I Became the Wicked Beastmen’s Catnip - Chapter 16

“Explain.”

 

“Uhm, that… Because the Fourth Prince suddenly came to visit.” Alice, who had her mouth shut, bit her lips. Licht’s silver ears perked up towards my bedroom.

 

He sighed deeply and put me to the floor.

 

“Wait here for a second, Yernian.”

 

“Why…”

 

Clankㅡ!

 

My face hardened at the brutal noise I heard from behind the tightly closed bedroom door.

 

Licht’s latest form, which once stroked my hair that had stiffened on the spot, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

 

“Alice.”

 

“Yes. Princess.”

 

“Is Askari in my room right now?”

 

Alice’s yellow tail flinched.

 

As I read the answer from her aimlessly swaying eyes, I let out a troubling sigh.

 

“Why is he doing this all of a sudden?”

 

“I don’t know either. He was so stubborn that he had something to check, and the Head Maid and Loen were also absent, so I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry.”

 

It is said that Askari, who broke into my bedroom, kicked out Alice who was cleaning the bedding.

 

After that, I heard a loud noise and tried to open the door, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t open it.

 

‘No matter how it was like that, he hasn’t done anything that crosses the line, though.’

 

Since Askari was oppressed by Licht after trying to rush at me during our first meeting, he’s never been physically violent.

 

It was the same with actions that were close to disturbance like now. On the contrary, he didn’t even come close to the fourth floor of the main palace where I was usually staying.

 

“It is not something which Alice should apologize for.”

 

“Still…”

 

At that moment, the noise from beyond the door stopped as if it was a lie. It seemed that Licht had succeeded in overpowering Askari.

 

“But what did he want to check?”

 

“Um, that’s… The story that the Chief gave the Princess a special gift probably reached the ears of the Fourth Prince.”

 

…What. Was Licht the cause this time too?

 

I frowned and walked towards the closed door.

 

Knock, knock.

 

After taking a short deep breath, I knocked, and Licht’s voice came back from inside.

 

“I’d told you to wait there.”

 

“Where’s Askari?”

 

After not answering for a while, Licht opened the door himself. Through the half-open door, a messy view of the bedroom caught my eye.

 

However, I couldn’t see even a single hair of the one who made the room this shape.

 

Standing puzzled, Licht pointed his chin at the underside of the bed.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

The gap was narrow enough for a small child to barely hide.

 

In the deep darkness hidden in the sky canopy, the cry of a small beastman flowed out with a ferocious energy.

 

‘The bed is safe.’

 

It wasn’t just the bed. Among the furniture that had lost its original shape, a gigantic cat doll which wasn’t hurt even a single hair was seen.

 

“Askari el Persian.”

 

Before I knew it, Licht’s voice lowered as he approached the bed where Askari was hiding.

 

“Come out.”

 

The bed, which had barely maintained its original shape, began to shake. It was almost clear what Askari was doing in the dark even without looking at it.

 

For a moment, I thought about whether to let Askari be dragged by Licht’s hand like this, and then I sighed inwardly.

 

‘It can’t be like this.’

 

I have no intention of trying to get along well with a cat who doesn’t like me, but I refused to repeat this situation.

 

Having made up my mind, I crossed over the pieces of furniture and approached Licht’s side.

 

“Licht.”

 

Licht, who was trying to force Askari out by using his mana, stopped.

 

“Let me be alone with Askari for a moment.”

 

“…Why?”

 

Don’t ask why, just this one time.

 

When I looked up at him with the pitiful eyes that had such a meaning, Licht’s forehead narrowed slightly.

 

“Today, you’re cunning too, Yernian.”

 

Before I could say anything, Licht’s latest form, who clicked his tongue briefly, suddenly disappeared from the room.

 

I slowly squatted on the messy floor and looked under the bed.

 

As expected, I saw a tiny creature clinging to the wall and trembling.

 

“Askari.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you hate me that much? Enough to mess up my room like this?”

 

Askari, who buried his face in his front paws like last time, didn’t look back at me, even though he cried bitterly.

 

His slender trembling body seemed to show that he was now frightened.

 

Seeing that, my anger, which had risen secretly, subsided in an instant.

 

It was because I suddenly realized that Askari was only five years old.

 

A complicated sigh leaked between my lips.

 

“…By any chance, are you afraid of me?”

 

Flinch.

 

This time, a more explicit reaction came back than before.

 

The corner of my lips rose softly as I discovered the cat’s hair stood on its own.

 

“Are you afraid I’ll take away all of Licht’s attention?”

 

As if my words had stabbed him in the face, Askari’s body, clinging to the wall, produced a brief twitch.

 

“Haak!”

 

“That’s a misunderstanding.”

 

The sound of Askari scratching the floor with his front foot echoed through the bedroom.

 

I laughed silently as I felt it was like a protest saying, ‘Don’t lie!’

 

Even in the dark, I could feel Askari glaring at me with his axe eyes.

 

“Turns out you’re an idiot, Askari.”

 

“Meow!”

 

“Licht adopted me into your family and treated me well because I’m a necessary human being in the Myo World. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? The Messiah.”

 

Askari’s ears, which had been folded flat all along, stood up. I continued speaking, ignoring the slight tingling sensation on one side of my chest.

 

“That’s why, don’t worry. All the attention Licht shows me is fake.”

 

“…”

 

“More than anything else, I have no intention of taking away his interest or affection from you from now on. I have no intention of sitting here all the time.”

 

I couldn’t stop, even though I knew that my words didn’t suit a four-year-old.

 

I was also tired of the hatred that he had unilaterally expressed over the past few years. I wanted to relieve a little bit of his resentment toward me through a proper dialogue.

 

“So now stop and get out of there. There’s a lot of dust there. It’s messy.”

 

I slowly reached under the bed.

 

Hearing my exhausted voice, he raised his head for the first time and looked at me.

 

His pupils, which had thickened in the dark, trembled like cracked glass. He looked at the hand I held out and me alternately, then he hurriedly ran outside.

 

Askari, who walked past me, bit his clothes that had fallen nearby and jumped over the terrace railing.

 

‘Is he really gone?’

 

I was left alone in the messed up room, and then I sat down on the floor and let out the breath I had been holding back. It was because I hadn’t relaxed all the time in fear that Askari might lose his temper and attack me.

 

‘Aren’t you supposed to clean things up before you go?’

 

I sighed as I looked around the messy room.

 

My mind was complicated.

 

I can’t believe that Licht was the reason why Askari hated me and was afraid of me.

 

‘Why does Askari like Licht so much?’

 

I don’t think it’s just because they’re siblings.

 

As I lay down while being careful not to get stabbed by the shards, I rubbed my sore temples.

 

There was no strength left to lift a finger. It seemed that my appointment with Noha had to be postponed until later.

 

‘Ah, I’m tired.’

 

If he had a conscience, he wouldn’t repeat the same thing.

 

Of course, I didn’t intend to stand still for a second time.

 

If Askari commits such a ruthless thing again, then…

 

‘I’ll have to scold him.’

 

With my eyes closed, I didn’t move for a while until Licht returned.

 

***

 

Askari hurriedly ran across the dark garden. The clothes in his mouth made his jaw ache, yet he didn’t slow down.

 

The wind, which felt sharp today, scratched Askari’s hair in a mess.

 

‘Damn it.’

 

He didn’t mean to mess up Yernian’s room from the beginning.

 

The moment he found the cat doll placed near the terrace, a piece of memory he had barely turned away from came to the surface.

 

The day in question was Askari’s third birthday.

 

[What’s this?]

 

[This is a gift from His Highness, the Second Prince, to congratulate Your Highness’ birthday.]

 

…Ignis?

 

Since it was the first time Ignis, who rarely had a day attached to the main palace, sent a gift after he completed the second growth faster than others, he had even a slight curiosity and anticipation.

 

However, what was waiting for Askari wasn’t a gift. It was a hideous monster dressed in a cat doll.

 

[Shriekkkk!]

 

The gold-foiled card was crushed at the feet of the monster that tore the doll.

 

If his mana that felt an instinctive sense of crisis at the time didn’t protect Askari himself, his life could have been in danger.

 

[It’s a special pet monster I found while wandering the continent. Tame them well.]

 

It may have been just a joke to the Second Prince, but it wasn’t to him.

 

For the first time in his life, Askari felt his life was threatened, and as a result of the belated shock, he had to suffer from a terrible fever.

 

He suffered from nightmares of being attacked by monsters that tore the doll’s body the whole time he was wandering through the deadly places.

 

After that, just looking at the giant dolls made him pick up a match without him realizing it.

 

It was the same in Yernian’s bedroom, whom he was blinded by jealousy with when he heard that Licht had given her a special gift.

 

The moment he found the giant cat doll, the uncontrollable mana ran wild and stirred up Yernian’s room in a mess.

 

If Licht hadn’t appeared along the way and suppressed his mana, it would have led to a bigger accident.

 

‘How can I face Brother now?’

 

And that ugly human’s face.

 

Unbearable hatred and self-doubt flooded in him.

 

‘She will be disappointed. She may not want to see me anymore.’

 

After his mother’s sudden death, it was Licht who found him, who was almost forgotten in the main palace, and led him to the sun.

 

His heart tightened in fear that he didn’t want to be hated.

 

Askari, who climbed the tallest tree in the main palace, let out a painful cry.

 

There was also a sense of guilt towards Yernian, but Askari, who was still young, didn’t realize it.

 

[That’s why, don’t worry. All the attention Licht shows me is fake.]

 

Fake?

 

That’s what the Messiah is saying because she doesn’t know his brother.

 

It may have been fake at first, but now…

 

That day, Askari was unable to return to his bedroom and had to wander for a long time.

 

***

 

After the day of the commotion, Askari treated me like a total stranger.

 

It was the same when we danced in the etiquette class together. As a partner, he only neatly finished what he had to do and stepped back.

 

‘It’s much better than bullying.’

 

The problem was that every time we took a class together, we were suffocated in a different sense than before.

 

This ambiguous relationship continued until just before Askari’s birthday banquet.

 

While my promise with Noha, which has been postponed, hasn’t yet been kept, the day to learn magic from Licht has arrived

 

Following Loen’s guidance, I entered the dance hall where the noon sun had fallen.

 

Licht, who had arrived first, looked at me with an indifferent expression.

 

“Yernian.”

 

With his hair tied loosely to one side as usual, he looked at me, who was greatly nervous, and snorted.

 

“How could you be more trivial day by day?”

 

“… Are you picking a fight now?”

 

“No way. Watch carefully and repeat after me.”

 

Huh? Right away?

 

At that moment, the air around Licht changed like a lie.

 

I hurriedly opened my mouth.