Chapter 119

Eavesdrop on what Her Majesty Grace and Knox are talking about and tell me what they say. But don’t get caught. Got it?

Click.

Kyle opened the door with solemn determination and went over Aisha’s order again and again in his head.

There was a grave sense of resolve in the maple-leaf-small hand gripping the doorknob.

That was right.

For the first time in his life, Kyle was more serious than ever.

His desire to stay with Aisha had already reached its limit, and then she had declared that she would play with him “all day” and, once he returned to his cat form, even let him sleep “together” with her like they used to.

Though small, the boy who was the leader of monsters strode confidently down the corridor.

Using his sensitive sense of smell to track Knox’s unpleasant scent, he discovered that Knox and several others had gathered in a reception room not far away.

But.

“Hello. Do you need something?”

The servant was the problem.

That kind servant guarding Knox’s lair like Cerberus!

...Knock her out? Or kill her? What should I do?

The chilling look that even his brown eyes could not conceal made the servant flinch for a moment.

While Kyle stood there deep in thought, she also pondered what he might want, then brightened with an “Ah!”

“Did you come to get the dessert Her Majesty Grace mentioned? The chef is working hard on it right now, so could you wait a little?”

“......”

“Or is there something you want to drink? Orange juice? Milk? Just tell me.”

“Milk—no...!”

He must not be tempted.

Kyle shook his head rapidly after nearly answering “milk” without thinking.

For now, knocking the servant out or killing her was probably out of the question.

From what he had learned during etiquette lessons, the teacher had told Kyle that hitting or killing people carelessly was something only monsters did.

No wonder Aisha always scolded him whenever he did things like that.

Kyle did not want to do anything she disliked.

Then what do I do?

He worked his brain hard with a sullen expression, but to the servant, it merely looked as though the boy was staring at her because he wanted something.

“Sorry, but if you don’t have anything to ask me, could you wait in the room over there where Princess Aisha is?”

“......”

“Her Majesty Grace is in an important meeting, so I don’t think you should stay in front of this door.”

He had planned to simply stand there and listen in, but apparently he needed some reason to remain.

A reason.

A reason to stay here.

And Kyle, once you go back to being a cat... I’ll even let you sleep with me again!

Aisha’s wonderful words seemed to echo in his ears.

Normally, with his personality, he would have decided it was too much trouble and gone back.

But this was not a normal situation.

The chance of a lifetime.

He could not let it slip away.

“......!”

Just then.

A flash of inspiration passed through Kyle’s mind as he did the rare thing of actually thinking.

This could work...

“I’m not just standing here.”

“Hm?”

The doll-like boy was staring straight at her.

The servant, who had been glancing at him simply because she found that fact fascinating, widened her eyes in surprise.

“Princess Aisha told me to stand here as punishment. It’s not like I want to be here.”

Kyle pressed himself flat against the wall beside the door and raised both arms straight above his head.

“...Oh my.”

The servant swallowed a laugh.

There was nobody else in the corridor, yet he was obediently serving his punishment even where no one was watching.

It was pitiful and adorable at the same time.

“I see. Did you play some kind of prank?”

“Yeah.”

“What sort of prank got you punished?”

Kyle had not thought that far ahead, so he fell silent for a moment.

The servant mistook his silence for embarrassment and swallowed another laugh—

“I called an adult ‘mister.’”

“What? Pfft...”

In the end, the servant failed to hold back her laughter and covered her mouth with her palm.

Piece of cake.

Kyle secretly curled one corner of his mouth into a sly grin.

At the Kreutz ducal castle, when he got scolded, he would sometimes sit in the reflection chair placed in the corridor.

He remembered how people passing by would look at him and call him cute.

This servant’s reaction was exactly the same.

“Anyway, that’s why Assistant Knox has to check on me. Excuse me.”

Even though Kyle mixed casual and polite speech together, the servant merely smiled fondly.

If anything, she seemed pleased to have the adorably punished boy beside her to relieve her boredom.

“......”

But unlike the servant, who had lowered her guard, Kyle was only just getting started.

In truth, he had been listening from the very beginning.

To the faint conversation coming through the closed door.

An ordinary person would not have been able to hear it, but Kyle, with the sensitive senses of a beast, focused on the voices leaking through the tiny gaps.

“Are you joking? What if Princess Aisha hears you? Why would you suddenly throw the door open and start shouting?”

“Ah, my apologies. It’s just... I was so shocked...”

“What happened?”

At Grace’s question, a man called Count Dell, the one who had burst through the door earlier, hesitated.

“Well...”

“What?”

“I can hardly believe it myself... but after analyzing Lady Aisha’s magical energy, we found that it differs from that of an ordinary person.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Monster magical energy is flowing through Lady Aisha.”

A brief silence followed Count Dell’s answer.

Then he hurriedly continued.

“What’s even stranger is that the magical energy inside Lady Aisha’s body has exactly the same composition as the magical energy of the demon called Kyle!”

“...Does that even make sense?”

“Look at the analysis sheet.”

Another brief silence passed before Knox spoke.

“But Princess Aisha is unquestionably a direct descendant of House Kreutz. She uses ice power as well.”

“I know that, so calm down. I’m not saying Lady Aisha is a monster.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“We’ll have to investigate properly to know for sure... but there is a possibility that Kyle’s magical energy was transferred into Lady Aisha.”

“Then it should have transferred to me too.”

“That’s not how it works. This isn’t a disease. Magical energy doesn’t spread just because people are together. You know that’s impossible.”

“Then...”

“For some reason, Kyle’s magical energy must have been injected into Lady Aisha. Whether it was intentional, I don’t know.”

“We’ll have to investigate.”

“Yes. But the important thing right now is why Lady Aisha collapsed.”

Magical energy was a term Kyle had heard during the lesson earlier.

But his magical energy and Aisha’s were the same?

What did that mean?

Kyle, who had been listening despite not understanding what they were saying, perked up his ears.

He was curious too about why Aisha had suddenly collapsed.

At least, thankfully, it seemed it had not happened because he had tormented her.

“Aisha had the aptitude, but she was a child who never needed to use magical energy. She already has a power.”

“And?”

“Her magical energy already had no reason to be used, and then on top of that, the magical energy of an extremely powerful monster—worse, a demon—entered her body. Naturally, Lady Aisha’s body couldn’t withstand it and she collapsed.”

“But there were no warning signs.”

“Were there really none? Or perhaps Kyle was acting strangely.”

“...Kyle has been somewhat crooked lately...”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He was stupid, but at least he used to listen. Recently he started calling knight commanders ‘mister,’ threw away his sword, and apparently refused to participate in training. He’s been causing trouble.”

“Wait. How old was Kyle when we first saw him?”

At that, Grace suddenly lowered her voice with interest.

“I’m not sure about his age...”

“No. I mean when Kyle was still in cat form.”

“Ah... well. One or two months old? I remember he was practically a newborn kitten...”

“Then that means he’s been about five or six months old in cat terms now. I think I’m starting to see the answer.”

“Am I the only one who doesn’t?”

“Cats go through a growth phase at around five or six months old. It’s the period when their energy circulates most actively.”

“Then...”

“It means that if Kyle, who is in the middle of growing, keeps staying close to Lady Aisha, she could faint again.”

Silence fell once more.

This time, Kyle himself was stunned.

But in truth, he had already been shocked for another reason.

“...Um, little boy?”

The servant, unable to hear the conversation inside the reception room, peered at him out of boredom.

At the same time, she flinched at the expression on his face, so cold that it was hard to believe he was the same innocent child from moments earlier.

W-What is that...?

Then Kyle’s sharp gaze turned toward her.

Feeling a chill, the servant hurriedly straightened and forced a smile.

“Ah. Right. You have to focus on keeping your arms up.”

Whether she apologized or not, Kyle’s expression only grew darker.

Back when Aisha had collapsed at Ahili’s Circus.

He had done what he could to save her.

He had poured his incomprehensibly powerful magical energy into her.

And yet he had never imagined that what he had done might instead put Aisha in danger.

Of course he hadn’t.

This young boy had only recently learned that he himself was a demon.

The human world was new to him, and sharing magical energy with a human had also been something he had done for the first time.

There was no way he could have known.

He had only wanted to stay with Aisha.

Those blue eyes that had seemed like salvation when he was dying.

From the moment he first met her, Aisha had become his entire world.

But if Aisha is with me...

“Little boy? Little boy!”

Kyle, who had been staring into empty space with a chilling expression, suddenly sprang to his feet.

The startled servant called after him, but he threw himself through the open corridor window.

For reference, this was the fourth floor.

“Aaah!”

At the dangerously incomprehensible behavior, the servant screamed, and the reception room door flew open as Grace emerged.

“What happened?”

“Th-The white-haired boy s-suddenly went out that window...”

Grace narrowed her eyes as she listened to the pale-faced servant.

“How long was that kid here?”

“W-What? Um, almost right after Your Majesty went in for the meeting...”

No way.

Grace stared beyond the window Kyle had disappeared through, visibly unsettled.

There was already no one outside.

“Find Kyle first.”

“Yes.”

“Yes!”

At her command, the members of the monster enthusiasts’ gathering immediately began moving in perfect order.