The sounds from that day rang in his ears. On that day when he ran covered in pitch-black ash, the young primate who had just learned to walk on two legs left the burned forest.

Goodbye for now. A farewell for revenge.

“Want another one?”

A brown cookie appeared before his eyes as he was lost in memories. Bestia was smiling as she held out the round cookie. She was giggling softly, having heard his complaint about his ears hurting.

Crack.

“It’s delicious.”

Ren took it and broke it in half. The roles of giver and receiver had reversed. Bestia opened her mouth wide with a beaming smile.

“Right? This is my favorite.”

Chomp! Munch.

“……”

“Mmm, why are you looking at me like that?”

Even if you broke it in half, did you have to put it all in your mouth at once?

Should he find this lack of dignity cute or annoying?

“Wipe what’s on your mouth.”

Ren, narrowing his eyes, just sighed to express his feelings. After wiping the cookie crumbs from her lips with his fingertip, he quickly turned his gaze away. The soft sensation of her lips lingered on his fingertip, tingling.

“Hehe. Thanks. You’re kinder than I thought, huh?”

“Stop talking and read the book you stole.”

“Eh? Stole? It’s checked out, you know? And you helped too.”

More precisely, while she was the one who carried it out going ‘Kihihik—!’

“Animals exploited by humans bear no guilt.”

“I take back what I said about you being kind.”

“……”

“Hmph. I completely take it back.”

His happy expression of gratitude was brief, and the atmosphere that almost turned warm ended right there.

That’s more like it.

I wondered why he was suddenly being nice. Bestia glared at Ren, who had turned his back to her.

I shouldn’t have offered to be friends!

She felt like she was being taken lightly because she extended her hand first. She felt so annoyed, yet here he was calmly reading a book after making her mad.

How can he be exactly like His Majesty?

Like pet, like companion, no, not animal… but beastman… Huh?

Is the book upside down?

Slap!

“Ren.”

“What. Why did you hit me.”

“Are you drunk from the black tea?”

Your eyes look unfocused? So that’s why you said those mean things?

“That’s right. They say black tea drunk during the day makes you unable to recognize even your parents.”

“…What are you talking about.”

It’s not me who’s drunk, it’s you.

“Now that I look at you, your face is red too? Do you want to lie down for a bit?”

“W-what are you saying. Lie down where!”

“Tsk! I try to worry about you and this is what I get!”

* * *

“Betty, you haven’t been visiting much lately.”

“Grandpa Chancellor. Have you been well? I did come, but you weren’t here.”

“Is that so? Well, I’ve been so busy lately that by the time I return from going here and there, it’s already night.”

Bestia visited Duke after a long time. More precisely, she went because he called for her. It happened to be when her meeting with Ren was canceled.

“Everyone seems busy. His Majesty has also been preoccupied with state affairs and only fell asleep at dawn today, they say.”

That’s right. Caenian was in his bedroom, so Ren couldn’t come out. Since they had been meeting almost every day, it wouldn’t hurt to take a day off.

After reading books for over two weeks, my eyes felt like they would fall out and my neck hurt. And yet, I’ve found out almost nothing, but at least I made a friend!

“Indeed. The political situation has been turbulent lately.”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“Runda is causing trouble.”

“Runda? Could it be Princess Harael?”

“Well. I wonder if that’s the cause.”

Bestia studied Duke’s expression. She only rolled her eyes at his words as he sighed deeply. In the time they hadn’t seen each other, the wrinkles on Duke’s face had deepened.

I wanted to tell him about Bonobono, but should I not?

I don’t want to worry him……

What kind of trouble could a kingdom only a quarter the size of the Empire’s territory be causing?

And if His Majesty gets angry and decides to teach them a lesson with the imperial army, what then?

“Before they brought beastman mercenaries, and now they keep interfering with trade.”

“What do you mean by interfering with trade?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand the basic meaning. She was asking exactly what aspects they were nitpicking about.

“They say they’ll reduce both export volumes and the number of items.”

“What? Why?”

“How would I know? They claim their domestic consumption has increased, but…”

It made no sense. Duke stroked his well-groomed beard several times.

Dried horse chestnuts, wild sunflower seeds, musk penguin oil, and so on.

The Kingdom of Runda had restricted exports on as many as 50 items. Among them, the three most important ones were those—items that were actively used only in the Delta Empire.

“Betty. The seasons are about to change. Do you know?”

“Yes. I do. Isn’t that something every imperial citizen knows? The four seasons that change throughout the year and the seasonal winds.”

“Right. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

“Umm… I’ve never caught one though. I’ll be careful, Grandpa Chancellor.”

“Good, good.”

The elderly man, whose eyes had become moist, called Bestia comfortably. He addressed her like a granddaughter, similar to Garnet and Aesop. Unable to guess his inner thoughts, Bestia waited quietly.

What’s with the sudden talk about seasons?

I’m more worried about the academy than the cold brought by seasonal winds.

“Is there a connection between colds and Runda’s trade interference?”

After being quiet for a moment, Bestia, unable to contain her curiosity, opened her mouth. The intuition she had when discovering Bonobono’s identity activated again.

The cold brought by seasonal winds was famous within the Delta Empire. To put it nicely, it was famous, but in reality, it was very dangerous.

Especially for those aged 0 to 17. In other words, the cold that only affected children before their debutante ceremony had an unknown cause. There was no known cure either. The only method found to alleviate symptoms was taking “magical tricolor powder” three times a day.

“You see. The Kingdom of Runda has reduced the export of raw materials for the treatment by over 90%.”

“What? Isn’t that an essential item? I learned that special treaty taxes also change based on that!”

A 90% reduction was practically the same as not exporting at all. Bestia stuck out her tongue. She had seen a child who caught a cold during her first year at the academy.

The child died in less than ten days.

It wasn’t just once or twice that she felt a chill seeing the empty seats of such children.

“His Majesty has many concerns. It’s troubling when the children who will shoulder the future of the Empire fall ill.”

“It really is a problem. I once saw a friend who caught a cold… it wasn’t pleasant.”

“I saw it too. They managed to win the battle against the cold, but eventually……”

“Ah… you don’t have to say it.”

Now she understood the reason for Duke’s gloomy expression. Bestia cut him off, knowing it was rude. He would look either pleased or sad when thinking about his granddaughter while looking at her.

“But why did you call for me?”

“Ah, about that.”

“I also had something to tell you, Grandpa Chancellor, and you might be surprised when you hear it.”

Originally, she hadn’t planned to talk about Ren. After all, he was busy helping the emperor take care of the country. But to break this gloomy atmosphere, she needed some surprising news.

Ren, I’m sorry. I’m going to use you a bit.

— Kihihik!

She seemed to hear an auditory hallucination saying ‘I refuse,’ but let’s just ignore it.

“You go first.”

“Hmm. Yes, yes.”

Bestia gave him the priority. Duke stroked his chin and even touched his nose, taking his time.

Is he going to tell me to leave the imperial palace?

I haven’t properly found out about duck beastmen yet, and I’ve just become friends with Ren.

Bestia swallowed nervously with a tense face. As she rolled her blue eyes, thinking of a thousand things, right at that moment.

“I hear you’ve been with a stranger lately.”

“…Pardon?”

“A man with black hair wearing black clothes, they say. He’s not a servant, so who is he?”

Duke finally revealed his business. The clear eyes that had stopped rolling briefly rolled around once more.

“It’s quite obvious he’s not a servant, isn’t it?”

“Hoho. Of course it is. What servant would wear black clothes?”

Drip. So the black clothes stand out too much.

Bestia scratched her forehead. She hadn’t gone to many places with Ren. Just the library and the garden. That was the extent of their movement, yet his presence had been noticed.

“Walking around dressed like that makes you very noticeable. I hear he’s quite tall too?”

“Hmm… about the same height as His Majesty, I think.”

“Hoho. Then it would be strange if he didn’t stand out. In the imperial palace, Sir Potters is the only one as tall as His Majesty.”

Drip. The second brutal truth made her dizzy.

“Ahah. Haha… ha. Y-yes? I hadn’t thought of that?”

“My goodness. Then what were you thinking?”

“Just that we’d go to the library together during the day to find materials about beastmen.”

“Hmm? Beastmen? Who is he that you’re searching for that together? What if people discover you’re a beastman!”