Chapter 9
We hadn’t spent an especially long time together, but I had come to know him fairly well.
His name was Schwein. He was gentle and affectionate by nature, a peace-loving man with a deep fondness for animals and the natural world.
Perhaps that was why he never seemed particularly bothered when I grew irritated or threw a tantrum. More often than not, he would simply laugh it off with his usual soft, easygoing manner.
“How can even your little kicks be this cute? Everything about you is so tiny. Our Chirpy really is the best. No matter what you do, you’re always adorable, aren’t you?”
That was the sort of man he had always been.
Which made the expression he had worn just now all the more shocking.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
I stopped where I was and seriously considered the possibility.
I was certain I had followed the courtship method my sisters had described. You decorated yourself lavishly with feathers and other ornaments, then appeared before the object of your affection in all your splendor.
No matter how thoroughly I searched my memory, I couldn’t find anything I had done incorrectly.
Then perhaps…
‘Does he simply prefer a different kind of courtship?’
There were, after all, plenty of methods I had yet to try.
The most obvious was a courtship dance.
I had heard that at balls where beastfolk of all kinds gathered, some would perform elaborate dances to flaunt their charms and attract a prospective mate.
Unfortunately, I had never gotten the chance to watch such a spectacle properly. Whenever it seemed as though one might begin, whichever brother or sister happened to be with me would immediately drag me away, insisting that a young princess had no business watching such indecent displays.
“I should’ve watched more carefully when I had the chance.”
Still, things in life rarely went exactly as one intended. If everything could truly be prevented simply by forbidding it, there would hardly be any problems in the world to begin with.
Which was precisely why I had seen one before.
One quiet night, in the garden behind a small detached palace, I had witnessed Sir Vector of the Royal Knights performing a courtship dance.
The woman he was courting was Frizel’s personal maid.
She was a striking woman with luscious red hair and an alluring beauty mark beneath one eye. Her cool, sharp gaze gave her the air of a rose covered in thorns, as though anyone foolish enough to approach carelessly might be pricked.
Perhaps that was exactly what had stirred Sir Vector’s competitive instincts.
With his gaze fixed upon Frizel’s maid, he began to dance beneath the clear moonlight.
His well-proportioned, muscular body moved fluidly with the rhythm. Whenever he thrust his arms passionately through the air, his biceps and triceps flexed with every movement, creating a striking silhouette beneath the moonlight.
His hips swayed sensually, the lines of his dance flowing smoothly from one movement into the next. Every now and then, he would snap his waist sharply with the rhythm, and I found myself holding my breath as I watched.
Before long, the performance began building toward its climax.
Sir Vector, still dancing with remarkable enthusiasm, gradually made his way closer to Frizel’s maid. The looks they exchanged grew increasingly intense, and just as the atmosphere between them was becoming unmistakably charged—
“It’s time we left, Princess.”
Of all people, my painfully oblivious personal guard, Sir Welting, had appeared. And right when things were finally getting interesting.
“No, let’s stay just a little longer.”
“It is improper to spy on someone else’s secret rendezvous.”
“Well, yes, but…”
“If the other princes and princesses were to discover that you had witnessed this…”
“Oh, fine! You nag too much. I’m getting up, aren’t I?”
Thanks to him, I never got to see how the encounter ended. Even so, Sir Vector’s unforgettable movements remained vividly etched into my memory.
“I just need to recreate what I saw that night.”
I gathered my resolve once more.
The expression Human Servant No. 1 had given me earlier still bothered me, but I was hardly the sort to lose confidence over one minor setback.
‘How dare a mere servant act so haughty toward me.’
I would soon correct that insolent attitude.
Wondering whether Human Servant No. 1 was still somewhere in the forest, I began searching for traces of him. Fortunately, his footprints remained clearly visible on the ground.
Following them deeper into the mountains, I eventually spotted his back in the distance. He seemed to be wandering around in search of something.
“He said he was busy.”
What a blatant lie.
I quickly ran through the dance in my head, recalling as much of Sir Vector’s performance as I could, then made my way toward Schwein.
Step. Step.
Crunch—
The dry leaves beneath my foot crackled loudly.
At the sound, Schwein turned around. The moment our eyes met, his entire body flinched.
“Ah….”
His blue eyes began darting about uncontrollably.
What was with that utterly bleak reaction, as though despair itself had just descended upon him?
No matter.
There was no need to concern myself with it. Soon enough, he would be far too captivated by me to think straight.
And so, summoning the image of Sir Vector moving passionately beneath the moonlight, I began swaying my body to an imaginary rhythm.
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