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Chapter 6
The moment I saw Alex, I unconsciously uncurled my body. My tail shot straight up from tension.
With a sinister smile on his lips, Alex spoke in a cold voice.
“I came to say goodbye.”
I curled into a ball again and glared at him warily.
As if this man would come all the way here just to say goodbye to me.
Then, suddenly, he grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and tossed me into a corner.
“Meow!”
I desperately dug my claws into a cushion and scrambled back onto the seat.
“Impudent little brat to the very end.”
As soon as I climbed back up, Alex pulled something from his belt and tossed it in front of me.
A small glass vial filled with red liquid.
“Take it. A gift.”
I examined the bottle suspiciously.
Something felt wrong.
There was no way this man would ever give me a present.
As expected—
“If the dragons ever discover a weakness they can exploit, drink that immediately. It’s a powerful poison, so it won’t hurt.”
He continued in a voice dripping with contempt.
“Don’t let yourself become a liability that causes even more damage to the North.”
In other words:
If things go badly, kill yourself before you become a burden.
My whiskers trembled.
Even now, he considered my life worthless.
“Rrraow!”
A fierce growl burst from me.
My entire body shook with anger.
I slashed my paw violently toward his arm, leaving a small scratch.
“You little—!”
Just as he reached out to grab me by the scruff again—
“What are you doing here?”
Alex and I both turned.
Leon stood at the carriage door, looking at us with obvious displeasure.
Alex’s face immediately stiffened.
“Haha… I was simply saying my final farewell to my beloved daughter.”
“If you’re finished, leave. We’re departing.”
“Y-Yes…”
Alex practically fled.
The carriage door slammed shut behind him.
“Meow?”
But why was Leon getting into my carriage?
When I had escaped from the cellar earlier, there had clearly been three carriages: one for Leon, one for Max, and one for the hostage.
Yet Leon ignored me completely and sat down across from me.
I looked out the window toward the other carriages.
Only one remained.
Where did the third carriage go?
As if reading my thoughts, Leon answered.
“We expected to be taking a hostage capable of human transformation, so we brought an extra carriage.”
“Meow?”
“But there’s no need anymore.”
He glanced at me.
“You’re barely the size of a mouse. There’s no reason to waste an entire carriage—or any more aura stones—on you.”
He then showed me a silk pouch hanging from his waist.
A pocket-dimension bag.
That thing is incredibly rare throughout the continent…
More importantly—
Doesn’t this mean I have to ride alone with the terrifying Leon?!
My body stiffened instantly.
I kept remembering the overwhelming aura he had displayed in the reception room.
Trembling, I curled into a tight ball.
Fortunately, Leon seemed completely uninterested in me.
Whether I was terrified or not, he simply pulled a book from his dimensional pouch, tied the pouch shut, and began reading.
The book was written in an ancient language that only dragon beastkin could understand.
Meanwhile, the carriage began moving.
Rattle—
The moment it left the Chigr estate, it accelerated rapidly.
I stared out the window in amazement.
The scenery blurred past in an instant.
So this is the power of aura stones.
I had heard they were fast, but this was unbelievable.
For a long time, I sat perfectly still like a statue, watching the scenery while cautiously keeping an eye on Leon.
I even tried to breathe as quietly as possible.
Grrrrrrk…
Suddenly, my stomach growled loudly.
Come to think of it, the only thing I had eaten all day was a tiny piece of meat.
Afraid I might disturb Leon’s reading, I quickly pressed both paws against my round belly.
Maybe this will stop the noise.
Growl… grrrrrk…
Unfortunately, my stomach became even louder.
Thud!
Leon abruptly closed his book and tossed it onto the seat.
“Meow…”
Oh no! He’s angry because I interrupted his reading!
Seeing his expressionless face, I trembled even harder.
Leon untied the string of his dimensional pouch.
Is he going to stuff me inside because I was noisy?
Terrified, I curled up even tighter.
But instead, Leon reached into the pouch and pulled something out.
A gold-trimmed box.
Sniff, sniff.
My nose twitched instinctively.
A rich, sweet aroma drifted from inside.
Through the opening, I could see delicious-looking golden cookies.
That looks amazing!
GRRRRROOWL!
The moment I saw them, my stomach roared even louder.
Drool streamed from my mouth and soaked into the seat cushion.
Ignoring me completely, Leon reopened his book and picked up a cookie.
I stretched my neck toward it.
Large almond pieces were embedded throughout the cookie.
One bite and it would melt in my mouth…
Leon raised the cookie to his lips.
I stared at it without blinking.
Eventually, hunger overwhelmed my reason.
As if possessed, I slowly stood up.
“…?”
Leon looked at me curiously.
My eyes remained locked on the cookie in his mouth.
Without realizing it, I began waving a paw.
Please share some cookie with me! Just a little!
Wave— wave—
“…!”
Leon’s face froze.
But I was so captivated by the cookie that I didn’t notice.
At that moment, I felt like I would do absolutely anything for even a single bite.
I could even roll over and show him my belly!
Among Northern beastkin, the belly was an extremely vulnerable area.
Showing it to someone meant:
I surrender completely and submit myself to you.
If the Northern beastkin ever found out I was willing to do that for a cookie, they would be horrified.
But I was completely obsessed.
With fierce determination blazing in my eyes, I waved my paw even harder.
Leon stared at Mia in disbelief as she vigorously waved her paw.
The little beastkin was cheerfully demanding a kiss.
And ever since earlier, her eyes had been blatantly fixed on his lips.
What is this brat doing now?
At the estate, he had assumed Alex ordered her to behave that way to influence the treaty negotiations.
But now?
The North had already been thoroughly stripped bare.
She was already a hostage.
Yet she was still acting like this.
Then a possibility flashed through his mind.
Could Alex have another plan?
Before departure, Alex had been speaking to Mia inside the carriage.
The moment Leon arrived, Alex had hurriedly fled.
Leon narrowed his eyes.
Alex had bowed his head in submission, but who knew what he was truly thinking?
Perhaps, unable to oppose the South through force, he had devised another method.
Maybe he had instructed the child to continue acting this way even after becoming a hostage.
Could he be planning to spend twenty years making us lower our guard?
To build familial affection between me and this child?
So that one day she could gain influence over the South?
Of course, Leon had no intention whatsoever of growing attached to the little furball.
Frankly, he still didn’t understand why Max found her cute.
The plan sounded ridiculous by his standards.
Yet Leon was a cautious man.
After all, Alex was shameless enough to invade the South and use his own daughter to seek leniency.
The possibility couldn’t be dismissed.
I’ll simply find out for myself.
Perhaps this was a good opportunity to discover exactly what Alex had instructed her to do.
There was no harm in being careful.
With that thought, Leon quietly watched Mia, who continued waving her paw and silently demanding a kiss.
Then he took a bite of his cookie.
Crunch.
Mia flinched.
She stopped waving and stared at him.
Leon calmly continued eating.
Crunch. Crunch.
Then Mia squeezed her eyes shut.
What is she doing now?
Leon watched with growing interest.
Suddenly—
Flop!
Mia rolled onto her back and exposed her fluffy white belly.
The sight made Leon drop his cookie.
Tap.
For the first time, Leon’s violet eyes visibly shook.
His face hardened.
Alex, you bastard…
In the South, exposing one’s belly had a very specific meaning.
Please play with me!
“Meow! Meow!”
Mia cried out urgently.
A kiss.
Playing together.
Any dragon would recognize those as things a child would ask of a parent.
At that moment, Leon’s suspicion became certainty.
Alex intends to use this brat to make me develop parental affection and eventually gain influence over the South!
Fury rose within him.
He immediately grabbed Mia by the scruff and lifted her into the air.
Then he glared into her sparkling eyes and spoke in a voice sharp as a blade.
“I have no intention of giving you what you want.”
“Stop that immediately.”
To be continued…
