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Chapter 46.
For a while, peaceful days continued. Perhaps tailoring clothes took quite a bit of time, because there was no news from the imperial palace. Strangely enough, Caleb also didn’t send any banquet invitations.
‘Aletheia went out today too.’
The “no going out” restriction she had imposed on him last time had long since become meaningless because of the Tararia incident, but perhaps because he had lost his memories and become gentler, Aletheia had actually asked for permission first thing this morning.
‘I let him go after making him promise not to eat poison outside. Still, I don’t really trust it.’
Just because he didn’t eat poison didn’t mean he could avoid every assassination attempt.
But she couldn’t exactly lock him up either, so all she could do was hope that nothing insane would happen.
Anyway, for that reason, Mio—left alone—spent the entire morning planting flowers in the garden with Jamie to build up “mansion upkeep” credit. She shoveled dirt so diligently that her clothes became caked with soil.
“Haa. But this is really just….”
It was a sight she simply couldn’t understand.
After planting flowers, shouldn’t one naturally feel proud? However, Mio’s heart as she looked at the garden was filled with unease.
“It doesn’t suit it. It doesn’t harmonize at all….”
The Moro mansion and the bright red tulips didn’t match in the slightest.
They clashed like water and oil, to the point that it felt like a dignified gentleman wearing pigtails.
At the miserable sight, Mio quickly averted her gaze and took in the mansion as a whole.
“I felt it during the picnic last time too, but it really is nothing but desolate.”
The “picnic” suggestion she had brought up earlier to change the atmosphere had to be scrapped quickly for that very reason. Mio propped her chin on her hand while looking at the mansion.
‘Just where and how do I fix this to make it better?’
At the very least, it needed to look decent for someone to appear who would stay by Lete’s side.
‘With Aletheia in his current state, there might be someone who’d be tempted to meet him.’
For one thing, he was royalty, rich, and handsome. His personality was… well, anyway, the important thing was that he was fine right now.
‘If I just pay a little attention to this gloomy mansion, there’s a chance.’
But she had no sense of where to start.
Since Mio had begun coming and going at this mansion, Jamie had started working on the garden, but perhaps due to a lack of manpower, the changes were minimal.
If much more time passed, Jamie’s garden project would probably show some results to a certain extent, but…
Mio, who would be leaving this mansion soon, didn’t need to take that into consideration. In any case, to her eyes, it simply looked woefully insufficient.
‘I should’ve asked Count Duon if he had seeds that grow rapidly in a single day or something.’
Since he was someone who could easily procure strange items like Tararia, she thought that if he asked around, he might even find some ancient seeds from somewhere.
‘Oh right, I was also going to ask him for armor to give Aletheia. I forgot.’
If Aletheia experienced avoiding assassination attempts or escaping pain thanks to armor, he might have a change of heart and stop doing things like drinking poison on his own. Then, naturally, he wouldn’t go mad again.
‘Of course, the fact that the source of those items is the count would have to be kept strictly secret.’
It was a realization that came too late, but it seemed Count Duon had truly earned Aletheia’s dislike over that previous price-gouging incident.
Last night, of all things, he had even stared fixedly at the anklet with Tararia attached. Mio had had to subtly hide Tararia with her skirt hem.
‘Maybe that’s why. When I woke up, Tararia somehow felt looser.’
It wasn’t like an object could notice someone staring at it, but still. It was really strange.
Mio fiddled with Tararia, which seemed looser than before.
Yip!
At that moment, Roy came running from afar with a ball in his mouth. Mio had been giving Roy some free time while Aletheia was away.
“Haha, look at our master. Idiot, idiot!”
Rosa was laughing as she snatched Roy’s ball away. Roy barked indignantly and hopped around Rosa’s legs.
“Rosa. Don’t tease Roy too much. He’s been cooped up in a room all this time, hasn’t he? He must’ve been so frustrated.”
At those words, Roy scampered over and burrowed into Mio’s arms. It was as if only Mio understood his feelings. Seeing Roy whining while being held, Rosa lost interest and dropped the ball to the ground.
“Tch, using your fox form. How cheap.”
“Rosa, you come sit here too. It’s a bit desolate, but sitting like this makes it feel like when we were at Duke Celt’s estate, and I like that.”
“But Master, when are we going back?”
Rosa asked as she plopped down on the ground.
“Is it hard staying here?”
“A little… It’s suffocating.”
Living only in human form must be difficult after all. No matter how well Rosa maintained her human appearance, her true form was a fox. Maintaining a shape different from one’s true form for twenty-four hours straight would require far more energy than one might imagine.
‘Rosa must’ve wanted to run freely through the grass like Roy just did.’
With an apologetic heart, Mio stroked Rosa’s hair. Then she muttered regretfully,
“If your genders were the same, at times like this I could dress Roy up as a girl and switch roles. No, if the genders were the same, would it be disguise rather than cross-dressing? Anyway.”
“Wahaha! Cross-dressing, that sounds fun! Let’s definitely try it someday!”
Rosa burst into laughter as she tugged Roy’s tail straight out. Roy, who had been in Mio’s arms, thrashed about angrily. Judging by how he opened his mouth and shook his head wildly, Roy also seemed extremely frustrated at being unable to speak.
‘This would’ve been the timing when I should’ve heard Roy’s rebuttal.’
The absence of sound felt regrettable to Mio as well. It had been quite a long time since she had last heard Roy’s voice.
‘One can’t speak, and the other wants to roam the forest freely but can’t….’
Sob. You’ve really had it hard, meeting such an incompetent master.
‘Still, compared to when we survived on tree fruits, I guess we’re better off now.’
At least here, they wouldn’t go hungry. Roy’s plump belly was proof of that.
‘My poor baby foxes. Just wait a little longer. I’ll get my hands on a very, very expensive relic and pamper you soon.’
Thinking that, Mio kneaded Roy’s belly, which had become satisfying to touch. Whether it was painful or ticklish, Roy groaned and twisted his body this way and that. Before long, Rosa—who found the sight interesting—joined in as well.
“Master! Look how round he’s gotten from just eating and sleeping!”
“Hehe. He’s cute, isn’t he, Roy? How about turning completely into a ball while you’re at it? Hm?”
Grrk! Yip!
Under the two-handed attack, Roy opened his mouth and shook his body side to side. After snapping and nipping around frantically for a while, Roy suddenly stiffened. He had sensed something.
That was also when a large shadow fell over Mio and Rosa’s heads.
“……”
After a brief silence, a low baritone voice echoed.
“Without me…”
Slowly lifting her head, she saw someone standing there.
“…You look like you’re having a lot of fun.”
Backlit so she couldn’t see clearly, but it was unmistakably Aletheia, who had gone out. Mio called out to him in a small voice.
“Lete?”
“Mio.”
It really was Aletheia. But why did his voice sound like that? Had something happened?
Such a gloomy aura was emanating from him that Roy had already tucked in his tail and was trembling. Rosa also hunched her shoulders tightly. Only Mio looked up at him with wide eyes.
‘Something must’ve happened outside. Don’t tell me it was another assassination threat?’
Sensing Aletheia’s low mood, Mio hurriedly passed Roy from her arms to Rosa.
“Here, you two should go inside.”
“Y-Yes!”
A terrified Rosa grabbed Roy by the nape of his neck and sprang to her feet. Glancing at Rosa and Roy as they quickly fled, Aletheia muttered,
“That fox back then…”
