A vast bedroom shrouded in darkness.
Flash—
A small burst of light flickered atop a bed large enough to comfortably fit eight grown men, matching the grandeur of the room.
A creature, which had infiltrated this place—boasting some of the continent’s strictest security—with ease, blinked its eyes.
The furry little bundle that had briefly enjoyed the sensation of the soft blankets squishing under its paws suddenly pressed down with its legs.
It felt something solid beneath the fluffy blanket.
Whimper—
“…Leon.”
A low, cracked voice finally responded when the ball of fur, dissatisfied, began barking insistently.
Yip!
At that quiet call, the ears of the little black creature—Leon, who had vanished earlier from Liana’s room—perked up.
Sigh…
Rustle—
The blanket, which Leon had been proudly standing on, stirred as a body rose beneath it.
Soon, the bare upper body of a man emerged from beneath the covers.
Even in the dimness of the room, only lit by the moonlight, his platinum-blond hair gleamed as he brushed it back. He looked down at Leon, who stood on his leg.
The intense eye contact between them broke when Leon, letting out a whimper, affectionately burrowed into the man’s chest.
Trying to smooth things over with cuteness again. The man, Ianhardt, let out a hollow laugh.
“You disappeared without a word…”
Whine—
“And now you wake me in the middle of the night…”
Pfft…
“…And on top of that, you’ve shrunk and look like some sort of canine?”
Leon usually preferred taking on the form of a majestic black panther.
So what was this ridiculously small puppy form?
Yip-yip!
Leon, annoyed by the constant scolding, began pressing his relatively large front paws down on his master’s firm abs.
But only his paw pads ended up hurting from the hard muscles, and he quickly gave up.
Ianhardt looked at the tiny creature throwing a tantrum after disappearing without a word and receiving only mild scolding.
“I don’t know who you take after to have such a nasty temper…”
Leon bristled at that, but only for a moment.
“More importantly, where have you been all this time? You ignored my summons for over a week.”
At Ianhardt’s suddenly chilling tone, Leon flinched.
He’d been enjoying time with the angelic Liana and had momentarily forgotten his master’s nasty temper.
Whimper…
Leon let out a meek purr and slowly stood up.
Hop—
Jumping off Ianhardt’s abs, Leon sprawled himself out on the floor beside the bed.
In this tiny form, he couldn’t explain what he needed to.
Ianhardt, now fully awake, looked at Leon with sharp eyes.
He could already guess what the divine beast was about to do just from the way he lay down.
Flash—
Leon’s body was suddenly wrapped in a brilliant light.
Whoosh—
As the light faded, the small, furry creature disappeared.
In its place lay a majestic black panther—far larger than the average adult male—sprawled out on the floor.
…Still an unsightly sight no matter how many times I see it, Ianhardt smirked inwardly.
Purr—
Leon, aware of how ridiculous he looked right now, quickly flipped himself upright.
Ianhardt tilted his head loosely as he looked at him.
“So? The answer to where you’ve been for the past week?”
In the Kingdom of Rowen, just briefly…
Leon’s response echoed directly in Ianhardt’s mind.
“Rowen?”
Leon looked away and nodded.
Rowen, huh…
Ianhardt laughed softly—it matched exactly what he had predicted.
Leon was just beginning to relax at his master’s unexpectedly mild reaction.
“I thought you’d gone to another continent, since you completely ignored my summons. But you were closer than I expected.”
Ianhardt’s cold voice followed, a smirk tugging at one side of his lips.
Even though he had predicted where Leon had gone, the fact that he vanished without a word and didn’t respond to any summons couldn’t be excused.
At the scolding, the panther jumped up in protest.
I was going to contact you!
“But?”
I, well…
“But what?”
Fifteen years as a divine beast—and Leon now fully understood why Ianhardt’s subordinates hated that tone so much.
Red eyes and endless nitpicking—truly the worst.
Leon, a predator at the top of the food chain—a shape-shifting divine black panther—still had to tuck his tail between his legs before his master.
He didn’t want to relive the nightmares from his reckless youth, so he quickly made an excuse.
I-I was sick!
“…Sick?”
Ianhardt’s voice softened just slightly. Leon nodded eagerly.
I hurt my leg… Here, and here… I just got better yesterday.
He exaggerated his pain, rubbing his thick leg on the ground, and slowly limped over to the bed.
Lu, don’t be mad, okay?
With a soft leap, he climbed onto the bed and laid down across Ianhardt’s legs, belly flat.
Ianhardt let out a puff of laughter.
This wasn’t the first time Leon had vanished for days on end, going off whenever he pleased.
And he’d already suspected where he’d gone this time.
Still, this was the first time Leon had blatantly ignored his summoner’s call.
“Next time, at least tell me if you’re going somewhere.”
…Even if I’m just stepping out for a bit?
“Do you think you have room to negotiate? This is your punishment for disobeying.”
At Ianhardt’s firm response, Leon’s swaying tail drooped.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Leon’s eyes lit up.
…Oh right! The master’s companion!
The whole reason he’d come here was to help form a bond between Ianhardt and Liana. No—this was step two of the plan.
That meant Lu needed to go to Rowen!
Leon mentally reviewed his plan. Perfect, as always.
He snapped his head up, stood quickly, and jumped down from the bed.
He ran across the grand bedroom to a wall and stood facing it.
“…What are you doing now?”
Ianhardt blinked slowly, baffled by the absurd behavior.
Come find me in the Rowen palace! I’ll be with Liana!
“…What?”
Lu, you have to come! Promise!
Leon shouted telepathically, and in the next instant, disappeared again in a flash of light—leaving even Ianhardt caught off guard.
Flash—
A soft glow flickered inside Liana’s quiet bedroom.
Hop—
Leon, now back in his tiny form as Kkamangi, burrowed into Liana’s arms as she slept.
His little outing hadn’t even lasted an hour—and it ended in peaceful, serene sleep.
It was an unusually sunny morning.
Yawn…
Liana covered her mouth as she yawned and forced her sleepy eyes open.
She wasn’t usually one to sleep heavily, but for some reason her eyelids felt especially heavy today.
Her body felt sluggish since she woke, and she wondered if she was feeling unwell—but she hadn’t done anything tiring the day before.
“Did I just sleep badly?”
She had no idea the culprit was the fluffy black dog curled beside her—Kkamangi—who had met his cold master last night.
Before he left to meet his master, Kkamangi had touched Liana’s cheek with his nose to leave a trace—so he could return to her side afterward.
Most of the magical burden had been absorbed by Kkamangi himself, but a small remnant remained, leaving Liana unusually tired.
“Hmm, now that I think about it, I haven’t done any personal training in a few days.”
Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—Liana blamed the fatigue on skipping her usual workouts.
“My body really tells on me if I stop moving…”
Sigh. Her breathy exhale seemed to poke at Kkamangi’s conscience.
Sorry… His silent apology never reached her.
“I need something cold to wake me up.”
Wanting to shake off the drowsiness and enjoy a rare moment of leisure, Liana stepped out to the garden and gulped down iced tea, yawning constantly.
If anyone had seen her, they would have lectured her for lacking royal dignity—but at the moment, she and Kkamangi were alone in the wide garden.
Unaware of the trials awaiting her in just a few hours, Liana basked in a calm, peaceful morning.
