Chapter 1

“So….”  

Letina Feymun’s eyes trembled.  

“You… are Liri?”  

“……”  

“Liri… is you?”  

The man in front of her avoided Letina’s gaze, his lips set in a rigid line.  

‘This makes no sense.’  

But she couldn’t deny it.  

Right before her eyes, her beloved pet duck had turned into the person she liked the least!  

“Hey… say something.”  

“……”  

Kiaros Gatiel, who got along well with everyone else, but always acted rude and prickly only to Letina.  

Liri, who always came to her first, cuddled up, and nuzzled her with his beak, acting adorably.  

How could those two be the same being?  

It was so shocking that the fact Kiaros was lying n*ked under only a blanket didn’t even bother her.  

“…I’m a duck beastman.”  

After a long silence, Kiaros finally spoke.  

Beastmen usually didn’t reveal much about themselves.  

So no one around knew Gatiel was from a beastman family.  

The moment he confirmed it, Letina couldn’t help but tear up.  

“Of course, you hate that Liri is me.”  

“Huuuh….”  

“…But is that really something to cry about?”  

“My precious, cute Liri is you, of course I’d cry!”  

She had taken such good care of him.  

Whenever they went out for walks, she put shoes on him so his feet wouldn’t get hurt.  

She tied a pretty scarf around his neck.  

She always kept him close, cherished him, worried if he was sick or uncomfortable.  

‘But the truth is, that annoying guy was inside?’  

All her happy memories were ruined.  

“How could Liri be you!”  

“…Sorry about that.”  

Kiaros, just as flustered as Letina, now looked at her coldly. It was a look she was all too familiar with.  

That only made her angrier.  

“You hated me too, but you stayed by my side for so long. When I found you at Winkel Lake, you should’ve just flown far away!”  

“……”  

“Why are you doing this now? Were you trying to dig up my secrets? Too bad for you, I don’t have any!”  

Letina glared, her eyes sharp.  

“If you were going to keep it secret, you should’ve kept it forever. Why did you suddenly turn into a human now?”  

“Huh?”  

“I thought beastmen your age could control their appearance. Or am I wrong because I’m not a beastman?”  

“That’s…”  

Kiaros hesitated again, looking troubled.  

Knock knock.  

“Lady Letina, I’m coming in.”  

From beyond the door, her maid’s voice called.  

Letina instinctively checked the clock. She was supposed to go out with her family in an hour. The maid had come to help her prepare.  

“Yes, come in…”  

She answered absentmindedly, then snapped to attention.  

‘Wait, the situation right now….’  

Liri had turned into Kiaros.  

That meant she was alone in her bedroom, in the middle of the day, with a n*ked man.  

‘Anyone would think something happened!’  

“No, no, no, this can’t be!”  

Letina screamed as she tried to get off the bed, almost falling.  

Whoosh.  

“That’s dangerous…!”  

Kiaros’ eyes widened as he caught Letina by the waist, stopping her from falling.  

And in the next moment, the door opened.  

“Lady Letina? What’s going on….”  

Kiaros was holding Letina, and the two were pressed close together.  

“Gasp.”  

The maid, seeing the scene, covered her mouth and backed away in shock.  

“Stop right there…!”  

‘Where do you think you’re going!’

Letina tried to get up to stop the fleeing maid, nearly falling again. By then, the maid had already disappeared from sight.  

“No, this is a misunderstanding!”  

Letina’s desperate cry rang out.  

She knew exactly where the maid was headed.  

‘She’s going to tell my family!’  

“No!”  

Letina hurried out of the room.  

“Wait…!”  

Kiaros tried to follow, then realized he was n*ked. There was no time to put on clothes in such a dire situation.  

“Damn.”  

Flash.  

Kiaros turned into a duck, flapping his wings as he chased after the maid and Letina.

***

The Feymun mansion’s drawing room.  

The planned outing was canceled, and all the Feymun family members gathered here.  

They had just heard shocking news from Letina’s maid.  

Letina Feymun, sitting on a separate sofa, and Kiaros Gatiel, now back in human form, were sweating nervously in the heavy atmosphere.  

“Nothing happened!”  

Letina shouted.  

“You were lying in bed together, and he was n*ked, yet you say nothing happened?”  

Letina’s older sibling, Illen, glared fiercely at Kiaros.  

“Feymun… I mean, as Letina Feymun says, it’s true. I swear to the heavens, I’m innocent.”  

With everyone else in the room being a Feymun, Kiaros had to use Letina’s full name, and even then, his lips trembled.  

“You sure talk big. What do you think it means that you snuck in here uninvited? You two aren’t even in a formal relationship!”  

Bang!  

Earl Feymun slammed the table in anger.  

“I’m not lying. Whether it was a peck, a kiss, or anything more! Nothing happened. If something had, I wouldn’t be here having to explain myself like this.”  

“Letina Feymun! Are you defending that boy?”  

“Oh, come on!”  

She was losing her mind. Letina clutched her head.  

The Countess, who had been watching Letina closely, spoke up sternly.  

“You two should get married.”  

“What did you say?”  

“Mother!”  

Everyone’s eyes widened at the Countess’ thunderous declaration.  

“You have to take responsibility for your actions.”  

“There’s nothing to take responsibility for! Why should I marry him? You say something too!”  

Letina shook Kiaros’ shoulders wildly. The family’s gazes grew even sharper at their contact.  

“So, what were you two doing in the room?”  

The Countess asked, her voice rising. Letina realized she had no choice but to reveal the truth. There was no way out unless she did.  

“The reason Kiaros Gatiel was like that is,”  

Even so, Letina hesitated. If she said it out loud, it would become real. Her cute, tiny duck Liri… Liri….  

‘But… it’s true.’  

She gave in to the undeniable reality and spoke.  

“He’s actually Liri…!”  

Silence fell.  

“Liri…?”  

“Liri is a duck.”  

“What nonsense is this.”  

Everyone knew about Liri.  

The duck Letina cherished so much, the one she picked up three years ago.  

Illen, who often got jealous because Letina doted on Liri, had even hidden the duck away in the mansion several times.