Chapter 22
“I don’t know either! Hurry up and look! Hurry!”
The two of them rushed to the bed in a panic, flipping up the blankets and peering underneath. But no matter how thoroughly they searched the room, they couldn’t find anything—not the remaining half of the shell, nor the magical beast that should have hatched from the egg.
“Damn it.”
Narcissa muttered irritably when he finally noticed that the door was open by about ten centimeters. It seemed that when Violette had returned from her bath earlier, she hadn’t closed it properly. Stepping out into the hallway, Narcissa picked up a small fragment of shell lying near the doorway and let out a deep sigh.
It was almost certain that the newborn baby magical beast was now wandering around the Kegrainer ducal residence. Holding the shell fragment, Narcissa returned to the room and spoke in a calm voice.
“It couldn’t have gone far. Let’s go out and look.”
“What if someone else already found it?”
“Let’s hope not. We need to move without drawing attention.”
At that, Violette nodded vigorously. If the kind servants of the ducal household saw them searching around for something, they would surely come running to help. Carefully, the two stepped out into the corridor and looked around.
They split up and headed in opposite directions. Fortunately, since it was still early, there were hardly any people in the halls. Slowly scanning her surroundings, Violette called out in a low voice.
“Spots—. Where are you—. Spots.”
Narcissa had told her not to get attached or give it a name, but in truth, Violette had been calling the egg “Spots” in her head for a long time. Still, no matter how long she searched the corridor, there was no sign of it.
And just how many rooms did this blasted ducal residence have? Whenever a door was even slightly ajar, Violette had to stick her head inside to check whether Spots was there.
“Where did it really go?!”
Anxiously, Violette bit down on her lip. If someone else found Spots first, the situation would become extremely awkward. It might even get stepped on and killed—or reported to the imperial court or the Mage Tower. At the same time, something Narcissa had said earlier flashed through her mind.
‘Under imperial law, raising a magical beast carries a minimum sentence of ten years in prison.’
Ten years in prison. Horrifying images began to flood Violette’s mind, and her face turned deathly pale as she frantically looked around. And this was the Kegrainer ducal residence, no less. The thought that she might cause trouble for the innocent duke and duchess only made her more anxious.
Her grim imaginings spiraled further. If this were discovered, her father would explode in fury, and the ducal couple would surely be disappointed in her.
Most of all, the image of Narcissa looking at her with contempt seemed to float vividly before her eyes. Just imagining it sent chills through her entire body.
“No…!”
Of course, even if she were caught raising a magical beast, the chances of her actually serving a prison sentence were extremely low. She was the second daughter of the Marquis Rascal family, after all. As always, her father would undoubtedly clean up the mess.
Because of that, Violette had never truly felt responsible for her actions. No matter what trouble she caused, her father’s title and money could fix almost anything. To someone who had lived such a light, effortless life, everything had seemed easy. Recklessly accepting a strange magical beast’s egg had been a product of that very nature.
“Spots, where are you?!”
But this time was different. Violette Rascal—the ultimate tyrant who always did whatever she wanted without caring about others—was now, without realizing it, desperately searching for Spots with tears welling in her eyes.
The thought that Narcissa might come to hate her filled her with dread.
Some time later, Violette had made her way upstairs and quickened her pace. She scanned her surroundings with an anxious expression, but there was still no sign of Spots. Just as she was about to head back down without any success, she suddenly stopped.
“Spots?”
At the far end of the corridor, around the corner, a red tail no longer than two fingers swayed gently. Certain it was Spots, Violette hurried toward it. When she rounded the corner, she saw a cart piled high with snacks—and Spots toddling toward it.
Still wearing half of its shell on its head, as if it hadn’t managed to shed it yet, Spots was dragging along the little knitted outfit Violette had made for it as it waddled toward the cart. At a glance, it looked like a moving pile of trash, but the red tail sticking out between the shell and the knitwear clearly revealed its identity.
“Spots!”
“Pip?”
Violette rushed over and scooped Spots into her arms. Unable to see properly with the shell covering its head, Spots flailed about in surprise at being suddenly grabbed. Holding it safely against her chest, Violette let out a sigh of relief.
“Good. Now I just need to tell Narcissa—”
At that moment, voices murmuring came from the corner she had just turned from. It sounded like the maids were returning to collect the cart. Panicking, Violette looked around. The path ahead was a dead end, and if she went back the way she came, she’d definitely run into the maids.
As Violette stood there, flustered and unsure what to do, the door beside her suddenly flew open and she was yanked inside in an instant.
“Aah!”
“Piiik!”
Losing her balance in a flash, Violette instinctively hugged Spots tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, certain she was about to fall. As expected, she crashed to the floor—but something was strange. She had clearly fallen, yet she felt no pain at all. Sensing something was off, Violette slowly opened her eyes.
“Ugh…”
“Narcissa!”
The one crushed beneath her was none other than Narcissa. Earlier, while searching ahead, he had spotted Violette wandering the corridor with a dazed expression, clutching the magical beast, and had reflexively pulled her into the room.
In the process, he lost his balance and fell to the floor while holding her. Judging by the slight furrow in his brow, the impact seemed more painful than he’d expected.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Startled, Violette hurried to help him up. Having taken her full weight on the hard floor, it was no wonder he was aching, but he tried to put on a calm expression. Contrary to his words, however, he couldn’t get up right away and lay there, covering his eyes with one hand.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to fall—are you hurt anywhere?”
Clearly shaken that Narcissa had been injured in her place, Violette brushed his face anxiously as she asked. But Narcissa didn’t answer for a moment.
“Does it hurt? You must be injured! We need to call someone—”
Even as Violette overreacted and fussed, Narcissa’s ears turned red for some reason, and he bit down on his lip. Then, in a low voice, he slowly spoke.
“…There is.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been touching my chest this whole time.”
Only then did Violette’s gaze drop to her own hand. Sure enough, she had her palm resting squarely on his chest. It would’ve been less embarrassing if there were layers of clothing between them, but having just woken up to search for Spots, Narcissa was wearing only thin sleepwear with a robe loosely thrown over it—and the robe had fallen open, leaving his chest fully exposed.
On top of that, Violette was in an oddly compromising position, almost straddling him. She blinked a few times, unable to immediately process the bizarre situation of sitting on him while touching his bare chest.
Soon, their gazes met in midair. Narcissa looked at her with half-lidded eyes, his brow slightly furrowed as if dissatisfied. Yet the languid look in his eyes made Violette unconsciously lose herself as she stared back.
“…How long are you planning to stay like that?”
“M-m-m—sorry!”
Snapping back to her senses, Violette yelped and jumped off him in a fluster. An awkward silence settled between them as they turned their backs to each other.
“Pii?”
The silence was broken by Spots, left alone on the floor. Still unable to shed its shell, it tilted its head curiously and waddled forward, looking around.
“So this is the magical beast?”
Narcissa casually lifted Spots up with one hand. Unable to see properly, Spots flailed wildly in surprise at suddenly being suspended in midair. Violette hurried over, scolding him for his carelessness.
“You’re going to scare it like that! It can’t even see yet!”
“Wait, shouldn’t we take the shell off first—”
In one swift motion, Violette removed the shell covering Spots’s face. Finally able to see, Spots shook its head vigorously and then looked straight at the man in front of it.
“Pibi!”
When their eyes met, Spots suddenly broke into a bright smile and rubbed its face enthusiastically against Narcissa’s hand. Narcissa’s face turned noticeably pale.
