BWBC 02

BWBC

Chapter 2

Mir’s eyes widened.

Only the direct descendants of the Persian family, those born with magic, were allowed to stay in the main palace.

What Licht had just said was no different from declaring that he would raise Yernian—the human baby and the prophesied messiah—on equal footing with them.

Mir, who had been staring at Licht with confused eyes, bowed his head.

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Yernian’s fate—once confined to nothing more than a cramped laboratory—began to flow in an entirely different direction.

When I opened my eyes, it was already pitch dark.

The nanny and maids who had been taking care of me for the past month were nowhere to be seen.

‘How much time has passed?’

As a newborn, I spent more than half the day asleep, regardless of my will.

That made moments like this—when I was briefly awake—extremely precious.

I forced myself to stay conscious as sleep tried to drag me under again, retracing my memories.

‘I’m sure those men brought me here.’

And yet, they hadn’t shown their faces even once since then. Not even after several days had passed.

‘They called him “Your Majesty”… so is he royalty?’

I recalled the night I first met that man.

Naturally, my thoughts drifted to the strange pair of triangular shapes perched atop his head.

It was only a few days ago that I realized they were ears—covered in soft fur.

‘Beastmen…’

Over the past month, I had pieced together information from the maids’ chatter.

First of all, this place I’d been brought to was a special dimension called the Myo Realm, inhabited by cat beastmen known as the Myo tribe.

Unlike the continent where humans and beastmen lived together, this was an independent space where only the Myo tribe existed.

Long ago—back when mages were so common you could trip over them—a human mage chosen by the Myo tribe had created this special realm for them.

‘At least… it doesn’t seem like they brought me here for experiments.’

When I first woke up here, I couldn’t even describe the relief I felt at not being trapped in a narrow, sunless laboratory.

On top of that, I was being cared for with utmost devotion by two maids and a nanny—clearly assigned by that royal man.

A wave of unease came crashing in, making my eyelids tremble.

‘Dying in that lab wasn’t enough, and now I’ve regressed…’

I didn’t know how something like this was even possible, but my desperate desire to survive clung stubbornly to my mind.

I want to live.

No matter what it takes, I want to survive—and this time, live as a proper human being, not as a test subject.

My eyes burned, and I pressed my lips together.

‘Escaping right now is impossible.’

There was no way a newborn who couldn’t even walk or talk properly could manage that.

Even if I somehow succeeded, I had nowhere to return to. The royal palace where I was born was probably nothing but ashes by now.

If anything, this Myo Realm might be far safer than the continent where those people were.

Just then, a foreign presence seeped into the silent space.

Unable to move my neck freely, I rolled my eyes instead.

Soon, a dark shadow fell over my tense body.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

The owner of the low voice was that man I had met in the birthing chamber.

The one they had called “Your Majesty.”

‘…He can use magic?’

Frozen in shock, I stared blankly up at the tall man.

My vision was still poor—I could barely make out shapes at close range—and his face was half-buried in darkness.

Tap.

A long, sharp fingernail lightly brushed against the tip of my nose.

I instinctively scrunched my face, and the man let out a faint chuckle.

“Go to sleep.”

With those words, the presence filling the room vanished in an instant.

‘I thought beastmen couldn’t be born with magic…’

Unlike divine power, magic was said to be a gift granted by the gods to humans.

And yet, what I had just felt from him was undeniably magic.

‘They said the lineage of mages died out long ago…’

That was precisely why I—born with magic—had been used as their experiment.

‘Then why would a royal of the Myo Realm, who can already control magic freely, need me…?’

Before I could finish my thoughts, my underdeveloped brain began protesting from exhaustion.

In the end, I couldn’t complete my reasoning and quickly succumbed to sleep once more.

After that day, an unwelcome change came to my monotonous life.

“……”

I stared blankly at the tall man standing as if swallowed by darkness.

Even though my eyesight had improved enough to distinguish shapes clearly, I still couldn’t make out his face.

“Why.”

“……”

“What are you staring at?”

“Awng.”

Unable to bear the frustration, I flailed my arms, only to be met with a scoff.

The man would visit me every late night when the nanny and maids were gone.

And no matter how deeply asleep I was, I would snap awake as if reacting to his magic.

This strange standoff had already been going on for three months.

By now, I could express my feelings somewhat through babbling.

“Ah-woo.”

Get lost already!

I waved my arms aggressively to convey that.

“Hungry?”

“Awng!”

I flailed even more violently, and the man nodded as if he understood.

“Alright.”

…Did he really understand?

I wasn’t sure, but I kept my mouth shut.

Even moving my arms a few times while babbling left my whole body exhausted.

Even in my drowsiness, I felt his presence receding.

At the time, I had no idea how he had interpreted my babbling.

The next afternoon.

After being fed, I was drifting in a light nap when a familiar presence approached.

“Yernian.”

The chilly aura and low voice—it was definitely that man.

I opened my eyes wide and looked up at his face properly for the first time.

‘Was his name Licht?’

I had learned it that morning from the nanny who had taken care of him since he was a prince.

His fine silver hair flowed past his shoulders like mist you could scoop up with your hands.

Licht, presumed leader of the Myo tribe, looked nothing like I had imagined.

His slightly upturned eyes held a vivid blue.

His delicate yet cold features hovered right before me.

‘It’s not even night yet… why is he here?’

“Eat. I caught it myself.”

He dropped something wriggling into my cradle.

Flop! Flop!

…Huh?

A sharp fishy smell stabbed my nose. The damp, scaly texture brushing my cheek was indescribably horrifying.

Licht stared down at me, as if expecting something.

“Uwa… u-waaah!”

I was usually a quiet baby, rarely crying except during baths or basic needs.

But now, I burst into loud sobs.

The nanny and maids waiting nearby rushed in.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

Their faces turned pale when they saw Licht standing beside the cradle.

“Why is she crying?”

“…E-Excuse me?”

“I asked why she’s crying.”

I cried even louder.

The nanny, glancing between the flopping fish and Licht, stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, it seems Her Highness was startled.”

“Why?”

Licht frowned, clearly displeased.

Then a familiar voice spoke up.

“Your Majesty, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, human infants develop much slower than beastmen. Without sharp teeth, they cannot eat raw food like this.”

“……”

“And while presenting live prey is the highest form of courtship among beastmen, to a human it can be quite shocking.”

…What kind of ridiculous courtship is that?

And why are you courting a baby who isn’t even one year old?!

“Waaah!”

The more sensible-looking man quickly removed the flopping fish from my cradle.

Only then did the maids rush forward and take it away.

“What’s so complicated?”

“Your Majesty, even if you’ve never interacted with humans, I didn’t expect behavior this… unconventional.”

“…So where would you like to be buried?”

A faint killing intent flickered in Licht’s eyes, and the man—called Mir—lowered his head quickly.

Mir gently picked me up and patted my back.