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IBP 171
“Caligo! Coco’s heart is thumping so fast because we’re playing with the ball!”
......Up to this point, this was the Coco that Caligo was familiar with.
It was just as he was responding with a smile and preparing to throw the ball back to her.
Like a phantom, a giant nightmare creature appeared before his eyes for a moment and then vanished. The nightmare pressed upon his mind with a fierce and savage intensity, as if trying to collapse his psyche.
‘Coco is right in front of me. Get a grip, you idiot Caligo.’
He forced himself to swallow hard and smiled at Coco.
“......Is that so? Your heart was thumping, huh?”
“Yup! It thumped just like it does when I look at Caligo.”
......The moment he heard those words, he forgot all about the nightmare creature.
‘Coco, whose heart thumps when she looks at me.’
Right now, they were nothing more than very small children who could not marry without the permission of their guardians.
However, he felt that once the Imperial Concubine was removed and all of this was over, he would truly be able to stand proudly by Coco's side.
If that happened, he would be able to smile more brightly without being shaken by such nightmares or illusions.
He beamed and tossed the ball in his hand into the air.
“Bring it back within 30 seconds, Coco!”
“Okay!”
Coco repeated the action of sprinting fiercely dozens of times.
After the happy ball-playing time for everyone ended.
He heard the sound of the door opening to the annex where Coco stayed.
And he heard the voice of Duke Ardos as well.
“Kids, the chocolate cake is ready, so come and eat!”
It was a wretched time where disgusting nightmares would burrow into his mind whenever he closed his eyes.
But he had heard Coco say that her heart thumps when she sees Caligo.
That alone was enough for Caligo to smile.
* * *
“Coco, are you asleep? I came to tell you that the divine beast identification ceremony is the day after tomorrow.”
That night, Duke Ardos received an imperial decree from the Emperor.
It stated that the divine beast identification ceremony and the ball would be held simultaneously the day after tomorrow.
Upon arriving at Coco's bedroom to deliver the news, he unexpectedly found Coco fast asleep by herself, without Chloe.
He sat by Coco's bedside and asked playfully.
“Did you enjoy the chocolate cake too much, my daughter?”
After wiping away the chocolate smeared on the corner of her mouth with his hand, he gazed at Coco anew.
This puppy really did have such tiny hands and feet.
To think she had accomplished such great things with these tiny hands. To think she ran around so diligently with these tiny feet.......
He had never been one to cry, but his eyes stung. He brushed back Coco's silver hair and smiled tenderly.
“Since she's asleep, should I tell her tomorrow?”
But at that very moment.
Coco snapped her eyes open.
Her eyes flashed like a puppy whose hunting instinct remained.
“Someone just stole the chocolate that was on my mouth......!”
......He didn't steal it; he wiped it off.
Unaware of her father's intentions, Coco pouted as if she had been wronged.
“That was a lunchbox Coco saved for later! They must be trying to steal it......!”
......That the smudge on her mouth wasn't cake but a lunchbox was a new shock for Duke Ardos.
He froze stiffly and muttered.
“I didn't steal it. I'm not stealing it.”
“Huh? Gasp, Unnie—no, Daddy......?”
Only then did she seem to realize that the person in front of her was Duke Ardos.
He cleared his throat and spoke.
“Now, Coco. The date for the divine beast identification ceremony has been set.”
“Hup! The day to punish the Imperial Concubine has been decided......!”
Coco's eyes sparkled with pure malice. He could feel Coco's tiny heart thumping. Her mind seemed to be racing.
“Daddy!”
“Yes?”
“Speaking as a divine beast!”
Like the bravest puppy in the world, Coco whispered in an incredibly solemn tone.
“All preparations are complete!”
It meant the time to finally execute the Imperial Concubine had arrived.
And then, a cheerful voice was heard behind them.
“Very good, our Coco.”
He saw Chloe entering through the gap of the door that had opened silently.
The way she smiled, showing her teeth.......
‘The two of them look exactly alike.’
......She was even wicked, but she was still lovely.
Duke Ardos smiled warmly.
“Then, my daughters. For the day of the decisive battle, shall we try some sweet potato cake this time?”
Coco's mouth fell open.
“Waaaaah!”
However, Chloe shook her head firmly.
“No, Coco will get fat. Your tummy is already bulging because you ate so much chocolate cake today.”
“Heeeeeeng.......”
Coco pouted, failing in her attempt to hide her belly fat. The wicked appearance from before was gone. She rolled over in her blankets and muttered like a shriveled little thing.
“It's okay. Coco will be praised after she punishes the Imperial Concubine. If I'm praised, I can eat reaaaally lots of sweet potatoes......!”
......And so that day, Coco decided to punish the Imperial Concubine twice as much.
Solely so she could eat more sweet potatoes.
Coco clenched both her fists.
And the way to punish the Imperial Concubine twice as much was precisely.......
“......Coco isn't going as a puppy the day after tomorrow.”
“Huh? But it's the divine beast identification ceremony.”
“I'm going to appear as Lady Coco Ardos!”
Coco let out an eerie, "Kekeke" laugh.
The Imperial Concubine must believe that Lady Coco Ardos is dead. She'll believe that a puppy divine beast will come on the day of the ceremony......!
‘Human Coco, returns!’
So, on the day of the ceremony, she would start by giving the Imperial Concubine two crisp smacks to the back of her head.
‘For my sweet potatoes—no, for a happy future with Unnie—I'll stomp on the evil Imperial Concubine like she's tasteless kibble......!’
* * *
Since obtaining the divine beast, the weasel, Empress Hervezette felt as if she were walking on a dream.
She looked at the beautiful divine beast and smiled radiantly.
“A divine beast ought to possess this level of power.”
Power that could shake a crystal ball so violently that one would fear it might shatter.
Her world had finally become complete.
However, there was one thing.
She stroked Prince Gaisa's chin and gave a sharp warning.
“Are you saying your physical condition still makes imprinting impossible, Prince?”
“.......”
Prince Gaisa looked at his mother with a lethargic face.
“Mother.”
What should he do? He had a feeling that all of this could never be undone.
Even when he said he lacked the strength to imprint with a divine beast, his mother remained unmoved.
“Do not worry. The divine beast's power is immense. In two days, at the ballroom, you will be able to imprint with the divine beast, Prince.”
“But, Mother. You are too excited. Please, as the Emperor Father said, exercise restraint and.......”
“Prince!”
“.......”
“Your mother is telling you that she will turn a low-grade product like her son into a high-grade one, isn't she?”
Prince Gaisa shrank back upon hearing his mother's high-pitched voice.
“Then, prepare yourself to imprint with the divine beast at the ball.”
“W-what if I fail?”
She smiled softly and stroked the snow-white weasel. Even while glaring at the Prince, her fingertips moved with great elegance.
“That will not happen. What I choose is never wrong. The only blot on my life.......”
She did not utter the words that the only blot had always been him.
But Prince Gaisa knew.
That the only flaw in her perfect life was solely himself.
Because the Imperial Concubine had always told him so, as if brainwashing him.
The timid and weak Prince Gaisa muttered one last time.
“If the imprinting doesn't work, or if the divine beast's condition becomes critical. Wouldn't you be in danger too, Mother? So, after the divine beast fully awakens, if we ask for its intention to imprint with me.......”
Her eyes flashed red.
Prince Gaisa's eyes became hazy once again.
Empress Hervezette, who had perfectly manifested her supernatural ability, smiled with satisfaction.
‘......Yes, if imprinting with the divine beast is impossible.......’
Though it was unlikely, if the weasel were to be branded as a ‘fake divine beast.’
‘Those with the blood of a mage, those with supernatural abilities, never die alone.’
She could take at least one person along as a companion on her journey to the afterlife.
Along with a wicked curse.
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