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IBP 177
“Sister, sister! What did the Grand Duke uncle say?”
When her sister returned to the Duke Ardos estate, she looked like she had half lost her mind.
“That’s strange. Grand Duke Rivera must have done something bad!”
“......It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“He asked... if we could go on a date.”
“Whoa!”
“He pretended not to, but when he said he missed me, it was a bit....”
“A bit?”
“......Cute.”
At that sudden admission of truth, my eyes widened.
I looked at my sister with a shocked expression.
“S-Sister...!”
“Hmm?”
“Sister said someone other than Coco was cute...!”
For a moment, Chloe’s pupils shook.
“It was a mistake.”
It didn’t sound like a mistake to me....
However, as if she had already made up her mind, her sister spoke firmly.
“I’m not going on a date.”
After that, Chloe muttered as if making an excuse.
“And I have to play with our Coco. I won’t go on a date. I have a mountain of work to do right now. The position of successor is mine, and um, I have to let everyone know that I’ve imprinted with a divine beast....”
Something is strange.
I sniffed, catching a scent at the tip of my nose.
‘This is... the smell of a lie!’
In an instant, my eyes narrowed.
I’m the puppy who sticks by her side every single day.
‘Coco knows everything about Sister!’
Her sentences are trailing off, unlike her usual self.
“Sissy, Coco isn’t a dummy.”
What kind of face she makes when she loves someone, how she felt when she wrote love letters.
“Coco knows it all!”
So....
‘Actually, I’m really, really jealous, but if Sister likes him....’
......Since I’m a grown-up puppy, I can give in a little for Sister’s happiness.
I pressed my face against her cheek with a boop.
“You miss Grand Duke Rivera, you like him.”
“......What?”
Sister looked at me with a speechless expression. But I beamed a bright smile.
“When you miss someone, you go to them right away, Sister!”
“.......”
“You can’t miss the timing.”
Just like how Sister and I met through a destiny that felt like a coincidence.
And just like how I worked hard to make our meeting happen....
“So hurry up and say you’ll go, Sister!”
Sister stared at me silently and let out a small sigh. Her head looked cluttered with various thoughts.
‘This story will probably help Sister make a decision.’
I am the puppy with the fastest intuition when it comes to my sister.
No matter how clueless she is about romance, there’s no way she’d hesitate like this after hearing that story.
“Sister, you didn’t hear why the Grand Duke was cursed, did you?”
“......I heard he was cursed and our wonderful puppy fixed it. That’s all I heard.”
“Right. That’s true. But the reason the Grand Duke was cursed is because he was trying to save you.”
“......What?”
Sister’s face flushed with bewilderment.
‘As I thought, they didn’t tell her that, did they?’
I nodded my head vigorously.
“If he’d take a curse instead of you, that’s total, real love! That mean, na-asty, bad....”
“......Yeah, he’s different from that trash of a former fiancé.”
I nodded my head with all my might.
Then, like a judge striking a gavel, I tapped the table thump, thump.
“So you can go on a date with the Grand Duke. Coco gives you permission!”
“Ummm....”
Sister still looked confused.
In the meantime, I quickly rummaged through a drawer. Colorful stationery suddenly appeared before us.
“Let’s write a date permission letter here!”
Sister followed my instructions as if possessed.
Ever since she heard the part about him ‘being cursed in her stead,’ she seemed completely out of it.
‘It makes sense. Coco is a bit shocked too....’
I watched as the quill in Sister’s hand moved with a scratch-scratch sound.
‘Gasp, my hunting instinct keeps popping up...!’
I must restrain myself, Coco.
You are no longer a trivial wild puppy! You are the very, very brave divine beast of your sister.
‘B-But....’
The urge to chomp down on the quill as it moved swish-swish kept growing.
So, I barely managed to tear my gaze away and looked at the letter Sister had written.
But....
[I understand.]
......Is that the end of the content?
‘Is my sister one of those “romantically challenged” people humans talk about?’
But wouldn’t Grand Duke Rivera like a letter like this too?
‘It contains Sister’s honest feelings!’
Then he’ll definitely love it!
Because any human who dislikes my sister is a bad human.
After trapping the situation in my own black-and-white logic, I spoke energetically.
“Sister, I think it’s a wonderful letter!”
“......I’m glad.”
Hearing Sister’s voice, which sounded strangely relieved, I spoke cautiously.
“Sissy, Sissy, I have a favor. Can I deliver this letter to Grand Duke Rivera for you?”
Sister no longer seemed interested in the love letter. She simply pulled my cheek, as if I were just too cute, and said,
“My goodness, is our Coco a mail carrier?”
“Yup!”
Feeling the touch of her hand patting my plump belly while being showered with affection, I sank into a slightly serious thought.
‘No matter how I think about it, I’m worried about Caligo.’
While playing with Caligo, I’ve never once seen him hunt.
‘Caligo likes playing with balls; he doesn’t have a temperament for enjoying the hunt.’
Isn’t it a bit strange to suddenly go hunting right before the Imperial Concubine’s execution?
* * *
......After delivering Sister’s letter to Grand Duke Rivera.
“It’s actually five whole words.”
“Hehe.”
“Receiving a letter seems like a very pleasant thing. Right, Lady Coco?”
“Yes, yes! It’s not easy to get a letter from my sister!”
At that, he gave a refreshing smile.
‘I like that he is someone who treasures my sister’s precious letter.’
Feeling much more proud, I immediately ran to Caligo’s door.
But once again, a servant blocked my path.
“Did Caligo go hunting again?”
“Yes. He said it would be difficult to have tea time or play with Lady Coco for the time being....”
Why on earth?
‘Does he hate Coco now?’
I shook my head.
I don’t even hear the hallucination of “Coco is a bad puppy!” anymore, yet I almost started digging a hole out of habit!
‘......That can’t be! Besides, Amius is right here next to Caligo’s door. Did he really go hunting?’
“Then I’ll try talking to Amius!”
Amius is a very gentle tiger, but is the mere existence of a tiger scary? I could see the servant breaking into a cold sweat.
After dismissing the sweating servant, I looked at Amius, who was dozing off quietly in front of the door.
Then, I stomped my paw thump.
“Amius!”
Amius, who had been nodding off, snapped his eyes open at the sound of my paw. I felt a bit sorry for waking him, but Amius wagged his tail as if he were glad to see me.
[Kokko!]
I looked closely at the letters the Black Tiger was scratching into the marble hallway floor and shook my head.
“It’s not Kokko, it’s Co-co.”
At my correction of his spelling, Amius’s tail dropped limply to the floor as if he were discouraged.
‘Right, Amius is soft-hearted!’
Flustered, my eyes darted around, and I finally reached out to pet the Black Tiger’s back.
“Listen, Amius! Do you know where Caligo is? He’s not unwell, is he? I haven’t heard from him since the divine beast identification ceremony!”
[Caligo. Not sick. Sleep well.]
“But why....”
[Want be alone.]
“Ah.”
[Become adult. Puberty.]
Gasp, puberty?
I know all about that.
I remember when I wanted to be alone, Sister would mutter, “Has our Coco hit her puppy-puberty....”
“Listen, Amius. Still, tell Caligo that Coco wants to meet him soon!”
I blurted out the words Caligo would like most.
“We’re engaged! Right!”
* * *
......Caligo heard Coco’s voice from outside the door.
Hearing Coco’s voice made him want to go out immediately.
‘If I don’t appear, Coco will be sad. I told her we’d have a cool engagement.’
Although he felt that the Ardos family disliked him a bit.... Still, he was supposed to hold Coco’s hand tightly and be engaged.
‘But since my body is cursed, I might have a bad influence on Coco.’
Caligo was aware that he could not speak about the curse.
‘I can’t even speak of it to Amius, my imprinting partner.’
When he heard from Amius that Coco had broken his brother’s curse, he had been filled with hope.
‘......Maybe she can break my curse too.’
It was shameless, but he wanted to stay by Coco’s side, even if it meant relying on Coco’s abilities.
However, Caligo had read the same book his brother had.
That the curse he suffered was the most intense of all....
He heard the sound of Coco, who had been standing quietly by the door, leaving. Even so, Caligo could not leave the door.
Just in case Coco might come back.
After standing there blankly for a few minutes, the door clicked open and Amius entered.
[Cry all....]
“I’m not crying.”
[Why Kokko not see? Love fight?]
“It’s not that.”
[Dummy....]
“I’m not a dummy....”
While pretending to play with the tiger’s front paw, Caligo held back his tears.
Coco, I’m actually struggling a bit.
The curse is a little scary too.
Unlike my brother, I guess I’m just a boy who can’t help it.
But....
‘I just don’t know. What if my curse hurts you?’
No matter how much of a divine beast you are, I’d be more heartbroken if you felt a speck of pain than if I lost my own life....
So, Caligo smiled silently.
‘There must be a way to break the curse before the execution date.’
However, the execution date of the former Imperial Concubine, Hervezette, was slowly approaching.
Furthermore, after a few days passed without any progress, Caligo learned another shocking fact.
“The son of Empress Hervezette went to see Coco?”
[Yup, mouse told me]
......He forgot that he was in pain from the manifestation of a powerful curse.
Caligo bolted upright from his seat.
“We don’t know what the former Empress’s son would do to Coco.”
[Hmm?]
“I have to protect her. Coco.”
Amius, left alone in the room, thought.
‘That prince isn’t the type to have the guts to do anything.’
Besides, there are plenty of people trying to protect Coco.
‘Doesn’t Caligo know that well?’
......Either he’s blinded by pain.
‘Or he loses his reason whenever it comes to Coco....’
It must be one of the two, right?
Anyway, the lone tiger thought.
‘Still, Caligo always wanted to be by Coco’s side.’
It’s a good thing that Caligo is going back to be near Coco.
Indeed.
‘......I wonder if something is about to happen between those three?’
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