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Chapter 15
“I should get going now, since I need to finish the disposal work before it gets too late.”
Gerard left around sunset.
Once again, only König and I remained in the bedroom.
He was wearing a lavish robe embroidered with gold, but it didn’t hold my attention.
Because my focus was entirely elsewhere.
“Not even a scar left behind…”
On that pale skin, only the bulging chest muscles stood out.
I was absorbed in watching his chest rise and fall rhythmically when—
“Pervert.”
A low murmur rolled out.
P–Pervert?!
Startled, I looked up—only then realizing I had been blatantly staring at König’s chest.
“It’s not what you think! A misunderstanding!”
I shook my head furiously, but König only furrowed his brows and pulled his robe tighter around him.
“Chuut…”
Just how low is my dignity going to sink?
As if being branded a thief and failed escapee wasn’t enough, now I’m labeled a pervert too.
“I didn’t think you’d look at me with such lecherous eyes. I’ll have to be careful around you.”
“Chuchut!”
Don’t be careful!
No, that’s not what I meant…
Confused, I tugged at my fur in frustration, when a soft laugh drifted down to me.
“What’s so funny, huh?”
When I glared in dissatisfaction, a large palm came down over me.
“Chuchut!”
Hey! That’s heavy!
I wriggled free—and suddenly found myself eye-level with König.
It was because he was lying on the bed face-down, without even a pillow.
“Weak little thing.”
Was he teasing me again?
I bared my teeth, ready to show him the bite force of an omnivore, when—
“I really like you.”
Words I never expected spilled from his lips.
“…Chu?”
Why?
I tilted my head, my earlier resolve forgotten, and asked.
König only smiled silently, as if he didn’t understand my squeaks.
“Why do you like me? Just because I’m weak?”
Even knowing I wouldn’t get an answer, I kept questioning inside.
When even my own father had called me useless.
When I couldn’t handle even one ability that others mastered as naturally as breathing.
Why would he say he liked me?
I still couldn’t figure out his true feelings—but it didn’t seem like a lie.
Why would the Duke of the Kreuz family, unmatched across the continent, bother lying to a pathetic little squirrel?
“Can’t you say it again?”
I tapped his hand gently.
König gazed down at me, intrigued.
“See, we can communicate like this, you’re clear about what you like and dislike, and also…”
He shut his mouth tight.
It seemed less like he was choosing his words and more like he was debating whether to say them at all.
“The last one I’ll keep to myself. I’m not certain yet.”
With that, he set me down on a small bed.
Like his custom-made robe, it was a miniature bed crafted by the master furniture makers of Black Dragon Castle.
“Hmm, cozy.”
The snug fit proved it was made of the finest materials.
“Sleep well.”
His low voice rumbled, and soon after, the sound of even breathing filled the room.
“Lord König is extremely sensitive, so you must be careful around him. Even more so when he’s asleep.”
Yet contrary to Gerard’s warning, König fell into a deep sleep almost instantly.
He didn’t even notice me climbing out of bed and making my way to the window.
The steady, almost unfitting sound of his soft breathing still filled the air.
“They must all be so worried…”
Thump.
I sank by the window and gazed absentmindedly at the sky.
Looking at the moon hanging in the night sky reminded me of my companions on Bear Mountain.
I had been kidnapped so suddenly, I couldn’t even say goodbye.
“Winter’s coming soon… did they finish preparing?”
Clever Doctor Rabbit would be managing the household, but I couldn’t help worrying.
Of course, I had no intention of staying here in Black Dragon Castle forever.
“Only until it’s safe.”
After that, I could escape anytime I wanted.
Even now—look.
The window was shut tight, but not locked.
In my squirrel form, I could easily slip out.
But what nagged at me was—
“What was König trying to say?”
Why did he say the last part was on hold?
What wasn’t certain yet?
Could there be another reason he brought me here?
Maybe it even had something to do with why I briefly turned back into a human.
My thoughts grew heavier as the night deepened.
The only sound in the Duke’s office was the scratching of a pen.
“You seem to be in good spirits lately, my lord.”
“Do I?”
Gerard cautiously addressed König, who had just finished signing the last document.
Normally, the Kreuz heirs disappeared into bouts of madness for about a week at a time.
This time, König had returned before even half that—and yet his condition seemed remarkably stable.
Especially that morning, when he had left the bedroom with a faint smile.
Having served König since childhood, Gerard found it so uncanny that it sent shivers down his spine.
“Why?”
He could guess who the smile was directed at.
The problem was, he couldn’t fathom the reason.
What on earth had happened?
Blinking his eyes in serious thought, Gerard finally chose to ask directly.
At least now, he wouldn’t be scolded for unnecessary concern.
“My lord, did something good happen?”
“Something good?”
“You’ve been… smiling.”
Gerard awkwardly pointed to his own mouth.
König’s hand, which had been smoothly moving across the documents, froze.
“Smiling? Me?”
Continuously?
Even he found that hard to believe.
That was the nature of a Duke’s life—hardly any reason to smile.
Publicly, he had to mediate complicated disputes between noble families.
Privately, he oversaw every detail of the ducal household.
It was always tedious, always dull.
And it still was.
The only difference—
Was being smacked awake every morning by a tail swishing like a whip.
“Does that count as something good?”
At the thought, a small chuckle slipped out.
Because he remembered the tiny creature that kicked off its blanket while purring in its sleep.
His long-time friend and aide Gerard looked horrified, but König brushed it off.
“There were palm prints on the window.”
“My word. Did the thief try to escape again? Should I summon a taxidermist now?”
Gerard looked like his worst fears had come true.
“Judging from the traces, it wasn’t an escape attempt.”
The squirrel was clever enough to open the window anytime it wished.
But all that remained were tiny, maple-leaf-like handprints—no sign of force.
“Perhaps just enjoying the night air.”
For a squirrel barely the size of a fist.
König snorted, though Gerard didn’t share in his amusement.
“Then it must have disturbed your sleep. I’ll warn the thief again to be careful.”
Gerard added with a troubled look.
And no wonder—König had suffered from severe insomnia since childhood.
It was another legacy of the Kreuz bloodline, just like the bouts of madness.
Partly because the dragon race’s senses were overly keen.
But mostly, it was due to nightly intruders.
Assassins targeting Kreuz throats always struck at the most defenseless hour.
“Since my lord inherited the title, the attempts only grew worse…”
Of course König couldn’t sleep easily.
“Maybe that’s why his personality’s like this.”
Gerard nodded inwardly.
Already sensitive, with ears sharp to every sound—no wonder the knights guarding his chamber barely dared to breathe.
That was why Gerard had been so shocked when König insisted on keeping a strange squirrel in his bedroom.
But—
“No. I wasn’t disturbed.”
König said flatly.
Not just last night.
Ever since sharing a room with it, he had been falling asleep unusually easily.
“Even back then.”
That bizarre first meeting.
He had taken the full brunt of a pack of wild dogs and exhausted his strength.
Deliberately, even.
A trick he used to lessen the onset of seizures.
But since his opponent was so weak—barely fit to serve as a castle guard—his symptoms weren’t fully released, and he was left with a splitting headache.
“Chuuu!”
And then, a fist-sized squirrel shook his thigh to wake him.
Not only that—it treated his wounds and even shoved medicine into his mouth.
“I still don’t know what that medicine was.”
The gesture had been ridiculous—and strangely comforting.
Almost like it was telling him not to die.
In a world where the law of nature was “the weak die”… it was the first warmth he had ever felt.
And with it came an unfamiliar drowsiness.
Even in Kreuz Castle, where he had lived his whole life, he had never slept so soundly.
Of course, once he woke from that deep sleep, he scoured the mountains until he found the culprit.
A red-eyed albino squirrel.
The imperial order was to hand over any such squirrel—or anything resembling it—to the palace immediately.
“And why should I?”
König thought of his cherry-eyed squirrel.
He had no intention of obeying the imperial family.
It was already in his hands. It was his.
He wouldn’t let anyone take it away.
Whatever its true nature might be.
“Have lunch sent to the bedroom today as well.”
“Yes, my lord. And what of the thief’s meal?”
“Serve only the finest. It seems to especially like southern fruits, so start looking into estates in the south.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure of it.”
