Chapter 23
“Ah, damn it. Violette, take this—quick.”
“Why?”
Startled by his reaction, Violette had no idea what was going on as she pulled Spottie into her arms. But in the blink of an eye, Spottie wriggled free, flew back over, and obediently glued itself to Narcier’s side again.
“Spottie?”
Violette tried several more times to pick Spottie up, but it was no use. Spottie clung to Narcier like a burr, rubbing its face against him, while Narcier dragged a hand down his own face and let out a deep sigh.
“This is exactly why I told you not to peel the shell off… Violette, why on earth do you never listen to people until the end? Haa… I seriously feel like crying.”
“W-What? What did I do wrong this time?”
In response to her question, Narcier demonstratively lifted Spottie and tossed it backward with a flick of his hand. Violette gasped in horror—but a moment later, Spottie, as if nothing had happened, flitted right back and settled on Narcier’s shoulder. Finally understanding the situation, Violette awkwardly tugged the corners of her mouth up and forced a smile.
“Don’t tell me… it imprinted?”
“Yeah. And of all people, on me.”
Violette had a rough idea of imprinting—how birds like geese or ducks recognize the first being they see as their parent—but she had never imagined it could apply to a magical beast, much less Spottie.
And of all people, it had imprinted on Narcier instead of her. Worse still, she herself had helped cause it! Violette frantically racked her brain for a way to fix the situation.
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
But no matter how much she thought about it, there was nothing she could do. In the end, Violette bowed deeply and apologized. Staring at the floor, she clenched her lips, unable to hide her distress.
I wouldn’t even have the right to complain if he divorced me on the spot.
How many accidents had she caused in just a few days? Even she found it ridiculous. Every time she stirred up trouble, Narcier ended up cleaning up after her. Violette might be tactless and willful, but she was still human—of course she felt guilty.
Certain that a torrent of scolding was about to follow, Violette waited meekly.
“It’s fine. You didn’t do it on purpose. And honestly, it’s partly my fault for not telling you in advance, even though I knew.”
His reaction was so different from what she had expected that Violette felt puzzled. Narcier did look tired, but he wasn’t glaring at her with contempt or looking at her as if she were hopeless. After sneaking a glance at him, she asked carefully,
“You’re… not mad?”
“Should I be?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
His curt tone instantly deflated her, and Violette avoided his gaze. Narcier sighed out of habit, then, as if resigning himself to it, slowly stroked Spottie’s head where it lay in his arms.
“Well, it’s just an animal’s instinct. What am I supposed to do about that? It might be a bit of a hassle, but it’s not like I hate it. Can’t be helped.”
Spottie, clearly enjoying the touch, let out a low purring sound and quickly rolled over to expose its belly. Watching this, Narcier suddenly let out a small laugh.
Now that I think about it, he did say he likes animals.
Violette blinked blankly. She recalled the lush garden spread out behind the annex. It wasn’t just animals—Narcier was deeply interested in plants as well. He personally cultivated rare plants and herbs behind the annex, and most of his research revolved around flora and fauna.
“I actually like alchemy more. I’m just good at magic.”
She remembered him saying that once. Despite his talent for magic, he devoted more time to alchemy purely because of his affection for living things.
Unlike magic, alchemy wasn’t particularly useful to humans, so it didn’t receive much attention in the Empire.
That was why Violette had thought him a boring man. Unlike other mages, he never showed off flashy spells, and instead stayed cooped up in the annex with piles of books.
Honestly, Spottie surviving the hatching was also thanks to Narcier.
Violette had brought the egg back on impulse, but she only grew attached to it because of his advice. If he had disliked animals or had no interest in them, he might have smashed the egg and thrown it out of the territory long ago.
Even though Violette had dragged him into it, Narcier had sincerely done his best to help her. As she reflected on the past few days, a faint smile spread across her lips.
He’s… kind of cool.
The way he looked at Spottie in his arms, his face completely unguarded, somehow seemed different from before.
* * *
“This ill-mannered bastard, again…”
Irritated, Violette flung the documents in front of her onto the desk. They were papers submitted by Baron Savian, the agent managing the Navian territory. It had already been a week since they returned from the Duke of Kegreiner’s estate.
After feeling a twinge of conscience at the Duke of Kegreiner’s words about fulfilling her duties as a noble, Violette decided to take at least some interest in managing the territory. That was why she had told Baron Savian to organize the contents and report to her before bringing anything up for approval.
“So he really thinks I’m just a figurehead lord?”
Yet again, Baron Savian had handled everything on his own and shoved the paperwork at her for approval without warning. Violette disliked him intensely, but there was no denying that he managed the Navian territory exceptionally well, leaving her with little choice.
“Busy?”
At that moment, Narcier entered her study with Spottie in his arms. He had a thick book tucked under one arm, as if he had something to discuss.
“What is it?”
“Hold on. Spottie, big brother has some work to do.”
“Pii—.”
Narcier lifted the clingy Spottie up onto his shoulder, and Violette let out a scoff as she watched.
He’d scolded her endlessly about not getting attached and even complained that she’d named it on a whim—yet here he was, calling himself its big brother and speaking to it in the gentlest tone imaginable. The look in his eyes when he gazed at Spottie was so tender it felt completely different from the way he looked at her.
To make matters worse, Spottie completely ignored Violette—the one who had saved its life—and only followed Narcier around after imprinting on him. Seeing how close the two of them looked, Violette felt an inexplicable pang of jealousy.
“Hey, why are you so sweet to Spottie? You’re always snappy with me.”
“Because Spottie is cute and lovable. You’re not.”
The blunt reply came so swiftly that Violette frowned in disbelief.
“I’m cute and lovable too, you know?”
“Nonsense.”
Without even sparing her a glance, Narcier flipped through the book in front of him. Violette wanted to argue back, but she couldn’t think of a convincing rebuttal and held her tongue.
Still… it feels unfair.
She didn’t particularly need to hear him call her cute, yet his cold response left her feeling oddly hurt.
“I think Spottie is a Phytos.”
“A Phytos?”
“Pibi?”
Narcier handed her the thick book. As if recognizing its own name, Spottie—perched on his head—also pretended to peer into the pages.
On the open page was an illustration of a massive, ferocious red dragon, alongside the name Phytos and a long explanation beneath it.
“A Phytos is a fire-type magical beast. It first appeared during the Beast War five hundred years ago. It can freely control fire and has an extremely violent temperament, so it’s classified as a high-grade magical beast. Among magical beasts, it’s quite intelligent, and it has an exceptionally strong attachment to its young. According to records, there’s even a claim that a single Phytos destroyed the Kingdom of Arpen. The entire kingdom was engulfed in flames for ten days straight.”
“Heh… Spottie, you were an incredible one. Wiping out a whole kingdom. But you can’t burn down our territory, got it?”
“Pip!”
Completely missing Narcier’s point, Violette casually poked Spottie’s red cheek. Narcier slowly shook his head.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? Phytos have an extremely strong attachment to their young. The parents are definitely looking for Spottie. For all we know, they might already be on their way here, tearing through our estate in search of it.”
“But it’s already been almost two weeks since we brought Spottie here, and nothing’s happened. Then maybe…”
After hesitating, Violette covered Spottie’s ears and whispered so softly that only Narcier could hear.
“Could the parents be dead? If they were alive, wouldn’t they have come looking by now?”
“No. It’s more likely they can’t come. Phytos are enormous—big as a house. If a beast like that were roaming around the territory, it would have been noticed long ago. So this is just my guess, but I think Spottie may have crossed over from the Demon Realm alone, somehow separated from its parents.”
“From the Demon Realm? Then, like five hundred years ago, was it summoned by a dark mage?”
“I don’t think so. Dark mages summon magical beasts to use their power. If that were the case, they would’ve summoned a fully grown one that could actually be useful—not an egg like Spottie.”
Narcier’s reasoning sounded convincing. Nodding slowly, Violette rubbed her chin, deep in thought.
