Chapter 26
When Marcella turned around, he looked at her as if to say, “What are you looking at?” Marcella stood still and returned his gaze.
“Are you following me right now?”
—Thinking on your own again.
“Are you trying to pounce on me from behind?”
—Why? Do you want to be pounced on?
Tamarin bared his teeth, and Marcella stepped back in surprise. He chuckled.
“Are you teasing me?”
—Just realized it now?
“Do you enjoy teasing me?”
—You’re unusually talkative today, yet still scared of certain things.
“I decided to speak my mind from now on.”
—A remarkable change in attitude.
“Yes. It’s a big change for me. It might seem trivial to you, though.”
Marcella snorted as she walked away, and from behind, she heard light, hurried footsteps approaching.
Startled, she turned her head, and Tamarin came up beside her, his mane swaying with each movement.
—What are you looking at?
When Tamarin noticed her gaze, he snapped at her, and Marcella turned away.
“Nothing.”
She replied with a prim expression and quickened her pace. Tamarin matched her speed.
“Why are you following me!”
—Because I want to.
“Don’t follow me!”
—Oh? That’s an order? Your orders don’t apply here.
Marcella braced herself to run while holding onto a branch. But as she stretched her leg, she collided with Tamarin.
—Uh-oh.
He frowned and glared at her.
—You’re acting out of habit you haven’t done since early morning.
“Huh? What are you talking about? Wait, what are you doing?”
Tamarin bumped his head against hers.
Was he suddenly acting cute? No, that would make sense if it were Phoenix, but not Tamarin!
Marcella watched in shock as he then tugged on her sleeve with his teeth.
—Get on.
“Huh? Where?”
Before answering, Tamarin pulled her onto his back.
—Hold on. Otherwise, you’ll fall.
“H-Hey, Tamarin!”
Before she could resist, Tamarin coiled his body, crouched, and leaped upward.
Marcella, terrified, clutched his mane tightly as if to tear it out.
—Hey! Who told you to grab the mane?
“You said to hold on! I haven’t even grabbed anything before we started moving!”
From atop Tamarin, who ran at incredible speed, Marcella shouted,
“Where on earth are you going!”
—Quiet. You’re on my back, yet so noisy.
“You forced me to ride you! Kyaaaah!”
As Tamarin leapt across the rooftops and landed, Marcella clutched his neck in fear. His mane, surprisingly, was soft and fluffy rather than harsh.
“Lady Marcella!”
At the familiar voice, Marcella snapped back to attention. There stood Arthur in pajamas, staring at her in astonishment.
“Lady Marcella! I heard you suddenly disappeared, and I was worried. Were you with Tamarin?”
Arthur, barefoot as if he had just jumped out of bed, looked like he had dashed across the floor.
—Don’t make a fuss over being missing for just a short while, Arthur Digory.
Tamarin scolded, and Arthur shot him a glance before turning his focus back to Marcella.
“Please let me know if you’re going somewhere, my lady. I thought you ran off in the middle of the night wanting to return home…”
“Were you coming to grab my leg again?”
Arthur paused, pressing his forehead with his hand, then broke into a gentle smile at her.
“Out for a morning walk, perhaps? My lady is truly diligent. I should follow your example.”
Marcella watched warily as his sudden shift from scolding to praising caught her off guard.
“I’m not sneaking away or anything.”
“Oh, of course! You promised to stay in the palace for at least a month. I hope you keep that promise in the meantime.”
“I only keep promises to those I care about.”
Marcella’s words carried a sharp edge. Arthur smiled at her knowingly, aware she was teasing.
Tamarin, watching them, turned his head and interjected.
—Nell also disappeared this morning.
“What do you mean…?”
Arthur snapped his fingers, producing a sound that alerted a nearby page, who hurried over.
“Check if His Majesty has risen.”
Under Arthur’s order, the page ran off and soon returned, out of breath.
“His Majesty is not in his chamber!”
“Where did the Emperor go, Tamarin!”
Tamarin snorted.
—Don’t overreact just because someone went out for a bit.
“I’m not worried about His Majesty!”
—He’s coming.
Tamarin’s gaze lifted, and a dark figure approached, kicking up dust. Marcella coughed as the dust swirled around her.
“Still coughing, I see.”
A familiar voice asked from within the dust.
“Is it a cold?”
“It’s because of the dust stirred up by His Majesty.”
Arthur thought, for a moment, that the Emperor had suddenly awakened as a mage at his age. But before the Emperor could speak, the sound had already reached them.
Marcella watched Nell silently, realizing he had something in his hand.
“Marcella, do you like mushrooms?”
As the dust settled, he held out a mushroom. Marcella recognized it immediately. She did like mushrooms.
“This is…”
“I brought it from your hometown.”
“From my homeland? From the Morris Territory?”
Marcella blinked as Nell nodded.
“Don’t dislike it?”
“No, I like mushrooms. But…”
Marcella received the mushroom awkwardly. Upon closer inspection, her feelings shifted from curiosity to concern.
He had gone to the trouble of bringing it all the way from the Morris Territory. Could he truly have special feelings for me?
“I like you too.”
The sudden confession made Marcella flinch as she held the mushroom. Nell watched her widened eyes silently, seemingly waiting for a response.
“I want you to eat this.”
He ignited a small flame in his hand with magic.
“Isn’t it tastier grilled?”
He insisted on grilling it himself.
Marcella finally spoke after a pause.
“Your Majesty, this is a paralysis mushroom.”
Surely, he intended to harm or at least trouble her.
Marcella stared at the mushroom in her hand, seriously considering the danger.
Tamarin’s laughter reminded her that she was still riding his back. She finally realized and climbed down. Tamarin rolled on the ground laughing.
—Idiot! What do you want to do with this guy!
Marcella, conflicted, looked at Tamarin and the paralysis mushroom.
When Nell asked if she liked mushrooms, she was slightly surprised and a bit hopeful.
“You don’t like paralysis mushrooms?”
“Yes. Eating it numbs your tongue and can paralyze your limbs for up to three days… No, I don’t like it.”
There was no way anyone would like that. Maybe he didn’t know it was a paralysis mushroom?
Thinking optimistically, Marcella soon realized he had done it on purpose.
“I had a bad experience with it as a child, so I have bad memories.”
She could only think ill of him for giving it.
“Do you think I brought this for you to eat, Lady Marcella!”
Arthur laughed, waving his hands.
“How useful a paralysis mushroom can be! You don’t need to eat it to be useful!”
“…Useful?”
Marcella asked suspiciously, and Arthur nodded vigorously, still smiling at her.
“For example, if you want to cause a little pain to someone without killing them, it can be given as a gift. Isn’t that wonderfully useful?”
Arthur nodded repeatedly, emphasizing his point.
Marcella frowned at the mushroom in her hand.
“Lady Marcella?”
“I’ll give it to Sir Digory.”
Marcella handed the paralysis mushroom to Arthur.
“Ahaha! My lady, how did you know I have people in the palace I’d like to playfully trouble? You’re not giving it to me to eat, are you?”
Arthur protested loudly, and Marcella gave him a pointed look.
“But since it was given by Your Majesty, how could I dare give it to anyone else? You brought it from Morris Territory to make me suffer, I suppose.”
“Impossible, my lady!”
“Then what other reason would Your Majesty have to give it to me?”
Arthur pursed his lips, then took the mushroom from her hand. His lips trembled slightly.
