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Chapter 61
From the very moment Yeloise first laid eyes on Cherry at Black Dragon Castle, she couldn’t take her gaze off her.
A round, cute face, soft fur that made her hands want to reach out repeatedly, and the cherry-colored eyes that looked up at her with a timid expression.
There wasn’t a single thing about Cherry that didn’t suit Yeloise’s taste.
But there was more.
“A spy sent from another noble house.”
Yeloise felt a strong certainty.
The way Cherry subtly watched her while whispering with Lia seemed far too clever.
Moreover…
“A normal squirrel in Black Dragon Castle?”
It was absurd.
Even putting aside her own younger brother, who could make most beastmen freeze in fear, the knights of Black Dragon Castle, and even the stablehands, were formidable.
Cobras, vipers—one wrong touch and venom would spread through their bodies—and beastmen like wolves and black panthers.
All of them were at the top of the food chain.
In such a place, the odds of a normal squirrel surviving were practically zero.
So Yeloise quietly summoned the castle’s staff to investigate Cherry.
Doctors who had examined her, knights loyal to the Kreutz family for generations.
But their words were all the same:
“Thanks to Cherry, Black Dragon Castle feels lively.”
“She is the benefactor of Black Dragon Castle!”
Lively… in this dreary, boring Black Dragon Castle?
A mere squirrel had saved the life of Kenich Kreutz?
It was one of the funniest stories she had ever heard.
“Kenich isn’t stupid enough to miss a spy…”
She decided to watch a little longer.
After all, this squirrel was no bigger than a May cherry.
If it made a move, she could handle it then.
But today…
Another absurd situation occurred.
Cherry, who should have been at Black Dragon Castle, appeared in an old-fashioned carriage.
Clearly, there was an accomplice inside the castle.
And…
“Mana?”
Every time the breeze brushed her nose, it carried the scent of fully ripened cherries—mana.
“A beastman?”
Until now, Yeloise had never felt mana from Cherry.
All she had sensed from the small squirrel before was the smoky mana left by her own younger brother.
Yet the astonishing part wasn’t just that.
Even the mana of siblings born from the same womb could feel repulsive to beastmen.
But somehow, Cherry’s mana didn’t cause any revulsion.
The more she inhaled it, the more at ease her mind and body felt.
She wanted to keep smelling it, to be closer.
It was just as she tried to resist this instinct and pressure Cherry.
“Tch!”
Cherry leapt toward her.
At the same time…
Boom―
A massive explosion rang out from the bridge shrouded in fog, sending splinters of wood and metal flying in every direction.
“What on earth…?”
Yeloise bit her lips, unable to continue speaking.
Thanks to lowering her body just before the blast, she wasn’t hurt.
“Indeed, milady…!”
Gerard kept exclaiming, but Yeloise knew the recent action hadn’t been entirely her own will.
It felt as if something had taken control of her body.
“Perhaps…”
Her gaze fell on Cherry, trembling in her arms.
No matter how she thought about it, it had to be this tiny squirrel.
“Tch!”
It must have sensed the impending explosion.
Yet this squirrel had leapt without hesitation to protect her.
Why? How?
A fundamental question arose, along with a hypothesis.
“Could Cherry have been in league with them?”
But Yeloise shook her head immediately.
Though it was suspicious that Cherry had come all the way here, if she had been in league with them, she wouldn’t have risked herself to save Yeloise from the explosion.
“Cherry… did you… protect me…?”
Why?
Yeloise couldn’t bring herself to speak the rest and swallowed the words.
Countless people had been willing to feign death to gain favor with her as the eldest daughter of Kreutz.
But when it really came down to it, none would truly risk their life for her. Not a single one.
No matter how greedy for wealth or power, life itself always felt more precious.
Yeloise didn’t blame this survival instinct.
All relationships were fundamentally built on cost-benefit calculations.
Yet…
A squirrel the size of her fist had thrown itself at her.
“Why…?”
No matter how many times she asked herself the question, she couldn’t understand.
She was a direct Kreutz descendant with extraordinary physical abilities.
Even caught in an explosion, she would be fine after a few days. But Cherry was different.
A fist-sized squirrel, so small and fragile, could have been blown away by the winds of the explosion.
Moreover, just moments ago, Yeloise had suspected Cherry of being a spy and cornered her.
“This… is really…”
It was an unprecedented situation.
Her usual calculations didn’t work, and something inside her boiled.
A hot, uncomfortable feeling tightened her throat.
“Tchuut…”
“Are… are you hurt anywhere?”
Yeloise whispered, gently rubbing Cherry’s back.
But she didn’t get the answer she wanted.
“Cherry!”
Kenich Kreutz—who paid no attention to his sister—snatched Cherry up in an instant.
A thoroughly shameless man.
“Let me see you, Cherry.”
Kenich examined Cherry’s body, turning her around carefully.
Other than her little heart beating rapidly from surprise, there were no major injuries.
“Tchuut…”
“Thank goodness.”
Kenich let out a sigh of relief only after Cherry nodded slowly.
Why Cherry, who should have been at Black Dragon Castle, was here remained unknown. But for now, it was enough that she was safe.
“Tchuut…”
“For the next month, you’ll be staying in my pocket.”
The punishment would be severe, of course.
As he buried his face in Cherry’s wriggling back and exhaled…
“….”
Suddenly, her vision blurred, and her head throbbed as if it would split. A foreboding feeling pressed against her chest.
The surrounding air currents were also unusual.
“Kenich, you…?”
“My lord….”
When he looked up, Yeloise and Gerard were staring at him with grave expressions.
“My lord, your mana balance is collapsing….”
“Tchu, tchuut…?”
Kenich’s mana balance was collapsing?
I moved my heavy body like a rock and looked at Kenich.
As Yeloise and Gerard had said, dark energies were seeping out from around him.
It was not a good sign.
Those with strong mana like Kenich learned to control it from the time they learned to walk.
Controlling mana was as natural to him as breathing.
If his mana balance was breaking without him knowing—
“It’s a sign of mana overflow.”
My suspicion met Gerard and Yeloise’s eyes in the air.
“It’s far too early for this…”
Gerard muttered, running his hands roughly through his hair while counting the dates on his fingers.
Kenich’s fits of madness occurred roughly every 2-3 months.
The last “outing” was when he had met me—only a month had passed.
“I-it must be because of me…”
By borrowing Kenich’s mana, it seemed I had disrupted the balance.
“Fortunately, it’s not progressing too quickly…”
Yeloise, checking Kenich’s condition, bit her lip lightly.
She didn’t speak further, but I understood what she meant.
Once a mana balance broke, eventually it would pour out like a waterfall.
“If that happens, Kenich will…”
Just as I looked at him with alarmed eyes…
“Damn, just when things couldn’t get worse…”
Gerard’s gaze shifted toward the rustling forest.
