Chapter 116
But she wanted to make things clear this time. CLACK! She clapped her hands loudly once, the sharp sound echoing. At once, everyone in the dining hall fell silent.
“Now, please pay attention.”
At her words, Louis, who had been standing, sat down again.
“I understand that you’re worried because you don’t know much about humans. Yes, I now understand how slow and clumsy we must look from a werebeast’s perspective. But humans are not such fragile beings that we die from the slightest bump.”
Louis, who had been listening, raised his hand gracefully. Sia nodded and allowed him to speak.
“I’m curious about human physical ability. Last time I saw you, didn’t you stumble on nothing more than a slope?”
“…I don’t know where you saw that, but uphill paths are hard for anyone.”
“……”
At her answer, all the werebeasts fell silent at once. Flustered, Sia hurriedly added,
“Of course, I’m not particularly athletic among humans, but I don’t have any chronic illnesses either. I don’t even have allergies. I’m actually very healthy.”
Despite her firm declaration, no one could respond. They simply didn’t understand what she was trying to boast about. Most people didn’t have chronic illnesses anyway, and the word ‘allergy’ was something they didn’t understand at all.
Sia suddenly felt embarrassed. The situation itself, where she had to prove that she was healthy enough, felt ridiculous.
Nox noticed that her lips were slowly jutting forward and cautiously watched her expression. Most of her emotions showed through her mouth, and this was the most it had ever stuck out.
“Of course, I believe what you say.”
“…I knew it, Lord Nox is the only one for me.”
“I’m only worried. Will you understand?”
“Yes…”
Sia, who had been on the verge of sulking because no one, not even Nox, seemed to believe her, melted at his words.
“But I’m worried about you too, Lord Nox. You need to rest properly until your shoulder heals.”
“…If you help me by my side, I think I’ll recover quickly.”
“Alright. Just trust me.”
Cedric and Marie watched the two exchange warm words with proud expressions, while Louis showed a look of regret. Beside him, Dylan looked at the Crown Prince with sympathy.
Louis hurriedly spoke up.
“The Duke is right. I was only worried, I wasn’t doubting your abilities.”
“…As I said, uphill paths are hard for anyone.”
“…Um, yes, climbing stairs can be tiring.”
Honestly, it wasn’t tiring at all. Louis, who could stand on a narrow railing on his toes without falling, didn’t understand in the slightest, but he chose to agree with Sia anyway.
At that, Nox gave him a cold look. Their eyes met for a moment, but Louis turned his head as if he hadn’t noticed. Trying to win her favor alone, how petty…
“That’s right! One time the elevator broke, and I had to walk all the way up to the seventh floor. I seriously thought I was going to die…”
“……”
“Ahaha, I see…”
“That must have been hard, Sia.”
Even though they didn’t fully understand what she was saying, Nox and Louis busied themselves agreeing with her complaints as if competing with each other. Watching the scene, Cedric approached and asked carefully,
“My apologies, but the head chef is looking at me quite desperately. May the meal be served?”
“Go ahead.”
“Yes.”
Louis and Nox answered at the same time. As if it were a signal, the two of them agreed with everything Sia said throughout the entire meal.
And both Nox and Louis reached the same conclusion. Humans truly were fragile beings.
Extremely fragile.
* * *
“This is practically no different from looting an empty house.”
Aesir muttered as he watched his subordinates gather the captured villagers into one place. Marcel, standing beside him, looked around and replied,
“The village is smaller than expected.”
“And there’s no mine either. It’s basically a wasted trip, but… well, let’s consider it a rehearsal.”
Brushing back his long hair, Aesir turned his gaze to a cat werebeast being dragged along by his men. A middle-aged man cried out in despair.
“This is all because of my daughter!”
“…Please be quiet.”
“Stop talking, Uncle Hans.”
The others tried to cover Hans’s mouth while nervously watching the snake tribe, but they were too late.
“There’s a woman with black hair! There’s not just one, but two black-haired people in the Blois territory! A servant who made eye contact with that woman shared a room with my daughter. And then she went back home! That’s why our village ended up like this! Misfortune has spread to us!”
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