Chapter 1
Cats need toys.
Since Seria was a cat beastman, she never turned down an interesting toy.
And in that sense, Yuel Rickard was the best toy of all.
Of course, Yuel was also a cat beastman, so calling him a “toy” was a bit of a stretch—but still, teasing him was fun.
“Yuel!”
“…Hik!”
Seria suddenly burst out of the bushes and tackled Yuel in one swift movement.
Startled, Yuel couldn’t even scream. He fell flat to the ground with a thud, and then immediately felt Seria’s weight on top of him.
“S-Seria!”
On top of Yuel’s jet-black hair, a pair of cat ears perked up.
Beastmen who hadn’t yet gone through their first growth spurt often revealed their ears or tails when startled.
“Hi, Yuel. Surprised?”
Seria grinned mischievously and grabbed his ears.
Rub, rub. Her small fingers stroked the sensitive ears, and they twitched reflexively at her touch.
Yuel’s blue eyes trembled, on the verge of tears, and his face flushed red.
Because his skin was so pale, his reaction stood out all the more.
“G-get off!”
He snapped sharply, face burning bright red, and Seria stood up with a giggle.
Yuel’s reaction was so entertaining that hiding in the bushes had been worth it.
“Here, get up.”
Seria extended her small, pale hand and smiled, her golden eyes narrowing with amusement. The vertically slit pupils made her unmistakably feline.
However, her short pink hair fluttering in the wind didn’t quite match her mischievous expression.
Yuel stared blankly at Seria for a moment before snapping out of it and whipping his head away.
“Forget it. I don’t like you.”
“But I like you.”
Her immediate response made Yuel shiver.
This cat friend of his, who had suddenly appeared one day, had no hesitation in speaking so brightly.
At times like this, Yuel never knew how to react—he always acted like something inside him had short-circuited.
“I-I still don’t like you!”
Yuel stubbornly declared and stood up without Seria’s help. Despite his huffy breathing, he didn’t actually seem all that angry.
Curiously, he was good at saying he disliked her, but it never felt like he actually did.
So Seria stepped closer and said,
“Tch, but I’ve been waiting all this time just to play with you.”
“Who asked you to wait?”
“But you were waiting for me too, weren’t you?”
Her words hit the mark. Yuel’s eyes widened dramatically, making his long lashes and the small tear mole beneath them stand out.
Pretty. That primal thought crossed Seria’s mind.
Then Yuel stumbled back and shouted abruptly,
“M-me? Waiting for you?!”
“Who else? You were looking around like you were searching for someone. Who else would you be looking for at my house besides me?”
Her logical points struck Yuel one after another.
His face, already flushed, turned an even deeper red, like it might explode. Unable to find a retort, his plump lips simply opened and closed wordlessly.
Yuel’s lips, like a ripe apple, were especially pretty. The slight upward curve at the corners made it seem like he was always smiling, which made anyone looking at him feel happy.
He’s a bit prickly…
But Seria liked Yuel anyway. He was fun to look at, and when she teased him, he always reacted instantly.
Though his words were blunt, he was actually gentle in nature—and even when she teased him too much, he had never once lashed out violently.
Of course, if he had, my brothers wouldn’t have let him off easily.
Just imagining her five noisy brothers going berserk gave Seria a headache.
With a sigh, Seria noticed that Yuel had quietly moved far away again.
When did he run off over there?
Seria laughed softly, waved both arms high, and shouted,
“Let’s play again tomorrow!”
“I’m not playing with you anymore!”
His sharp reply made her burst into laughter.
He said that every time they parted—it had practically become his version of “goodbye.”
“Okay, so you’ll come out again tomorrow?”
“…No!”
A faint voice drifted toward her on the wind.
Why does he have to be so desperate about it?
And that was why Seria would never give up on Yuel so easily.
He wasn’t just a good toy—he was her first real friend.
* * *
The reason Seria had reached the age of ten without a single friend could be boiled down to two main points:
First, she had been born weak, so her first growth spurt came later than most.
Second, she had five overprotective older brothers.
To explain this properly, one must first acknowledge the effort of the ducal couple who somehow ended up raising five sons.
Their desire for a daughter was evident even in their naming pattern.
From the first to the fifth son, all their names shared the syllable “-ri” at the end, and the first consonant of their names followed the order of the alphabet. In other words:
Gari, Najeri, Danori, Raryuri, Marongri.
Maybe it started as a joke with the second son, but since every child after that was also a boy, they fully committed to the naming system.
Thanks to this, even strangers could tell which son was which just by hearing the name.
In that sense, Seria was special.
If she had been born a boy, her name would have started with “Ba” and ended with “-ri,” but as their long-awaited daughter, they simply chose a pretty name.
It was only natural that the entire household’s attention focused on her.
She was precious—and frail, to boot.
Perhaps that was why their excessive attention sometimes felt suffocating to her.
“Yuel, where are you?”
So Yuel, who didn’t give her any special attention—in fact, who ran away from her—felt refreshingly different and oddly comfortable.
Even if he spent most of his time avoiding her.
It’s not like he actually hates me.
In fact, it was closer to liking her.
Seria could tell instinctively when someone disliked her, no matter how well they tried to hide it.
It was partly a child’s innate sensitivity, but Seria was especially perceptive in that regard.
So this was just a game to her.
Well, the problem was that Yuel hid a bit too well sometimes.
He’s hiding again.
Did he really mean it yesterday when he said he wouldn’t play with her anymore?
Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Seria scanned the garden.
Her biggest issue wasn’t her frailty itself, but the fact that her condition could suddenly worsen without warning.
She often collapsed out of nowhere while playing, so she had to be cautious not to push herself.
If I told him I was sick, would Yuel play with me?
The thought crossed her mind, but she quickly shook her head.
Of course, if that happened, the fun would be gone.
If Yuel started worrying about her like her brothers did, it wouldn’t feel like playing anymore.
I’m getting a little tired…
Seria took a deep breath where she stood. Her legs, shaky from earlier, were growing heavier, and her face was starting to feel hot.
Maybe I should just go inside and rest.
That was probably for the best, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn back yet.
The Marquis Rickard was staying at the ducal estate to take care of business in the capital, but even after his work was done, it would be unreasonable to keep him there for months.
Seria wasn’t childish enough to throw a tantrum to keep Yuel from leaving.
That’s why I have to play with him as much as I can while he’s here.
Normally, hide-and-seek was fun, but right now it just felt exhausting.
Just as she decided to give up and head back, she spotted Yuel hiding not too far away.
“Found you!”
At her loud voice, Yuel’s ears popped out again.
He spun around and looked at her with a strangely mixed expression—half sulky, half on the verge of tears.
“Why do you keep chasing me?”
“I didn’t chase you. I found you.”
Same thing, really. She didn’t say it aloud, but she could feel his displeasure from here.
Maybe it was because that reaction was so endearing that Seria momentarily forgot about her worsening condition and started running enthusiastically.
She made it about ten steps—then collapsed forward.
“S-Seria?!”
Yuel’s eyes widened in an instant. His tail popped out to join his ears, and he darted toward her with feline agility.
“What’s wrong? Don’t mess around!”
“If this is a joke, I’m really not playing anymore!”
His small, adorable threat hung in the air, but Seria didn’t get up.
Was she really unwell?
Yuel approached her nervously, wishing it were just a prank. His blue eyes shimmered, tears threatening to spill—
“Guwueeehh! (Seria!)”
A bizarre roar came from somewhere, startling him so much that his tears vanished.
He looked up in the direction of the sound—
A dragon.
Is this a hallucination?
He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, but the image didn’t disappear.
And worse—it was getting closer!
“Seria!”
“Seria, Seria!”
While Yuel sat there hugging Seria with a dumbfounded expression, voices began shouting her name from all directions. It echoed like a chorus—but the voices were all slightly different.
“Seria’s collapsed again!”
“Damn it, I told her not to play with that brat.”
“Gari! Turn human, quick!”
“How’s the little one’s condition?”
“First, get that kid away from her.”
Five men appeared out of nowhere, each different in their own way—but they all resembled each other strikingly.
Their height, personalities, even their beast forms were different, but they were all unmistakably Seria’s older brothers.
All five of them.
Yuel hiccupped involuntarily at the sight. His face turned pale, and his pupils shook visibly.
“S-sorry!”
So he apologized first.
Because fainting next to Seria suddenly seemed like the safer option.
