That’s when she heard rustling sounds from the opposite side. Bonobono had awakened from sleep due to the quacking. Her eyes met with the black-furred ape.

— Quack? (What are you looking at?)

Bestia glared. She also stretched out her duck bill.

— Kihik.

— Quack! (Oh? Are you laughing at me?)

The thoroughly angered duck was ill-tempered. In contrast, Bonobono wore a disinterested expression. As if it wasn’t worth his time, he even picked his ear.

— Quack? (Are you ignoring me?)

Bestia furrowed her brow at this behavior. She felt thoroughly offended. Her chest feathers trembled with rage. Her adorable duck feet tensed up.

— Quaaack? (You’re also the emperor’s pet, right?)

— Kihit?

— Quack! (But I’m the one receiving abundant affection right now!)

— Kik.

Bestia raised her voice. Bonobono snorted. It was the perfect moment where only the angry one looked foolish.

What are you so proud of to ignore me?

The emperor is completely smitten with me, you know?

Bestia swallowed her last inner thoughts. If she said more, she felt she might burst from frustration.

— Quooo……! (Uuuu……!)

Tremble tremble.

The tips of her wings curled like clenched fists. With her sharply risen blood pressure, the edges of her yellow duck bill turned pink.

Even the princess of the Kingdom of Runda is below me!

How dare he treat me like an ordinary duck!

The nerve of this mere ape!

The self-esteem born from Caenian’s coddling was greater than expected. She realized this only now.

— Quack! (Ha!)

I guess I’m just an ordinary woman after all.

The attention from a handsome man was sweet. And the fact that that man was the emperor made it even more so. Bestia, momentarily seeing herself objectively, blushed. That’s when something incredible happened.

Click!

— Quack? (Huh?)

As the lock opened, Bonobono leisurely walked out of his cage. The ape held a wire in his hand.

— Quack! Quack! Quaaack! (Amazing! Me too! Open mine too!)

Bestia screamed. Bonobono’s movements appeared in slow motion to her.

— Quack! Quaaack! (Me too! I want to get out of here too!)

Confident stride. Self-assured expression. A sharp pin in his hand.

Could Bonobono also be a beastman?

The moment she doubted Bonobono’s identity, Bestia decided to focus first on getting out.

— Quack? Quaaack! Quack? (Will you free me too? We’re roommate friends! Right?)

The white br*ast of the duck swelled with anticipation. She expected that she too would gain freedom. Meanwhile, Bonobono stood in front of the duck cage. The ape’s downcast gaze swept over the small duckling.

— Pfft.

— Quack? (Huh?)

The ape let out a snicker. Bestia was bewildered, and that was the end.

— Qu-Quack! (W-Wait a minute!)

Bestia desperately called after Bonobono as he passed by her, but there was a slam! as the door closed. Bonobono was no longer in the room.

— Quaaack! (This can’t be happening!)

The duck, red with anger, collapsed in the duck cage. Only the wails of the furious duck filled the room.

“Betty! I’m back!”

When Caenian entered the bedroom, it was approaching midnight. Bonobono had returned before him. As if he had never opened the cage door and left, he had even locked it again. Bestia trembled at the sight.

— Quaaack! (Caenian! That black ape!)

“Sigh, Betty. While it was clearly my fault to treat a princess of a country like that, I expect friction with the Kingdom of Runda in the future.”

— Quack! (Gasp! All because of me……)

Caenian looked extremely tired. Bestia, who had been thrashing wildly inside the duck cage, closed her bill tightly. She looked at the man who took her out and placed her on his palm. His handsome face was full of fatigue.

“Never mind. What does it matter. Our Delta Empire is superior in every aspect anyway.”

— Quaa! (That’s right! We’re the best!)

Caenian lay down on the bed just like that. He placed Bestia on his chest. The small, fluffy white duck stood gallantly on the emperor’s chest.

“That little kingdom. Apart from causing noise at the border, there’s nothing to worry about.”

— Quack! (Right! Don’t worry about it! But Bonobono picked the lock……)

“Ha. No. I probably acted without thinking things through. As emperor, I should set an example.”

Back and forth. Caenian changed his assessment of his own actions as easily as flipping his palm.

— Quaaack. (I-Is that so? Well, you did chase away a princess of a country……)

Accordingly, Bestia immediately reversed her words too. A moment of silence followed. Only the sound of Caenian’s sighs could be heard. The hand stroking Bestia moved differently for a moment.

Rustle rustle.

— Quack. (Phew.)

During this time, Bestia also let out a sigh. She made a nest on Caenian’s chest and shook her head. But something felt strange.

— Quack? (Why is it so warm?)

A warm heat transferred through her belly, chest, and chin.

— Quack! (What! When did you take it off!)

The duck who looked down jumped up in surprise. What should have been under her duck feet was missing. Caenian was n*ked.

Regrettably but fortunately! Just his upper body!

— Quaaack! (Pervert! Put on your nightclothes quickly!)

That’s right. Bestia was now on Caenian’s bare chest. The duck, embarrassed all by herself, hopped around. It was her first time seeing a man’s body. Whenever Caenian changed clothes, maids were always beside him. They set up a screen, and he dressed behind it.

And Bestia during those times? She was either dozing off or eating strawberries. Sometimes she had staring contests with Bonobono.

— Quaaack! (I’m a woman too! You idiot!)

Wasn’t a female duck a woman too!

Bestia stomped her feet in anger. She flapped her wings.

“Betty, were you upset that you couldn’t enjoy the banquet fully? I’m sorry.”

— Quack! (What are you saying! Bring the board right now!)

Caenian stroked the hopping duck. The man’s firm chest wasn’t hurt at all by the duck’s kicking. Rather, only Bestia’s duck feet hurt.

— Quaaack! (Hing. It hurts! Your chest is too hard!)

Bestia lifted her foot. Her plump heel ached. It even felt like her sole had swollen already.

— Quack! Quaaa! (I’ve got calluses! Waaah!)

The duck examined the soles of her left and right feet in turn and despaired. She sat down heavily on Caenian’s chest and cried.

The youth of a barefoot duck. It’s youth because of the calluses.

She felt miserable. No matter how poor she had been, she had never been without shoes. But being a duck was different.

No, wait. I’m the emperor’s duck, right?

— Quack. (Hey. Even if you adore me, couldn’t you at least make me a pair of shoes?)

After feeling embarrassed and wronged all by herself, realization dawned. Bestia glared at Caenian. She narrowed her blue eyes. It was her version of an angry face.

But…….

“My duck. The way you sit with your duck feet stretched out is very cute.”

Still, she was just a white fluff ball on a broad chest.

— Quack. (Sigh.)

Following Bonobono, for the second time, the duck who lost the will to be angry sighed and decided to think of something else. Bestia rolled her eyes as she received the gentle strokes on her head.

— Quack Quaaack. (But why was I still a duck even in the smoke.)

Belatedly mulling over the events at the banquet, she remembered something truly important. In the white smoke that revealed a beastman’s true form, she remained a duck.

Why was that?

Could it be that I’m not a duck beastman but just a duck?

Various questions filled her chest. She wanted to talk with Duke, who seemed to know a lot. While it was fortunate that her identity wasn’t exposed, she had many thoughts. Bestia looked up at Caenian.

“Betty, I’m sorry.”

— Quack? (For what?)

Their eyes met then.

“I knew for a while that Princess Harael had a crush on me, but I never dreamed she would be jealous of you, an animal. It was my oversight.”

— Quack? (What. You knew?)

Caenian seemed to be recalling the events at the banquet as well.

“Ha… I really don’t like that type with such strong self-love. The former emperor seemed to have good judgment about women. He flatly rejected the strategic marriage proposal sent from Runda.”

— Quack! (Strategic marriage!)

“After that, things were quiet for a while, but when I became emperor, they started flying in again, which was problematic.”

— Quack. (It was a persistent one-sided love.)

But their shared thoughts ended there. Afterward, they exchanged words that seemed completely disconnected. Caenian would ramble, and Bestia would vaguely go along with it.

“Ha! What am I saying to a duck? This is ridiculous.”

Caenian belatedly came to his senses and clicked his tongue, but even then, he didn’t stop gently stroking Bestia’s head.

“Betty, since I met you, my mundane daily life has become quite noisy.”

His voice mixed with laughter. Each day was eventful. It wasn’t unpleasant. Just that his own behavior, wavering with unfamiliar emotions, was amusing.

“As the emperor of an empire, I almost got embarrassed by a duck scandal, yet why am I feeling so good?”

Caenian burst into empty laughter. At the same time, all his tension melted away, and sleep overcame him.

— Quack? (You’re sleeping like this?)

Bestia, who had been quietly receiving strokes, blinked. She watched in real-time as the man before her gradually fell asleep.

What am I supposed to do?

— Quack…… (Oh no……)

Soon, Caenian’s regular breathing pierced the duck’s sensitive ears. At that lullaby-like sound, Bestia’s eyes also slowly began to close. In his warm embrace, the duck’s head dropped.

Click!

— Kihik!

— Quack…… (That sound is……)

In her increasingly distant consciousness, she thought she heard Bonobono’s cry.