Chapter 9
I was startled by his sudden visit.
But he was already striding toward the bathtub where I was soaking.
When he reached the tub, he looked down at me. His face was far colder—and far scarier—than it had been in the carriage.
I flattened my ears, curled into myself, and sank deeper into the bubbles.
Then he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and lifted me up.
“Meow!”
His fierce violet eyes glared right in front of me. When I started struggling wildly, Leon tightened his grip on my neck even more.
A terrifying dragon aura radiated from him.
He coldly asked,
“You little thing… what exactly did you do to the servants?”
I didn’t do anything…
It felt like he might kill me if I made even the slightest wrong move, so I hung limply from his hand without resisting.
Seeing how obediently still I was, Leon let out a quiet sigh.
“Ha… pretending you know nothing, huh.”
He glanced at the bubble-filled bathtub and muttered,
“You were taking a bath?”
He looked deep in thought.
Then, without warning, he let go of my scruff.
Splash!
“Meow!”
I plunged into the bathwater and came up drenched.
Panicking, I resurfaced, clung to the edge of the tub with my paws, and coughed up the water that had gotten into my mouth.
Then Leon suddenly began unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt.
He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.
What is he trying to do?
I stared at him wide-eyed.
He lathered soap onto a towel and said coldly,
“If I continue what you were doing, will you finally reveal your true colors? Let’s find out.”
So… Leon was going to wash me himself?
But he was already approaching me with the soapy towel in hand.
His eyes clearly said:
Just give me one reason.
I didn’t want to die, so I obediently did exactly what he told me.
“Lift your front legs.”
The moment he gave the command, I responded immediately.
“Meow!”
I stretched both front paws forward.
Leon began scrubbing my body with the towel.
“Lift your back legs.”
“Meow!”
“Lift your tail.”
“Meow!”
Surprisingly, Leon was extremely good at bathing someone.
Way better than Joy.
After just a few scrubs, my grayish fur turned snow-white again.
Meanwhile, Leon stared at me suspiciously as I obediently followed every command.
“Why are you being so well-behaved?”
But he continued watching me with doubtful eyes.
Then he put soap on his hands and started washing my face.
His long fingers, covered in bubbles, rubbed every corner of my face.
His touch was soft and cool, and before I knew it, all my tension began melting away.
But he was still staring at me sharply.
As he worked, Leon brushed back the black hair that had fallen over his face with his soapy hand.
Because of that, white foam got near his eye.
I cried out to warn him.
“Meow! Meow!”
“What?”
Right.
He couldn’t understand my meows.
I considered ignoring it…
But I got anxious.
Soap in your eyes hurts like crazy!
What if this terrifying Leon suddenly got furious because his eyes started stinging?
I had no choice.
Boing!
I jumped from the bathtub onto his arm.
Leon looked at me in surprise.
Then I rose onto my hind legs and leaned toward his face.
“What are you—”
Lick—
My bright red tongue touched his face.
I quickly licked away every bit of soap.
Clean!
Now his eyes wouldn’t sting.
Satisfied, I looked at Leon proudly.
But Leon simply stared blankly at me, one hand touching the spot beside his eye where I had licked him.
“You little…”
He continued staring at me in silence.
Did I do something wrong again?
A chill ran down my spine.
Please don’t kill me!
Trying to win his favor and beg for my life, I frantically rubbed my face against him.
Rub, rub—
Cold droplets of water splashed everywhere, but I didn’t care.
Seeing that, Leon sharply said,
“So this is your true nature after all.”
Leon looked down at Mia rubbing her face against him as if he had expected it all along.
As if licking his face wasn’t enough, she was now rubbing against him like she wanted to be held.
Even after being warned in the carriage, she still didn’t know her place and kept clinging not only to the guards but to him as well.
His belief that only Phoebe could properly keep an eye on this shameless creature grew even stronger.
“How arrogant. Stop that.”
At his cold command, Mia immediately stopped, jumped onto the bathroom floor, and backed away.
She quietly looked up at him, carefully reading his mood.
Her snow-white body was still covered in soap bubbles, and her golden eyes stared brightly at him.
Those eyes looked like they were begging him to hug her.
He filled a small bucket with water and dumped it over Mia’s soap-covered body to rinse her off.
Splash!
“Meeeow!”
Mia cried out sharply as the water hit her.
When she squeezed her eyes shut, even those sparkling eyes disappeared.
Leon coldly said,
“Bath time is over.”
Meanwhile, I looked like a drowned rat as I coughed up water.
What is wrong with him all of a sudden?
Why did Leon always act hostile whenever I tried to please him?
He was like that in the carriage too.
Was it because I was a hostage from an enemy nation?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand.
It even hurt that he didn’t understand my intentions.
Then my body trembled.
I was freezing because my fur was soaking wet.
A sneeze burst out of me.
“Achoo! Achoo!”
I was so cold that I couldn’t stop sneezing.
My nose started running too.
“Achoo! Sniff!”
As I shivered and sneezed, Leon—who had been about to leave the bathroom—suddenly stopped.
Afraid my sneezing had angered him, I quickly covered my mouth with my paws.
Then Leon silently stared at me.
For just a moment, it seemed like the killing intent in his eyes softened slightly.
Why is he acting like that?
Before I could figure it out, Leon turned around and walked back into the bathroom.
Then something suddenly dropped over me.
Flap—
It was a huge towel.
Leon looked at me with his usual terrifying expression and ordered,
“Dry yourself first. Unless you want to catch a cold.”
“Meow?”
Why was he suddenly acting like this?
Just moments ago, he looked ready to kill me.
Confused, I stared up at him and awkwardly rolled around on the towel to dry myself.
Eventually, Leon lost patience and grabbed the towel.
“This is painful to watch.”
Then he began vigorously drying my fur with it.
My soaked fur became fluffy and dry in no time.
Why was he suddenly being nice to me?
Come to think of it, he had threatened to kill me in the carriage too… and then suddenly gave me cookies afterward.
When I looked at him suspiciously, he coldly answered,
“If you get sick and die, it’ll interfere with the non-aggression treaty.”
Right.
I was a hostage to guarantee the treaty.
That must be why he was taking care of me.
“Starting tomorrow, a servant perfectly suited for you will be assigned to you.”
“Meow?”
“Someone like Phoebe is perfect for a creature like you.”
That scary dragon woman?
My body froze at his words.
But Leon simply placed the towel into the laundry basket and said,
“So no matter what you try from now on, it won’t work.”
What exactly did I even do?
Still, instead of protesting, I curled up like a dead mouse.
Only after confirming that he had left did I relax and sniff my body.
My fluffy white fur and the scent of soap made me happy.
But mixed in with the soap was another unfamiliar scent.
It was warm and comforting.
Leon’s scent.
It must have rubbed off on me while he washed and dried me.
Even though Leon was terrifying, his scent was strangely warm.
Feeling that odd contradiction, I hopped onto the bed.
“What do you think?”
After leaving the room, Leon asked Phoebe.
Phoebe had watched everything that happened inside through the crack in the door.
“That creature has no fear. To think it dared lick your face and ask to be held…”
“That’s why you’ll be assigned as its servant. No matter how much that thing acts cute, you won’t fall for it.”
“…Understood. In that case, I’ll monitor it thoroughly by any means necessary.”
She raised one foot slightly.
“I swear on these boots I’m wearing.”
Leon nodded in satisfaction as he looked at Phoebe’s red boots.
If she was willing to swear on those boots, she must have been very serious.
Phoebe nodded, then glared fiercely at Mia through the crack in the door before asking Leon,
“But why did you bother drying her off?”
“She’s the treaty hostage. It would be troublesome if she got sick.”
Phoebe immediately protested with anger in her voice.
“So what if she gets sick and dies and the treaty falls apart? Those northerners were never going to keep their promises anyway. Just look at the cowardly surprise attack they launched this time!”
The moment the word war came up, fury appeared on her face.
But Leon said nothing.
Then Phoebe carefully asked him, her red eyes serious,
“Could it be… seeing that child reminded you of what happened back then—”
“That’s enough.”
Leon coldly cut her off.
Seeing the terrifying look in his eyes, Phoebe immediately fell silent.
“…Understood. Then I’ll be going now. Starting tomorrow, I’ll keep a very close watch on that child.”
As she turned to leave, Leon asked,
“The guard barracks aren’t that way.”
“There’s somewhere I need to stop by first.”
Leon noticed the white lily in her hand.
He immediately understood where she was going.
“I see.”
After parting ways with Leon, Phoebe left the building and headed toward one side of the estate’s vast garden.
The garden was bathed in a red sunset.
In the distance, her destination came into view.
It was the estate’s massive cemetery.
Dozens of graves stood there, their soil still fresh.
They were all recently made graves—burial sites for the southern beastfolk who had died in the war against the North.
Phoebe knelt in front of one grave and whispered,
“Reika… I’m here.”
It belonged to Reika, the junior soldier she had cherished most during her time in the Northern Border Guard.
Unnamed flowers had already begun blooming around the grave.
She gently placed the white lily she brought on top of the grave.
Lilies had been Reika’s favorite flower.
Sniff—
A quiet sob escaped her lips.
Tears welled up in her red eyes.
