Chapter 4
‘He was a boy?’
So boys could be that pretty.
Before losing her sight in her past life, Noah had once seen her own frail reflection in the mirror—but this boy was far more beautiful than that.
“If you’ve seen enough, go back to your room.”
Licht showed no attempt to hide his annoyance as he shooed Noah away.
Just before the door closed, Noah grabbed onto it and kept glancing back at me, as if reluctant to leave.
“…Can I come again?”
Nestled in Licht’s arms, I blinked sleepily as I yawned.
I could sense mana from him, and the fact that he called Licht “hyung” meant he was definitely one of the three princes who lived in the main palace.
‘It might not be a bad idea to have as many allies as possible… just in case.’
After a brief hesitation, I pressed my cheek against Licht’s shoulder, which smelled faintly of grass, and answered:
“Mm. Okay.” (Yeah, I like that.)
Licht, now quite used to holding me, made a strange expression.
“…You like him?”
“Mm.”
At my answer, Noah smiled faintly and disappeared as he closed the door.
Bang.
The moment the door shut, the interrogation began in earnest.
“He didn’t even bribe you. What do you like about him?”
“Pwetty.” (Pretty.)
“Pretty?”
“Mm.”
The third prince Noah, whom I met for the first time today, looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale.
Like the beautiful princesses from the storybooks my nanny and maids read to me every night.
At my unwavering answer, Licht scoffed and lightly flicked my forehead with his finger.
“What’s so pretty about that?”
“Ah!”
As soon as I pouted, Licht’s mana swept through my body from head to toe.
The refreshing sensation, one I hadn’t felt in a while, immediately lifted my mood, and my body trembled slightly.
Leaning lazily against the cradle, he looked down at me with a blank expression.
“Then what about me?”
“Mm?”
“How do I look to you?”
Caught off guard, I closed my mouth.
‘Does he really think I’m just a baby?’
Sometimes Licht treated me, who wasn’t even a year old yet, like someone his own age.
They said beastkin developed much faster than humans right after birth—but still.
Even though I couldn’t walk or properly speak yet, he would occasionally throw questions at me that were difficult to answer.
‘Of course, Licht is pretty too…’
Even to my eyes, which barely had any sense of aesthetics, his face looked like a flawless sculpture.
But for some reason, calling Licht “pretty” didn’t come easily.
In the end, after fidgeting with my lips, I chose to avoid answering.
“Dunno. Sleepy.” (I don’t know. I’m sleepy.)
“……”
Raising one eyebrow slightly, he gently placed me back in the cradle and slowly met my gaze.
In a voice as soothing as a lullaby, he called my name.
“Yernian.”
“Mm.”
“I’m going to hold a banquet for your first birthday.”
I looked up at him, feeling the drowsiness clinging to my eyelids fade away.
“B-birthday banquet?”
“Yeah.”
Licht calmly repeated the explanation he’d given before.
In the Kingdom of Merni, where I was born, it was customary to hold a banquet to celebrate a royal baby surviving its first year.
It was meant as a prayer for the child to continue growing safely.
If Licht hadn’t brought it up, I would have lived my whole life without ever knowing such a banquet existed.
“You must survive, no matter what.”
My mother’s voice, still lingering in my ears, faded faintly.
Though she had tried until the very end to save me, I knew very little about my homeland.
That it was a small nation on the outskirts of the continent.
That after I was attacked, it was absorbed by a nearby powerful country.
That was all.
Those who trampled my home had been far more interested in the mana sleeping within me than in the fate of a fallen nation.
In a slightly subdued voice, I replied:
“I’m okay.”
“Do you not want it?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Licht, who had been quietly watching me, let the corners of his lips lift slightly.
“Then use this chance to find out.”
Whether you like it or not.
As always, he left behind ambiguous words and disappeared.
‘Why is he suddenly throwing me a birthday banquet?’
I sifted through the knowledge forced into me in my past life.
Even though they had confined me, they never gave up on educating me in order to stimulate my brain development.
Because of that, I had accumulated a considerable amount of basic continental knowledge.
A birthday banquet…
It was a concept so distant from my previous life that it felt foreign, floating around in my mind.
‘There’s no way he’s doing this for nothing.’
What could Licht gain from my birthday banquet?
There had to be a purpose.
Narrowing my eyes, I sank into thought and recalled the night I first met him.
The Messiah of the Cat Tribe.
That was what Licht had called me.
‘It’s definitely connected to that.’
I had a strong feeling that Licht’s true purpose in bringing me here was related to the “Night of Prophecy” that had destroyed my life.
Closing my eyes, I recalled the countless toys Licht had given me under the pretense of “bribes.”
Starting with a fishing rod with a butterfly attached, to rattles and rocking horses—every popular toy on the continent was piled up in the room next to mine.
“It’s already been half a year. Why are her nails still so short?”
“Your Majesty, most humans don’t have sharp nails like the Cat Tribe. So of course she wouldn’t need a scratcher.”
That very day, the long, mysterious object turned to ash in Licht’s hand.
‘There’s not enough information.’
When they educated me, they barely told me anything about beastkin except for early continental wars.
Because of that, I was quite ignorant about them.
‘At least, it doesn’t seem like he plans to experiment on me right away.’
Still, it would be better to hide the fact that I could control mana until my body grew a bit more.
‘Just in case.’
I should act as if the mana inside me hadn’t awakened yet.
Once I could control it properly, I decided I would try negotiating with Licht.
If necessary, I could use it to protect myself—or escape.
‘…It’d be nice if his goal is something I can fulfill.’
If I could help him achieve his purpose and gain my freedom in return, that would be the best deal possible.
It wasn’t entirely unrealistic.
So far, Licht’s behavior… felt like that of a beastkin trying to win my favor.
There had to be a reason why the leader of the Cat Tribe had spent over half a year tirelessly offering me “bribes” and even personally washing me with magic.
‘Don’t rush.’
I’d find out when the time came.
For now, focusing on growing my body came first.
‘To do that, I should at least learn to roll over.’
Forcing away my sleepiness, I put strength into my entire body.
After several strained attempts, I was just about to succeed—
When my body tipped over, my face slammed straight into the hard railing of the cradle.
“Mmngh…!”
My nose throbbed painfully, and instinctive tears welled up.
As my face twisted reflexively, a strange chuckle echoed in the darkness.
Looking up, I saw Licht—who had apparently returned at some point—standing with his back to me, shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress his laughter.
‘Why now of all times…!’
Overcome with embarrassment, I flailed before burying my face into the soft bedding.
“You’ll suffocate like that, Yernian.”
A presence approached quietly and gently turned me onto my back.
As silver mana brushed against my sore nose, the pain faded like a lie.
“Seriously…”
Placing a hand on my back, Licht whispered with a laugh in his voice:
“Why are you so funny?”
“……”
“Are all humans like this?”
At his merciless teasing, I squeezed my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.
“I can see your eyelids twitching.”
Then just leave me alone…
My face burned with heat, but I stubbornly kept my eyes closed.
At some point, the gentle patting of his hand became so comforting that I actually fell asleep.
At the end of the letter, a flame of silver mana ignited.
Licht watched indifferently as the thin paper turned to black ash.
The smoke, swallowing the name of the second prince, Ignis, reminded him of the day he first found Yernian.
‘It’s already been a year.’
Yernian El Merni.
Given the mana he sensed within her, she was undoubtedly the Messiah from the prophecy.
But why had the Messiah of the Cat Tribe been born in such an insignificant kingdom unrelated to magic?
Leaning back lazily in his chair, Licht lowered his gaze.
Ever since completing his coronation last year, the position of leader had been nothing but a nuisance.
“Mir.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Mir, who had been sorting documents nearby, hurried over.
“Human babies grow much slower than beastkin, right?”
“That’s correct. Though for some reason, Her Highness the Princess seems to be developing even more slowly than other human babies.”
Mir, the son of the former head attendant, was quite knowledgeable about humans thanks to studying on the continent for over ten years.
Tilting his head slightly, Licht fixed his gaze on the half-open window.
His voice sank into something cold.
“Then why does she sometimes feel like someone my age?”
More precisely, those eyes of hers didn’t feel like a baby’s.
It was as if she fully understood her situation—and was wary of him.
Despite her slow physical growth, she spoke surprisingly well, even with her babyish, slurred pronunciation.
“Well, Her Highness is indeed unusually calm, but that might just be Your Majesty’s misinterpretation— I’ll return to my work now.”
Sensing a faint killing intent flicker in Licht’s dry gaze, Mir quickly retreated.
Letting out an irritated sigh, Licht sank deeper into his chair.
Winning the favor of Yernian—a baby not even one year old—was proving harder than expected.
All the toys he had given her as “bribes” were now gathering dust in a room that might as well be a storage.
Licht took a deep breath.
‘There’s still plenty of time.’
No need to rush.
Seventeen years remained before Yernian’s mana would fully awaken in adulthood.
In that time, he needed to win her heart—so she would willingly remain with the Cat Tribe.
‘Besides, by tomorrow…’
Looking down at his blunt nails, Licht rose from his seat.
A familiar presence rode in on the spring breeze through the half-open window.
He silently approached and leaned against the window frame, looking down.
Mir, now seated at his desk again, spoke up.
“Ah, Your Majesty. We’ve received a report from a merchant from the Kingdom of Merni—the preparations for the banquet are complete.”
With a respectful posture, Mir handed over a crisp sheet of paper.
Tomorrow was Yernian’s birthday banquet.
At Licht’s command, all direct royal family members and heads of each house—except for the second prince, who was secretly outside the continent—would attend.
Since bait about an “important announcement” had been spread, those who dared to covet the Messiah were likely burning with anxiety by now.
A cold smirk spread across Licht’s lips.
“This will be interesting. Even better if those fools show their fangs themselves.”
“Won’t Her Highness be frightened?”
“Who knows. She didn’t seem particularly interested.”
“But what have you been looking at this whole time—huh?!”
Following Licht’s gaze downward, Mir’s face turned deathly pale.
