I Became the Wicked Beastmen’s Catnip

“Why the toy room, all of a sudden…?”

 

Alice, with a puzzled expression on her face, was unaware that Licht had returned as a living corpse.

 

Standing up, I pointed to the fishing rod displayed above the shelf.

 

“Alice. I want that one.”

 

Alice took out a fishing rod that was out of my reach.

 

“Why this all of a sudden?”

 

The fishing rod that I hadn’t looked at for years has returned to my hands.

 

I glanced over to see if there was anything else useful, and I pointed to the fish-shaped pillow in the corner.

 

“That too!”

 

“Ah, that…”

 

Alice, who had been holding her breath from the moment she entered the toy room, covered her nose and picked up the pillow.

 

“Here, Princess. But really, why are you looking for these all of a sudden?”

 

“Thank yew, Alice. I’m going for a walk for a moment!”

 

“Princess, wait! You have an etiquette class in two hours!”

 

Effortlessly ignoring Alice’s mournful cry, I ran out of the toy room.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, Askari was still crouching on the same spot, motionless.

 

“Askari.”

 

His flat-folded ears twitched at my call.

 

I opened my mouth to test the hypothesis I made today.

 

“Licht gave this to me, didn’t he?”

 

Askari grabbed the bait I had thrown at him to see if it was worthwhile to use my sassy voice on purpose.

 

Even in the dark, the scorching eyes turned to me.

 

‘After all, the reason you hated me all this time was because of Licht.’

 

Askari lowered his body as if he was about to rush in and let out a threatening cry.

 

“Grrrrr.”

 

Trying to keep my composure, I adjusted the fishing line so that the butterfly could move back and forth in front of Askari’s eyes. In the darkness, his pupils dilated to the fullest moved around following the movement of the butterfly.

 

According to Alice, the first bribe that Licht gave me was the most popular toy among young beastmen.

 

‘Was it that she said it stimulates the hunting instinct?’

 

Just as expected.

 

The tip of Askari’s tail, which had a lot of blades, started to curl up.

 

Soon, his front paws, resembling cotton bats, began to swish as if he was trying to catch the butterfly.

 

I slowly moved the butterfly so that Askari could come out.

 

However, Askari, who came to his senses quickly, showed his teeth fiercely towards me, and it went to nothing.

 

‘Is it a failure?’

 

There is another alternative prepared in case this happens.

 

I put my fishing rod down to one side and picked up a pillow in the shape of a fish that I had thrown at the end of the hallway.

 

This pillow was filled with intense catnip so that any cat lover would be thrilled. It was a pillow made of so-called catnip. Likewise, it was the trump card that Alice, who was vulnerable to catnip, gave me even while covering her nose.

 

“Askari.”

 

“Haaak!”

 

“What is this?~”

 

I gently shook the pillow full of catnip.

 

Askari, who was clenching his jaw like when I first met him, quickly covered his nose as if he was resisting his instincts.

 

Beastman is basically very sensitive to the five senses, so you can see the effect of catnip sufficiently.

 

Especially if it is a young beastman who has difficulty controlling his instincts.

 

“Meow, meow…!”

 

Askari tried to hold his breath, but couldn’t take his eyes off the fish-shaped pillow stuffed with preservative-enchanted catnip leaves.

 

I deliberately shook the pillow at a slower pace.

 

Askari, with his bright eyes, got closer to me with staggering steps.

 

A red cat came within reach of me.

 

“I caught you.”

 

“…!”

 

As soon as he approached, Askari’s hair, which snatched the pillow with his mouth, stood up stiff.

 

I swept Askari’s hair in my arms a few times with my hand, then said in a calm voice.

 

“I’ll give you that. Ah, this too.”

 

I pushed the clothes I had gathered in front of Askari, who had stiffened.

 

The cute whiskers on Askari’s lips were trembling.

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you this.”

 

Still, the fishing rod was the first bribe that Licht gave me.

 

I thought it would be good to keep it as a souvenir. I don’t know if there will be another day when it will be useful like today.

 

“Meow!”

 

“Huh? What am I up to, you asked?”

 

It was obviously a cat’s voice, but I could hear Askari’s thorny voice, so I smiled mischievously.

 

“There is nothing like that.”

 

I just went out because I thought it would bother me all day if I passed by.

 

‘It would be better if it could bother me even a little bit less.’

 

I murmured in a voice that was close to a whisper in Askari’s sharp ear.

 

“I don’t know why you are afraid of the Second Prince, but you can’t escape by just running away.”

 

“…Grr.”

 

I laughed bitterly as he cried,

you knew nothing about me

.

 

“I know it well because I keep running away too.”

 

Askari, who had the momentum to throw the pillow at me any moment, stopped.

 

“If you don’t face it and keep avoiding each other, it will only hurt you in the end.”

 

I conveyed my sincerity with as clear and concise words as possible. I didn’t forget to return to my childish tone again.

 

“It wash fun today, Askawri. Then goodbwye!” (It was fun today, Askari. Then goodbye!)

 

If I wanted to eat the sweet pumpkin soup that Alice made, I had to hurry now.

 

I grabbed the fishing rod and walked away with the cat with its mouth open in embarrassment behind me.

 

You seem to have regained some of your sanity, so I’ll go back to my room on my own.

 

Bang!

When I went down the stairs, I thought I heard something from behind, but I didn’t look back until the end.

 

***

 

Left alone in the hallway, Askari nervously messed up his hair.

 

He also didn’t forget to throw the pillow made of catnip on the floor.

 

‘How dare you think of me as something!’

 

Even though he couldn’t overcome his anger while wearing clothes, Yernian’s voice kept hovering around his ears.

 

[I don’t know why you are afraid of the Second Prince, but you can’t escape by just running away.]

 

[I know it well because I keep running away too.]

 

[If you don’t face it and keep avoiding each other, it will only hurt you in the end.]

 

The cute cravat in Askari’s hand was crumpled up in a mess.

 

“…She’s cheeky.”

 

He didn’t like her from the first time he saw her.

 

No, to be precise, it bothered him from the moment he found out that Licht was the one who brought that child ‘directly’.

 

What he didn’t like the most was Yernian’s eyes.

 

‘She’s a year younger than me.’

 

When he met those eyes that looked like they were dealing with a child who wasn’t good at controlling emotions, he was angry for no reason.

 

[Ash. Don’t bully Yernian while I’m away.]

 

The words Licht left before leaving the office further amplified his antipathy towards Yernian.

 

‘I can’t see Brother today, anyway.’

 

Recalling the Second Prince he met in the hallway, Askari sighed and turned his stiff neck around.

 

Thanks to Yernian’s forcibly dragging him out, he was able to pass quietly without being noticed by others, but he wasn’t at ease.

 

‘At least.’

 

Askari bit his nails involuntarily in nervousness climbing up his back.

 

‘You’re not saying useless things to Brother, right?’

 

Just imagining the worst situation was about to distract him again. Taking a deep breath, Askari looked down at the crumpled pillow on the floor.

 

Seeing that Licht’s energy was strong, it looked like he had put some preservation magic on it.

 

Askari’s clear blue eyes, looking down at the pillow, shook violently.

 

“What about the Messiah.”

 

Askari, holding his breath and glaring at the pillow like it was the foe of his life, turned nervously.

 

But he couldn’t go far and stood still.

 

“Argh, annoying!”

 

Askari, who had been rolling his feet with anger, ran at high speed and picked up the pillow in the shape of a crushed fish.

 

He thought that one day he would return this disgrace to that cheeky human.

 

***

 

As soon as I ate the sweet pumpkin soup that Alice had reheated, I headed to the royal library. I was able to afford it thanks to the cancellation of the etiquette class scheduled for the afternoon.

 

After Licht fell, Mir blocked most of the roads leading to the main palace.

 

Because of that, the atmosphere inside the palace was as precarious as walking on thin ice.

 

‘I can’t let Licht die like this.’

 

Aside from not even trying to negotiate properly yet, Licht was the first sympathetic stranger I’d met outside their grip.

 

Even if it was a fence made for a specific purpose, it was an undeniable fact that I was enjoying a humane life thanks to Licht.

 

If such a Licht were to be endangered, I, who was still only a child, would be at risk as well.

 

‘I have to live by any means possible.’

 

I don’t want to even imagine the situation after the fence called Licht was broken.

 

Especially when I think of them running at me like hungry dogs.

 

And I no longer wanted to helplessly watch someone die. It was probably an emotion close to compulsion

 

Biting my lip like a habit, I crossed the corridor, being careful not to make as many footsteps as possible.

 

Fortunately, the road leading to the royal library hasn’t been blocked yet.

 

“Your Highness the Princess.”

 

The librarian who was sorting out new books greeted me.

 

Nodding my head roughly, I turned to the place where magic-related books were gathered.

 

‘It was a book titled ‘The Magician’s Disease’.’

 

I stumbled across it when looking for books on magic theory, but thanks to my innate memory, I was able to find the book I was looking for right away.

 

The pages of the book, which smelled of old paper, fluttered through.

 

My eyes began to move rapidly following the dense letters on the paper.

 

‘Ah. I found it.’

 

[There are two cases where an abnormality occurs in the mana that is the source of magic. When the mana that is close to flowering is temporarily overloaded, or when it is depleted due to being excessively deprived of it by someone with malicious intent, it is called ‘Mana Abnormality’. In this case, the human body, which is nothing more than a host of mana, becomes critical. Especially in the latter case…]

 

Perhaps it is because mana is originally a miracle of the God that humans are born with, most of the magic books focused on ‘humans’.

 

After exhibiting high concentration for a long time, I carefully inserted excerpts related to mana abnormalities in my head.

 

‘Licht has already passed the age of mana blooming, so it must be the latter case.’

 

But who dares to take away the Licht’s mana, who is regarded as a powerful monarch among the Myo Clan?

 

I covered the thick book and put it on the road bookshelf and headed towards the entrance at a quick pace.

 

The librarian’s ears pricked up while he was making a list of books.

 

“Your Highness? Are you going already today?”

 

“Yes. I’m busy today!”

 

The sun seems to be setting when I see that the surroundings are dyed red.

 

As I passed the corridor, my eyes caught the knights with hard faces surrounding the main palace.

 

‘It is said that it is a magic that can only be successful if they match each other.’

 

I went straight to the bedroom and widened my eyes at the unexpected situation.