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IBP 141
“Why, why are you...?”
My sister's deep purple eyes wavered like ripples. Then, a tear suddenly plopped down from her eye.
My sister is my world, and my entire world was crying.
I felt as if my heart had stopped.
“Sissy, w-why are you suddenly...?”
I was so flustered I couldn't even finish my sentence. My sister hugged me tight and spoke.
“My baby, why didn't you tell me?”
“Huh? Tell you what?”
“...That you ran away because you didn't want me to see you in pain, that you actually can't live for long.”
“....”
Just as I held my breath, feeling as if it had stopped, my sister's voice poured into my ears.
“Tell me to save you. Tell me to make you live. Tell me to give you some of my own lifespan. If you just said that. If you just said that, I would have used black magic if I had to, just to save our Coco.”
For a moment, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
My sister had found out that I couldn't live for long. In the worst way possible.
“Why do you keep trying to handle everything alone, my little puppy?”
But I felt I had to answer this.
I spoke quietly, but firmly.
“Because I don't want you to do that, Sissy. I like it when you're happy.”
My sister held me tight in her arms, stifling her sobs.
“My baby, how can you be so kind...?”
Duke Ardos, who was standing behind us, had a vacant expression. He looked as if he couldn't grasp the situation at all.
The moment I met his eyes, it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
Come to think of it, my sister seems to be misunderstanding something!
“Sissy, but I have something to tell you.”
I spoke while wiping away a tear that had trickled down her cheek.
“I'm not dying!”
“Huh?”
“I didn't come here to die! I left a note saying I was going out. Didn't you see it?”
My flustered sister blinked.
“Eh?”
“You must not have seen it.”
Emperor of Mouse, he said he'd deliver the note properly to my sister.
'I'm taking half a piece of cheese away from him when I get back!'
My sister, who had been watching me huff with my nose, wore a stunned expression.
“Then why, why did you come here...?”
I waved my hand energetically toward her, as if wagging a tail.
“I just came to the <puppy den> to do some volunteer work!”
Before we knew it, ten puppies came pouring out from beneath our feet.
The tears flowing from my sister's eyes stopped abruptly.
“Sissy, Sissy! Look. The puppies here are super cute, right? You look too!”
My sister looked unusually dazed.
I pointed to a puppy scuttling beneath me, then paused.
'Gasp, but Sissy might look at another puppy!'
I hurriedly added the next words.
“Sissy, but Coco is the cutest, right?”
As a bonus, I let my eyes sparkle, as if demanding an answer. However, since my sister didn't answer immediately, I became a bit sulky.
“Um, um.”
“....”
Right. There's a very white baby puppy here with sparkling cute eyes. If I concede the first place...
“Then Coco is the second cutest.”
“....”
...No way, could it be that I'm not even second?
Just as my shoulders slumped in disappointment.
My sister wiped her tears and hugged me firmly, saying:
“Our Coco is the cutest in the whole world.”
My sister whispered, as if driving the point home.
I floated in her arms, fully savoring the happiness.
At that moment, Duke Ardos, who had been standing still trying to figure out the situation, threw a bucket of cold water on the mood.
“Indeed. Coco is the cutest. Why ask something so obvious?”
“Hup?”
“Now, please give me an explanation. Is Coco alright? Why are you in a den like this? Coco, do you like puppies that much?”
My sister also looked at me as if she needed more explanation.
I rolled my eyes.
“It's not certain yet! But they said if I'm lucky, I can live for a long, long time! The turtle here said so!”
I pointed to the turtle rolling on the ground.
The turtle, who had been watching my family's touching reunion, hesitantly backed away.
His eyes were filled with bewilderment.
“That...”
“Right, Turtle?”
“Y-y-yes, that's right.”
“Did the turtle say it's right?”
“Yup, yup. He's a turtle who's lived for a ve-ve-very long time! So he told me lots and lots of ways to have a long life! He's the best!”
“What is the meaning of this? I thought you just came because you liked puppies. To live a long time if you're lucky... and you're dying?”
Duke Ardos asked, stepping forward with a shocked face.
Gasp, come to think of it...
Duke Ardos doesn't know anything, does he?
* * *
...After returning to the Duke Ardos estate, I ended up confessing everything.
Except for the part that I am 'Coco the puppy'!
As a result, everyone became strange.
It had been a perfectly normal day. I had breakfast, heard that the estate had sent veterinarians to the <puppy den>, and was taking a walk while holding my sister's hand tightly.
It happened when I tilted my head for a moment to smell the grass.
My sister, with an anxious expression, suddenly scooped me up.
“Our Coco! You mustn't step on the ground!”
“Huh? Coco shouldn't walk?”
“That's... not it.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
But it didn't end there.
Ruth rushed toward me and began muttering very loudly.
“Hazardous material detected 100m ahead of Coco, highly problematic.”
“That's just a wooden stick?”
...These people are really weird!
No matter how much I was in danger of dying, they're protecting me way too much!
Finally, Duke Ardos, who had been following me closely, spoke.
“Ahem, my daughter. Do you wish to accompany me to the conference room?”
“I never said that!”
But he suddenly picked me up like a puppy with separation anxiety and said:
“This won't do. You must stay by my side so the bad guys don't bully our Coco. Try saying, 'Daddy, please hold Coco.'”
When I looked a bit reluctant at the sudden forced 'Daddy', Duke Ardos cleared his throat a couple of times and demanded an answer. He seemed to really want to hear me call him 'Daddy'.
My confusion lasted only a moment, and I snuggled deep into his arms.
Because he had both 'Choco' and 'Sweet Potato' in his hand!
That day, held in Duke Ardos's arms, I said 'Daddy' over a thousand times.
I thought my mouth would wear out; my last memory was mumbling 'Da...ddy...' while exhausted in his arms.
Furthermore, there was another being here who had reversed their life—no, their animal life.
It was the sage turtle.
Since that day, the turtle was revered as 'the being who would save my life,' and eventually, he became decorated with so many jewels that his shell was barely visible!
The next day, carrying the basket containing the turtle, I was struggling along to meet my sister.
Suddenly, Duke Ardos appeared and poked his face into the basket!
“Lord Turtle.”
...Is he actually talking to the turtle?
“Coco, what does Lord Turtle have to say?”
“He didn't say anything!”
“Ahem. Is that so?”
“Yup.”
Duke Ardos made a funny sound and bowed his head politely.
“Since I am Coco's father, I ask for your kind favor, Lord Turtle.”
I thought he would be thrilled and go wild if he were called 'Lord Turtle'.
I thought he would be very excited since he was wearing plenty of glittering gold necklaces around his neck.
Strangely, the turtle gave off an increasingly uncomfortable vibe.
'Turtle has been acting weird since the puppy den, is he sick?'
I gripped Duke Ardos's sleeve tightly and said:
“Daddy, I think the turtle wants to play alone.”
“Is that so? Then how should I treat Lord Turtle?”
“If you let the turtle go, he'll play well on his own!”
I released the turtle onto the ground.
But the turtle didn't even do a little dance.
'Strange. He's looked very sad for a while now.'
It was then.
My sister, who had come to meet me, suddenly appeared. I suspected she had been camouflaged in the bushes like Ruth.
However, my sister ignored my suspicious gaze.
Then, she neatly recited the details she had researched about the turtle.
“Coco, that turtle is indeed the <sage turtle>, and it's true that he made prophecies in the past. I've checked. It wasn't a lie.”
“Waaaah! So cool!”
While I was excitedly kicking my legs, my sister whispered softly.
“But Coco, do you know? Beings with prophetic abilities like the <sage turtle> can only exercise their power when they are truly moved by the other person.”
“Gasp, really?”
“Yes. Ask the turtle. When was he moved by Coco?”
“But Sissy.”
“Yes.”
Facing my sister's serious eyes, I asked awkwardly.
“Um, what does 'moved' mean?”
“....”
My sister's expression distorted.
It looked like she was smiling, but I couldn't understand the meaning at all!
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