Chapter 106
Messi stared at Lavian silently for a long time.
As his smooth, doll-like face darkened, a look of bewilderment, rather than displeasure, appeared.
“Why are you asking something like that? I think I already told you a long time ago that I gave up on revenge and restitution.”
“Don’t you know the saying that a man’s heart is like a reed?”
“No, I don’t. If I ever did anything for Nina, it was only to make sure she didn’t get hurt last time in that shortcut through the gutter. That’s it. Nothing else.”
“Then what was that thing earlier?”
“I really don’t know either. I just… felt it.”
Messi’s tone was light, but his golden eyes trembled with confusion.
“Rather than saying I ‘knew,’ maybe it’s better to say I felt it instinctively… I just had a feeling that something had happened to Nina. So, while I was seeking help from all the neighborhood puppies, sure enough, I got contacted by you shortly after.”
Despite his frank explanation, Lavian’s skeptical gaze didn’t soften.
“Has something like this never happened before?”
“Yeah, it’s the first time. I’m as confused as you are right now.”
“Really the first time? Never once in your life?”
“Hey, what is it that you really want to say? Stop testing me and say it like a man.”
“Alright. When I was younger, there was this girl I knew who raised a tiny white fox.”
It was a completely random remark.
Messi furrowed his brow at Lavian, who leisurely took out a new cigarette and lit it.
“When was this ‘when you were younger’…?”
“Let’s see… before the Cerny main house incident, so about twenty years ago?”
Lavian exhaled a long stream of smoke. Beyond the violet haze, his absinthe-colored eyes shimmered meaningfully.
Messi had never told anyone, not even those around him, about Anna. He had neither the need nor the desire to.
But now…
“Of course, it wasn’t really a fox. At first, she didn’t know any better and just thought it was a fox. She found it while sneaking into a room kids weren’t allowed in.”
“……”
“She said that poor thing—whether a fox or a puppy—was locked alone in a dark room and was starving. She felt sorry for it, so she went every day to feed it and play with it. But if the tail was too long, it would be caught, and sure enough, her father found out.”
“What happened then…?”
Messi, who had been listening quietly, asked in a low voice.
Lavian shook his head lightly.
“She didn’t even know she’d been found out. The next day, when she went there, it was gone. That’s when she realized.”
“……”
“No one knew where it had been moved, and she never saw it again.”
Some time later, the Cerny main house incident occurred, and Anna assumed that the puppy had died inside the mansion, just like her father or her nanny.
“—You are responsible for what you have tamed, forever.”
Anna particularly liked that phrase. Perhaps it was because of the guilt stemming from that incident.
A bitter shadow fell over Lavian’s eyes as he recalled the memory.
At that time, he was still a boy and didn’t take it seriously. Anna had always been somewhat of a dreamer, claiming she could talk to the puppy. It wasn’t strange to think it was all her imagination.
During the incident, the royal guard collected the remains of the late Duke of Cerny, but Anna’s nanny and the puppy left no trace.
Years later, when they were older, Lavian received permission from the former king to personally reinvestigate the incident. He started it purely for Anna, who wanted to at least find the nanny’s remains.
“…But when I dug into it, there were so many suspicious things that I eventually found out about you as well. And that the puppy she mentioned wasn’t really a puppy or a fox.”
“Interesting story, but I don’t know why you’re telling me this now.”
Messi brushed a strand of silver hair away from his eyes. His delicate brow twisted with displeasure.
“As I said before, I have almost no memories of living at your main house. I was shuffled around and ended up in the magic tower as an experimental subject. I lived there as a test subject. I stayed briefly when I was very young, but at that time, that girl’s parents hadn’t even been born.”
“I didn’t think it was you from the start either.”
“Then why—”
“Well, I suspect the reason you keep playing house with Nina, acting the way you do, might be because it reminds you of back then.”
Lavian’s gaze turned icy.
“Besides, there probably weren’t many white Laikas like you back then.”
Laikas with a pure white coat, resembling the now-extinct wolf beast. Messi, perhaps the only successful experiment, had to live as a test subject for decades because of it.
The reason he was showing up like this, knowing everything…
A bitter smile appeared on Messi’s lips.
“Hey, boss. Could it be that the reason you’re only kind to Nina is because of that girl you just mentioned…? Whoa!”
Crash! Shatter!
A crystal ashtray flew past, narrowly grazing Messi’s crown, and smashed against the wall.
Lavian sprang to his feet, his eyes burning like hellfire.
“What did you just say…?”
“Look, boss, you don’t like being treated like that, right? I don’t either. Sometimes a person needs to reflect on themselves—”
“You insolent brat! Don’t dare lecture me!”
Bang! Crash! Shatter!
The Anubis boss’s study briefly turned into a playground.
Lavian had completely forgotten Messi was still in the form of a child. Messi, genuinely fearful for his life, ran desperately to avoid the raging boss.
If anyone had seen it, they would have reported the boss for child abuse. Luckily, the chaotic scene ended in a truce after a few minutes. Both were utterly exhausted.
Lavian collapsed onto the wrecked floor, panting, and Messi sat beside him, doing the same.
“Damn, I guess I’m getting old.”
“Me too. But was that story real?”
“Real? Or a myth? I’d forgotten about it for a while. Nina’s storybook reminded me. I don’t even know why that kind of book is popular.”
“I see. Either way, even if that girl’s puppy was truly a Laika, it’s unlikely it’s still alive.”
“Why? Then what are you?”
Messi ignored Lavian’s teasing remark.
“According to what you said, that girl was a ‘protector’ for the creature. But they were forcibly separated. Usually, if a being is separated from its imprinted protector, it goes crazy and dies.”
“Then why are you still alive? You must be insane.”
“I’ve never imprinted anyone as a protector.”
Messi replied leisurely, now smiling as he looked at Lavian.
Lavian flinched at the sudden cheerful expression.
“What?”
“You’ve really changed, boss.”
“What…?”
“You’re seriously worrying about things you would have ignored before. And you’re telling old stories too. Are you really that concerned about Nina?”
Lavian glared at Messi, thinking he was spouting nonsense, but Messi’s gaze trembled.
Messi’s face was full of a ‘see, look’ expression.
“You’re not thinking about the ransom anymore?”
“Don’t be ridiculous…”
“Just now, you nearly killed me over the suspicion that I might have compared some girl to Nina. And now you plan to get her ransom for personal use?”
“……”
“What if Nina suddenly said she wanted to go home?”
“Won’t happen.”
A strange answer.
It was unclear whether it meant Nina wouldn’t do it, or that he wouldn’t let her go easily.
Messi looked confused. Lavian turned his head and pressed his fingertips to his eyes. Then he said:
“I’ll protect her.”
