“Are you saying… the Duke himself brought this squirrel back?”

“So I heard. He kept it tucked inside his coat for an entire week.”

“A whole week? Then the reason the squirrel hasn’t woken up is probably because of accumulated exhaustion.”

The voices drifted into my hazy consciousness.

One was full of suspicion.

The other belonged to someone elderly.

Has it already been a week?

After being kidnapped from my cabin, the first place I regained consciousness was inside a dark, cramped pocket.

The ride had been so rough that I must have drifted in and out of consciousness several times.

“So, there’s really no chance it’s a beastman?”

“At the moment, no. I can’t sense any beastman mana from it whatsoever. Besides, the ducal castle has beastman detection magic for security purposes. If it were a beastman, a mark would have appeared long ago.”

“But His Grace said it seemed to understand human speech.”

Someone poked my cheek as he spoke.

Even after the physician’s explanation, he still seemed unwilling to rule out the possibility that I was a beastman.

“Its fur is well-groomed, and it’s in excellent health. It seems to have lived alongside humans for quite some time. It probably learned human language back then. Among the high-ranking nobles in the capital, it’s said that trained animals are sometimes used as spies.”

“Hm. I see. Even if it isn’t a beastman, we can’t completely dismiss the danger.”

“But that’s fortunate… for this poor squirrel.”

Poor squirrel?

They were probably talking about me.

I’d actually been awake for quite a while already, but I desperately pretended to stay asleep.

“Indeed. If it had been a beastman, its head would have been chopped off long ago.”

“Hoho. If losing its head were all, it would be lucky. It would probably end up begging for death instead.”

Those terrifying words kept coming one after another.

Fortunately, their conversation didn’t last much longer.

Even with my eyes closed, I could feel their relentless stares.

I barely dared to breathe. Another moment, and I might have truly fallen into eternal sleep.

“Well then, I still have patients to see, so I’ll take my leave.”

“Oh my, it’s already this late. I should be going as well.”

Their footsteps faded away, followed by the sound of the door closing.

They’re gone… right? They really left?

Keeping my ears perked up, I cautiously cracked open one eye.

Then—

“Squeeeak!!”

I couldn’t help but scream.

* * *

“So you’ve finally awakened.”

Because there was a man leaning right into my face.

His eyes were so narrow that I almost suspected he was a fennec fox beastman.

Though judging by the faint reptilian scent coming from him, he was probably some kind of reptile instead.

What did they call beastmen with faces like this again?

The maids used to read novels all the time.

I remembered them calling this type of character “the permanently smiling guy.”

And those characters always had something sinister hidden behind their smiles.

As expected…

His crescent-shaped eyes curved pleasantly, but it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

The only thing I knew was that those thin yellow pupils were carefully observing me.

He was probably trying to figure out my identity.

“Hm… On the outside, you really do look like an ordinary squirrel.”

Tilting his head, the man leaned even closer.

A chill ran down my spine, making every hair on my body stand on end.

When the tips of his dark green hair brushed against my ears—

“Squeeeak! Squeak!”

W-What are you?! Who are you?!

I desperately tried to run away from him.

But strangely, I wasn’t getting any farther away.

No—more accurately, I was just running in place.

Because my entire body was tied up inside a tiny pouch, with only my head sticking out.

W-What is this?!

I stared at the man in disbelief.

“Oh, it’s nothing special.”

“You’re simply being imprisoned.”

Imprisoned?

Is that really something you can say with a smile?!

Untie me! Untie me!

I struggled with all my might, but the man only narrowed his eyes further, suppressing a laugh.

“Pfft… It’s no use struggling. I tied it nice and tight into a ribbon. See? Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Squeak!”

As if that’s pretty!

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Squeak! Squeak!”

No! I said no!

I shook my head violently, but he didn’t seem interested.

Just like before, he continued talking at his own pace.

“Ah, I should introduce myself. My name is Gerard Viper. I’m an aide serving Duke Kreutz.”

Judging from what I’d overheard earlier with the physician, he’d already concluded that I could understand human speech.

Trying to keep pretending to be an ordinary animal would only make me seem more suspicious.

So I simply gave a small wave.

“Haha. Just as I thought. You’re certainly no ordinary squirrel. Which explains why you dared to lay your paws on Duke Kreutz’s belongings.”

So it really was because of the pocket watch.

The moment that strange man broke into my cabin, the watch had been taken away.

I remembered that when I briefly regained consciousness inside his coat, the watch had been lying right beside me.

I stole it for nothing…

Just as regret washed over me—

Wait.

Didn’t I just hear something strange?

I slowly looked up at Gerard.

“Squeak… Kreutz…?”

K-Kreutz…?

Surely not… that Kreutz?

I froze on the spot as if I’d just heard something I absolutely shouldn’t have.

Why did it have to be the Kreutz family?!

If someone asked what kind of family the Kreutzs were, nine out of ten people would answer the same way.

The Mad Ducal House.

Or—

The Mad Black Dragon Family.

Long ago, there existed creatures said to possess extraordinary power.

They were called Divine Beasts.

Those who inherited their blood became what we now call beastmen.

Calling dragons “dragon beastmen” sounded a little strange, but they too were undoubtedly beastmen who inherited the blood of a Divine Beast.

The difference was simply that the original Divine Dragons had possessed overwhelming power from the very beginning.

Because of that, the dragon clan was blessed with unmatched physical strength and explosive mana, even among beastmen.

And among them, the strongest family of all was…

The very House of Kreutz where I was now being held.

A family that had produced the Black Dragon—the ruler of all dragon clans—for generations.

People even said it was thanks to them that the many kingdoms across the continent had been unified under the Wigrdnia Empire.

…Why am I imprisoned in a place like this?

“Hic!”

I hiccupped so hard that my tiny body toppled over.

“Oh dear. I understand your shock. You probably never imagined that the item you stole was the late Duchess’s keepsake.”

So the watch I stole was actually a treasured heirloom of House Kreutz?

Then the man I’d found collapsed in the forest…

My vision began spinning on its own.

“Of course, you couldn’t possibly have known that he was Duke Kreutz himself.”

“Hic… hic…”

T-This is bad…

* * *

Silence lingered between Gerard and me for quite a while.

“Hic.”

Well…

Except for my hiccups.

“Don’t worry too much. No matter how Lord Kenih is, he wouldn’t bully such a tiny, harmless squirrel.”

“Hic… hic.”

The moment I heard the name Kenih, my hiccups became even worse.

Right.

Kenih.

That lunatic who smashed through the window I’d painstakingly repaired six separate times with my tiny squirrel paws.

The moment I remembered those gleaming eyes staring straight at me, only one thought filled my head.

I have to escape.

That was the only way I’d survive.

But where?

I frantically looked around the room.

I’d always thought the Aymond Marquis’ estate was enormous.

But it couldn’t even begin to compare with the Black Dragon Duke’s castle.

Perhaps because the castle itself was so massive, all the furniture was gigantic too.

F-First, I climb onto the sofa… then onto the cabinet…

After that, I’d jump to the display shelf.

Somewhere Gerard couldn’t reach.

The final destination of my escape route was the window.

Conveniently, it was half open, and one of the garden trees had stretched a thick branch all the way toward it.

It looked high…

But I’d jumped off a cliff before.

This was nothing.

The escape route is set. Now…

I just had to get out of this cursed pouch.

Fortunately…

I happened to know one foolproof method for escaping situations like this