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IBP 19
“Lady Chloe helped save the tiger.”
“......What? Helped save it?”
“Yes! Lady Chloe helped me!”
I stared at Rhea, who firmly believed that the tiger was dead.
“Hmm....... Right, Lady Chloe helped you. I shall report based on this testimony alone.”
She stared at me and turned off the recording device.
“I will submit the report as is. Tsk, to think she clung to a rotten rope.”
“I didn’t cling to a rotten rope!”
I held out both my empty hands.
She was about to sneer at me, but her expression suddenly shifted to one of horror.
“Ugh, how disgusting!”
Judging that her plan had succeeded, she frowned and promptly left the area.
I looked down at my palm.
‘Oh, there was a praying mantis.’
I gently placed my mantis friend on the floor.
I didn't know because my sister never let me see the prison!
My eyes sparkled, and I instinctively sniffed the air.
‘Come to think of it, I heard humans get locked up in prisons and all.’
Usually, puppies don't get put in prison.
I guess I really have become a human.
I whispered softly to a tiny spider crawling across the floor.
“Hello, Mr. Spider!”
This feels just like taking a walk in a new place!
* * *
“......So, she looked incredibly depressed. She didn't even look at me when I approached; she just had her nose buried in the corner.”
These were the words of a maid who had been kicked out after sneaking near the Bastille annex.
Hearing this, Ruth stomped his foot in fury.
“Wow, holy shit. This is insane.”
“She’s probably crying, right......?”
“Crushing a child's spirit over a single tiger! Living humans are what matter, not animals! Huh? Don't you agree?”
As Ruth raged, Dot muttered quietly.
“It's not just a single tiger. It's a—a spirit beast.”
“What? If I say so, then so be it.”
“I apologize. Regardless, this is a serious matter for the baby. Not only the annulment of adoption, but other punishments might be considered.”
As soon as Dot finished speaking, Chloe’s face contorted.
“You're too loud. Stop talking.”
In an instant, the atmosphere of the annex sank into a gloomy silence.
After the reporting maid withdrew.
Ruth, Chloe, and the veterinarian Dot.
The three of them sat together in an atmosphere that felt literally like a funeral home.
Ruth beat his chest in frustration.
“That old man has gone senile. Locking a tiny child in a cell? That's something only a beast lower than a human would do.”
“Oh, Lord Ruth. If you keep talking like that, you'll be exiled abroad again.”
“Ha, the old man isn't even here....... Dot, are you a spy?”
“T-that couldn't be!”
Ruth narrowed his brow, looking exhausted.
“I think we need to see Father first. Chloe, you'll go see him, right? The kid followed you the most, after all.”
“.......”
When Chloe wore an expression as if she were thinking about something, Ruth pointed a finger at her.
“What's with you? Aren't you going to persuade the old man?”
“.......”
“Then you'll at least go see where Coco is, right? I'm going now. To see the little one. Want to come along?”
“......Why would I.”
“Still, that tiny little thing likes you the most. She follows you around like a puppy.”
“And so?”
Ruth's gaze swept over Chloe from top to bottom.
“You really are a mean person. You know that? Fine. I'll go alone. I'll persuade the old man too. At worst, what's the most that could happen? A 30-year exile sentence? Huh?”
“Oh dear, Lord Ruth!”
Despite Dot's attempts to stop him, Ruth stormed out of the room.
Until that moment, Chloe simply remained there, clutching her slightly trembling hands.
* * *
“Hey, open the cell door.”
“Ye-yes? This is not a cell...... the official name is the ‘Bastille Annex’......”
“What are you talking about? Everyone knows it's being used as a cell. Open the door.”
“Lady Theresia has forbidden outside visitors. Since you are the representative of the Mistress, the owner of the manor, there is nothing we can do......”
“Ah, I don't care! Then lock me up too. It's not like I'm dying to be thrown in a cell right now.”
“H-how could we l-l-lock up a direct blood relative in a p-p-prison......”
“Then shut up and open the door.”
The soldiers looked at each other, conversing through lip-reading.
‘Wasn't Lord Ruth's ten-year study abroad intended to reform his delinquent personality?’
‘He came back even more of a delinquent.’
A soldier who summoned his courage spoke up.
“If you destroy the prison, no matter if it is Lord Ruth, you will be punished according to the family law......”
“Wow, am I actually going crazy?”
Ruth raised his hand.
As wind flowed from his hand, the soldier snapped his mouth shut.
Ruth glanced at the soldier as if clearing away a bothersome insect.
“Enough. All of you, get lost.”
Having dealt with the soldiers using his supernatural ability, he flung the door open with enough force to break it.
And.
In the corner of the small room, a round back of a head was visible.
A tiny child, no bigger than a palm, staring blankly at the wall: Coco.
Has she already gone mad?
It's understandable for a child to go mad if they're locked in a prison.
Fuming with rage, Ruth clenched his fists and strode into the cell.
“Hey, Coco.”
Coco, who had been staring at the wall, turned her head.
The moment their eyes met.
Coco shed tears.......
“Wow! It's Lord Ruth!”
......She wasn't shedding tears; she was beaming?
‘No. That kid is so smart that she's acting like this because she thinks I'll be upset.’
He pressed his aching chest and muttered.
“Father will let you out when he comes, so just wait a bit.”
“No, I can get out on my own anyway!”
“How is a tiny thing like you going to get out alone?”
She looked as small and precious as a round rag doll.
Despite the fact that her curly hair looked like it would flutter away like yarn at any moment.
“Anyway, are you okay in the cold?”
“Yup! There are lots of amazing things!”
He muttered as he sat roughly on the prison floor.
“Right, well. I'm not cold either. I'll stay with you.”
“It's okay to lock me up. Anyway, once the tiger wakes up in ten hours......”
“The tiger is dead, you idiot.”
“No, the tiger is alive. Sister and I saved it together.”
“This is absolutely maddening. She should be begging for mercy on her hands and knees.”
It was just as he beat his chest a couple of times in frustration.
Coco's lips closed stubbornly.
“Sister told me before. She said it's cool when a person is pushed to the very end and then makes a ‘comeback’.”
“Huh?”
“So it's okay if I'm more pitiful right now. Then Sister can be much happier later.”
What on earth is this tiny child planning?
Comebacks, happiness.......
She acts as if she's holding a winning card.
‘But the tiger must be dead.’
Ruth ruffled his hair messily with a frustrated expression.
But right then.
Along with the sound of clicking heels, the sound of someone approaching from afar was heard.
Then, a woman with a cool impression appeared.
“Ruth, I believe I told you not to cause trouble in the prison.”
“......Chloe Ardos?”
At the mention of Chloe's name, Coco's eyes widened.
“Sister shouldn't be here.”
“Why?”
“Here, it's too dark here......”
Ruth spoke nonchalantly.
“You don't know? She's a shadow caster. She's someone who manipulates darkness. That's why she can see well even if it's dark. If anything, my eyes are the ones getting dim, so worry about me.”
“No, that's not it. It shouldn't be this pitch black and dark......”
Why is she acting like that?
He thought she would be happy to see Chloe.
Instead, she looked unstable.
* * *
Chloe curled her hands inside her dress.
Her slightly trembling hands would not settle.
It was a symptom she felt whenever she entered a darkness she had not created herself.
People thought she liked being buried in the darkness.
But that wasn't the case.
“Lady Chloe, you must survive even within the darkness.”
“.......”
“Only then can you become the true successor of the family. Unless you intend to bring shame to His Grace the Duke's achievements, endure it.”
In her childhood, Chloe had been confined in a damp basement and starved for a week.
Around the time she escaped the pitch-black darkness, her father, having discovered the facts, killed her teacher.
However.
‘Even if the abuser is dead, childhood scars last a long time.’
That was why she rarely entered the basement of her own manor.
She hated the way her body trembled uncontrollably in an unexpected darkness.
But why on earth?
Coco stomped her feet and muttered.
“We have to get out quickly! Darkness is no good, Lady Chloe likes warm sunshine.”
Why, in that appearance.......
Does she remind her of the tiny puppy that used to lick the back of her hand as if soothing her wounds?
Actually, she knew the reason.
‘Because the only being who gave me affection and worried about me so purely was my puppy.’
For a brief moment, Coco overlapped with the image of her dog in the child's voice, which seemed to worry for her.
When she forgot everything she was about to say and stared at Coco.
Coco jumped up and pointed a finger.
“Seriously, why did you come!”
“What, you have a problem with it?”
“Don't come to save me! It's dangerous here!”
“Your speech is too short.”
“How is speech short? There's no speech here.”
She's.......
An idiot.
“......I mean you should use honorifics. I came because I have something to say. Not to save you.”
She wiped her face with her hand and looked outside the cell.
“Ruth, you, what have you been doing while staying here? Use your head.”
“You don't know me. My head is just for decoration.”
Ruth shrugged his shoulders.
“So, how am I supposed to use my head?”
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