IBMB :08

CHAPTER :08

“Since it is late today, we will stop here. I will arrange a temporary room in the Duke’s castle for the thief. The official interrogation will begin tomorrow.”

It was just as Gerard, who had spent a whole hour lecturing me with not a single beastman actually listening, reached his hand toward me.

“There’s no need for that.”

“Pardon?”

“Leave her. I don’t really trust either of you.”

Koenig looked back and forth between Gerard and me.

He said one was a problem because she was too fast, and the other was a problem because he was too damn slow.

*Hmph, this is why I hate sharp-witted beastmen.*

My second escape plan, which involved ditching the clumsy Gerard and running away, had gone down the drain.

Gerard’s face looked just as dark as mine did in my disappointment.

He kept his head down, silent for a while, before letting out one sigh after another.

“…Indeed. A slow turtle like me would be no match for keeping an eye on a thief who is so crafty and resorts to such petty tricks.”

Just how many insults were packed into that single sentence?

Gerard, that guy looks one way, but he seems to hold a serious grudge.

With that, Gerard withdrew, leaving only Koenig and me in the room.

For the first time in my life, I thought I might actually suffocate under someone’s gaze.

And for good reason.

“You should be looking at me. Where are you looking?”

On top of the wide bed.

It was because Koenig, wearing only a single, dangerously seductive robe, kept pulling my body toward him.

He called it a simple questioning before the official interrogation.

If there was a problem, it was Koenig’s nearly naked attire.

“Chu-chu…”

Flustered, I kept turning my head away.

Though I was currently in the form of a fist-sized squirrel, inside me was a beast… no, an eighteen-year-old with hot, young blood.

If he kept provoking me like this, even I didn’t know what I might do!

“Chuu!”

“…Is it stuffy?”

Though I glared and warned him, there was no way Koenig would understand.

He stopped twirling the long, dangling ribbon and once again interpreted my words however he pleased.

But it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

Because he loosened the pouch that had been tightly squeezing the life out of me. Thanks to that, my body felt much freer.

If I inhaled and made myself skinny, I could easily slip at least one arm out.

If so, escaping would be a breeze.

*Hehe, now if only this dragon-boy would fall asleep…*

Just as I buried my face in the pouch, wearing a triumphant smile—

“I’m telling you this in advance, but you’d better discard any thoughts of running away.”

Koenig, who had fully turned on his side to face me, spoke.

His eyes narrowed as if he had read my innermost thoughts.

“I might let it slide once because you’re cute, but there won’t be a second time.”

*And what are you going to do if you don’t let it slide?*

Are you going to eat me?

When I looked up at him with wide, round eyes, Koenig tilted his head again.

This guy always fails to understand the important things.

“Chu-chu, chuu.”

Like this, like this. I mean, are you going to eat me in one bite?

Only after I snapped my teeth at the empty air did Koenig let out a chuckle.

“Are you asking if I’m going to eat you?”

“Chuu—”

“What’s the point of eating someone who’s barely a single bite? It’ll only make me hungrier.”

Ah, I see. He’s not going to eat me.

But then why are you licking your lips?

Anxious for no good reason, I squirmed and tried to back away, but I was instantly caught by the scruff of my neck and pulled back to my original spot.

“I can’t eat a squirrel that has so many uses.”

Koenig said, raising an eyebrow.

It was a statement whose intentions I couldn’t fathom at all.

*A highly useful squirrel?*

Does this dragon-boy know something?

I stared at Koenig, hoping for an answer, but his mouth remained stubbornly shut.

Instead, he stared down at me for a long time.

It was a persistent gaze, as if he were peering right into my very essence.

“I hear the Imperial Family is desperately searching for a squirrel beastman. One with white fur and cherry-red eyes, they say…”

His tone was flat, as if he were talking to himself.

Yet to me, it felt like the most potent threat imaginable.

The moment my reflection was cast in Koenig’s eyes, my heart plummeted with a heavy thud.

The thought struck me that this crazy Black Dragon might actually know my identity.

Could he have brought me here knowing full well that I am Muriel Aymond?

Only to hand me over alive to the Imperial Family as soon as morning comes.

*No, there’s no way he’s certain yet.*

Catching my breath, I refuted the doubts rising in my mind.

First of all, I wasn’t an albino squirrel right now.

Though I had unusually red eyes, I looked like an ordinary brown squirrel.

It would be difficult to be sure based on eye color alone.

And while albino squirrels are rare, they aren’t completely nonexistent.

So Koenig’s suspicion must still be in the tentative stages.

*Besides, Koenig doesn’t even know I’m a beastman.*

If he did, he would have thrown me in the basement long ago, just like Gerard and the doctor said.

“They say whoever captures that squirrel will receive a reward big enough to buy a townhouse in the capital.”

Unaware of my anxiety, Koenig continued to speak.

Though he narrowed his eyes with a relaxed smile, I was still paralyzed with fear. I burrowed deeper into the pouch to hide my trembling body.

“Are you scared?”

*Do you even have to ask?*

With only my eyes peeking out, I nodded cautiously.

Whatever happened, I absolutely could not be captured by the Imperial Family.

Even if it was a ruined house now, Aymond was an esteemed marquisate with a long history.

Moreover, it was one of the prominent families representing herbivorous beastmen.

Such a family was branded as traitors overnight without a proper investigation or trial.

*The only one capable of orchestrating such a thing…*

Is the Imperial Family, the sole power on this continent.

The reason they were still searching for me even after three years was surely nothing good.

Now, powerless as I was, was the time to lie low and stay out of sight.

And paradoxically, the Kreuz Ducal Castle was the safest place, completely out of the Emperor’s evil clutches.

Even safer than the Grizzly Bear Mountain, where God knows who might raid us and when.

Thus, even if I had to swallow my pride, I needed to stay in this crazy Black Dragon’s castle.

*In fact, this might be an opportunity.*

An opportunity to take over this Black Dragon Castle and make it my cozy nest.

To do that, I have to win over this bloodless, tearless Black Dragon Duke first.

“Chu…”

I wriggled my folded legs inside the pouch and crept closer to Koenig.

Then, I blinked my eyes, putting on the most adorable expression I could muster.

“……Do squirrels get eye infections too?”

“Chu-ut!!”

*Does this look like an eye infection to you, you clueless dragon-boy!*

“Ah, so it was a honey trap.”

“Chuu, chuu.”

When I nodded vigorously, I heard him let out a soft snort of laughter.

Though by the time I looked up, his face had returned to his usual expressionless self.

“I never imagined you would be so proactive.”

“Chu-chu…”

*Well, you should start imagining it from now on.*

Koenig still looked like he didn’t quite understand my words.

However, it was clear he didn’t dislike it.

Because he gently stroked the crown of my head.

Somehow, it felt like he was treating me like a toy doll, but…

Who cares about that when it’s a matter of survival?

“Don’t worry. We, the Kreuz, are on very bad terms with the Imperial Family. Besides, there are plenty of things I need to find out from you.”

It was a relief that their relationship was bad.

But what did he mean by finding things out from me?

What could the Duke of Kreuz, who possessed as much wealth and power as the Emperor, possibly want to find out from me?

All I knew was the location of my temporary food stash and my treasure trove.

But even after several minutes, no answer came.

Koenig just kept staring down at me with an enigmatic expression.

“I have a great deal of money. I can’t possibly hand over something that’s fallen into my hands for a mere pittance.”

Is it a relief that he’s crazy…?

At any rate, my immediate safety was secured.

But it was still too early to let my guard down.

And it seemed my counterpart thought the same.

“You aren’t planning to put me at ease like this and then run away, are you?”

He muttered, almost talking to himself.

As if searching for an answer, Koenig sank into thought, his face soon turning serious.

Since I had already committed various crimes (theft, escape), he must have thought the possibility was high.

“I guess I have no choice.”

*What do you mean, no choice?*

When I tilted my head, Koenig raised his finger and pointed somewhere.

It was the display cabinet where Gerard and I had engaged in a fierce chase.

“One of my favorite ornaments broke while you were fleeing. If you run away again and get caught, I will put you there to take its place.”

Y-You mean, you’ll…

“I mean I’ll turn you into a taxidermy mount. Since you look quite cute.”

*Since you look quite cute.*

*Since you look quite cute.*

*Since you look quite cute.*

The sweet yet ruthless words echoed in my ears.

Mom, what should I do?

I think I’ve gotten tangled up with a total psychopath…