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Episode 4
I was completely speechless at the Crown Prince’s terrible naming skills.
Seriously.
There are so many white things in the world.
Snow.
Sugar.
Flour.
Even the curtains and blankets in this room were white.
And out of everything, he picked dust?
Was he deliberately choosing the least impressive thing possible?
“Looks like you don’t like that one either.”
The Crown Prince smiled cluelessly, completely unaware that I had already judged him as someone with absolutely no naming sense.
“Well, we can take our time deciding on a name… Now then, let’s get that ready.”
He stood up and walked toward a table in the corner of the room, humming happily.
Then he started digging through a box.
Don’t tell me that’s pet clothing…
Between his excitement and his awful naming ideas, I had a bad feeling.
I wasn’t born this cute just to become somebody’s toy!
Honestly, I knew I was adorable.
Every time I looked in the mirror, it was impossible not to notice.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought what you requested.”
A woman’s voice came from outside the room.
“Come in.”
The door opened.
A maid walked inside carrying a wooden box almost as big as a watermelon.
“The palace animal keeper recommended this food. Would you like me to feed it to the animal?”
Wait.
Animal keeper?
Food?
Why did this sound increasingly dangerous?
“I’ll do it myself.”
The Crown Prince smiled gently.
I noticed that he was now wearing a pair of thick gloves.
Apparently, that’s what he’d been looking for earlier.
He took the box from the maid and walked toward me.
Think, Rosha. Think.
What do people usually feed weasels?
Weasels are omnivores.
But I’d spent most of my life eating in human form.
I could barely remember what actual weasels ate.
Then,
Wiggle.
Something moved inside the box.
I immediately took a nervous step backward.
But the Crown Prince simply smiled like a painting and reached inside.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
The moment the creature inside fully emerged, I froze solid.
A snake!
A freaking snake!
A small black snake was wriggling in his hand.
“I thought you needed something nutritious, so I asked for advice.”
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!
I backed away until my back hit the bars of the cage.
There was nowhere left to run.
Then the Crown Prince lowered the snake into the cage.
Don’t do this!
Let’s not make our relationship even more awkward than it already is!
Unfortunately, my desperate mental screams didn’t reach him.
Now I was face-to-face with the snake.
Back when I was human, a little snake like this would’ve just been creepy.
I’d avoid it and move on.
But now?
“H-hey! Stop flicking your tongue!”
“Why is the hissing so loud?!”
“Don’t come any closer!”
The snake slithered toward me confidently.
Its body moved smoothly across the floor.
I scratched desperately at the cage bars.
I was not friends with reptiles.
To be completely honest.
I was terrified of them.
“SKREEEE!”
A truly embarrassing scream escaped me.
The snake, apparently delighted by my reaction, came even faster.
Sadly, beastfolk had a natural ability that made animals like them.
Which meant the snake wasn’t attacking me.
It liked me.
That’s why it was coming closer.
While flicking its forked tongue.
Oh…
Suddenly, my vision spun.
I felt dizzy.
I was about to pass out from stress.
The last thing I saw was the Crown Prince’s smiling face.
For some reason, it looked like the smile of a devil.
Thud.
I fainted.
Meanwhile…
“…Well.”
Crown Prince Shavelian stared into the cage with a dumbfounded expression.
He gently poked the white weasel’s fluffy fur.
No reaction.
The weasel was completely unconscious.
“A creature that faints at the sight of food…”
He let out a laugh.
He then picked up the black snake and held it in front of his face.
“Was it too large?”
“Or maybe the food was just a little too enthusiastic.”
Thinking about the weasel’s ridiculous reaction made him laugh again.
He returned the snake to its box.
“Well, it’s obvious reptiles aren’t your type.”
Shavelian carefully moved his picky pet weasel onto a comfortable cushion.
“So fussy. Difficult about names and difficult about food.”
It sounded like a complaint.
But there was affection in his voice.
His hand gently stroked the weasel’s white fur.
He was a little worried that his first impression might have been ruined.
So he hoped his touch would at least help the weasel have pleasant dreams.
For a long time, he softly patted and stroked its back.
It was a peaceful moment.
The Next Morning
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
The moment I woke up, I decided I was going to bite the Crown Prince’s finger and run away.
He had the nerve to serve me a snake without me asking.
That grudge wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“He’s gone.”
After angrily looking around the room, I realized the Crown Prince wasn’t there.
Apparently, an entire night had passed while I was unconscious.
I clenched my fists and trembled with rage.
Honestly, fainting at the sight of a snake was humiliating enough.
But it also reminded me of a much bigger issue.
Why was I here in the first place?
I’d come all the way to the palace.
Failed to get the gemstone.
Got treated like a pet.
Then fainted in front of my own food.
What kind of life was this?
I should’ve escaped under the cover of darkness last night.
So why was I waking up in this ridiculously comfortable room instead?
“And why is this room so cozy?!”
I was getting angry because of how comfortable it was.
Compared to my old room.
The creaky floors.
Poor lighting.
Thin walls.
The constant noise.
This place was paradise.
Seeing such a huge difference between our lives made me irrationally annoyed.
“Just stealing the gems lying around here would support me for months…”
Then suddenly..
My eyes widened.
Wait.
Hold on.
My head whipped around.
I carefully examined every corner of the room.
Ruby is on the clock. High quality.
Sapphire in the drawer handle. Top quality.
Opal on a decorative ship. Premium grade!
This room was a gold mine.
A gemstone mine.
There were gems everywhere.
This place had more wealth than my entire robbed vault ever did.
Why hadn’t I thought about stealing these before?
Well…
Probably because I’d been focused on a much bigger prize.
The Tears of Cleia.
Compared to that legendary gemstone, all these smaller gems hadn’t even registered in my mind.
“Hmm…”
I thought for a moment.
“Maybe I should steal all of these…”
Honestly, I didn’t like stealing.
But then again, the Crown Prince had randomly declared me his pet and traumatized me with a snake.
That deserved compensation.
Maybe stealing some gems would count as emotional damages.
“Hmm.”
On the other hand…
He had also saved my life.
He treated my injuries.
So technically, he was my benefactor.
Even if his reasons annoyed me.
Besides, even that magical-girl thief from those stories only stole from bad people.
I didn’t really want to rob a genuinely kind person.
I’ve said it before.
I was a law-abiding citizen.
A good person.
“…But would he even notice if one or two disappeared?”
Unfortunately…
I was also human.
And humans are weak when faced with treasure.
So I reached a compromise.
Let’s just borrow one.
I’ll pay him back through taxes later.
Perfect logic.
After successfully convincing myself, I climbed onto a nearby table.
As expected, there was a gemstone embedded in the middle of the fancy quill pen.
It was exactly the right size.
Using my claws, I carefully pried it loose.
Pop.
A beautiful pearl came free
I held it in both hands and smiled.
Again.
This wasn’t stealing.
This was borrowing.
My plan was simple.
If I stayed in weasel form, the guards or the people from yesterday might recognize me.
So I’d transform into a human, disguise myself as a maid, and leave the palace.
Perfect.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Crunch.
Gulp.
The pearl disappeared.
A cool sensation spread from my toes to the top of my head.
Moments later, I opened my eyes in human form.
“A maid uniform should work.”
The ability to choose my clothes when transforming wasn’t a natural talent.
I’d spent years practicing.
Because I knew something from the original novel.
Beastfolk possessed special abilities.
It’s almost like magic.
So I hunted down old beastfolk books and studied them.
Eventually, I learned how to create clothing whenever I transformed.
Thanks to that skill, I’ve been freed from the misery of laundry for years.
Of course, I would’ve preferred something cooler.
Super strength.
Healing powers.
Something useful.
But the only book I’d managed to find was basically a beginner’s guide to everyday beastfolk abilities.
Important information wasn’t exactly lying around in bookstores.
Books about beastfolk had practically become forbidden texts.
Finding even a beginner’s manual in an old used bookstore was incredibly lucky
Either way, my disguise was complete.
“Must’ve been a high-quality gemstone.”
I flexed my fingers.
I felt amazing.
The better the gemstone, the more energy I had while in human form.
This pearl had clearly been expensive.
I felt stronger than ever.
“Alright.”
“Time to go.”
I stretched and headed toward the door.
Then something on a nearby table caught my eye.
That box looked suspiciously familiar.
Wasn’t that where the snake had come from?
Slowly, I walked over.
Carefully…
I lifted the lid.
Hissssss…
SLAM!
I instantly slammed it shut.
Yep.
It was the snake box.
Never again.
I had no desire to relive one of the most embarrassing moments of my life
“Well…”
I looked at the box thoughtfully.
“You should leave, too.”
“What’s the point of staying here? You’ll probably end up becoming someone’s meal.”
For a brief moment, we’d shared the same room.
That was enough to make me feel a little responsible.
So I decided to free the snake too.
Carrying the box in my arms, I walked out of the room.
