Chapter 23
commotion was quickly cleaned up.
The scattered items were neatly put away and the fainted Count Rusten and the boy were roughly carried out.
There were others who’d been affected by the Duke’s pheromones, but luckily it hadn’t spread into a bigger incident.
Ebi’s dramatic stunt had, to some degree, buried the matter of the Duke.
Ebi breathed a sigh of relief.
“Phew. Thank goodness. If it had gone on any longer, that would’ve been a huge accident.”
Now the Duke wouldn’t be blamed, right? Count Rusten wouldn’t be able to force the Duke into adopting the boy to make amends.
“Now it’s time to give the last present.”
Just then Olga approached the Duke.
She held a small box in her hands.
It was the same box Ebi had dug up under the white oak.
“Your Grace.”
“What’s this?”
“This is a surprise gift being delivered to you from Ebi.”
Olga handed the box over and gave Ebi a secret wink. Then she took a crisp step back and returned to her post.
Ebi thanked her inwardly.
“Thanks, Olga!”
Because Ebi was in the form of a flying squirrel, she couldn’t carry the box, so she had asked Olga to do it before the banquet.
Of course, Olga—who now knew about the box and the letter inside—had happily cooperated.
With a little hop, Ebi climbed down from the Duke’s hand and gently pushed the box toward him with both paws.
“Jju jjutjut. (Open it, please.)”
“…….”
An old jewelry box with traces of not-yet-cleaned dirt. The Duke’s gaze narrowed, as if the box looked familiar.
He slowly opened it.
Inside there was an acorn and a neatly folded letter.
As soon as he unfolded the letter, he saw a handwriting that was both familiar and dearly missed.
Though faded by time, the faint scent of the beloved still brushed the tip of his nose.
The Duke unconsciously bit the inside of his lip.
It was a letter from his wife, Pine.
[This letter began in the North and, going around once a year, brought luck to whoever received it…
Hoho. Just kidding.
Congratulations, Crovan!
If you’re reading this letter, it means you found my surprise present, right?
Are you going to say “an acorn is all you gave me”? That would be rude to the real acorn growing inside my belly. Reflect on that.
And don’t be surprised.
The acorn I gave you will heal your pain.]
The letter went on to explain how to use the special acorn.
The Duke realized why Ebi had suddenly appeared and released pheromones.
“Was she trying to protect me…? Such a tiny thing.”
While reading the letter, the Duke raised his eyes and made eye contact with Ebi.
Ebi cocked her head.
“Jju?”
The Duke was…smiling at me kindly?
“Thank you. If not for you, I might never have known about her gift.”
That soft smile, that gentle voice he’d never used before—just that was surprising, and the Duke even stroked Ebi’s head.
Then—
[Affection with the target “Crovan Noctis” increases.]
[Affection: 1/100]
[Affection: 40/100]
[Affection: 90/100]
Huh. It jumps up so suddenly?
The rapidly rising affection stopped as soon as the Duke stopped stroking.
“W-wait! Couldn’t it go up a little more?”
“How did you find this, though?”
“…Jjut? Jjuut.”
Ebi hesitated for a moment.
“My blessing… let’s keep that to myself for now.”
She desperately wanted to prove the blessing and increase the chance of being adopted, but if the blessing—used to judge the value of someone’s hidden reserves—became known, unwanted people would flock to her. People like Count Rusten.
“They might expect me to find all sorts of treasures. The value I see is purely my own standard.”
Besides, even if she were adopted, she’d eventually have to leave the Duke’s household. She needed to keep the blessing secret to build up savings for that eventuality.
“All right. I’ll tell half the truth for now.”
Ebi pointed at the acorn, then pretended to dig in the ground while sniffing.
“I smelled the scent of an acorn, dug in the ground, and found the box!”
Although it was the blessing that led her to the box, it was also true that she had faintly smelled the old acorn scent under the soil.
Fortunately, the Duke understood quickly.
“So you dug for an acorn and discovered the box. That’s something only a squirrel could manage. If it had been another beastkin—”
He stopped mid-sentence. His gaze dropped as if he had discovered an unexpected suspicion and fell into thought.
“Jjut?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
The Duke shook his head and turned expressionless again, but his eyes toward Ebi now carried a softness that hadn’t been there before.
“I like the present you gave me the most. I will grant you one wish as a reward.”
“Jjuut? (Really?)”
“Ask for anything.”
Ebi’s eyes snapped wide.
In that case, she mustn’t refuse!
Excited, she stretched her arms out and wrote letters in the air.
“Jjutjjut jjutjjut…! (What I want is adoption…!)”
Maybe she was too excited.
Heat flushed into her face and her vision swam. Ebi’s head wobbled and then she collapsed with a thump.
“Ebi?”
“Jjuuuu……”
Ebi, flattened like a soft rice cake, heat pouring from her entire body.
The Duke’s stern face hardened.
The Duke’s personal physician nearly had a heart attack when the Duke suddenly kicked the door open and stormed in.
He looked up as the physician examined Ebi.
Then, under the Duke’s terrifying glare, the physician flinched.
“P-please, Your Grace. This is the growth fever that follows pheromone release.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. If she sleeps soundly for a day, she should return to human form.”
“If you’re sure, would you stake your life on it?”
“M-my life…? It’s true! It really is just growth fever!”
The physician trembled on the floor.
Only then did the Duke take Ebi to a room and watch over the child for a while.
He found it strange—and unpleasantly surprising—that such a small body could generate so much heat.
Even now, Ebi’s little nose was twitching busily.
When he lightly touched her with an index finger she flinched cutely. The Duke found he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
The image of Ebi jumping out from among blue flowers was still vivid in his mind.
The Duke was someone who protected his own people, not someone who received help—and he hadn’t wanted that.
But for that moment, he think he wanted someone to help him.
He would never have imagined that “someone” would be this tiny creature.
The Duke gently ran his finger over the back of Ebi’s hand—smaller than his own fingernail.
“…I will definitely repay this debt.”
At that, as if she’d heard something chilling, one of Ebi’s ears trembled.
After standing watch by Ebi for some time, the Duke took out his wife’s letter again.
The final paragraph bothered him.
[Crovan. Take good care of our acorn.
If something happens to me… I mean, anyone can have something happen, right?
Then the whole family must protect the acorn.
The acorn will protect us too.]
It could have been just a simple request.
But the more he read, the more he felt it wasn’t casually written.
His wife had given the child in her womb the pet name “acorn,” saying it suited a child that didn’t match a black wolf beastkin. She’d insisted there was no better pet name.
At the time, he’d laughed it off as another of his wife’s eccentric ideas.
But after hearing how Ebi had found the letter, the possibility occurred to him that the youngest daughter he had firmly believed to be a black wolf beastkin might actually be something else.
“…Pine. What were you hiding? What did you know on your own?”
For the first time, the wife he had thought he knew better than anyone felt mysterious.
“You miserable—!”
Count Rusten hissed and flung whatever was in his hand hard at his servant.
A candlestick brushed the servant’s cheek and its wound bled.
“My apologies, milord.”
The servant bowed his head.
He’d been tasked by the Count to spirit Ebi out before the banquet. The plan was to snatch Ebi as soon as she showed up to get cookies; if Ebi’s maid came, they would abduct Ebi while she was alone.
But no one came to fetch the cookies. By the time they realized the plan had failed, it was too late to do anything.
“What humiliation is this! How much more will that old steward mock me now!”
The squirrel who had promised to take care of things had shown up brazenly.
And he had ruined a plan that had been going well.
Because of this, the Count bore the brunt of the blame.
People said the gift the Count had prepared had a problem and that it was the Duke who was in poor condition because of it.
If many people had fainted or been injured because of the Duke, all blame would have fallen on the Duke.
But since it had been resolved before it escalated, the Count was now the target of scorn.
Count Rusten grabbed at his hair and trembled with rage.
“I tried to arrange myself properly and all I get is shame. Now even that rat dares mock me!”
His sclera were bloodshot as he drew breath through clenched teeth. He was full of bitter resentment, convinced everything was that rat’s fault.
He felt he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he made them pay. He should have gotten rid of that useless beastkin when he realized it was useless!
Taking a breath, the Count glared at his servant.
“Clean up the mess you made. If you don’t, I’ll have you and your comrades hanged!”
Unable to bear it any longer, the servant raised his head.
“Then you won’t be safe either, milord! We’re business partners—”
“Partners are for equals! You lot are my subordinates! You only eat because of my money and protection! If you have complaints, how about I report you with the evidence I have? Hmm?”
“……”
“Do you understand me now? Deal with that squirrel. Tonight.”
“…Yes.”
The servant left immediately, breathing in deeply.
His destination was Ebi’s room.
