No matter how angry the butler was, he wouldn’t have been able to resist such a docile and cute ball of fur.
A small black-furred puppy.
Not only smaller than two human palms put together, but it also has such fluffy fur that separation anxiety seemed out of the question.
It looked like the type that would immediately roll over and show affection as soon as a human hand touched it.
“Still, you’re going to see His Highness the Prince…. Please leave it with me for a moment.”
The butler immediately lowered his guard and extended his hand to Agnes with a more relaxed expression.
……Woof woof!!!
It’s precisely the case where underestimating something because it looks cute leads to trouble.
It was a fierce beast showing aggression by barking sharply with the intention of biting off an arm.
The butler quickly withdrew his hand.
“If I leave Nes alone, he might bite people until I come back. The butler of House Hartez has already been bitten so badly that his arm was nearly torn off. It’s fortunate that I’m a Saint.”
Merrien put her hand on her chin and muttered with a troubled expression.
She had no qualms about selling out the butler who had been standing quietly, but felt no pang of conscience.
The butler who had stepped back fixed his gaze on the floor. I thought he was sinking into contemplation, but he opened his mouth again quite quickly.
“The more dangerous the dog is, the more I cannot allow you to bring it to His Highness the Prince.”
“……”
Ah, it really won’t work.
Merrien glanced at the butler’s hand on the doorknob. Veins were prominent on the back of his hand.
It was an unspoken pressure that he would absolutely not open the door unless she left Agnes here.
‘There’s no choice.’
Merrien’s eyes now turned toward Agnes.
Although she had to bend her head below her knees because he had transformed into such a tiny dog, the exchange of glances between the two was solemn.
Soon, Merrien swiftly picked up Agnes and held him.
“!!!”
Though this had been discussed since they were in the carriage, Agnes had no way to stop his heart from pounding the moment he was nestled in Merrien’s arms.
He stroked his fluffy fur-covered chest with the pink jelly pads of his front paws.
Meanwhile, Merrien was already faithfully executing their plan.
She held Agnes out to the butler.
“Is it really not possible?”
Their eyes met. Only then did Agnes come to his senses and focus on his task.
-Let me into the drawing room.
Agnes’s voice reverberated in the butler’s mind.
Controlling one person’s mind wasn’t difficult for Agnes. It was one of the things he could naturally do since birth.
The butler suddenly went limp and stared blankly into space.
“You may enter……”
As if all his thoughts were being controlled, he muttered weakly and turned the doorknob he had seemed determined never to turn, opening the door.
‘Success!’
Merrien and Agnes looked at each other and grinned.
“Even if I transform, the Second Prince will notice my energy. But since Merrien is with me, he won’t show it.”
“……”
“No matter what the Prince says, just listen and say ‘yes, yes.’ Meanwhile, I’ll try to identify the dark energy.”
Now that they were about to meet Forcite, they just needed to follow the one rule Agnes had mentioned in the carriage.
The door opened wide.
Immediately, their eyes met with Forcite, who was comfortably leaning back on the sofa, having been staring at the door for who knows how long.
“Merri. You came.”
A voice drenched in ecstasy despite the calm atmosphere.
Merrien stepped into the drawing room, forgetting she was holding Agnes.
Agnes urgently nudged her arm, but the small jelly pads within the ball of fluff were too weak to bring her to her senses.
“I greet Your Highness Prince Forcite de Vergne.”
Merrien simply paid her respects with a firmly resolved expression.
Agnes was nearly losing his mind in her arms.
Forcite, who had been smiling broadly without realizing it, changed his expression as if becoming a different person the moment Merrien raised her head.
A face neither angry nor expressive, but emotionless.
An eerie voice came from his mouth.
“A puppy?”
Ah. Only then did Merrien firmly grasp the leash and place Agnes on the floor.
But Agnes’s legs had already given out, and he collapsed right there.
‘……Excuse me?’
Noticing energy or not, this would look suspicious to anyone!
Merrien felt cold sweat running down her back as she hurriedly picked up Agnes, who had fallen to the floor.
“…Ah, can I stay with my ‘Nes’?”
She ended up in a crouching position looking up at Forcite across from her, but Merrien had no choice but to smile brightly.
Desperately hoping he would let it slide.
“I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“He has severe separation anxiety. If I’m not around, he tears people apart.”
To emphasize how frightening the dog was, she raised both hands and made tearing gestures.
Completely forgetting that the dog beside her was small and cute, barely half the size of a knee.
Only when the soft jelly pads of his front paws touched her ankle as if to tell her to stop did she realize this, but by then Forcite’s gaze had already fallen on Agnes.
Merrien pressed her heated cheeks with her hands and watched for his reaction.
“I brought him in after he was completely soaked in the rain recently. Haha….”
“Alright, Merri. If that’s what you want.”
He paid little attention, making her efforts seem embarrassing.
Instead, he focused on untying the ribbon of a beautifully wrapped box on the table.
Then he winced with one eye.
“Merri, the floor is cold. Sit on the sofa.”
He simply seemed displeased that Merrien was crouching.
Only after watching her sit on the sofa and dust off her knees did he bring up the topic.
“There are unfavorable rumors circulating about Duke Hartez.”
I thought perhaps the urgent summons was to ask for the Emperor to be healed. Surprisingly, what came from his lips was related to Ariel.
Merrien stared intently at his hands, which were still focused on untying the ribbon of the box.
‘…I wonder how much Forcite knows.’
She needed to think carefully. Was he pretending not to know anything while plotting something, or did he truly not know?
Despite receiving her serious gaze, Forcite remained unhurried.
He finished untying the ribbon and opened the box with a satisfied expression.
“Let’s have some refreshments first.”
What he slowly took out from the box one by one was pudding.
“……!”
Merrien, who had been sitting with her arms crossed, forgetting she was in front of the Prince, was so surprised that her arms went limp.
Of all desserts, he offered pudding. Could this also be a coincidence?
Merrien placed both hands on her thighs, which were stiff with tension.
Her goal was to let Forcite’s words go in one ear and out the other while just responding.
……However, that was simply impossible.
“Dragons have nothing to do with magical beasts.”
“…On what grounds?”
His hand, which had been moving to personally give her a fork and pudding, stopped.
His face, which until just now had been reddish as he looked down at the pudding, imagining who knows what, turned pale.
Meanwhile, Agnes, who had been secretly investigating the energy by sniffing with his nose to the floor, raised his head.
Not only did he give a reproachful look, but despite being a dog, he created the illusion that the words ‘No, what if you provoke him?’ were clearly visible on his face.
But Merrien had no time to worry about that.
Having already spoken, the psychological battle with Forcite had begun.
Her palms were red from clenching her fists too tightly. It was only a matter of time before blood would rise from where her nails had scratched.
“If dragons were such evil creatures, Ariel wouldn’t be on friendly terms with them. I’ll find evidence soon.”
Thud-. The fork in Forcite’s hand fell helplessly.
He laughed emptily.
“Ariel, Ariel.”
While murmuring Ariel’s name desolately.
“Do you know what that man’s true identity is?”
Forcite gritted his teeth. His rough breathing was so intense that even Merrien, sitting across the table, could feel it.
“He’s Duke Hartez.”
“……Yes. Duke Hartez, that’s right.”
Forcite, excited and about to say something, suddenly stopped speaking. Having calmed down again, he slowly wiped his face.
“Merri, I’m sorry. I forgot I have something to do. Could you leave now?”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
For a dismissal meant to be gentle, he didn’t even look at Merrien. All he did was tap the sofa armrest as if lost in thought.
Merrien drank the tea in front of her without even looking at the pudding. Not feeling the heat, she gulped it down and emptied the teacup in one breath.
Then she picked up Agnes, who was obviously investigating by circling around.
The black pupils within the ball of fluff grew so large they occupied half his face.
“Then I’ll be going now.”
It was just as she was about to head out of the drawing room.