Chapter 24: 24

Episode 24: The Best Incentive (VII)

 

On the way down with Iprus, I met Hanu.

The wild boar was subdued right away, but it seemed that he had been looking for us for a while because he didn’t know where we went.

Having reunited with Hanu, I parted ways with Iprus and headed towards where Bella should be.

Those who did not directly participate in the hunting competition enjoyed refreshments and socialized in a safe place.

Actually, this event just had the format of a hunting competition. It was no different from a huge social gathering.

Maybe it was because all of the great families which were hard to see on a regular basis were gathered in one place. Many were busy walking around with a purpose.

Hanu’s eyebrows were gathered as if he was sad. His lips also seemed to be slightly protruding.

“Lady Lia. You’re so mean.”

“I’m orry.”

“Why didn’t you take me and leave Iprus”

“…What?”

He seemed disappointed that I took Iprus rather than the fact that I used him as a shield and fled.

But strictly speaking, I never took only Iprus. She just followed along.

“When a signal flare went off nearby, I was afraid to think something serious happened to Lady Lia.”

“Still, it was really cool to see Sir Hanu reliably shielding me as soon as the wild boar appeared.”

Then, Hanu, who had been constantly nagging, blushed and averted his gaze.

“I was just doing what I had to do. If you compliment me like that, I don’t know what to do.”

“No. Sir Hanu is great. Can any knight do that? And, I heard that you took care of the wild boar very quickly?”

“I-It’s nothing…”

Embarrassed by the compliments, the shy guy lowered his gaze and said nothing more.

‘Although the siblings’ personalities are opposite, they’re both cute.’

I walked forward with the clever thought that I should shower Hanu with compliments whenever he starts nagging in the future.

After quite a bit of walking…

From afar, Primo and Bella came into view.

Seeing that Primo, who had been busy interacting with people from other families, was now with Bella, it seemed like quite a bit of time had passed. 

Thanks to their superior height and body proportions, they stood out, so I spotted them without even trying to find them.

“Lia!”

Although Bella was conversing with Primo with a serious expression, she noticed me and quickly approached.

I blinked and tilted my head.

“Madam Bella. What happened?”

“I was looking for you. I was worried that the flare that went off earlier was yours.”

I took out a signal flare, showing it with an awkward expression.

“Here is mine.”

It was a signal flare that I snuck out of Theodore’s pocket just in case.

Originally, I was just going to say that I had lost it, but I suddenly remembered Theodore’s signal flare, which had failed in the original work, so I took care of it.

Brushing her chest in relief, Bella affectionately held my hand.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older, I have a lot of worries. If you had come a little later, I would have gone to find you myself.”

The warm touch scared me.

I didn’t deserve that affection.

That affection must have bloomed from the thought that I was a killer whale.

If I was a real killer whale, not a penguin… I would have been able to accept those warm eyes without hesitation.

In the first place, if my humanized appearance didn’t resemble a killer whale, this misunderstanding wouldn’t have arisen.

Suddenly, I got emotional, feeling resentful of the undeniable reality that I was a penguin.

If I had remained as a penguin instead of humanizing, I wouldn’t have had to worry about being abandoned by my father.

This was a humanization that I had been longing for, but the thought that it would have been better to remain as an animal than to be abandoned by my father came to my mind.

I was anxious.

‘I don’t want to be left out.’

‘I want to be loved without having to worry about when it will end.’

‘Please, please, someone please…’

‘Please love me.’

“Lady Lia?”

Hanu’s voice brought me back to my senses.

He was looking at me worriedly. It seemed that he noticed my sudden emotional change with the special trait of black bull demibeasts.

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I felt dizzy.

If I had dwelled on such thoughts a little longer, I might have returned to my penguin form like this morning.

As if feeling something strange, Bella examined my expression and carefully asked,

“Lia, are you sick?”

I slipped my hand away from Bella’s and changed the subject.

“…I’m okay. By the way, Madam Bella, how many days can a whale demibeast last in their humanized form?”

“Oops. I forgot to tell you. You must have been anxious because you didn’t know when you would return to being an animal.”

In a caring tone, Bella explained to me.

“There are individual differences, but whales can usually survive for about a month without animalization.”

Certainly, as Suradel said, it was about twice as long as the other demibeasts.

“From what I’ve heard from Suradel, you haven’t exhibited any symptoms of returning to an animal yet.”

“…Yes.”

“Lia, it’s fortunate that your humanization is fairly stable.”

With a relieved expression, Bella touched her chin like she was thinking deeply about something.

“Let’s see, then the last time it was an animal was about a week ago.”

‘No. It’s this morning.’

However, contrary to my innermost thoughts, my mouth was steadily spitting out lies.

“It’s been a little over a week since I came to Weil… ri… right?”

“That’s right. But earlier, when you were hanging out by the water, I was thinking of other plans…”

“Yes…”

“In a week, the Igle family will hold a succession banquet. When that’s over, let’s go to the Weil family’s estate right away.”

While saying so, Bella furrowed her brows as if she was disappointed about this.

“I’d like to hurry it up, but I have to attend at least as a formality.”

“Yes, that’s right…”

Since the Igle family was one of the five great families leading the continent, it was difficult to miss the succession banquet held there.

For reference, the five great families were Weil, Wulf, Rion, Igle, and Elphan.
(TL/N: whale, wolf, lion, eagle, elephant.)

Halfway through our conversation, Primo approached us, naturally wrapping his hand around Bella’s waist and asked,

“What are our killer whales talking about?”

As if Bella was used to such behavior from Primo, she leaned into his arm and answered.

“Primo. I’m going to take Lia to the Weil family estate next week.”

I looked at Primo, and with all my heart, I used my eyes to ask him to stop Bella. I believed my intentions got through.

Noticing the passionate eyes, Primo grinned and said,

“It sounds fun. I want to go too.”

It was a remark that didn’t help in the slightest.

Come to think of it, he only said that he would keep quiet about me being a penguin, not that he would help me hide it.

Bella narrowed her eyes and flatly refused.

“No. You have to stay and deal with your work backlog. Besides, it’s only been a week since you went to the Weil estate, hasn’t it?”

Unable to bring himself to answer Bella, Primo threw me a pitiful expression.

‘Oh, why are you looking at me when you didn’t help me?’

I shook my head, pretending not to notice his gaze.

It was then.

“Call the medics now! This is an urgent patient!”

The knights who ran after seeing the signal flares hurriedly came down with Theodore, who had fainted and was covered in blood.

The people who had checked his face were greatly agitated.

“Oh my gosh! Isn’t that the young lord of Wulf?”

“Sir Theodore couldn’t have been struck by wild beasts, was it a surprise attack or something?”

“The blood-soaked clothing is one thing, but there’s a large bruise on the forehead. No animal could have done that.”

“He must have been hit with a blunt weapon. Who can hit that handsome face…!”

At the part about the bruise on his forehead, I whistled and looked away at the distant mountains.

The news of Theodore’s injury, the most likely winner of this year’s hunt, seemed to have shocked people.

On the other hand, I relaxed when I saw that his eyes were closed.

‘You’re sleeping soundly.’

And…

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