I couldn't forget the after image of Karma who stood in the way between Retra and me in a second.
"Karma."
"Yes, Miss."
As if he didn't know I would call him, Karma had a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
"Thank you for protecting me."
"…I just followed orders."
"Thank you, though."
Had it not been for his help, I would have been caught by Retra.
I hugged Cade again. My startled heart still hasn't calmed down. I could feel it pounding hard. To calm me down, Cade gently patted my back nonstop.
I thought the situation would end like this, but Retra called out to Cade and caught up to him before he could turn around.
"Lord, please give me a second chance. I will never make that mistake again. I will pay double the toll in platinum coins!"
Flop.
Retra fell on his knees.
Earlier, he was definitely angry about fifty gold coins, saying it's too expensive. It looked like an urgent situation.
I didn't know the value of money yet, but I could tell just by looking at the buzzing around us just how big a platinum coin was.
However, Cade ignored Retra's words and turned his body.
"If you want other conditions, I will fulfill them all! Lord!"
At the end, when Retra got up and tried to approach him, he was blocked by the people of the family.
Cade was so cool.
"Irene."
"Un?"
"Say it one more time."
"What?"
After returning to our original seat, Cade, who sat down, sat me on his lap facing his front. I tilted my head.
Something I said before?
The corners of Cade's mouth rose playfully.
"It's my Daddy." (Cade)
Ah.
My face grew hotter and hotter. As my ears grew hot, I quickly covered my face with my hands.
"You said it well before, but now you're shy?"
It was because I was so mad!
Seth and Arban were looking at me, pretending to not pay attention. They seemed to be looking forward to it.
"…My Daddy."
"It didn't feel like that."
"No. I said like that."
Cade frowned as if he wasn't satisfied. Even Baon, who came after handling the situation, pretended to wipe away emotional tears.
"It's very touching, Miss Irene. I'm mightily impressed that you got rid of the Retra family in the South. I don't know how to express these emotions."
"Yes."
"When I saw you I thought something was peculiarly familiar, not to my surprise, you are quite similar to the Lord."
"I think that's an insult." (Cade)
"…I mean, the Miss was very brave. She was very cool."
Baon raised his thumb and quickly changed his attitude. Cade pulled his bloody gaze away and looked down at me.
"Be careful from now on. What would you have done without me, huh?"
My forehead was flicked without pain.
"….Ouchy!"
"Her body is buried with tiger pheromone. Explain, Seth. Arban."
"…Tiger?"
I've never seen a tiger.
I sniffed the clothes and smelled them. Tiger pheromone?
Seeing me like this, Seth sighed.
"I think I warned you not to go too far."
"I don't go far. I only go to places I know."
"I didn't know I had to tell you this. There's a tiger nearby, so you have to be careful. Everyone else knows, you're the only one who doesn't."
No way.
Arban's words brought a sense of uneasiness.
…Is Sage who I played with earlier a tiger?
Huh?
So, am I, friends, with a tiger?
"I guess you didn't know."
That's why he was good at climbing trees and was strong. With the clues, everything seemed to be resolved.
"I played with a tiger…?"
"Why? Are you scared now that you know it?"
"Nuh-uh. I'm not afraid."
I continued speaking as if it were natural.
"Daddy will protect me."
I knew that everything that happened inside the mansion went into Cade's ears. And by encountering Karma today, I realized something.
Here, I was safe.
At my words, Cade widened his eyes as if he was surprised. His hand that had been rubbing my forehead momentarily paused.
"Right?"
"…But that didn't mean it was okay to hang out with a tiger."
"Miss seems to have stood together with the little Lord quite a bit, but she was on par with him. She has good abilities." (Baon)
As I got used to the pheromone of the people of the family, I did not feel that it was dangerous if it did not exceed a certain level. In particular, Cade's pheromone was so intense that I didn't seem to recognize Sage's pheromone.
Cade said in a serious tone.
"I'll have to give pheromone training soon so she can distinguish between other clans."
"That's good. Master Seth and Master Arban can now freely humanize and change their body at will, but Miss Irene is a bit late."
I'm late again. Why am I always so late?
My shoulders slumped helplessly. Everyone is growing up fast, but I felt like I was staying behind alone as a child.
In particular, the gap between black mambas, who grow very fast, was felt even greater. As if noticing my concerns, Cade held my face with both of his hands and met my eyes.
"What can we do?"
"Uh?"
"My daughter is special, so we have to understand."
* * *
An interesting situation came to happen at the participation in a formal banquet for the first time in a decade.
The head of the North, Muhella, chuckled as she remembered what had happened. It was a rare scene that will never be seen again and will be talked about for a long time.
"It was a good thing I participated in this banquet. I almost missed something fun to watch."
Muhella, who turned her long blonde hair once and passed it behind her ear, shook a glass of ice water.
Her deep blue eyes shone with joy.
Currently, the banquet hall is in a state of chaos.
The rolling brains of those who wanted to enter the vacant seat of the Retra Clan could be heard up to here.
Looking around leisurely, Muhella paid attention to some families. They hadn't moved directly yet, but they were watching the situation develop.
Muhella leaned leisurely against the back of her chair.
"Sage."
"Yes."
"You decided to be friends with the youngest child of the Astrophels family, right?"
Muhella pointed to Irene, who was sitting on Cade's lap and eating. Her round eyes were rolling to and fro, and she looked like a baby bird being fed by a mother bird, eagerly eating what was given to her.
Sage turned his head to look at Irene. Every time she chewed her mouth, the white, plump cheeks moved with it. Irene looked particularly white among the people of the Astrophels family, just like a northern snow rabbit.
"I didn't expect they would have cherished children over here."
"I know, right."
Sage's mouth loosely went up.
Muhella's eyes narrowed at Sage when he, who she never knew what he was thinking, unusually revealed his feelings.
"You seem to like that kid quite a bit."
"It's like a snow rabbit."
"You play jokes every time you are bored. Well, she does look like one."
When I imagined Irene among the snow rabbits living in the castle, I did not feel a sense of incongruity.
Muhella twinkled her eyes.
"What did you play with that kid?"
"Hide-and-Seek."
"The rules would be different from the North."
Because Hide-and-Seek in the north was a game designed to teach hunting methods, harsher methods were also allowed compared to other regions.
In the North, it's a game to hide the presence and cut off the breath of the target with one strike, so that the prey does not notice.
"I'm going to play again next time. I was caught at the end."
"...What?"
Muhella had a surprised expression on her face as if she had heard something that couldn't have happened.
"You?"
"Isn't that okay?"
There's nothing wrong with it. I just couldn't believe that Sage, who had a strong desire to win, took a step back.
Sage stretched out and drowsily held his chin. If it had been his beast form, his tail would have been waving.
"Mother."
"Yes."
"You can't eat your friend, right?"
"..."
"I kept drooling, but I was caught at the end because I was holding it in and lost focus."
So, in a word, he was caught by a baby bird because he was suppressing his appetite.
Muhella coughed at her son's shocking remarks.
Sage narrowed his brow and was immersed in thought, clenching and opening his left arm that had been caught by Irene in the garden.
"...Sage."
"Yes."
"It's my fault."
"What?"
It's my fault that I raised you like that.
Muhella was unable to answer and let out a sigh of frustration.