CBDBS l CH 09

Chapter 9

“Alright, time to show me what you’re useful for.”

Treating me like a hand warmer, König kneaded me in his palms, then set me down beside his pillow.

Lying on his side, he stared at me steadily—like he was getting ready for bed.

‘What does this lizard keep meaning by “useful,” anyway?’

I rolled my “walnut brain” as hard as I could, but no clear answer came.

For a comfy life in this crazy Black Dragon Castle—and to meet that hopeful look on his face—I had to present something…

“Chuu?”

What exactly am I supposed to do?

When I tilted my head, a sigh drifted over my ears.

“Put me to sleep. Like you did in the mountains.”

…Come again?

I stared at König in disbelief—then finally noticed the heavy dark circles under his handsome eyes.

He looked like someone who hadn’t slept properly in ages. Oddly, they only made him look even more dangerously attractive.

‘No wonder…’

“My lord is a very light sleeper. Please be careful.”

Gerard had warned me repeatedly before leaving the bedroom.

So König’s insomnia clearly wasn’t a one-day issue. The more you have to guard, the more tired you are.

“Chuut.”

Mm-hmm. I get it. As a former “rich rodent” of Bear Mountain, I can relate.

I’d figured out the customer’s needs and traced the cause.

‘Now for the solution…’

Too bad I didn’t actually have a magic “sleep” skill.

Meanwhile, König kept staring at me—expectation fading from his eyes bit by bit.

If he decided I was useless, I might end up dead.

‘I have to do something!’

Decision made, I hopped, hop-hop, to his side, drew a deep breath—

“Chuut, chuut.”

Hush-a-bye, hush-a-bye, sleepy lizard…

I started to sing a lullaby.

Even with my paws tied inside the pouch, I wriggled them to pat his shoulder.

“…Hah. Then there’s no need to interrogate you.”

His flat voice cut like a guillotine blade. I felt that cold stare on my crown—but I ignored it and sang harder.

‘Is this a marching song or a lullaby?’

I couldn’t even tell.

I don’t know how long I kept at it.

My arms were going numb when I snuck a glance at König—
and blinked.

“Chuu…?”

His eyelids had dropped.

Not only that—his chest rose and fell in slow waves, and I could just barely hear a soft, steady breath.

‘They say the heaviest thing in the world is your eyelids.’

Even König couldn’t resist sleep.

I exhaled, letting my body relax. My shoulders ached from singing so loudly.

Facing him up close… he really was—

Yeah. Breathtaking.

In the dim moonlight, his face looked like a scene from a painting.

‘Success!’

Wait—why did that work?

Why’d he fall asleep all of a sudden?

Curious as I was, the important thing was that I’d proved I was useful.

Outside, it was already late night—nearly dawn.

At last, a moment of peace in this nerve-shredding Black Dragon Castle.

But I still couldn’t fall asleep easily—not only because I feared when this heartless lizard might wake up, but because—

“K… reutz…”

I sensed someone suspicious outside the door.

After the guards left their post, a different presence quietly took their place.

“Kreutz should die… Kreutz… kill, must kill…”

That was pure, bright hatred—aimed at König, no, at the entire Kreutz family.

Whoever it was knew the exact guard-change timing. Definitely an insider at the Black Dragon Castle.

‘Was I too naive?’

I’d thought this place was the best way to avoid the Emperor’s claws.

Maybe it wasn’t so safe after all.

Then again, this is the Black Dragon’s fortress—the home of the family said to have bathed half the continent in blood.

It would be stranger if there weren’t spies hiding here with knives in their hearts.

‘Should I wake König now?’

Curled up in the pouch, I hesitated.

How? I was imprisoned, and if I made a sound to wake him, I might only alert the person outside.

The muttered curses at the door didn’t stop while I agonized.

Judging by the target, the intruder didn’t seem ready to rush in immediately.

‘That’s something, at least…’

Still, just hearing the thoughts made the fur on the back of my neck stand up.

I had a feeling life in this fortress was not going to be easy.

***

“Chuuu—!”

When I jolted awake with a weird squeak, it was early morning.

When did I fall asleep? And the spy?

I shot up in the pouch and looked around. König, straightening his clothes, met my eyes.

“You have terrible sleeping habits.”

“Chut—.”

Whose fault do you think that is!

I glared at him when he wasn’t looking. The dark circles on his face had lightened a little.

Was it just me, or did he have a faint divine glow behind him?

Ahem—anyway.

‘If I hadn’t stayed up keeping watch, you might be a corpse already!’

Even after the killing intent outside faded and the guards returned, it took me a long time to sleep.

“Why is it glaring at me like that? Are squirrels always this fierce?”

“I believe this particular thief is unusually so, my lord.”

Before König could finish buttoning his shirt, Gerard’s dry voice answered from behind.

The castle’s slimy aide had returned. He squinted at me even more narrowly, like, “You didn’t do anything weird overnight, did you?”

‘Hah.’

Honestly, unbelievable.

Shouldn’t you be hunting the rat—no, the spy—slinking around the fortress right now?

Only then can I relax and stay here in peace!

“Chuu—.”

I sighed without meaning to.

Then my body lifted—pouch and all—into the air. König again.

After a few steps, he set me down on a sunlit table.

On top of it was—

“Chuu—!”

Enough to turn me into a completely deranged squirrel.

A three-tier dessert tower—the kind I’d only seen during annual events back when I was a marquis’ daughter.

The difference was: the first tier brimmed with nuts—pistachios, almonds, and more. The upper tiers held neatly arranged vegetables and fruits.

“They say squirrels eat things like this as their staple.”

‘Of course! I never get enough!’

To reassure the unsure lizard, I decided to show him.

The moment my ribbon tie loosened, I zipped to the tower.

Crunch-crunch—an almond vanished in seconds. Then I leapt straight to the top tier.

Green grapes, apples, even cherries!

Southern fruits you’d never find near Bear Mountain on the northern border.

“Nom-nom.”

Yes, that’s the taste. That’s the taste!

After three years, the sweetness was heavenly.

I even hummed, and when I bit into my hometown specialty—cherries—my eyes stung with tears.

But I must have let my guard down too much.

For a veteran of Bear Mountain to fall for such a shabby trap…

Creak—CLANG!

‘W-what the—?!’

At the loud noise, I looked up—
and metal bars crisscrossed around me on all sides.

“…Chut?!”

A cage?!

Tall enough to tower over a grown human!

“Success, my lord!”

“Looks like it isn’t quite as clever as I feared.”

I don’t know why the lizard looked almost disappointed, but…

Yes. I’d fallen for the enemy’s ambush—the bait was ‘cherries.’

“Chu, chuut!”

You rotten reptiles…!

König crouched to eye level as I grabbed the bars and shook them.

“Stay put. Like I said, it’s dangerous around here. Even inside the castle isn’t exactly safe.”

Does this lizard know something?

My hope shattered at his next line.

“A careless soldier might step on you, and that would be bad.”

‘How does that make any sense…?’

“My work is piling up, so Gerard and I need to head to the office. One more thing—just a word to the wise.”

König smiled pleasantly and spoke slowly.

“If you’re not here when I get back, that spot will become yours.”

I didn’t have to look to know where he pointed.

The display cabinet he’d warned me about before.

‘You ungrateful lizard…!’

Locking up a perfectly decent beast-man in a cage and, with that sunny face, threatening to stuff me if I run?

He is missing a screw!

Once that infuriating reptile duo left, I actually had a pretty comfortable time.

They’d gone to the trouble of setting up a cozy corner inside the cage, plus a tunnel and a running wheel.

‘Tch. As if I’d use that. Do I look like a real squirrel to you?’

Rattle-rattle-rattle.

I muttered while running on the wheel anyway.

Somewhere nearby, my stomach growled.

[Slurp.]

A gulp of pooled drool followed.