Chapter 43

Blink, blink—

I stared blankly, completely stunned by the unreal people in front of me.

Right now, standing before me were:

Empress Grace of the Frozen Kingdom.

Marquis Aria, who governed the southern region of the Frozen Kingdom.

Lady Maria, rumored to be the smartest young lady in the eastern region of the Frozen Kingdom.

And Count Del, rumored to be the most handsome man in the western region of the Frozen Kingdom.

Wait a second.

There are multiple people here, so how am I supposed to greet them?

Normally, I would just introduce myself and be done with it, but standing in front of me right now was the Empress herself.

And even though I was only five, I was still a professionally trained former spy who had experienced working life.

Aisha, greet them!

Snapping back to my senses, I hurriedly scampered over and stood before the Empress first.

“May the sun of the world shine upon the Frozen Kingdom. Greetings, Your Majesty Empress Grace.”

Then I moved my tiny fingers to lift the hem of my dress.

“......?”

Something felt wrong.

I hurriedly looked down.

The elaborate skirt that should have puffed out with [N O V E L I G H T] lace and frills was nowhere to be seen.

Instead—

Damn it! I’m wearing pajamas!

My eyes trembled violently in shock.

What kind of outfit was this to wear in front of Her Majesty the Empress?!

“Mister Knox! My clothes!”

“Ah, my apologies. We came straight to the royal palace from the inn and happened to run into Her Majesty... and because Her Majesty said not to wake you, you ended up entering the palace in your pajamas.”

“What did you say?!”

My mouth fell open into a triangle of despair.

I was standing here. In front of Her Majesty the Empress. Wearing pajamas.

Pajamas are more comfortable with trousers, so mine are basically the same kind Lucas wears!

I glanced around.

The four people holding immense power within the Frozen Kingdom were staring at me with eyes full of curiosity.

Get it together, me.

If there’s no dress, if I’m wearing trousers...

Then I just have to greet them like a gentleman!

“My name is Lady Aisha of the Kreutz family. I apologize for appearing before Your Majesty in such improper attire.”

Ta-dah—

I tilted one bent leg to the side, placed one arm against my chest, and bowed my upper body.

Clap clap clap.

The people watching broke into applause as if they found it fascinating.

“Is that a hamster?”

“Where did she learn to greet people like that? What a strange and adorable child.”

“May I touch her?”

At the last question, I immediately spread out my hamster hand-blade and shook my head rapidly.

“No.”

This was the first time in my life I’d ever gotten applause just for greeting someone.

How strange. These people are strange.

“Welcome to the royal consort’s palace, Lady Aisha.”

After watching my greeting for quite a while, Empress Grace finally inclined her head and returned the greeting.

The strange thing was, though—they were weird, but they didn’t seem bad.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I looked up at Her Majesty with a slightly shy expression.

I’d only ever seen her described in the novel before, but seeing her in person... she’s absurdly beautiful.

Grace was the most beloved Empress among the commoners in the history of the Frozen Kingdom.

At eighteen, she developed monster lure compounds.

At twenty-two, as a hobby, she created an automatic magic-powered plow for commoners.

She never indulged in luxury, and because of her fascination with monsters, she maintained constant contact with the north, introducing magical knowledge and artifacts.

Ah, and one revolutionary fact.

The portals of the Frozen Kingdom were also created by this woman!

A.maz.ing.

I looked at Grace with deep admiration.

Still, she was human, so she did have one tiny flaw.

No, considering she was a noble, it was a little bigger than tiny.

She was so obsessed with studying magic and researching monsters that she completely ignored high society.

Because she was awkward at making casual conversation with ordinary noblewomen, the original novel described her as always standing stiffly like a statue during regular royal events.

The original story never mentioned that she had joined the Monster Lovers’ Association, though.

Maybe this was the only gathering she actually attended.

“By the way, you said you brought something else interesting too, didn’t you?”

Light green eyes that seemed to hold early summer turned toward Knox.

At Grace’s question, Knox finally moved into the main topic.

“Lady Aisha. If it’s alright with you, could you bring out the baby?”

“Yes!”

This place was an enormous tea room connected to the terrace of the royal consort’s palace.

“Baby. Just for a moment, shall we greet our association members?”

I slipped my hands beneath the baby’s front legs and held it out toward the association members.

As the warm spring breeze of the capital drifted into the terrace, the baby, who had been rubbing its face sleepily, opened its eyes with a tiny meow.

“The eyes really are...”

“Purple.”

Everyone slowly parted their lips as they stared at the baby.

“To be honest, after reading Mister Knox’s letter, I thought he was exaggerating...”

“Those eyes, what in the world... Is it some kind of horned horse or something?”

“May I touch it?”

Lady Maria apparently intended to touch every cute thing she saw, because this time she actually reached out her hand.

Tap—

“Khyaak!”

The baby scrunched up its nose bridge and hissed before immediately burying its face back into my arms.

“It hates anyone except me.”

At my words, Grace looked puzzled.

“With a personality like that, it should’ve been difficult to hide around people. How did you bring it here?”

“It listens really well as long as people don’t approach first. It’s super gentle.”

“Gentle?”

“Yes! It’s basically a cat that acts like a puppy!”

Was this what parents felt when bragging about their children?

Feeling weirdly proud, I puffed my chest out.

“.......”

But unexpectedly, Grace’s expression darkened slightly instead of reacting enthusiastically.

“Ah, for now, let’s sit.”

After staring at the baby for a long while, she carefully erased the traces of her shaken expression and gestured for us to take our seats.

What was that? Judging by the personality I’d seen from Her Majesty so far, I thought she’d react more.

It was a little strange, but I still didn’t fully understand Grace yet. Maybe this was just how she was.

As everyone took their seats at her invitation, I also started to sit down.

“Lady Aisha.”

Calm footsteps slipped between me and the chair.

It was Grace.

“Do you like desserts?”

“Yes!”

At my energetic answer, Grace smiled softly.

“Knox mentioned it before. He said you like eating sandwiches in the garden.”

“That’s right!”

“The royal chef is a master at making crepes. How about enjoying some in the garden while soaking up the sunlight?”

Huh?

“......?”

That was a dismissal.

And to make it stranger, she had actually crouched down on one knee to meet my eyes despite her status as Empress, smiling at me gently.

Caught off guard, everyone—including Knox—exchanged glances, but this was the Empress’s command.

No one dared question her words.

“...Okay!”

After freezing for a moment, I quickly recovered my bright smile and nodded.

***

At Grace’s recommendation, the kitten drank water mixed with a single drop of eye-color transformation potion.

“Mya—”

Perhaps it had been thirsty, because while it lapped at the water, dark brown slowly spread around its sharp irises.

Click.

Once Aisha left with the kitten alongside the head maid, Mai, and the servants—

“Is there a reason for this?”

Knox, who had remained silent until now, finally asked.

Because of her public position, Empress Grace had countless restrictions on what she could say during conversations.

But now that the outsider was gone, she was no longer the Empress.

She was simply a member of the Monster Lovers’ Association.

And because the Monster Lovers’ Association was made up of people deeply interested in monsters, they aimed to maintain relationships as equal as possible.

“How long has Lady Aisha been staying attached to that cat?”

“I’m not certain. She received permission from the physician, told me about it that same day, and then we came directly to the capital, so... a little over two weeks and perhaps two or three nights.”

“A little over two weeks and two or three nights.”

At that moment, the laughter of a child drifted in from outside.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the cheerful, singing-like voice.

Beyond the terrace.

In the garden Grace had mentioned, the kitten could be seen pouncing at Aisha, who sat on a bench.

“Hehe. Stop that, baby!”

The two of them rolling around in the grass looked like a single frame from a happy painting.

But—

“Then separate that cat from the young lady within two weeks.”

A voice as cold as frost severed the bond between them.

“...Excuse me?”

“Right now it looks like nothing more than a weak little kitten, but if it ever catches the scent of human blood...”

Grace paused briefly.

As if carefully choosing the proper word to describe it.

Then she spoke.

“It will become a monster.”