? I want to get it too."
"What? How dare you say that! Do you think I would undergo that crude and barbaric act of putting a knife to my body during treatment?"
"Huh?"
"Never mind, I don't want to talk to someone ignorant of medicine. I'm... sulking now."
She said that in clumsy Imperial language, then scampered forward and started talking to her master.
'That child too... met a good master.'
She looks timid, but there are no signs of abuse. Seeing that, it seems the girl met a master who doesn't mistreat them like Master's old friends did, and only gives minimal punishment.
By the way, I wonder how those girls Master gave me as servants are doing?
I heard they're studying at the academy recently. When they become second-years, I should visit them.
"Then, next is... Frey's room! I want to see Frey's room!"
"...Yes."
As I was walking with those thoughts, Master's fiancée asked me for directions with an excited voice.
"Miho... pinch me. This isn't a dream, right? It's been years since I entered Frey's room... Ow! Why did you bite!"
"Argh..."
When I first met her, honestly, the image of a villainess came to my mind.
Her gaze was sharp, and the way she covered her mouth with her fan, her cold words and deeds... it was like a villainess straight out of a romance novel.
But seeing her like this, she seems to be quite a good person.
Since she treats Master so well, she doesn't fall under my new standard that anyone who harms Master is a bad person.
Then again, the world doesn't revolve like a romance novel.
In those desperate times when I had no parents, no teacher, no friends, and couldn't be loved by anyone, my only escape was romance novels.
A poor commoner girl with nothing, and a hated girl meeting a troubled noble and sharing forbidden love - such novels.
They were good tools for forgetting reality and sinking into fantasy.
But before long, even that became hollow, and I threw away all the novels.
Because they were just novels anyway. Because they'd never happen. Unlike the protagonists who overcome any hardship and find love, I would live unhappily until the end.
That's what I believed but...
Now, the reason I don't read novels has changed a bit.
Because no heroine or hero of any novel could be as happy as me, or as magnificent as Master.
Because I'm already living each day in the happiest novel.
But.
- Creak...
Suddenly, worry consumes me. Insanely so. Enough that I unknowingly clench my hands until blood stops flowing.
'Can I... save Master?'
A novel is a novel. The heroine of a romance novel overcomes any enemy or curse with the power of love, but this is reality.
Until just now, Master was definitely wearing a pained expression. Could it be that he didn't want to show such a side to me or his fiancée?
There's nothing more terrible than knowing you're dying. I felt that desperately just a few months ago.
Even though he says it's not his end, Master in such fear and dread...
"Um... how far are you going?"
"Ah, I'm sorry."
I was so lost in thought that I almost passed Master's room and went to the end of the hallway.
"It's over there."
"Hehe..."
When I came to my senses and pointed to Master's room, she entered with a bright smile.
"......."
Come to think of it, she always reacted like that whenever entering various parts of the mansion.
"This is the mansion's kitchen."
"Mm-hm, I see. Just a moment."
"...What are you doing?"
"I'm memorizing the layout and cooking tools. When I marry here, I'll personally prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day."
Running around the kitchen like a puppy that found water, diligently memorizing things.
"Ah, ow!"
"...You're not good at cooking, are you?"
"N-no! I'm good at cooking!"
Or trying to borrow the kitchen briefly to make Master's favorite sandwich, then hurting her finger and looking tearful.
"My confidants... said it was delicious..."
Or staring blankly at the completed something - sandwich or vegetable bread mess - and muttering.
When it came to matters related to Master, such cute and absent-minded reactions came out automatically.
But she really was a scary person.
"In the Starlight mansion basement... this is where Frey commits crimes, right...?"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm erasing human traces. While I'm at it, I'm planting moon mana too. With this, I can neutralize the bloody smell, so you can commit crimes here with peace of mind."
"......."
Saying such terrible things calmly.
"There's dust...? Frey already has weak lungs... Who's in charge today...?"
"...I'm sorry, there are only 4 servants right now."
"Huh? Where did all the original ones go?"
Hearing from me that all the servants had left.
"I see... Is that so...?"
Muttering with a chilling expression.
'As expected, she's a good person.'
But that's why I liked her.
Moral concepts and such don't matter to me anymore.
Now my only moral standard is Master, who owns me completely.
Since everything about me is determined and defined by him, his words are justice and law, discipline and rules.
Those who violate them are evil, those who don't are good.
"Uhehe, uhehehe..."
While I was thinking that, suddenly a foolish sound came from somewhere.
"Good, so good, Frey..."
Wondering what was happening, Lady Serena was rolling around covered in blankets on Master's bed.
"I want to get married quickly... I want to sleep in your bed... I want to be happy..."
Not knowing what was so good about it, she smiled dopily and flopped around on the bed like a fish for a while, then...
"...Hm?"
Suddenly she frowned and froze in place.
"This smell..."
Then, she started making an expression like she'd lost everything in the world.
"...........Ugh."
And then, she went limp on the bed like a fish left in the hot sun for days.
"There's another woman's smell..."
I've been curious for a while, but how can she distinguish things by smell? I'm truly envious of that ability. It's essential for a pet.
"Professor Isollet... perfume smell... flesh smell... sweat smell... and this is... ugh."
While I was thinking that.
"An old maid... should know her place... shameless..."
She frowned and muttered, biting her lip, then started rolling around on the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"...I'm covering Frey's bed with my scent."
"......."
I, who had been silently watching such actions that might even look foolish, quietly asked a question.
"Why... do you go that far?"
"Huh?"
"Why do you like Master that much?"
At those words, she fell into silence for a moment.
"Hmm..."
Then, she tilted her head and fell into thought.
"...There is a reason."
She spoke with a serious expression.
"He... taught me that I'm not a tool, made me realize I can love someone, and gave me a grace I can never repay in my lifetime."
"Grace... you say?"
"Yes, he's my—"
Then, suddenly she grabbed her head, complaining of a headache.
"Ugh... ugh...?"
Before long, she wore a confused expression.
"...Anyway, that's why I have no choice but to love him."
She answered calmly.
"He is my everything."
After saying that and taking a deep breath.
"...Do you understand?"
Suddenly making a terrifying expression, she approached me.
"Don't encroach on my place. This is your last warning."
Then, Lady Serena, who was standing beside me glancing at me.
"...Be satisfied with that position."
Leaving those words, she left the room.
"Owl, watch Professor Isollet's house. The atmosphere is unsettling."
"Coo."
She whispered quietly to the owl perched on her shoulder.
"......"
I, who was quietly following behind her, fell into thought.
'Satisfied with this position?'
If it were a few days ago, I would have obeyed without question. I was so happy just to be Master's pet.
But, why is that?
Since what happened earlier, since I learned of Master's heart, everything is different from before.
When I lick Master with my tongue, I want to put my tongue in his mouth. When I rub my body against him, I want to press bare skin together.
When he looks at me with gentle eyes, I want to look at him from beside or above him, not from below.
When Master strokes me, I end up wanting him to stroke deeper places.
Have I become a bad child?
A pet, yet have I become an ungrateful child who desires more than that?
"......."
Suddenly I remember a dream from my childhood.
A dream I longed for desperately in those days when I secretly went into the neighborhood bookstore and read childish stories.
'...I want to become a heroine.'
Since I was always unhappy, I thought, wouldn't it be okay to dream such a dream at least once?
Glancing slightly at Lady Serena walking with light steps ahead of me, I came back down to the first floor and...
"Why, why is it Frey?"
"...Umm."
"Ah, does it hurt? Where does it hurt?"
Seeing Master with a pale complexion, I froze on the spot.
"N-no."
I wasn't a heroine.
I was just a fool who ate away at the lifespan of the person I loved.
.
"A-are you really okay? Frey?"
"...I said I'm fine."
Serena shakes Frey with an anxious expression.
"Never mind that, just go now. You need to spend time with Lulu..."
"We haven't even started forging the documents yet. If I don't do that, you'll be arrested within a week, you know?"
Frey, trying to quickly send Serena away, started breaking into a cold sweat when she stubbornly refused to budge.
"T-then... prepare lunch at least."
"Huh?"
"Lunch, I said prepare it. I'm hungry."
Hearing those words, Serena looked blankly down at Frey, then...
".....!!!"
Unable to fully express her emotions, she twitched like someone electrocuted.
"T-t-t-t-t then... right now..."
"Buy the ingredients first. Fresh ones."
"Yes, yes!"
Even though she had just checked the freshness of all the ingredients in the kitchen, Serena rushed toward the mansion's entrance, rendering such efforts meaningless.
"W-what do I do? I didn't know it would be actual practice already... I-I haven't mastered cooking yet..."
Muttering with a restless expression.
- Bang...!
"W-wait, human..."
Just as Serena left the mansion in the blink of an eye, the startled Miho tried to follow her.
"Cough...!"
But at that moment, Frey, who had been holding back coughing up blood, finally squeezed his eyes shut and bent at the waist.
".....?"
Miho, surprised by that sight, stopped walking and opened her eyes wide, while...
"M-Master...!"
Lulu ran to him in horror.
"Cough, cough... ugh..."
Frey, coughing up blood while covering his mouth in that situation, looked at her with dim eyes as she supported him and muttered.
"Thank goodness I sent Serena away... that fox wouldn't worry about me anyway... but Lulu... there might be a way... if that ability is... a higher power of the Stone of Domination..."
"N-no! Don't die!!"
Lulu, thinking he was leaving his last words, shook him desperately.
"Y-you! You said you were a doctor!"
"A-are you talking about me? The dog beastkin?"
"Yes, you! Come quickly!!"
She urgently called Miho, who had been watching Frey with a blank expression.
"Examine him! Quickly!"
"Hmm..."
Finally, at Lulu's urging, she began the examination with her hands.
"...Good heavens."
After a moment, Miho, who removed her hands from Frey's body, muttered with a trembling voice.
"There's no hope."
"......!"
That short but heavy statement.
But that one word was enough to shatter Lulu's heart to pieces.
"A year or two at most. Unless a miracle happens."
"Ah..."
"And recently the condition has become more serious. It was terminal to begin with, but some factor... whatever it was, it was fatal."
"........"
Miho, driving a wedge into her heart like that.
"You're quite something. It must have hurt terribly just to breathe, yet not a single scream..."
'...How do I die?'
Thanks to that, leaving Miho to analyze Frey's condition seriously like a doctor, Lulu became dead-eyed and muttered inwardly.
'Since I'm dying anyway, let's die together with Master at the same moment. No, do I even deserve that? Should I just go somewhere remote and die?'
Because she had no reason to live without Frey anymore, she repeated thought after thought with hollow eyes and a broken heart.
"Ah."
"W-what is it?"
Suddenly, she looked at Miho with an expression like she was possessed.
"Master said... you are the key."
"What?"
"You, if it's you, you can save him. You can save him! Save him! Save Master!"
"W-why are you acting like this! Don't do this!"
Then, losing her reason, she grabbed Miho and screamed.
"Even if the tribe leader came... even if a god came, they couldn't save him! In the first place, this is a fundamental problem..."
"Save him."
"U-ugh!"
Then, Lulu gave a command to Miho with her evil eye as she continued explaining with a frown.
"...Ugh, ugh."
Then, Miho suddenly started dry heaving.
"Uueck..."
Before long, a bead glowing white appeared at her mouth.
"E-even if I use this, it won't work. The energy in his body fundamentally blocks treatment..."
"Treat him."
"Ugh..."
Miho, hesitating with the bead in her mouth, heard Lulu give another firm command.
"M-my essence... something I gathered morning dew for 10 years to make... without this, my nine tails... ugh."
Finally, she forcibly pressed her lips to Frey.
- Shaaa...
And so, a long, long time passed for both Miho and Lulu.
"...Phew."
Miho, who poured all her essence into Frey, collapsed in exhaustion.
"M-Master!"
Then, Lulu ran to Frey, whose complexion had brightened slightly.
"Huh?"
Miho, watching the two of them with tearful eyes...
"Why did... this work?"
Muttered with confused eyes.
".........."
Meanwhile, Lulu, examining Frey here and there, turned her gaze to Miho.
"You, what was your name?"
"M-Miho... it's Miho, but..."
"No."
To Miho, who answered with a trembling voice at her serious gaze.
"From now on your name is..."
Lulu whispered with shining eyes.
"...Servant Number 3."
.
Meanwhile, at that same time.
"...How far have we come?"
"We're almost there now."
A single carriage bearing the royal seal was heading toward the Starlight mansion.
"Lord Raphael, but why suddenly to the Starlight mansion..."
"...There is a reason for that."
Not Klana, but a carriage carrying her older sister.