CHAPTER 91………………………….
Saying it like that makes me a little scared — what are you trying to get out of me?
I forced my worry away, gave an awkward smile, and asked him.
“How did you know I was in danger?”
“I happened to pass by and saw it.”
“I see….”
What a coincidence. It felt almost miraculous.
Relaxed, I belatedly glanced toward the bedroom.
It looked neat and untouched, as if last night’s chaos had been a mirage.
While I stared at the room with a puzzled look, the door flew open without so much as a knock.
—Bang!
The sudden noise startled me; Melin crashed into my arms, bursting into tears.
“Waaah! Unnniii! I thought something bad happened, wahhh!”
I wiped Melin’s tear- and snot-covered face with my handkerchief.
Then a thought crossed my mind and I pushed her back to check her body.
“Melin, you’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Waaah!”
Melin shook her head violently as she sobbed.
“And the others?”
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Agathe and Lisa who had followed in.
“We’re fine.”
“You won’t believe it — those thugs all went down from one punch from the lady?!”
“Hehe. I’m kinda strong!”
“The lady is amazing!”
It sounded like Melin had quietly used spirit power to defeat the attackers so nobody else noticed.
Melin, who had thoroughly blown her nose with my handkerchief, looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“But, unni, was Mion always that big…? Did he have a growth spurt overnight…?”
Oh.
Only then did I remember — Mion had been injured and returned to his original size.
“I need an explanation.”
Even Agathe, who normally doesn’t add to conversation, joined in.
‘There’s nothing left to hide now that everything’s out in the open.’
I sighed and began to explain everything that had happened.
As I spoke, Melin’s face flushed as red as a volcano.
“Unniieek!”
Her loud cry — something I’d never heard from her — made me flinch and hunch my shoulders.
“Why are you only telling me now?!”
“S-sorry.”
“You could’ve been in danger!”
My position felt flipped with Melin; I was embarrassed and a little proud at the same time.
“From now on, always be honest with me about anything — promise!”
Melin thrust out her pinky.
I smiled awkwardly and slid my finger into hers.
Melin snorted and said,
“I’ll protect you and Mion!”
For some reason, it was the first time I felt both reassured and impressed by Melin.
Around noon that day.
I slipped into the room quietly to check on Mion’s condition. Lenox followed behind.
Even though I opened the door quietly, true to his feline nature the blue-eyed divine beast was staring straight at me.
“Mion, how are you feeling?”
“…….”
“Now that we know, you can relax and stay humanized in here.”
At that, Mion’s body was bathed in a bright light.
Seeing his human form, Lenox’s face stiffened even further.
‘He must be quite shocked.’
If an ordinary person saw a divine beast humanize, they would understandably be stunned — it’s a rare, hard-to-experience thing.
“……When did you get this big?”
His question carried the tone of someone who had only ever seen him as a child.
“He came of age this time.”
After I answered, Lenox slowly surveyed Mion, then suddenly lunged at him like an armored car.
With quick hands he bundled Mion up tightly in the blankets.
“Eek! I’m a patient!”
Mion squealed repeatedly, probably in pain from the rough handling.
‘He really must not be too bad,’ I thought.
From the way he was yelling, it seemed like he’d recover and get up soon.
Encased in blankets, he looked like a silkworm cocoon.
The ridiculous sight made me laugh, but I didn’t understand why Lenox would act so abruptly.
Reading the question in my look, he spoke first.
“He’s injured, so we need to maintain his body temperature.”
“That’s usually for hypothermia or a fever—”
“With so many wounds, there’s likely a high risk of bacterial infection.”
Lenox’s words left me speechless, and he asked me something else.
“Is he usually like this?”
“You mean, does he usually humanize?”
“That, and whether he walks around like this — naked.”
“Oh.”
Divine beasts don’t normally wear clothes; that’s natural for them.
“He does when he’s just the two of us, but when he goes out we dress him, so don’t worry.”
“Just the two of you….”
Lenox frowned, as if something about that didn’t sit right.
Mion coughed and said,
“Seriously… cough Is it okay to handle a patient like this?”
“Will he stay here?”
Lenox ignored Mion and asked.
“Lisa has already asked the Tower to place a protective spell, but Penelope’s side will probably keep coming after him.”
It was a problem in many ways, but the conclusion was one.
“For the time being, Mion will be sent elsewhere.”
Where to send him, however, was the issue.
“Will the defensive magic be enough?”
Lenox looked at me with slight distrust.
“You can’t keep watching him forever.”
“I can.”
“If you stay with him, the Duke of Penelope will suspect you. You cannot be suspected — not for my plan.”
There was something of a puzzled look in Lenox’s eyes. I grinned and said,
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
To be honest, I knew as well — protective magic was only a makeshift solution.
‘I can’t back down now.’
Mion, who had been watching us, spoke with a sullen face.
“….I’m sorry.”
He sounded apologetic — he’d tried to protect me and ended up bedridden — and it made it hard to be angry.
Lenox broke the awkward, uncomfortable silence.
“Then how about I take him?”
I was startled at his offer.
“What?”
Of course, if the strongest in this world guarded Mion, I would feel safer, but—
“The Duke of Penelope might target you.”
“I will win.”
Recalling what happened last night, his words weren’t mere bravado.
‘Still, I’m worried.’
Just as I was about to voice my concern, a memory of what he said before going to war flashed through my mind.
‘You mean I look like such a weak novice that I won’t survive the war.’
If I showed worry now, I might hurt his feelings like before, so I held back.
At my call, Lisa came in carrying a sling to hold Mion.
“Don’t cause any trouble and stay quiet there, Mion.”
“……Meow.”
Mion mewed weakly, as if to say he understood. Sending him away made me uneasy.
Sensing my feelings, Lenox said,
“I will make sure he is never discovered, so do not worry.”
“Thank you. Really.”
I realized I had been saying more thanks to him than anything else, feeling both embarrassed and grateful.
“You’re always thanking me for everything.”
Lenox’s green eyes looked at me.
“I’d rather have that than to be told I’m sorry.”
I rolled my eyes at his remark.
“So, there’s one more favor I’d like to ask.”
I suddenly felt shy about bringing it up and fell quiet.
“Ask anything. I can do it.”
He was acting as if he expected me to ask for something.
However grateful I was for his patronage, I felt both sorry and thankful that he was doing so much.
‘If things go wrong, Lenox might fall out of the Emperor’s favor.’
So I came up with a way for him to secure the Emperor’s trust while taking care of Duke Penelope.
“About what you said last time.”
“Last time?” Lenox raised an eyebrow, not following.
“The last thing you said on the banquet terrace.”
Lenox’s face hardened.
There was tension in his green eyes I hadn’t seen before.
Maybe it was my imagination, but his cheeks looked slightly flushed.
“….Yes. Speak.”
His overly tense demeanor made me nervous too, so I hurried on.
“I said you don’t need a reward or repayment, and it’s embarrassing for me to ask more when I already owe you my life… but if that offer is still valid, would you like to team up with me?”
