─ Quack? (Is it okay to lend me a family heirloom?)

“What does it matter, when our family line ends with me anyway. Oh, good timing, 30 minutes have passed!”

─ Quack? (What?)

“Your motion sickness symptoms should be gone, right?”

─ Quack! Quaaack? (Wait a minute! How do I turn back into a human here?)

“You just need to look at the bead again.”

─ Quack?! (It was here, but now it’s gone?!)

“Search well in your feathers. For now, it’s best to hurry before it’s too late. It won’t be good if His Majesty gets angrier.”

Looking at the clock, Duke skipped any further explanation. His appointment with the emperor was far more important to him.

─ Quaaack! (Wait a moment! I still don’t fully understand! Are you saying duck beastmen also have heirlooms?)

Bestia quacked on Duke’s palm. Her flapping movements were full of confusion. She pecked at his wrinkled fingers with her beak, but it was in vain.

“Still, since His Majesty likes you, you won’t end up as a roast duck. For now, stay in duck form for a while, as you said.”

─ Quack! (Roast duck, how horrible!)

“Well now. It would be better to lower your voice. There are still many in this palace who dislike beastmen.”

─ Quaaack? (Really?)

“Yes. There are people everywhere, not just in the palace, who are still tainted by the deep-rooted beastman hatred ideology planted by the former emperor, or who dislike beastmen for personal reasons.”

When they reached the center of the shiny marble corridor, Duke suddenly stopped walking. Glancing around, he lifted Bestia to eye level. Then he made a shushing gesture to the duck who was huffing at him.

“But, what if they discover your true identity?”

─ Quack! (No!)

“And if His Majesty finds out that you deceived him, that you were the woman he saw in the Memorial Hall…”

─ Quack! (That can’t happen either!)

Duke brought his face close to Bestia. His voice, suppressed to a whisper, was very heavy. As if hinting that something terribly awful could happen.

─ Quack… (I might be sent to the execution block…)

At that moment, a dangerous and dizzying imagination bloomed in Bestia’s mind. The current emperor is the son of Ruvan III. It means he’s the bloodline of the man who implemented anti-beastman policies. Although he’s pushing for beastman-friendly policies now, no one knows when he might change like the former emperor.

No one could know Caenian’s true intentions. Even Duke, who seemed to be his closest aide, was saying such things, so it would be right to be careful.

─ Quack… (I understand…)

“Good girl. Duck beastmen, you see… it was known that they went extinct 16 years ago due to the former emperor’s anti-beastman policy. Until I saw you, that is.”

─ Qu… Quack? (Ex…tinct?)

“Yes. And all the positions, property, historical records, and everything else of the duck beastmen fell into the hands of the imperial family.”

─ Quack… Quaaack… (I see… I’m an orphan…)

Bestia lowered her head. The more she heard, the more her heart sank. As she fully realized that she was a duck beastman, loneliness washed over her. She had always had an unfillable void in her heart since childhood. Even with all the love Garnet and Aesop gave her, she felt empty.

When she was young, she just thought her parents had abandoned her for some reason. But that somewhere, people of the same blood were living.

However, now there are no duck beastmen in this world. What Duke said wasn’t a lie. That much was certain. It was because she had learned about beastman history at the academy.

─ Quack… (Sob…)

“When we have time later, let’s go to the palace library together. You’ll be able to learn about your roots.”

─ Quack? (Me too?)

“Yes. Wouldn’t that be good? The fact that you didn’t know you were a duck beastman means that the people who took you in didn’t know about you either, doesn’t it?”

─ Quaaack… (Did they really not know… I want to ask them too…)

“First, you need to know yourself a bit. Whether human or beastman, you need to know the past to know the future. Yes, that’s right. History repeats itself.”

Duke gently stroked Bestia’s head, who had become quiet. Her soft down feathers felt nice to touch.

─ Quack… (Sob…)

Duke, who had unknowingly smiled a fatherly smile, hardened his expression. It was because he saw the duck’s face full of sadness.

How many beastmen in the empire would have lost their families like this little duck in front of him? No one dared to count that number. He too had lost his family on the condition of staying alive in the palace.

The black pelican beastman family that wasn’t extinct. This was the hidden meaning: Count Duke Schubien is the last survivor of the family.

─ Quack… (I…)

“Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

Duke forced a bright voice. How bright could an old man’s brightness be, but Bestia could only nod.

─ Quack… Quaaack. (I really… hope everything turns out well.)

“Yes. Of course it will. For now, let’s go see His Majesty.”

It was reassuring to hear it from an elder who had weathered the storms of life. Seeing his kind smile made her want to believe. Bestia rubbed her cheek against Duke’s hand.

“Chancellor! You’re 1 minute and 27 seconds later than the 30 minutes I allowed!”

“Your Majesty, I apologize for being late. I heard that my new errand girl, still unfamiliar with palace life, made a grave mistake. Please bestow your mercy.”

Duke bowed his head as soon as he saw Caenian. Bestia blinked her eyes in his arms. She hadn’t expected him to ask for forgiveness on her behalf.

“Ha! Is that ill-mannered woman really the Chancellor’s errand girl?”

─ Quack! (Ill-mannered!)

Caenian was the same. He clicked his tongue at the sight of Duke, who’s old enough to be his grandfather, bowing. He couldn’t freely express his displeasure.

“Yes, Your Majesty. She’s the daughter of my friend’s nephew’s aunt, only sixteen years old. Please forgive her rudeness, Your Majesty.”

The quick-witted Duke took another preemptive step. Caenian was a compassionate person. At least more so than the former emperor. With an old man bowing his head, he wouldn’t be able to get too angry. After all, he had been his teacher.

“Hmm… When the Chancellor, who usually slips away like a loach, says so, it’s hard for me to speak.”

“A loach? Where in the world is there such a wrinkled old loach…”

“Chancellor, I’m still not appeased.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will re-educate her on palace etiquette.”

Duke, who had briefly raised his head, quickly bowed again. This time, Bestia also lowered her white head. Somehow, it felt like the right thing to do.

Because of me, unnecessarily…

“Hmm… I’m still uneasy. Walking around the palace in such shabby clothes, muttering to herself like a madwoman, it doesn’t match the Chancellor’s image at all.”

─ Quack? (What? Madwoman?)

Caenian watched, his eyebrows twitching, as he tapped the chair with his fingertips.

“I will dress her appropriately right away. It’s all my fault, Your Majesty.”

Duke quickly responded to Caenian’s suspicion and hid Bestia behind his back. The duck, who had widened her eyes at being called a madwoman, disappeared from their sight.

“Very well. But I must see the woman’s changed appearance myself. Bring her before me soon. And tell her to be careful not to cross my path today.”

“Yes. I will do so.”

─ Quack? (Me? See me directly?)

Behind Duke’s back, Bestia’s face turned pale. The already white duck became so white it was almost transparent, like a cotton cloud. Duke brought Bestia forward again.

“Your Majesty, then this duck…”

“Chancellor, we’re not done yet. I’ve already told Sir Potters to strengthen security. I thought there might be someone with impure intentions in this palace.”

“…Yes. I will make sure there are no more problems, Your Majesty.”

Duke didn’t say much. He knew why Caenian was so sensitive. He must have been teary-eyed in front of the former empress’s portrait.

He must have been embarrassed to be caught by Bestia in that state. Of course he’d be angry.

“I will have the girl pay her respects as soon as she’s ready, so please calm your anger for my sake, Your Majesty. Even this duck is trembling.”

Once again, words to wrap up the situation came from Duke’s mouth. This time, he showed the duck more clearly.

“Ah, my–! My duck!”

Caenian immediately reacted to the white duck in front of him.

“Your Majesty, did you forget? The duck might feel neglected.”

─ Quaaack? (I don’t feel neglected though?)

Bestia opened her beak for the first time in a while at Duke’s playacting. The heavy atmosphere seemed to finally lift.

“Forget? I was merely acting according to my duty as emperor. My duck is an imperial duck, so it should understand this much.”

─ Quack? (I don’t understand though?)