Sadness deepened over his complicated expression. It was simultaneous with Ruvan III’s old voice brushing past his ear. Ruvan III had suspected the squirrel as a beastman who would trick and harm the prince. He said even helping him find his way was a deception.

Caenian, not even ten years old, couldn’t understand. He only cried in front of the squirrel’s corpse. He felt sorry for the animal that lost its life because of him.

“My very existence is a sin. Therefore, the weight I bear is as much as the number of sacrificed souls. If something had gone wrong with you today, your weight would have been added too.”

─ Quack….. (Ah…..)

A low, heavy voice filled the office. The sentences painfully spat out choked the air.

“I’m glad the reason you were sick was motion sickness, Duckie. I’m even more glad that your motion sickness has improved.”

Caenian let out a deep sigh. With his head bowed low, he was now just a person, not an emperor. Bestia’s heart also felt heavy seeing him. She felt sorry for him. Seeing his guilt-ridden face, she wanted to comfort him.

─ Quack. (Cheer up.)

There wasn’t much comfort she could offer in duck form. Bestia stood up on his palm and flapped her wings.

─ Quack! Quack! (Cheer up! Fighting!)

Flap flap.

Along with the vigorous wing flapping, her duck feet also moved. It was a dance full of cuteness. Caenian, who had been hanging his head, laughed at the sight.

“Is this a dance of comfort?”

─ Quack quack! (If this brings you comfort!)

Thump thump. Thump thump thump.

Bestia moved energetically on his hand. Caenian’s face, which had been smirking, gradually brightened. The laughter that had been just a chuckle gained strength.

“Ha. I can’t believe… I’m being comforted by a duck of all things.”

─ Quack quaack quack. (I’m not a duck, but a duck beastman.)

Caenian gave a bitter smile. He felt embarrassed for whining to a mere duckling. He had acted like a victim when both the past and present were his fault. What kind of sentimentality made him blurt out words he couldn’t take back? If he hadn’t seen Duke’s sharp eyes, he wouldn’t have done this.

“…Right. It’s natural for the Chancellor to look at me like that. The former emperor killed all of the Chancellor’s relatives. No matter how much he swore loyalty, he can’t be without resentment.”

─ Quack? (What?)

Bestia stopped moving at Caenian’s mumbling. He was clearly talking to himself. If he wanted her to hear it, he wouldn’t have spoken so quietly. It was just because her hearing was good that she heard it. The sound he made by slightly moving his lips.

─ Quaack. Quack. (No. No one’s existence is a sin just for being born.)

“Hah… Duckie……”

Bestia comforted Caenian sincerely. She opened her mouth even knowing that to the other person, it would just sound like a duck’s quacking. Her eyes were serious, and her voice was loud. She stood proudly on her two duck feet with her white fluffy chest puffed out.

─ Quaack! Quack quaack! (Grandfather Chancellor will know too! That you’re not at fault!)

“Duckie……”

─ Quaaack! Quack! (He just had that look because of a momentary memory of the past! He’s staying by your side now because you’re good!)

“Your eyes, your appearance. It’s truly comforting.”

His gaze was fixed on the small wings that kept flapping. The yellow beak that kept opening and closing too. And the blue eyes that were moist. It looked as if it was crying on his behalf.

Caenian smiled. The energy given by this being, which hardly weighed anything on his palm, was tremendous.

“Thank you.”

─ Quack! (It’s nothing!)

Caenian, who quickly regained his spirits, laughed. The corners of his eyes, holding black-colored eyes, deepened. A splendid light shone on the face that had been deeply troubled. Bestia raised her head with her wings tightly pressed to her body. Seeing the man’s smiling face made her feel good too.

“Let me repay you as well.”

─ Quack? (What? What repayment?)

“From now on, I will bestow upon you unconditional love. I allow you to stay by my side for life. When you die, I’ll bury you in the imperial cemetery. How about that?”

─ Quaaack! (I hate that more than prison!)

Cancel the good mood!

Terrible words pierced her eardrums.

─ Quack! Quack! (Go away! Get lost!)

At the same time, as Caenian rubbed Bestia against his face, the soft down tickled his skin. Although the quacking sound hurt his ears, he liked it.

Perhaps finding this duck in danger wasn’t a coincidence? It wasn’t a coincidence, but fate.

The sudden thought filled him with hope. He also felt the expectation that he might not fall into depression with negative thoughts anymore. It seemed like all he needed was this snow-white duck that came to him like luck.

“I’m so glad I met you, Duckie.”

─ Quaack? (I don’t like it though?)

“And that you’re by my side.”

─ Quaaack? (I don’t want to stay either?)

It was after Caenian had rubbed Bestia against both his cheeks to his heart’s content. As he said cheesy words with a face that looked like he was dying of cuteness, Bestia narrowed her eyes. She felt strange seeing the emperor who had fallen for her in just one day.

I feel unpleasant!

But I also feel good! What is this? Is my heart a reed?

Her chest tickled. She also felt her self-esteem rising. The feeling that she was someone needed by someone, that is.

A heart that couldn’t be filled even with her adoptive parents’ great love.

An inevitable resentment towards her birth parents.

Although at that time, Ruvan III had implemented policies to reject beastmen, and her parents must have had their circumstances, she was too young to understand all those reasons.

Currently, Bestia was only sixteen years old. In a month, it would be her second year attending the academy, which means she’s still very young.

“I want to see you grow up healthy and see those small wings develop beautiful large feathers.”

─ Quack? Quaaack! (What? I’m going back home before that!)

“What’s that? You’ll show me how gracefully you can fly too? Haha, alright. But don’t fly too far away. Even if you fly to your heart’s content, you must always return to my side. Understand?”

─ Quaack! Quaack quack! (No! I’ll fly to the end of the continent!)

Bestia quacked loudly again.

Self-esteem is just self-esteem.

She had a home. She wanted to return to her adoptive parents as soon as possible. Although they weren’t related by blood, they were family.

She missed Garnet and Aesop who had embraced her with love for 16 years. Her plan to just see the Peace New Year’s Parade had gone completely awry. If things had gone as planned, she should have been home long ago.

─ Quaaack! (When can I go home!)

Bestia flapped her wings. Through the window, she could see the sun setting. Perhaps Aesop and Garnet had started looking for her.

Her best friends Shushu and Crusoe would be angry that she didn’t show up at the meeting place, and Shushu might have sent someone to her house.

「Bestia, can you explain what happened today?
We promised to go to my house together. Please reply.
– Your friend Shushu」

The letter Shushu would have written in her round handwriting was predictable without even seeing it. A sentence created with a mix of her straightforward personality and thoughtfulness.

If she had really received it, she probably wouldn’t have been able to write anything, her heart pounding. Would they believe her if she wrote that she followed a pickpocket and turned into a duck? And that she met the emperor and briefly visited the imperial palace?

Would they think she was joking?

No, Shushu isn’t someone who doubts her friends. But still…

─ Quack. Quaaack. (Sniffle. I don’t know.)

Thump, Bestia sat down heavily on Caenian’s hand. It was a stark contrast to the comforting dance she had performed just moments ago.

Thinking about the future drained all her energy. The problem was realizing that she was a duck beastman. Despite living as a human for 16 years, she now wondered if she could live well as a beastman. Her identity was in turmoil.

─ Quaack quack….. (Plus, earlier I turned into a human and got caught by the emperor…..)

Her mind was in chaos. Her shoulders slumped. It was the opposite of Caenian, who had just regained his spirits.

Was it because she had given too much of her energy to comfort the other who had been so depressed? Now Bestia was the one lacking energy. Although ducks don’t have many expressions, a sense of depression could be felt.

“Duckie, why are you suddenly making such a sad face? What’s wrong? Tell me.”

─ Quaaack. (Even if I tell you, you won’t understand.)