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Chapter 15
“…So it’s true there’s a rat.”
“Ah.”
Wished turned to look at me as well.
For a moment, his eyes sparkled and a deep smile spread across his lips. An ominous feeling washed over me, and I instinctively tried to step back.
But Wished was faster and grabbed me.
“It’s not just any rat, you know.”
“…Don’t tell me it’s a beastkin?”
“Just figured it out now?”
Wished placed me in his palm and brought his lips close to the nape of my neck.
A shiver ran down my spine.
“I’ve been spreading my pheromones all over you because you’re mine… and you only noticed just now?”
This lunatic. Saying something like that as if it’s perfectly normal!
Of course Wished’s pheromones would be all over me.
Aside from being around him practically all day, his blood flows inside my body. So even if he doesn’t actively try to mark me, I can faintly feel his pheromones.
The meaning behind Wished’s words was obvious.
“Squeak, squeeaak…”
‘S-stop…’
You crazy bastard, just stop already.
I tried to get him to stop, fearing that the Marquis of Sinder’s glare alone would be enough to kill me.
But Wished didn’t budge.
Marquis Sinder, who hadn’t blinked and had been staring at me with bloodshot eyes, finally muttered a single word.
“…Is that so.”
“Exactly. Do you really think I’d be crazy enough to rub my pheromones on some insignificant, ordinary rat?”
“…Understood. I’ll take my leave.”
Marquis Sinder turned and walked away, his face stiff as a board.
Wished burst into laughter once the Marquis was gone, clearly finding the situation hilarious.
‘At this rate… I’ll be dead before I escape, probably at the hands of Marquis Sinder…’
Judging by the look in the Marquis’s eyes, it wouldn’t be surprising if a dozen assassins stormed in tonight.
Whether he knew how I felt or not, the root of the problem looked not just carefree, but actually pleased.
“Hey, Squeaky. Come here.”
Wished narrowed his eyes, clearly plotting something nasty, and beckoned with a finger.
When I approached, he held out an inkwell in front of me.
“Put your hand in.”
Is it poisoned?
I glanced at him suspiciously, then cautiously dipped my hand in the ink and pulled it out. Black ink dripped from my fingers.
I had no idea what he was trying to do.
Wished set the inkwell aside and brought over some documents.
“…Squeak.”
‘…No way.’
No way—but it was exactly that.
Wished grinned.
“Stamp it.”
As the sun began to set on the day of the monthly meeting, the vassals started gathering one by one in the meeting room.
Before Wished arrived, the room was abuzz with conversation.
“They say eagle corpses piled up like mountains.”
“The Duchy of Persia is certainly persistent.”
“There’s also a rumor they tried to steal a sacred beast’s egg. Is that true?”
As always around this time of month, the Duchy of Persia had sent dozens of assassins.
The sacred beast’s egg was a sore spot for everyone.
The egg showed no signs of hatching. It wasn’t exactly a lie that it existed, but it wasn’t clearly real either. The situation was ambiguous.
Some even speculated the egg might be a fake.
The vassals privately wished it were fake—then they wouldn’t feel so bitter.
If Wished had shown even a little interest in the egg, such groundless rumors wouldn’t have spread. But unfortunately, he didn’t care about it in the slightest.
The sacred beast’s egg had been neglected, and only Wished was allowed to touch it. All the vassals could do was get angry whenever gossip surfaced.
Even if their relationship with Wished wasn’t the best, they couldn’t stand outsiders insulting the Erquille family.
“Come to think of it, Count Camelen isn’t here.”
“He was so nervous saying he had something important to tell His Grace. Could it be…?”
“What on earth did he ask for, really?”
One day, Count Camelen had simply vanished.
The others assumed he must’ve annoyed Wished and moved on to another topic.
One of them lowered his voice.
“Did you hear? A few days ago, Marquis Sinder paid a visit to the Duke.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“Yes. He apparently asked His Grace to consummate a union with Lady Sinder.”
Ever since Wished had become duke, Marquis Sinder had been obsessed with matching his daughter with him.
First it was marriage, then an engagement, and now he was desperately asking just for a night together.
Throughout all this, Wished’s attitude hadn’t changed.
Lady Sinder was the purest-blooded among the branch families, but no one knew when another contender might appear.
Or rather, purebloods were virtually extinct now—Wished and Lady Sinder were the two with the most intact bloodlines.
So Marquis Sinder had waited patiently until now.
It never even crossed his mind that Wished, like the previous duke, might fall in love with a human or another kind of beastkin. He simply waited for his opportunity.
“But here’s the thing… I heard a pretty wild rumor.”
The whispering man checked his surroundings before continuing.
After confirming Marquis Sinder wasn’t nearby, he leaned in and spoke.
“Apparently His Grace has a woman.”
“A woman? His Grace? Whose daughter is she?”
“Well…”
As he dragged out the sentence, the others leaned in, swallowing nervously.
What came next exceeded all expectations.
“A rat.”
“…”
“A rat. The kind that goes ‘squeak.’”
He looked completely serious.
The others, who had been crouched to talk, straightened their backs simultaneously.
“What nonsense… You might as well say a wolf fell in love with a sheep. That would be more believable.”
“I’m telling you it’s true.”
He looked genuinely frustrated.
His subordinate’s cousin’s neighbor’s niece had seen it.
The famous twin lizard sisters were taking turns attending to a rat beastkin, and that rat spent the entire day stuck to Wished.
“I’m certain. That must be why he keeps rejecting Lady Sinder.”
“Why what?”
“Why, obviously… M-Marquis Sinder! When did you…?”
The man, who had been gossiping loudly, immediately clammed up and coughed awkwardly under the Marquis’s sharp glare.
Marquis Sinder took a seat.
“It would be best if you stopped spreading baseless rumors. A rat beastkin and…”
He trailed off and recalled a moment from a few days ago—when he’d gone to see Wished himself, trying to confirm a ridiculous rumor he’d heard.
[“I’ve been spreading my pheromones all over you because you’re mine… and you only noticed just now?”]
Marquis Sinder furrowed his brow as he remembered.
“…To link His Grace with a rat beastkin. Utterly preposterous.”
The vassals nodded hurriedly at his words.
“Y-yes, of course. A rat? Hahaha…”
“R-right. What an absurd idea. Haha…”
“It’s not even worth responding to…”
The awkward laughter faded out.
“Ah, everyone’s here.”
Cayman, who had arrived before Wished, began handing out documents to the vassals. It was the agenda for today’s meeting.
But there was something unusual about the papers.
“…Why are there rat pawprints on these?”
Each page had two or three random rat pawprints on it.
Every single copy.
“It looks like something got on the documents…”
“No, that’s how they’re supposed to be.”
Cayman spoke firmly, just as—
“You’re all here.”
Wished entered the room.
“…”
With a rat perched on his right shoulder.
