IBTBD 19

Chapter 19

‘Big mouth, please stop…!’

Thump thump thump, thump thump thump.

Like the quickening beat of my heart, the speed of my tail tapping against the window frame grew faster.

“Ah…”

If there was one thing to be relieved about, it was that Gerard finally caught on to the mood.

He immediately bowed his head to the floor on his own.

Thanks to that, all of Kenig’s attention focused squarely on me.

“Cherry, I don’t like it when someone covets what’s mine. And of course, the opposite is the same.”

“Chuchu, chuchu.”

No, it’s not what it looks like…

I was just trying to keep an eye on the intruder…

I hurried to explain myself, but words that had never worked before weren’t going to work today either.

“You’ve been staring at that tiger brat constantly these days.”

At last, Kenig rose from his seat and closed the distance one step at a time.

Each time he came closer, I retreated two steps back.

Why did his huge body feel even more threatening today?

“Do you like him?”

‘I–I told you, it’s not like that!’

“If you do, should I cut off his head and stuff it as a trophy?”

There it was again. That damned taxidermy threat.

“Of course, the idea of that guy living in my castle forever is unpleasant. But if you like him, I might endure it.”

“Chuchu…”

What kind of joke is this?

Kenig only gave me a faint smile in response.

‘Is this what they call a killer smile?’

The smile of someone about to kill.

The fact that his jokes didn’t feel like jokes at all—that was the real problem.

‘Come on, do something…’

I glanced desperately at Gerard for help, but with his lips sealed tight, all he could do was prop himself up on trembling arms.

‘This is all…’

…because of that suspicious blonde tiger.

“Cherry, hurry and answer me.”

“Chu, chut…!”

Save the squirrel!

That very moment, in the peaceful gardens of Black Dragon Castle.

“Hmm? I thought I heard something…”

Erjin absentmindedly rubbed at his ears.

It sounded like the cute cry of a small animal…

‘Must’ve been my imagination.’

He convinced himself it was just tinnitus, a side effect of too much stress.

And with good reason.

This was Black Dragon Castle—home of the merciless black dragon, crawling with sly, venomous vipers.

There couldn’t possibly be some small animal going ‘chu’ around here.

‘But then what was that sound…’

From the day he arrived at Black Dragon Castle until now, something small had been persistently tailing him.

Like a guard dog baring its fangs and growling, “Why are you in our house?”—it watched him constantly.

Even earlier, when he tried to nap, it had been the same.

If Kenig Kreutz had planted it as surveillance—

“…it’s way too insignificant.”

Erjin stretched and turned his gaze again toward the window where he’d felt a presence.

From the angle, it was clearly the duke’s office.

‘I swear there was something in front of the window.’

It had been palm-sized, round and puffy like a freshly baked bread roll.

‘A doll…?’

But Kreutz, who was known for having no blood or tears, would never decorate his office with a normal doll.

“No doubt about it, it must be a cursed doll.”

Nodding to himself with conviction, Erjin felt certain.

Kreutz’s adjutant, Gerard, had a knack for shady and twisted things, so it wasn’t an absurd thought at all.

‘That gaze, though…’

That little fluffball followed him with such dogged intensity.

In the end, he had to change where he lay down.

“Really, this castle is impossible to predict.”

As he rolled over, a strange smile curved Erjin’s lips.

A cursed doll in the lair of the wicked Black Dragon—

He couldn’t help but look forward to just how vicious and cruel it might turn out to be.

“Chuchu.”

I was imprisoned again.

Back inside this damned red pouch.

“You’ve returned, my lord.”

“Head.”

“…Pardon?”

“Ah, he means bow your head. Especially you, Felix—you should lower it even more.”

Gerard kindly translated Kenig’s absurdly short words.

“May I ask why, my lord?”

“It’s nothing serious. Just that Lady Cherry shows her face too much.”

Gerard whispered an explanation to the knight who asked timidly.

And on the way from the office to the bedroom, this happened three more times.

So of course, rumors spread.

In less than an hour, the gossip, swollen by the knights’ mouths, reached my ears.

“That Lady Cherry has a peculiar taste for knights.”

From beyond the heavy door, my personal maid, Ria, whispered.

She too had been banned from approaching me—because she was considered fairly pretty herself.

So now, under Kenig’s watch, we spoke like Romeo and Juliet through the door.

“Chuut?!”

“But don’t worry too much, my lady. I corrected the rumor—said you don’t just like knights, but only the handsome ones.”

Ria Viper.

Of course she would be Gerard’s twin sister.

She was just as unhinged.

At this rate, the title of “perverted squirrel” would never leave me…

‘Whatever. I give up.’

My legs gave out and I collapsed onto the floor.

I didn’t even have the energy to speak anymore today.

Tap tap.

I knocked, and after wishing me good night, Ria’s footsteps faded away.

“Finished with your conversation, Juliet?”

Kenig was watching me as he sipped tea, claiming it helped him sleep.

Trust him to look excessively elegant while drinking tea—just as you’d expect from a high noble.

Except for one thing.

That robe, carelessly exposing one shoulder.

‘Knows one thing, doesn’t know the other.’

I shook my head.

If the rumor was true—that I was a squirrel with peculiar tastes for handsome men—who do they think my first target would be?

This foolishly beautiful dragon, of course.

“Chut.”

“What’s the matter this time?”

Thump thump.

I flicked my tail irritably, and Kenig tilted his head at me.

‘What’s the matter? You really don’t know?’

Honestly, there were countless reasons.

Locking me up in that cursed pouch like a criminal animal.

Dragging me into ridiculous rumors.

But most of all—

‘This whole situation is just unfair!’

The only reason I had been spying on that suspicious tiger was for one purpose:

To ensure my comfortable, safe life in Black Dragon Castle!

Because Erjin Astrahan was far too unreadable a man.

All he ever did was lounge in the sun like a fat cat and nap, but clearly he had ulterior motives.

“Sir Erjin has always been that way.”

“Lazy and indolent.”

Gerard and Kenig swore that he was simply that kind of beastman, and when the time came he’d leave on his own.

But I couldn’t let my guard down so easily.

Because—

‘I can smell it. A suspicious smell!’

Three years surviving in the wild had honed my small-animal instincts.

And they were screaming: Erjin Astrahan is hiding something!

I couldn’t shake the feeling that Black Dragon Castle was about to get noisy again.

‘The gentle young master hiding something big?’

The young master’s suspicious secret?

No, no. This isn’t that kind of story.

Shaking my head, I recalled the titles of books I’d seen in the library when I was younger.

If Erjin Astrahan had a genre, it would be espionage.

‘The title would be something like… The Reason the Young Master Came to Black Dragon Castle.’

I nodded to myself.

Thought after thought kept chaining together, making it impossible to fall asleep.

My mind was full of the mysterious Erjin Astrahan.

Not because he was handsome, with golden hair and eyes like deep lakes, as Gerard said.

‘Could the Astrahan Duchy really be tied to that incident three years ago?’

Ever since I met Erjin face to face, every time I closed my eyes, I remembered that day.

Those piercing blue eyes, the burning marquis’ manor.

“Chuut…”

I rolled over and there was Kenig’s face, bathed in soft moonlight.

An angel’s incarnation.

‘Though once he opens his eyes, he’s the devil incarnate…’

Maybe it was because so much had happened today.

For some reason, his peacefully sleeping face irritated me.

Wasn’t he supposed to have chronic insomnia?

Didn’t he claim he was especially sensitive when going to bed?

Kenig had fallen asleep before the first verse of a lullaby could finish.

‘It was all a lie.’

Slipping off my designated bed, I padded over, stepping on his hand as I drew closer.

I stared at his face, then pressed my paw squarely on his cheek.

‘Still not waking up?’

If he were awake, I’d never dare try this.

He’d have grabbed me by the scruff before I even stretched out a paw.

“Chuchuchut…”

A sinister little laugh escaped me.

I felt like the first conqueror of the continent.

Was this what they called the thrill of conquest?

The first step on untouched snow—that was the feeling.

‘And just as cold, too.’

Only recently had I learned that the Kreutz family all had low body temperatures.

‘So when I thought I was dying at our first meeting, it was just my imagination.’

Nodding to myself, I still couldn’t stop kneading his cheek.

Because—

“Chuu―.”

It was addictive.

Cold yet soft, the perfect thing to ease my worries.

Even Kenig, whose whole body seemed made of stone, had surprisingly squishy cheeks.

Surely I was the only one in the continent who knew this?

Caught up in this foolish sense of intoxication, I even dragged my little bed over so I could properly indulge.

And just as I was about to get serious—

Thump—!

A faint but distinct vibration.

Right outside the bedroom door.

‘The knights’ presence… vanished?’