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IBP 37
‘Perfect timing!’
Inside the visual recording sphere, Caligo’s small body was visible.
There were numerous scratches on the back of his hands, and his shoulders were stained with bright red blood.
Then, the scene shifted.
“Lady Theresia, the young Grand Duke is bleeding quite a bit. Will he be alright?”
“Why does he keep getting injured? It’s making me anxious. I’ve already brushed it off as a healing crisis, so don’t say anything unnecessary. Anyway, get things ready so we can pin this on Chloe if things go south.”
‘The Emperor of Mouse secretly filmed it!’
It was a struggle to sneak ten pieces of cheese out of the kitchen to pay for this.
Theresia’s expression distorted in an instant.
Now, everyone would know clearly. Not only had Theresia framed me, but she had also been hurting and neglecting the young Grand Duke under the guise of treatment.
Furthermore, she had even planned to frame my sister if things went wrong.
‘How does it feel to be taken down by the very recording device you used to torment me?’
Actually, the nanny was merely bait.
Everything was designed to completely drag down Theresia Ardos in this very spot.
She tormented my sister so much.
Just being sent to the annex seemed far too peaceful!
I let out a small growl, revealing my tiny front teeth.
Everything was exposed.
Theresia, and the nanny.
It was the end for all of them.
Duke Ardos whispered in a low voice.
“Cancel Theresia’s house arrest. Since evidence of abuse and neglect of the young Grand Duke has been found, send her to a closed convent after verifying the situation. I shall also request that her qualification as a Saintess candidate be revoked.”
Hearing Duke Ardos’s voice, I felt my head becoming soft and squishy.
‘Hut, I’m becoming a puppy head again!’
It seemed to be because the matter regarding my sister had been resolved.
‘Then, I should head out now!’
I gripped Caligo’s hand tightly and ran outside.
Black Tiger followed behind Caligo and me.
Bright sunlight shone down upon the three of us.
* * *
Coco said that Black Tiger and Caligo needed time to talk alone.
‘They probably do need that time.’
Caligo had felt a connection immediately after the imprinting with the tiger.
‘But he was out of it...’
He had been too busy processing what had happened to him and deciding to deal with the nanny.
Thus, this was the first time he had faced the tiger directly, just the two of them.
The pitch-black tiger who had silently endured everything to meet him.
Unlike the dramatic situation in the subspace, Caligo acted a bit hesitant, like a boy who felt awkward facing a stranger.
The tiger, likewise, was far from being affectionate.
Perhaps that was why.
A long silence hung over their private encounter for a while.
“Then... I.”
“...”
“Since... I imprinted with you.”
Caligo looked steadily into the tiger’s eyes.
Though it was still very awkward.
Caligo summoned his courage and reached out his hand.
It was a difficult gesture, but there was a reason he could be brave.
Just before opening the door to speak with the tiger, Coco had whispered a small word in his ear.
“You know, animals and humans can be awkward during their first meeting!”
“...”
In truth, he had been worried that it would be awkward to face the tiger after the imprinting.
Moreover, the things precious to Caligo always disappeared quickly.
Like his beloved mother and father. He feared the tiger might suddenly vanish too...
Because he was quite scared, he had intentionally avoided being alone with him.
Looking at him, Coco had said brightly,
“Just because you imprinted doesn’t mean you suddenly fall in love or anything like that!”
“...Is that so?”
“But it’s okay. The tiger has been waiting for you all this time, and you’ve been waiting for a good friend, too.”
“...”
“You can just get closer little by little. I’m sure you two will become great friends! Just like how I did with my sister a long time ago...”
Caligo pressed his hand against his chest.
‘Somehow, that kid seems really smart.’
Because Coco’s eyes held a subtle longing.
He became a little curious about what that emotion was.
An imprinted one. Or, a friend.
And...
Caligo quietly looked at the tiger.
“You said you’d give me a cool name back in the subspace. Do you remember?”
[Remember O]
After leaving the subspace, Coco had relayed everything Caligo had said to Black Tiger.
Caligo gazed silently at Black Tiger.
Then, he decided to give the tiger the name of the thing he had wanted all along.
“Amius.”
[A mi us...]
“Yes, it means ‘friend’ in the ancient language.”
The tiger, who had no name since birth, now had the name Amius.
Black Tiger, Amius, overlapped his large paw over Caligo’s hand and pressed down firmly.
Caligo met Amius’s bright yellow eyes.
In that moment, they knew instinctively.
The two, who had been lonely, took their first step toward becoming friends.
And perhaps, in that moment.
The two of them might have simultaneously thought of a small girl.
The tiger who had been trapped in a cage, on the verge of death.
The small boy who had been prickly because his time was limited.
The one who liberated these two from the trap of loneliness...
A very tiny and lovely girl.
* * *
‘Hut, why did they call me back here?’
I thought it was time for the puppy to step aside once the two of them became friends?
In Caligo’s room, there was Caligo, me, and the tiger.
The three of us remained.
The tiger was sleeping peacefully at Caligo’s feet.
‘I’ve heard up to the part where he named the tiger Amius, and he hasn’t said a word since!’
Meanwhile, he stared intently at me with an expression that showed zero interest in the teacup brought by the maid.
“...Why do you keep looking?”
“...”
“...Sir?”
I even used polite speech, but he continued to stare at me blankly.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Um.”
Even though I’m a silly puppy right now, I know well enough that I shouldn’t be honest.
I can’t tell him that I see the future!
“Um-um, just because. It’s nice when everyone feels good.”
“...Is that all?”
I gave a little ‘he-he’ smile and nodded.
“Yep! Young Lord, you feel good now that you’ve met Amius, right?”
“...”
“You have a tiger, and since you’re healthy now, you can make lots and lots of friends!”
“Then, what about you?”
“...Huh?”
He spoke with a faint confusion in his eyes.
“What are you? Amius is a friend, and other people are friends, then you are...”
I’m a puppy!
...Since I couldn’t say that, I was making a whining sound while thinking when it happened.
The corners of his eyes drooped.
He looked discouraged, unlike a prickly cat.
“Do you... want to be friends with me?”
“It’s not exactly that, but...”
“I want to! Be friends!”
Just like Choco the alpha stray or Jjek-jjeki, I want to be friends with Caligo too!
At that moment, a vivid joy, the likes of which I had never seen, filled his eyes.
“Alright. I’ve... wanted a friend like you, too.”
For a moment, his blue eyes wavered.
“Then.”
“Yes?”
“You are my first friend.”
“Wow! What about Amius?”
“...Second. How about you? Do you have many friends?”
Looking into his blue eyes, I nodded.
“Yes! I have Choco, and Jjek-jjeki, and the mouse, um-um, and so many more... Ah! Amius is my friend too.”
“...”
“...Why?”
Caligo asked with an expression that seemed dissatisfied.
“What do I have to do to become your best friend?”
“...Just.”
“Just?”
“What if we play ball together?”
At my words, his hand fluttered down onto the back of my hand like a butterfly and quickly vanished.
I felt like I had become a bit closer to the prickly baby cat.
It was like a cat cautiously nudging its head against someone.
“Then let’s play ball together every day from now on.”
As Caligo said this, he let out a languid yawn.
“Got it? You can’t go anywhere.”
A much more stable shadow wavered around him.
Amius, who had briefly woken up, also let out a wide, lazy yawn and fell back asleep at his feet.
Though there were a few confusing parts, the three of us became friends.
Friends...
Come to think of it, I will disappear in five years.
‘Probably, these two... will continue to be happy like this, right?’
So, wouldn’t it be okay even if I die?
‘We still have five whole years to be together!’
For puppies, five years is a very long time!
Even if I disappear after five years.
To him, it will simply be that a friend he was slightly close to in his childhood disappeared.
‘What’s the worst that could happen?’
* * *
The next morning, I heard some incredible news.
Theresia left the Duke’s residence and went to a convent.
I heard she was also stripped of her position as a Saintess candidate.
Duke Ardos said that the nanny went to a place so terrible that he couldn't describe it to children like me and Caligo.
According to a story I overheard, she was cast out to the coldest place even within the freezing Grand Duchy of Rivera.
A desolate and terrible place where it didn't matter if she froze to death or starved.
‘The wicked group of evil that tormented my sister has diminished a little!’
Now my sister can wear pretty dresses.
She can eat plenty of food.
She won’t be pointed at by others.
Everything is going according to the brave Coco’s plan!
However...
“Hu, huh. W-what is all this?”
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