I Became the Wicked Beastmen’s Catnip

Mir’s eyes widened.

 

The only people who can stay at the main palace were the direct descendants of the Persian family who were born with mana. Licht’s words were no different from his declaration that he would raise Yernian, a human baby and the prophetic Messiah, just like them.

 

Mir lowered his head as he looked at Licht, who was immersed in his thoughts with his confused eyes.

 

“I understand, Your Majesty.”

 

It was the moment when Yernian’s fate, which was all about a cramped test tube, began to flow in a completely different direction.

 

***

 

When I opened my eyes, my surroundings were already dark. I had no idea where the nanny and maids who had looked after me for the past month had gone.

 

‘How much time has passed?’

 

As a newborn baby, I spent more than half of my day sleeping, regardless of my will. That is why the time when I’m awake, even for a short time like now, is invaluable.

 

I retraced my memories while forcibly grasping the consciousness of being dragged into sleepiness again.

 

‘I think those men brought me here.’

 

They didn’t even see the tip of my nose while I was here. It was the same even though many days had already passed.

 

‘Considering from how that man is called ‘Your Majesty’, is he a royalty?’

 

I remember the night I first met that man. Then, naturally, a weird pair of triangles hanging over the man’s head flashed through my mind. It was only a few days ago that I found out that they were ears covered in fluffy fur.

 

‘To think it’s a beastman.’

 

While time has passed by for me close to a month, I remember the information I had learned through the chatty maids.

 

First of all, the place where I was captured is a special dimension called Myo World, where the cats called Myo Clan live together. Unlike the continent where humans and beasts live together. It’s an independent space where only the Myo Clan exist. It’s a special space created for them by a human magician who was chosen by the Myo Clan at a time where there were so many magician, unlike now.

 

‘For now, these beastmen don’t seem to have the purpose of doing experiments on me.’

 

I can’t tell you how deeply relieved I was to know that it wasn’t a cramped laboratory without a single ray of sunlight when I first opened my eyes here.

 

Moreover, I was being looked after with utmost care by two maids and a nanny, apparently, it was ordered by royalty.

 

My eyelids trembled in the confusion that came late.

 

‘It’s not enough to die in the laboratory, they made me regress.’

 

I don’t know how this was possible, but I didn’t think that the desperation for survival stuck in my heart.

 

I want to survive.

 

I want to survive no matter what I have to do and live my life as a full-fledged human, not a subject.

 

Feeling the heat around my eyes, I shut my lips.

 

‘It’s impossible to escape from here right now.’

 

There was no way this could be done with the body of a newborn baby who could neither walk nor speak properly. Even if I’m lucky enough to escape, there’s nowhere to return to. The royal palace where I was born must’ve been turned to ashes by now.

 

Rather than the continent where they are, the Myo World might be much safer. Because it was said that it’s a dimension separated from the continent.

 

At that time, foreign energy pierced into the space surrounded by quiet silence. Unable to move my neck freely yet, I only rolled my eyes.

 

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell over my tense body.

 

“Why are you not sleeping?”

 

The owner of the low voice was the man I met in the sanctuary.

 

A man presumed to be the supreme ruler of the Myo Clan who was called ‘Your Majesty’.

 

‘…Can you use magic?’

 

I froze in shock and looked up at the tall man. Still, my eyesight was so poor that I could barely discern the shapes of objects at close range, and the man’s face was half-buried in darkness.

 

Tuk,

long, sharp claws brushed past my nostrils.

 

As I reflexively grimaced my face, the man who was staring at me in the dark let out a windswept laugh.

 

“Sleep quickly.”

 

At the end of those words, the energy of the man that filled the room disappeared. It happened in an instant.

 

‘I definitely heard that beastmen are not born with mana, though.’

 

Mana, unlike the holy power, is like a gift from God to humans. However, the foreign energy that I just felt in the man was clearly mana.

 

‘It’s said that a long time ago the Magician’s legacy was completely cut off.’

 

Isn’t that why I, who was born with magical powers, was the subject of their experiments?

 

‘Why is it that the royal family of the Myo World, who can already freely manipulate mana, captured me…’

 

This underdeveloped brain complained of fatigue as it was afraid I’d keep thinking for a long time. In the end, without continuing my clumsy reasoning, I surrendered myself to the rapidly rising sleepiness.

 

***

 

After that day, an unwelcome change occurred in my monotonous daily life.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

I looked at the man whose face was buried in the dark with a grim look.

 

Even though my eyesight had improved to the point where I could distinguish the shapes clearly, it was unreasonable to be able to recognize the face of a man who was consumed by the darkness.

 

“Why.”

 

“…”

 

“What are you looking at like that?”

 

“Aung.”

 

As I struggled with my arms, unable to overcome the frustration, the snores returned.

 

That man came to visit me every midnight, like now, when the nanny and maids were away. And even though I was asleep, I opened my eyes as if I was responding to his mana. This bizarre confrontation had been going on for three months without stopping.

 

I’m now able to express my feelings to some extent through babbling.

 

“Auuuu.”

 

Get out of here!

 

With this in mind, I waved my arm threateningly once again.

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

“Aung!”

 

As I made a more rough gesture than before, that man nodded his head once as if he understood.

 

“Alright.”

 

…Do you really understand?

 

I kept my mouth shut, even though I muttered for a long time. I groaned and moved my arms a few times, and my whole body quickly became tired. I could feel the man’s energy withdrawing even in the mood.

 

Until then, I didn’t know. How that man would interpret my rough babbling.

 

***

 

The next afternoon, a familiar energy approached me, who was drunk in a light nap after a meal.

 

“Yernian.”

 

The eerie energy that was like summer mist and the voice from before were definitely that man. 

 

With my eyes wide open, I looked up at the face of the man I had seen properly for the first time.

 

‘His name is Licht, isn’t it?’

 

This morning, it was the name I got to know from the nanny who had been taking care of Licht since the days he was still a prince. 

 

His fine silver hair ran down his shoulder, as if there’d be a mist on your hand if you touched it. Licht, presumed to be the head of the Myo Clan, had a completely different face than I had vaguely imagined. The pupils in the bright blue eyes with the tips slightly raised were bright blue. A delicate and cool face glimmered in front of my nose.

 

‘It’s not even night yet, so why is he here…’

 

“Eat. I caught it myself.”

 

Licht dropped something fluttering into my cradle.

 

Flutter, flutter—!

 

…Huh?

 

A pungent fishy smell pierced my nose. The feeling of the wet scales hitting my cheeks from time to time was indescribably terrifying.

 

Licht, who appeared with an unknown object in the middle of broad daylight, looked down at me with eyes that were expecting something.

 

“Uuu… u… uwaaaang!”

 

The nanny and maids were amazed as I usually don’t cry so much. Except for the special situation of taking a bath and physiological crying, I belonged to the meek side.

 

As I burst into tears, the nanny and maids who were waiting in the next room ran in.

 

“Y-your Majesty!” Their faces turned pale when they found Licht standing by the cradle.

 

“Why is she crying?”

 

“…Y-yes?”

 

“I said, why is she crying?”

 

I started to raise my voice higher than before and cry. The nanny, who was alternately watching the fish flapping beside me and Licht, stepped forward.

 

“Your Majesty. It seems that Her Highness the Princess was very surprised.”

 

“Why?” Licht frowned as if he didn’t really like my reaction.

 

At that moment, a familiar voice I had heard once in the sanctuary was heard.

 

“Your Majesty. As I have told you, human babies have a markedly different rate of physical growth from that of beastmen. Human babies don’t have sharp teeth, so they can’t eat raw food like this.”

 

“…”

 

“And even if the best courtship gift method is to give the hunted prey without killing it directly to a beastman, it can be a lightning bolt for humans.”

 

…What kind of courtship do you have, though?

 

Why are you courting me, who’s not one year old yet, in the first place?

 

“Uwaaaang!”

 

At least, a man whom I assumed to be a common-sense beastman quickly retrieved the fish that had been running wild in my cradle. Then the restless maids ran up to it, grabbed the fish that made their teeth tremble just by looking at them, and disappeared somewhere.

 

“Why is it so complicated.”

 

“Even if Your Majesty had never had any interactions with humans, I had no idea that you would act so unconventionally.”

 

“…So where do you wish to be buried?”

 

A faint gleam passed by Licht’s eyes, and the man named Mir hurriedly lowered his eyes. 

 

Mir, who held me who was crying softly, patted my back repeatedly.

 

“Sssh, it’s fine, Princess. There’s no fish now, so rest assured.”

 

Licht made eye contact with me, who stopped crying little by little.

 

“You didn’t say anything like that yesterday.”

 

What?

 

While crying, I glared at Licht with my eyes wide open as wild as possible. Mir, who had been stroking my back, countered on behalf of me, whose babbling was all I could express.

 

“Your Majesty. I know that Her Highness the Princess can’t speak because she hasn’t had any teeth yet.”

 

“She said it with her eyes.”

 

…This crazy.

 

Mir, who was holding me, seemed to lose his words as well.

 

“Mir, what are those ungodly eyes? Do you want to have your eyes plucked out?”

 

At Licht’s gentle-like question, Mir hurriedly shook his head, still holding me.

 

He then said, “I was admiring Your Majesty for sharing such deep communion with Her Highness the Princess.”

 

“Why is she so picky?” Licht showed signs that the current situation was very annoying.

 

“Mm. Wouldn’t the Princess like things such as toys more?  When I was studying on the continent, the princes of the empire I visited had their own toy room.”

 

“So it’s toys.” Licht’s eyebrows, which had been wrinkled all along, became straight. 

 

Mir seemed to like the alternative he came up with.

 

‘I don’t need all of them, I just wish you all could leave me.’

 

After crying loudly for a long time, I lost all of my energy and only gasped for breath. As soon as Mir put me down in the cradle, I was exhausted. I closed my eyes, ignoring Licht’s face as he approached me.

 

There was no more stamina left to deal with the madman with a neat face.

 

Licht, who hadn’t spoken for a long time, muttered softly.

 

“It’s definitely tiny.”

 

It was later discovered that the children of the Myo Clan grew up fast enough to be able to live on their own after 12 weeks of age.