Chapter 17
“…?”
For a brief moment, the duke’s expression looked incredibly sorrowful, and Evie was startled. It vanished so quickly that she wondered if she’d imagined it.
Feeling awkward, Evie pointed at the white tree with a bright, bouncy gesture, asking him to explain.
“Chyu, chyu-chyut!”
The duke let out a small, deflated laugh.
“Curious about that tree? It was a surprise gift. It’s a kind of variant oak—quite common in the North. I still don’t understand why it was given as a ‘surprise,’ though.”
“Chyuu.”
So, it was a gift.
Then… is it really okay for me to take one of its acorns?
Evie carefully held out an acorn she had been clutching to the duke.
“I told you, you can have it.”
The duke lifted his finger as if to tap Evie’s cheek.
But before his fingertip could touch her, he hesitated and stopped midair.
“Chit?”
Evie tilted her head, then rubbed her soft cheek against the stopped finger.
The duke’s face froze, clearly caught off guard.
[Affinity with target: Crovan Noctis has increased.]
[Affinity: 40 / 100]
Oh! The blessing appeared again!
And my affinity went all the way up to 40! That means… we’re kind of close now!
[Affinity: 1 / 100]
Huh?! Suddenly it dropped!
The duke pulled his hand away, frowning.
“Don’t get too familiar. I’m only your temporary guardian.”
He stood up coldly.
“That’s all. Baird, we’re going to meet the High Priest now.”
“Ah… yes, sir.”
Baird checked the schedule and nodded.
Hearing that, Evie quickly lifted her head.
“Chyu! (Let me come too!)”
“Stop following me around and go do your own work.”
“Chyuuu… (That’s not what I meant…)”
“That’s an order.”
“…!”
The duke’s tone was more commanding than ever. Evie had a bad feeling that arguing further would only make things worse.
She had no choice but to let the duke and Baird go.
“Chyuuung…”
She plopped down, rolling the acorn between her paws and sighing pitifully.
“Chyu chyu-chyut, chyu-chyu chyuut. (I was only trying to help, but he doesn’t even understand my squirrel heart… how unfair!)”
She knew he was “just” her temporary guardian, but right now she wanted to give him a good smack.
‘Anyway, I still have to catch the High Priest in the act of giving out fake blessings…’
No, wait—he’s already gone to see him. Too late!
‘The High Priest plans to use the Duke’s scar… If only there were a way to lessen or remove his pain.’
After a bit of thought, Evie decided to test her blessing again—this time on the acorn.
[Target: Acorn prepared by someone]
[Storage Value: Top Grade]
‘There it is again! The blessing activated!’
Now it was clear.
‘For some reason, the Duke is like a nutrient booster for me!’
Another reason I must be adopted!
‘But wait—this acorn is top grade?’
She tested one of her sunflower seeds stored in her cheek pouch.
It only showed: [Common].
‘What’s the difference? They’re both food.’
Visually, they looked completely ordinary.
‘So why does this acorn have such high value?’
Thinking hard, Evie scampered toward the white oak where the acorns had grown. Maybe the tree itself held a clue.
“Sniff sniff.”
The closer she got, the stronger the delicious nutty smell became.
“Chyu?”
Wait, there was something slightly off—one acorn smelled different.
‘That one smells a little… stale? Where is it?’
She climbed all the way up the tree, inspecting each fruit one by one as she descended again.
But even after checking everything, she found nothing unusual.
“Chyuuu… chyuut? (I’ll have to try another way… huh?)”
Just as she examined the base of the tree, the blessing suddenly activated again.
[Target: ?????]
[Storage Value: ?????]
‘Wha—what? Did I just appraise the soil?’
She picked up a handful of dirt, but no.
‘Ah! It’s something inside the soil!’
She quickly started digging with her tiny hands—fast as she could.
Because her hands were so small, she had to stop often, but it was worth it.
No—more than worth it.
She unearthed an old jewelry box, buried long ago.
And inside was…
“Chyu! (This is!)”
A treasure that someone had prepared specifically for Duke Noctis.
Olga finally lifted her hand from Evie’s back with a satisfied sigh.
“Good. Your pheromone levels are much more stable now. At this rate, your growth fever should kick in soon.”
“Chyupit?! Chyuuuu―! (Really?! Woohoo!)”
Overjoyed, Evie hopped around the room, darting here and there. When she got out of breath, she paused to pant—then took off again in a burst of excitement.
‘I’m finally going to turn human!’
With humanization just around the corner, she could hardly wait.
Even though class was over, she begged Olga to let her practice pheromone release a bit more.
Of course, she couldn’t train all day—it would strain her tiny body, and she still had an important task.
After class, Evie immediately dashed outside toward the greenhouse that held the white oak tree.
The moment she arrived, she scampered up the trunk and gathered as many acorns as her cheeks could hold before climbing down again.
‘Now I just need to get these to the kitchen!’
She had already left a footprint letter overnight to ask the head chef for help.
All that was left was to deliver the acorns.
‘If only my cheek pouches were a little bigger!’
Pant, pant…
Evie stopped to catch her breath. She couldn’t push herself too hard—if she coughed up blood again without the Duke around, that’d be bad.
‘Okay. Let’s keep going.’
She puffed out her round cheeks like she was holding candy and started walking again when—
“Wow! A squirrel!”
“Pik!?”
A small hand suddenly grabbed her from behind.
Startled, Evie turned—and then relaxed slightly.
‘Oh, just a child?’
Judging from the fancy clothes, they must be noble children attending a birthday banquet.
Come to think of it, she was near the guest annex.
‘Right… I forgot the greenhouse was close to the annex.’
She wriggled out of the child’s soft hands and waved politely.
“Chyu-chyut! (Bye-bye!)”
Then she jumped—
—or she tried to, until another child grabbed her tail.
“Piiik!”
“Don’t go!”
“Whoa, it’s so cute!”
To make things worse, another child—apparently the first one’s sibling—appeared.
Each grabbed one of her limbs.
“I found it first! It’s mine!”
“No way, I’m older—it’s mine!”
“No, mine!”
Trapped between them, Evie squeaked desperately.
“Pip-pip-piiik! (Stop it!)”
“It’s mine! Mine, mine, mine!”
“No, it’s mine! I’m telling Mom!”
The struggle only escalated.
Evie felt a chill of danger. If this kept up, something really bad would happen.
“Piiiiiik!”
She bit both children’s hands—one after another.
“Waaah!”
“Ahhh!”
Using that moment of surprise, she wriggled free.
Ow, ow, ow… her body ached where they’d pulled her.
“What’s going on here?!”
A noblewoman—presumably their mother—came running over.
When she saw the blood on her children’s hands, her face turned pale.
“Chyu-chyut!”
Evie frantically gestured, trying to explain that she was only defending herself.
But the woman wasn’t listening. She was focused entirely on her children.
“Mommy!”
“There, there. Mommy’s here. Let me kiss it better. Shh.”
She hugged them gently—then turned, eyes blazing.
“Mommy will punish that nasty little rat for hurting my sons. Okay?”
“Yeah! Hurry!”
The kind, graceful noblewoman’s face twisted with fury.
She grabbed a fallen branch and swung it at Evie.
“Chyu-chyut!”
Evie dodged frantically.
“You vile creature! How dare you bite noble children! Know your place!”
“Chyu-chyut!”
Evie tried to run, but her body throbbed painfully from being pulled earlier. She stumbled and fell.
The branch came whipping down toward her like a cane—
“…!”
Evie flinched, eyes squeezed shut.
Then suddenly, an invisible force struck the woman’s hand.
“Ah!”
The branch flew from her grasp.
And a cold, commanding voice echoed:
“Who dares show such disrespect to my guest?”
It was the duke. His face was rigid with anger.
The woman brightened—
“Your Grace! That little beast injured my children, I—Your Grace?”
But the duke ignored her and stepped forward, lowering himself toward Evie.
He lifted the trembling squirrel gently into his palm and stood up.
“The guest I was referring to… is this one.”
Evie raised her head from her curled-up posture to look at him.
It wasn’t the first time she’d been treated unfairly as a “vicious rat.”
But this time…
“Pip…”
Why did something so familiar suddenly feel so sad?
“Piiiiiik, pik, pik, piiiii!”
Tears burst out as she clung to his rough, calloused finger and cried loudly.
“You—”
The duke seemed about to say something, but before he could, Evie shook her head fiercely, denying whatever it was.
Still clinging tightly to his finger, she buried her face against it.
Tears dripped down, one by one.
“Piiiik, piiik—!”
“…”
The duke’s golden eyes, wide with surprise, trembled faintly—unable to hide the confusion stirring within them.
