CHAPTER 14………………………………………..
“When someone says something strange, you have to leave evidence!”
That was the earnest advice Rin had heard when she received this necklace as a gift—and something she’d also learned from countless part-time worker YouTube videos back on Earth.
If something feels off—record it immediately!
Without realizing that Rin’s necklace, a magical tool capable of recording surrounding sounds, had activated, Yubara continued speaking.
“There’s someone very close who’s wary of you gaining power, Miss Rin.”
“My… power?”
“Yes. I’m really worried, too.”
Clatter.
Yubara rose from her seat and approached Rin, who was struggling to stay awake, barely moving her lips to keep from closing her eyes.
Seeing Rin’s limp, powerless state, Yubara smiled with satisfaction.
“I found someone who can help you, Miss Rin.”
“W-who…?”
“They’re waiting for you just outside the castle. How about we go meet them—just a short walk?”
“Mmm…”
Rin tried to shake her head in refusal.
Psshhk.
But the stronger wave of Yubara’s affinity pheromones stole away that will.
Normally, the pheromones had a calming effect, praised for soothing the children she cared for—but now, they worked in reverse.
Rin didn’t want to be calm. She struggled against the pheromones forcing her mind into unwanted tranquility.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going far—just a little outing.”
Like a mother gently lifting a drowsy child, Yubara easily picked up Rin, who couldn’t resist.
‘No…’
Rin didn’t want to meet some stranger Yubara mentioned.
She didn’t want to leave the lord’s castle, but the pheromones growing thicker around Yubara’s embrace steadily robbed her of resistance.
Yubara’s voice became distant, echoing faintly in her ears.
Half-conscious, Rin fought to stay awake—until one sentence made her mind snap into focus.
“The person we’re going to meet isn’t like that devious acting head of the family.”
Radiating glee, Yubara opened her mouth wide.
“That thieving cuckoo who’s just waiting for the day all direct Pegasus heirs vanish so he can seize the headship completely—ahhhh!”
Thud!
“Don’t you dare insult my uncle!”
Unable to overlook the words, Rin’s rage exploded. She instinctively shifted into beast form—the state that maximized a beastkin’s physical power.
All her strength gathered in her hind legs—
—and she kicked.
The deer’s hind-leg kick was powerful.
Whump.
Yubara’s grip loosened as Rin’s blow struck her square in the solar plexus. Yubara crumpled, clutching her abdomen, and Rin fell nearby.
“Ugh… you nasty little mutant deer—!”
Yubara’s face twisted in pain, like a demon in agony, and even as she lay on the ground, she reached to grab Rin’s legs.
But before she could—Rin seized the moment, taking advantage of the break in Yubara’s pheromone control caused by the pain.
Kyuuuuuu—!
Rin’s unique, resonant cry echoed through the area.
Yubara’s face drained of color. She hadn’t expected this.
***
Theodore immediately recognized that cry—it was higher-pitched and more delicate than that of any other Pegasus.
“Rin!”
That desperate, pleading cry for help—Theodore dashed toward the sound with his knights in tow.
Who dared threaten Rin here, of all places?
When he reached the source, what he saw made his eyes narrow.
“S-sir Acting Head! The young lady, she—!”
A flustered Yubara, and in the trampled grass beside her, Rin lay collapsed in beast form, as if she had fainted struggling.
Theodore carefully lifted her slender, limp body.
He checked her forehead and neck for injury, then cradled her protectively, ensuring no one could see her face. When he looked up at Yubara, his eyes were cold and sharp.
“What happened here?”
Yubara swallowed hard under that icy, commanding gaze that warned her—one wrong word could end her.
The grizzly bear beastkin, who had rushed over at the sound of his niece’s cry, radiated such killing intent that even looking at him made others freeze. His amber eyes widened like a predator spotting prey.
‘I must not let him find out the truth.’
Shaking with instinctive fear, Yubara forced her expression into meekness and steadied her trembling voice.
“Th-the young lady wasn’t feeling well today. She… threw quite a tantrum. I was kicked too, you see.”
She subtly emphasized her hoof-marked clothes, clutching her chest as if in great pain. It wasn’t difficult to act—it did hurt.
“Ahh! My ribs… cough, cough.”
“Oh dear.”
“Shouldn’t we take her to the infirmary?”
Feigning fragility, Yubara coughed and, as if by mistake, released a wave of her affinity pheromones.
Her pheromones affected children the most—but adults weren’t entirely immune either.
Feeling an unnatural surge of sympathy, a few knights glanced at her with concern.
‘If I’m lucky, maybe even the acting head will overlook this…’
Of course, she’d heard that the grizzly beastkin, trained under the mercenary king since childhood, was resistant to most abilities—but Yubara trusted her own powers.
It was, after all, this very gift that had earned her a position as nanny to the great lord’s direct heir.
Biting her lip delicately, Yubara looked up at Theodore from the most pitiable angle she could manage.
‘Ah!’
But his expression was nothing like she’d hoped.
Unlike the sympathetic knights, Theodore’s amber eyes—though fiery in color—radiated only glacial chill.
His voice growled low, sharp as a blade.
“Withdraw your ability.”
“!”
“Did you not hear me?”
“N-no! I understand— I’ll stop!”
Yubara hurriedly suppressed her pheromones, terrified he might destroy her pheromone glands himself if she didn’t.
Theodore felt Rin go limp in his arms the moment the pheromones had flared, and only when they faded did his furrowed brow ease slightly.
“She wasn’t feeling well,” huh?
It wasn’t impossible that his fragile niece had fainted from poor condition—but his instincts didn’t buy it.
‘That cry just now…’
He had never heard such a desperate sound from Rin before.
As he looked down at her in his arms, recalling that heart-piercing cry, his brow knit tightly with worry.
Then—a faint movement caught his sharp eyes.
“Rin?”
Shiver.
Her lashes trembled, and slowly, Rin’s eyelids fluttered open.
Seeing faint focus return to her golden eyes, Theodore’s breath hitched.
“Rin! Are you awake?”
Kyuuung…
Weak and unsteady, Rin’s tiny head wobbled. Theodore’s eyes softened with pity.
After a few feeble swipes of her forelegs, Rin shifted back into human form and whispered, lips trembling—
“Uncle Theo…”
Theodore clasped the small hand reaching for him. The faint pressure of her trembling fingers made his chest ache.
In a thin, wavering voice, Rin murmured—
“The nanny… said she was taking me to someone I don’t know…”
“What?”
Theodore’s voice, repeating her words, was deathly cold.
Thank you for the chapters.