As soon as she realized that she had been revived without dying, Beatty swiftly slapped the face of the betrayer before her, with no hesitation at all.
There was not a shred of regret in her action, but it was clear what others would think of it.
‘A royal assault? A disgrace to the family who fled to escape the consequences...?’
She couldn’t help but wonder if the situation might be viewed even worse.
Returning to her original family, the one that had cast her aside, after running away from her maternal side would likely leave a very negative impression on anyone who was watching.
Thud.
Beatty felt a cold sweat run down the back of her neck.
‘Is he asking because he heard it beforehand, or is he really unaware?’
Swallowing hard, she made her decision.
‘If I tell the truth, it'll definitely be seen in a bad light. But I can't lie... So, I have no choice.’
Clenching her small fist, Beatty opened her mouth.
“Yeah. I slapped Prince Ritter Dux Astrum across the face.”
A confused sound came simultaneously from the Duke and the boy behind her.
‘Ah! Looks like it hasn’t reached them yet.’
With a rough idea of the situation, Beatty quickly explained what happened in the capital. Her aunt had been talking about marriage, and then she had met the prince she had never seen before, was introduced to him...
“...And then I slapped his cheek.”
In the story, she was suddenly portrayed as the mad woman who slapped a prince she had just been introduced to.
‘Ritter, that traitor, I can’t say he killed me before the regression.’
Beatty braced herself for a scolding but was met with an unexpectedly tepid response from her family.
‘Shouldn’t they be angry for bringing shame to the Duke’s family?’
The boy behind her, who had been tilting his head, suddenly grabbed Beatty’s hair like a cat holding a thread and spoke.
“Good job.”
“What?”
Beatty was completely confused by the sudden praise.
The sounds from the communication channel shouldn't have been heard by the boy, so how did their words match perfectly?
Beatty was perplexed by their unexpected response.
‘Huh?’
Beatty was stunned by the sudden order directed at her.
She knew that just beyond the mountain range, there was the northern border where battles raged daily.
She wasn’t being careless, thinking the war was a joke. She was involved in the logistics for the kingdom’s military.
“See, the war’s been going on for a long time, right? So, what I thought was—”
Beatty was about to explain, but the Duke’s firm voice interrupted her.
The Duke made his point, final as a period.
She could still feel her feet moving reluctantly, but it felt as though she was being told that she had no place in the Duke’s household.
‘I knew that... but...’
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Thump.
Her squirrel tail, reacting to the turmoil in her emotions, hung low.
The boy behind her looked displeased, his expression scrunching up.
“Hmph.”
He moved swiftly and reached for her.
“?!”
Beatty looked up in surprise as the boy’s hand completely covered hers, clasping it like a shield.
“What did you say to her?”
“Hmm.”
The boy, seeing Beatty’s dismayed expression, suddenly pierced the truth.
“Don’t you not want to go?”
“!”
The boy looked directly into Beatty’s eyes, his gaze sincere.
As if her answer mattered to him.
“...Yes.”
“Good.”
Beatty’s heart fluttered at his words, feeling a strange sense of excitement.
The boy nodded, as if one word was enough, then spoke into the communication channel.
“She says yes.”
The boy’s attitude was quite disrespectful for someone addressing the head of the family, but the Duke seemed used to it.
“Don’t worry about unnecessary things while I’m here.”
“Why are you sending her back when she doesn’t even want to go?”
Beatty was slightly shocked by the boy standing up for her.
‘Didn’t think he’d take my side.’
She was moved, forgetting to be wary of him.
The boy glanced at her with a gleam in his eyes, then grinned and spoke again.
“Father.”
There was no reply from the Duke, but the boy knew the Duke was listening carefully.
“I’ve seen her beastkin transformation, but her size is smaller than my tail fur.”
“...?”
Beatty stared at him with a dumbfounded look.
The touch of gratitude she had felt earlier vanished in an instant.
“When in human form, if you hit her limbs, they’ll snap right off.”
The boy kept going, describing Beatty without hesitation.
“Oh, and when we were coming, she didn’t have any fat on her face, probably from not eating.”
‘Was he really taking my side...?’
Isn’t this just mocking me?
Beatty eyed the boy suspiciously.
“She’s so frail.”
Her ears stood up in anger as the boy’s words hit hard.
The boy, not noticing her response, smiled as if pleased and spoke as though the outcome was already decided.
“If we send her back like this, she’ll collapse on the way to the capital, won’t she?”
After a brief silence, the Duke spoke again, his tone heavier than before.
The boy looked down as he felt a light tug on his sleeve.
“Th-thank you.”
Beatty, blushing slightly, nervously spoke as her tail flicked behind her.
The boy chuckled at her bashfulness.
“Thank you?”
“Yes? Yes...”
“Then let me touch your tail.”
With an unexpected demand, Beatty narrowed her eyes.
‘...Well, I guess I am thankful.’
She hesitated, worried about accidentally losing her tail if he pulled too hard, but still didn’t pull her tail away as the boy reached for it.
Tap.
A strange sense of fulfillment spread across the boy’s face as he touched Beatty’s fluffy squirrel tail for the first time.
At that moment—
“C-crisis!”
Bang.
The door flew open, and a messenger rushed in, holding a tattered letter.
“The warehouse with the military supplies...! Ack, the supplies we were sending to the lord are burning!”
The boy, who had been gazing at Beatty, instantly shifted to a sharp focus as his gaze turned cold.