Chapter 108
“As if that could be possible!
I don’t even own a single piece of real estate yet, and I’ve never ridden in one of those loud, flashy carriages that go vrooom!
I can’t die before becoming a Section 1 homeowner and a department head who goes to the Imperial Palace like Serafina!
And on top of that!
‘I haven’t even had my first kiss yet!’
With who?!
A puppy, a kitten, a rabbit, a red panda, a squirrel, a koala, a tiger!
(I’ve kissed a puppy though! With Tofu!)
‘I can’t die before touching a tiger’s squishy paws and belly!’
Smash!
I shattered the clock face pressed against my back with my elbow.
See? Humans really do need physical strength. I hit it just once, and it completely broke. I squeezed my body through the gap in the shattered clock.
And then I fell.
Straight down into the hollow interior of the clock tower.
‘Aaaah!’
I thought if I jumped like this, my skirt would flutter—poof!—and act like a parachute?!
Absolutely not, so don’t ever try this!
This is why people need to learn science!
‘Literature! Literature!’
I screamed out my major—which is only ever useful when writing letters for clients at the tailor shop—as I slammed into things midair.
At this rate, I’m going to die!
‘Do something, anything!’
I slammed the heart-shaped button on the squeaky hammer over and over, and—whoosh!
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
The wings attached next to the heart grew larger. I barely managed to slow down and gently descended to the floor.
Even I had to admit—me floating down, fluttering with a squeaky hammer raised in the air—
I looked…
Like dust.
As soon as I landed, I checked the damage.
‘My hair… it’s back to black.’
My nails, which turned pink every time I transformed, had also returned to normal.
Just from that, I could tell.
‘The face-recognition-disorder spell is broken.’
Seriously? The spell breaks just because my skirt tore a little? Wasn’t it cast way too carelessly…?
‘What do I do?’
What do I do? I run, obviously.
Arden and a few capital guards did see my face, but—
‘For the guards, they were pretty far away anyway.’
And Arden had cleverly shielded me with his own body while chasing me to stop me from getting shot, so they probably only saw my hair color flying around.
As for Arden, who saw me head-on…
Head-on…!
‘I don’t know. I’ll just force it through.’
Huh? Magic Saintess? Serafina? I dunno her. She was sleeping at home. Snore.
But first, I had to get out of here.
‘She fell in here!’
‘Open the door!’
‘Where’s the key?!’
Listening to the capital guards shouting and banging outside the tower, I looked around.
‘What kind of clock tower doesn’t even have a back door?!’
If they’d expected criminals to fall in here someday, they should’ve dug at least one escape route!
The only exit was the stone door the guards were practically breaking down.
‘I didn’t want to live this pathetically.’
But there was no other way.
I used my trump card.
‘Trans—!’
Arden, looking far more shocked and horrified than I expected, tore the door open.
‘No one come in! Don’t look!’
He shouted angrily at the guards trying to rush in, then entered alone and shut the door behind him.
‘Trans—’
Inside the empty clock tower…
‘…Huh?’
Pant, pant.
A filthy little Shih Tzu was wagging its tail.
Of course, that Shih Tzu was me.
‘Pant pant pant.’
Today’s transformation goal:
Look as stupid as possible ☆
I transformed into a Shih Tzu that looked as dumb, gluttonous, and vacant as possible, and looked up at Arden.
‘You…’
Arden glanced around the clock tower—empty except for one Shih Tzu—then stared at me in disbelief.
‘…A dog?’
‘Pant pant.’
‘You, here—’
‘Pant pant pant.’
I’m not breathing heavily because I’m a pervert staring at Arden.
Dogs just automatically make this noise.
‘……’
Still suspicious, Arden scanned the area once more, then suddenly picked me up.
Don’t people usually use both hands to hold a puppy? He used one. I was clamped in his hand like a sandwich, wagging my tail.
‘Pant pant.’
Warm, breathy noises.
Trying to look harmless, I even stuck my tongue out a little as Arden stared intently at me.
‘……’
‘……’
‘…Serafina?’
‘……’
‘……’
‘Pant pant.’
‘Ha.’
Arden let out a hollow laugh and pressed his other hand to his forehead.
‘Where did she go… leaving only a dog behind.’
I became a dog.
‘Where did this dog even come from?’
Is it clean? Arden turned me around, inspecting me, then concluded:
‘Dirty.’
‘……’
‘A stray?’
‘……’
‘Must’ve been wintering here.’
‘……’
‘Looks like it hasn’t been washed in at least a month.’
My pride was hurt.
‘Let’s go.’
Still holding me one-handed like a sandwich, Arden turned around.
He hesitated, scanning the clock tower one last time, then gave up and opened the door.
‘Arden!’
The moment the door opened, the princess rushed in.
‘Arden, I really—!’
‘I really didn’t know!’ she pleaded, but Arden looked down at her with icy eyes.
‘What didn’t you know?’
‘I didn’t know he was the High Priest! Really! I truly didn’t know!’
‘You completely misunderstood why I’m angry.’
With a sigh, Arden lifted his gaze to the guards outside.
‘You dared kidnap a citizen under state protection in my mother’s country. You used the capital guard for personal reasons. And you even threatened to replace their commander.’
‘Arden…’
‘Whether that man is the High Priest is irrelevant. What matters is that he is an imperial citizen. Do you not understand?’
‘Arden, I—’
‘The capital guard commander who swore loyalty to someone other than the imperial family will be dismissed as of today.’
Satisfied? Arden sneered.
‘Don’t be mistaken. In this country, you are nothing more—or less—than a foreigner.’
‘Arden…’
Faced with Arden’s cold fury, all the princess could do was repeat his name.
‘Figures.’
From the look of it, she wasn’t even our country’s princess—probably from another nation. And no matter what kind of princess you are, in someone else’s country, you’re just a foreigner.
No matter how naive you are, talking about replacing another country’s capital guard commander is blatant interference in internal affairs.
She was so confident that everyone almost forgot.
‘She crossed the line. Now all that’s left is to pay the price.’
‘Yip.’
I shook my head and scratched my face with my hind leg.
The princess, now completely speechless, was stared down coldly by Arden.
‘You don’t understand what I fear, or what enrages me.’
‘……’
‘We can’t be angry or sad over the same things. That’s why you can never become the Crown Princess of this empire.’
‘……’
‘This matter won’t be swept under the rug.’
‘I—I received a letter!’
The princess grabbed Arden as he tried to walk past.
He easily avoided her and raised one eyebrow.
‘A letter?’
‘Y-yes. A letter. I said we should set a trap to capture the Magic Saintess, remember? They said they were deeply moved by my suggestion, and that they would lure the Saintess themselves if I just brought the capital guards…’
‘Do you have that letter now?’
‘N-no. I sent it back with my reply. They told me to…’
‘How convenient.’
‘Arden…’
‘I will not discuss this further with you. I’ll speak with your secretary about follow-up actions. Be aware of that.’
He turned away coldly, then added,
‘Ah. And one more thing.’
‘……’
‘Don’t speak casually to me.’
‘……’
‘There is only one person who’s allowed to do that.’
Though I don’t know where she is right now. Arden muttered to himself.
‘Yip.’
Held in Arden’s hand, I averted my gaze.
