“You quack a lot like the duckling you are.”

“I’m not a duckling! I’m just a duck beastman!”

“You can’t fly. So you’re a duckling.”

“It’s not that I can’t fly, it’s that I choose not to fly?”

“Sure, whatever you say.”

Bonobono stood up and snapped the book shut. His face was all scrunched up. He seemed annoyed, but so was Bestia.

“Traitor! Pretending to be an animal all this time!”

And why is he more annoying now that we can communicate? Her clenched fists trembled involuntarily. She glared at Bonobono approaching her with narrowed eyes.

He was taller than she expected, so she had to lift her head high. Her gaze locked with his black eyes, different in quality from the emperor’s.

“I’ll kill you if you tell the emperor.”

“Quack!”

“You make duck sounds even as a human.”

“Ugh…!”

Who’s been deceiving the palace people all this time!

His lowered voice was unbearably obnoxious. This was some nerve. It was like the saying: the one who farted gets angry first—that was exactly what was happening now.

“How can you be equally rude as both an animal and a human?”

Though frightened by his threat to kill her, she sneered, pretending not to be.

“Same goes for you. Being so talkative. Miss Quack Quack.”

Tap.

Bonobono chuckled and placed his hand on Bestia’s head. Unlike his harsh words, the hand that lightly stroked her and disappeared felt like he was treating her as a younger sister.

Her blue eyes wavered slightly at the unfamiliar touch. Her scalp felt warm from his unexpectedly gentle hand. Heat rushed to her face.

“Wh-why are you acting like an adult? How old are you anyway?”

“It’s tacky to establish hierarchy by age.”

“Ick…! D-does His Majesty know that you’re a beastman?”

“…I said I’d kill you if you told him.”

“Ah. Right.”

Bestia stammered in confusion. Bonobono maintained a consistent attitude. Despite being discovered as a beastman, he remained composed. It was almost as if he had deliberately positioned himself to be found out.

“…But, my deductive skills are no joke, right?”

“……”

However, the woman who was relieved not to be going to prison had other thoughts. She asked boastfully with sparkling eyes.

“How did you know it was me right away just by looking?”

“……”

“As expected of the academy’s top student.”

It seemed she hadn’t expected an answer in the first place. Bonobono looked at the grinning Bestia with strange eyes. The last duck beastman on the continent—he had recognized her identity immediately. He also found her strange.

It was as if she had never experienced hardship or adversity.

Unlike him who had to flee his homeland from an early age to escape death. Unlike him who couldn’t even sheathe his blade of vengeance because he didn’t know if his parents were alive or dead.

Is it because they were completely exterminated?

“……”

“……”

He envied how she seemed to comfortably accept her fate. Since she had already lost everything, she didn’t need to make the effort to reclaim it. His gaze toward Bestia deepened.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m pathetic.”

…I thought you’d have it easy, but let’s go with pathetic.

“You’re perceptive at least.”

“Hey! You smelly monkey!”

“Says the duck who poops everywhere.”

It’s kind of fun to tease in the same language.

“N-no, no, that’s not true!”

As Bonobono let out a small laugh, Bestia’s face turned bright red. It reminded her of when she first came to the imperial palace.

She was very nervous, and not yet adjusted to being a duck, so…

“Ugh… anyway! I have things to find, so don’t talk to me.”

Bestia barely regained her composure. She had spent 30 minutes making a fuss after being shocked by Bonobono’s identity. She needed to salvage something about duck beastmen in the remaining time.

“Who spoke to whom first?”

“Bonobono, shush!”

Having finally remembered her task, Bestia immediately entered concentration mode. With fire in her eyes, she examined the bookshelves. As she closed her mouth, Bonobono reopened the book he had been reading.

A moment later.

Flip, rip.

Flip, rip.

“……”

So he wasn’t tearing the paper.

After quickly skimming through several volumes, Bestia glanced to the side. Bonobono was underlining important sentences with his fingertip. A thick gold bracelet with mysterious engravings made a strange sound as it scraped against the old paper.

But why is he pretending to be an animal and living in the palace?

Bestia forgot about reading books and kept glancing at Bonobono repeatedly.

Nod nod.

The next day. Bestia was dozing off again and again in Caenian’s bedroom. Seeing the duck deep in sleep, Caenian had forbidden bedroom cleaning. Inside the quiet yet luxurious imperial bedroom, the faint scent of strawberries wafted from food left for her to eat when she woke up.

— Quaack…… (When did I come back.)

The sun outside was high in the sky, and her body still felt stiff. But she couldn’t just keep sleeping. Bestia got up, rubbing her eyes with the tips of her small wings.

She seemed to have stayed in the records archive until almost sunrise. She remembered her eyes closing and dropping a book.

— Quack, quaaack. (When I came to my senses, I was here in duck form.)

It seemed that Bonobono had brought her back.

— Quack, quack. (You sleep so well. You must have slept all day because you’re there every night.)

The duck, having removed the sleep from her eyes, glanced at the large enclosure. She saw the black ape sprawled out sleeping. He was in a peaceful deep slumber.

Shake shake.

At least he doesn’t snore. An ape snoring would be terrible.

The thought alone was horrifying.

— Quaaack! (Heave-ho!)

Bestia stretched her wings wide, then came down from the cushion. It was much more elaborate than the one she had given to Bonobono before.

Flap flap!

Next, she jumped from the cushion to the floor with a plop! It was quite high, so she flapped a bit to land safely. Flying was impossible with these useless wings, but this much was manageable. The tips of her duck feet touched the floor lightly.

Tap tap tap.

After safely descending, she walked briskly with her yellow duck feet. Her destination was in front of the enclosure.

— Quack? (When are you going to wake up?)

Bestia called out to Bonobono from in front of the enclosure. She considered transforming into a human to wake him, but that was it.

What if the emperor suddenly comes?

He’d drag me out and throw me in prison!

He liked duck Betty but was wary of human Betty. She didn’t want to be hated more than she already was.

— Quack. (So wake up already.)

The duck shook her head and quacked again. There was only one reason she wanted to wake Bonobono.

— Quack! (Talk to me!)

She wanted to ask him about things she had overlooked yesterday because she was too flustered.

Why he pretends to be an animal. What his real name is. What he’s looking for so intently. How he managed to hide being a beastman for so long.

— …….

At this point, the beastman detection incense managed by the temple must be fake.

Nod nod.

— Quaaack. (They couldn’t identify me either.)

Nod nod.

The incense must have gone bad.

Nod nod.

The duck, who had paused in her attempts to wake the ape, nodded her head several times. It was a reasonable hypothesis. True to her experience with escape room games in the past, her deductive skills were solid. That’s how she recognized Bonobono at first glance.

— Quack? (Is this all thanks to the escape room games run by the academy?)

The escape room games were an official academy program with educational purposes. Remembering how much fun they were, the corners of her bill lifted involuntarily.

Glance.

— Quaaack…… (Anyway, when are you going to wake up……)

After briefly reminiscing about fun times with friends, her blue eyes turned back to the black ape. She remembered yesterday.

‘Bonobono, hey. Is there any information about duck beastmen there?’

‘No.’

‘Hmm……’

‘Check the second row on that bookshelf.’

‘Th-thanks!’

‘Look at this too, page 149.’

‘Okay!’

Despite his curt answers, he had helped her while pretending it was nothing.

— Quack. (Maybe he’s not such a bad guy.)

Poke, poke poke.

Poke poke poke.

— Kihi?

— Quack. (Wake up. It’s night.)

— Kee.

— Quack. (Don’t turn your back on me.)

Bonobono, who had been sleeping all day, finally opened his eyes when night fell. And he didn’t just wake up on his own. Only after Caenian fell into a deep sleep and Bestia moved to wake him did he finally get up.

Hop, flap, tap tap.

Bestia used her cute 3-combo move to grab and pull Bonobono’s black fur through the bars—actually, no, she went to the front of the enclosure and poked his side with her bill to wake him.

Poke poke poke.

Poke poke.

Chomp!

— Kee!

— Quack! (It hurts when I bite you! Then wake up!)

She hadn’t planned to bite and nip, but what choice did she have when he tried to go back to sleep with that indifferent face!

Bestia bit the shamelessly animal-pretending Bonobono several times. The ape waved his hands after being bitten repeatedly by the yellow duck bill. But what kind of duck was Bestia! She was a cute, adorable size that could slip right through the cage bars.

Swish swish!

Swoosh swoosh, swoosh, sw, she easily dodged his flailing hands.

— Quack! (Take me to the records archive again today!)

Then she shouted. She pointed at the door with her tiny wing. Belatedly wondering if her voice had been too loud, she glanced at the bed. Fortunately, Caenian, who had been busy with state affairs lately, seemed completely knocked out.