IBTBD 07

Chapter 07

“Chut, chu-uut….”

Kehk, kehek…

I gasped for breath, swaying as though I would collapse any moment.

It was my all-out performance aimed at Gerard, who was watching me far too intently.

“No matter what tricks you try, it’s useless. If I lose that thief, my head could roll.”

Gerard made a slicing motion across his neck as he spoke.

He was resolute, as if he had already seen through me—but that composure didn’t last long.

“Chu-uut…”

Because my acting was reaching its peak, just as deep as his suspicions.

I didn’t roll dramatically on the floor or flip my eyelids.

That was the work of amateurs.

True masters didn’t need such cheap tricks.

Smack—!

I simply slammed my head on the ground and collapsed.

“Th-the thief?! I heard a sound like a walnut cracking just now!”

The short, sharp noise left Gerard utterly flustered.

He shook my limp body with hesitant hands, then quickly began untying the tightly knotted ribbon.

His hands were frantic.

But—

‘Now!’

This was the exact moment I had been waiting for.

The instant a gap opened in the pouch that had kept me sealed tight, I kicked off the floor and shot upward.

Planting my feet on Gerard’s shoulder, I sprang off and landed swiftly on the opposite sofa.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

“Chut—.”

Sorry about that.

I even winked playfully at the foolish guard.

“You—! You conniving little squirrel!”

Betrayal and humiliation flickered across Gerard’s face.

He lunged out an arm, but I was already gone.

Using the skills honed climbing giant trees in Bear Mountain, I scrambled up to the top of a cabinet.

“Get down right this instant! If I catch you, you’ll regret it!”

His threats rang out, but he was far from me.

‘This guy… he’s a total pushover.’

Despite his shady appearance, his behavior was clownish.

Even now, he was pointing angrily at empty space, nowhere near where I was hiding.

The tall furniture was blocking me from his view, obviously.

Seizing the chance, I dashed toward my real destination.

Clack, clack, clack.

Each step on the wooden furniture echoed brightly, like a marching tune.

My heart was soaring, though Gerard’s must have been burning to ash.

“The window!”

At last, Gerard realized my goal and spun around.

Like a raging bull, he charged—but he was far too late.

“Chuchut.”

I was already perched on the window frame.

‘It’s… higher than I thought…’

I gulped nervously.

If I miscalculated the distance, I’d end up splattered like an overripe persimmon on the ground.

You know… the gruesome scene of ripe fruit falling and staining the earth crimson.

Still, that was better than being caught by a mad dragon and tortured to death.

“Chut—!”

I squeezed my eyes shut and hurled myself into the open air.

For a fleeting moment, the cool wind whipped against my face—

“Got you.”

A chillingly sharp aura pressed down on my nape.

It wasn’t Gerard.

The voice was lower, deeper.

One I had heard before.

‘This voice… it’s…!’

The very man who had kidnapped me.

The master of the insane Black Dragon Castle.

It was unmistakably the voice of König Kreutz.

“Chu… chuut…”

P-please… spare me…

I, Muriel Aimond.

Like a weed that never died no matter how often it was trampled, I had survived until now.

But today felt like my final day.

Mother, I’ll be seeing you soon.

I’m sorry… I couldn’t keep my promise to survive, no matter what.

“Chu, chuu… chuchuuut…”

With tears like fallen chestnuts, I left my final will.

“What’s it saying?”

“Who knows. Maybe it means it’s reflecting deeply? After all, it not only stole from Lord König but also attempted a prison break.”

Gerard slithered up from the floor like a snake as he spoke.

He was supposed to be punished for letting me escape, but it looked like he was using this moment as an excuse to rest.

The instant König’s eyes swept his way, though, Gerard flopped back down flat on the ground.

Which meant all of König’s attention was now on me.

“An amusing squirrel.”

König tilted his head with a crooked smile.

Of course, it wasn’t a compliment.

The golden eyes staring down at me glowed with strange light.

‘A mere squirrel dared outwit a duke’s aide and try to escape from Black Dragon Castle.’

That’s what those eyes were saying.

“Chu… chu-uut…”

P-please… don’t kill me…

I shuffled backward.

At this rate, those golden eyes I once thought beautiful would roast me alive.

But there was one thing I had overlooked—

I was still trapped in that damned pouch.

“Chu… chuchuut?!”

My weight tipped backward, and I fell with a stupid squeak.

“Hah. Now you’re trying blackmail, too?”

König snorted, as if the fall had been staged.

‘What, you think I fell on purpose?!’

I kicked in frustration, but all I did was spin uselessly in place.

The more I struggled, the more König’s stiff lips curved into a mocking smirk.

He was laughing at me.

But what choice did a tiny animal like me have?

“Chuchut!”

Please—help me up!

All I could do was gaze at him with pitiful eyes.

“…You want me to pick you up?”

“Chuchut!”

“Why should I?”

Cold-blooded!

“You’re the suspicious squirrel who not only stole from my pocket but also fed me some strange drug. Are you an agent sent by a rival family to target Kreutz?”

Before I could even squeak a defense, König interrogated me with a serious look.

“Chu… chuchut?”

A… an agent?

Unbelievable!

I glared at him, forgetting how terrifying König Kreutz was.

No matter what, I had to speak my piece.

I was just a good Samaritan who had helped a handsome stranger I’d found collapsed in the woods!

‘Would you really send a squirrel the size of your fist as a spy?’

Frustrated, I spun my bound head back and forth desperately.

That was all I could do.

I swore on my Bear Mountain storage stash—I had no idea that watch was a Kreutz heirloom.

And I had even less idea that Sleeping Beauty was the mad Black Dragon Duke himself!

But my sincerity didn’t seem to reach König.

“As I thought, I can’t understand a word.”

“Chuchu!”

No—at least try to!

I gave him the saddest look I could muster, a desperate struggle to survive.

…Did it work?

König’s eyes lingered on me.

Then one corner of his mouth curled into a grin.

Cruel, infuriating—yet impossible to look away.

“Well, a long interrogation will reveal the truth.”

L-long… interrogation?

While I blinked helplessly in my pouch, Gerard finally spoke up.

“My lord, did you say long-term interrogation? Surely you don’t mean to keep a possible enemy spy inside the castle?”

“Why not?”

This is my castle. And it’s only a squirrel.

König swung the pouch holding me like a pendulum.

A silent way of telling me I’d never escape his grasp.

“It may be just a squirrel, but as you saw, it’s no ordinary one. It understands speech, and it’s deviously clever!”

Gerard jabbed a finger at me.

Clearly, the chase earlier had bruised his pride.

He even added, “It’s obviously a wicked spy in a cute disguise!”

“Chut.”

“Y-you saw that? It just mocked me!”

Despite Gerard’s fiery rant, König was indifferent.

Instead, he poked at my cheeks, then held me in his palm as though I were a warm little stove.

“Are squirrels usually this soft and warm?”

“My lord! Are you even listening? If Lord Ferdinand finds out, we’ll both be kicked out penniless!”

Gerard clawed at his hair, imagining the worst.

Who in the world was Ferdinand?

I didn’t have to wonder long.

“Do I have to worry about an old man who ran away just to avoid working?”

“Gasp—! Still, how could you call your grandfather an old man…!”

Ah, that jogged my memory.

Ferdinand Kreutz.

The former Duke of the Black Dragon family, known as a living legend in Yggdnia’s history.

He appeared in countless history books.

Rumor said he was over 800 years old.

A feat made possible only by the strong blood of the Black Dragon line.

‘And König calls that terrifying being an old man…’

He really was insane.

I stared at König with a grimace, and our eyes met almost immediately.

His smooth lips lifted in another grin.

“You heard that, didn’t you? If I get kicked out, you’ll have to take responsibility for me.”

“Chut…?”

M-me?!