I Became the Wicked Beastmen’s Catnip

 

Licht, who was left alone in the office, uttered a low swear word.

 

“…Damn it.”

 

It was difficult to suppress his mana, which was constantly leaking out unconsciously.

 

The nervousness he had felt for the first time in his life nibbled away his nerves little by little.

 

It wasn’t just the shallow fret that he had missed the only solution to save the collapsing Myo World.

 

Since a while ago, it wasn’t possible for him to connect with the clone attached to Yernian after he consumed half of the mana.

 

‘It seems like she’s in a place where there is no light.’

 

The clone he put on Yernian had one weakness.

 

Because it can only live in the shadows, it must receive a certain amount of light to do its job.

 

Therefore, in various places in the main palace, including Yernian’s bedroom, lamps were lit at all times when the sun went down.

 

‘They escaped well.’

 

Under the circumstances, the kidnapping attempt took place in broad daylight.

 

At the time when the lamp was turned off and the curtain blocked the light for Yernian to sleep well.

 

As if they were waiting, the criminal kidnapped Yernian through one of the many secret passages in the main palace that didn’t receive any light.

 

As if they already knew that Yernian had a shadow escort attached to her.

 

With his head tilted back, blue veins appeared on Licht’s neck.

 

How dare they. Without fear in his realm.

 

It was time for Licht, who had been staring at the ceiling for a while, to condense his mana with his fingertips.

 

Yernian’s mana that had remained faint within his body twitched as if it was responding.

 

Licht, startled, got up from his seat like a bounce.

 

Moments later, Licht, who saw a carriage through the dark forest, moved his hand without hesitation.

 

***

 

Craaaash!!!!!

 

“Ugh!”

 

My body bounced off the wall of the carriage due to the recoil from the sudden stop. My face was contorted by the shock that was so strong that my bones rang.

 

‘Damn. It hurts.’

 

The throbbing pain in my whole body was as painful as when I received an internal injury while distributing my mana to Licht.

 

Is it because the arrangement of the mana was temporarily disturbed by the impact of the body? The fireball, which was only a small spark, swelled up.

 

My shadow hung long on the ground of the carriage, which was instantly brightened up.

 

‘…What is that?’

 

I felt as if my eyes were about to pop out while watching my shadow begin to wriggle.

 

Something huge was sticking its head out of my shadow.

 

Feeling my whole body freezing, I watched the shadow of a tall figure slowly raising its body.

 

‘Is this a trap prepared by the Doctor?’

 

My brain wasn’t spinning properly due to extreme stress.

 

The nausea I felt when I first woke up in the carriage grew stronger as time went on.

 

The power of the fireball, which had been temporarily brightened, decreased, and it became dark again.

 

An unidentified monster who had completely escaped from my shadow turned its head towards me.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Instinctively holding my breath, I stared at the magic circle that was drawn on the floor.

 

If that mysterious shadow resembling Licht was a trap prepared by the Doctor.

 

‘Can I win?’

 

Perhaps because of the aftereffects of hitting the carriage wall, my body had no strength since before.

 

The moment I tried to forcibly move my body, my overworked body screamed.

 

‘Wait. It looks like Licht?’

 

A certain feeling ran through my mind.

 

I licked my lips without taking my eyes off the shadow that hadn’t moved.

 

“You, maybe…”

 

“…”

 

“Are you the escort Licht gave me?”

 

I didn’t know about it because I paid no attention earlier, but when I looked closely, I could feel Licht’s energy in the tall shadow.

 

The silent shadow nodded. It meant an affirmation.

 

The tension drained me from my shoulders

 

‘Whatever, gosh.’

 

Has he been hiding something like that in my shadow until now?

 

Again, Licht’s mental world wasn’t ordinary.

 

I thought the escort was simply one of the beastmen he commanded.

 

While sticking my tongue out, the carriage’s luggage compartment shook violently once again.

 

Thudㅡ!!!!!

 

Barely keeping my balance, I listened out of the strangely noisy carriage.

 

‘It’s an opportunity.’

 

Now was a good time to escape, with the feet which were tied up by those kidnappers.

 

Please, I reached out to the shadows, hoping the one who attacked the carriage now was on my side.

 

“Can you help me?”

 

This time, instead of answering, the escort nodded and gently hugged me, who was stuck in the corner of the carriage.

 

At the same time, a strong shock was sent through the luggage compartment door again.

 

Craaaashㅡ!!!!

 

I was gathering mana with my fingertips just in case, and I stopped.

 

A familiar energy flowed through the thick smoke beyond the horribly crumbling walls.

 

“…Licht?”

 

It felt considerably more ferocious than usual, but this energy, like the fog after a rain, was definitely Licht.

 

“Yernian.”

 

As soon as I heard Licht’s unique low voice, my heart, which had been beating wildly, began to slowly regain stability.

 

Having dispersed the mana that had been accumulating in my fingertips, I stretched out my hand toward Licht.

 

“Licht…!”

 

However, the moment Licht’s figure was revealed through the scattered smoke, I stiffened.

 

Drip, drip

. The blood that ran down Licht’s hand fell to the ground of the messy carriage.

 

Every time he took a step, the fishy smell of blood made me dizzy.

 

I asked with a trembling voice, gripping the shadow escort’s forearm.

 

“…Licht, are you hurt again?”

 

If he got blood from his hair all the way to his ears, what the hell happened out there?

 

Licht, whose hair was covered in blood to the extent it looked like Askari’s hair, let out a low laugh.

 

“Are you still worried about me?”

 

“It’s not

ㅡ

”

 

“Don’t worry. It’s not my blood.”

 

About three seconds later, I understood Licht’s words, and a hiccup broke out between my lips.

 

“

Hicc. Hic.

”

 

“Do you want me to pinch your feet?”

 

“There’s,

hicc,

no need!

Hic.

”

 

As I clenched my lips and stared at him, Licht stopped as he was about to reach out to me in the arms of the escort.

 

“Yernian.”

 

“

Hicc

… Why!”

 

I closed my mouth after I responded nervously the moment I noticed his mood was unusual.

 

A muffled voice rang in my ears.

 

“…Who did this?”

 

Fingers soaked in the fishy scent of blood brushed my cheeks. A belated bitterness spread along the spot where the fingers had rubbed.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Did my cheeks get scratched by the floor when I fell in the carriage earlier?

 

Again, avoiding the approaching hand, I unknowingly hugged the shadow’s neck tightly, and the corners of Licht’s eyes twitched.

 

He stared at the shadow holding me with displeased eyes.

 

“What if the use of mana isn’t worth it, Todd.”

 

For some reason, I felt the shadow holding me shrink.

 

I hurriedly intervened when I noticed that an unusual energy was gathering in Licht’s fingertips.

 

“It’s not the shadow’s fault! I stumbled and fell.”

 

“You stumbled? Ah.”

 

Licht nervously brushed his blood-soaked hair.

 

“I forgot you were here for a moment.”

 

…Was it you who attacked the carriage?

 

After he had washed away the blood that had covered his body with magic, he moved me with gentle hands and embraced me.

 

I buried my face in Licht’s broad shoulders as I pouted my lips.

 

The faint scent of grass leaves hidden in the bloody smell made my body loosened up from tension.

 

A clumsy hand still patted my back.

 

“…Are you in a lot of pain?”

 

“

Yesh, hicc. Vewy much

.” (Yes, hicc. Very much.)

 

After barely stopping the hiccups, I mumbled in a voice with a sense of weakness that came late.

 

“Lichth.” (Licht.)

 

“Why, Yernian.”

 

“…

Wiw

you come by

youwself

nexth

thime

?” (…Will you come by yourself next time?)

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Strength flowed to Licht’s arm that was holding me.

 

In fact, it hurt more terribly than when I suffered an internal injury while trying to save Licht, but I didn’t express it.

 

I just wanted to go back to the main palace and rest.

 

Licht, who was arranging my messy hair with meticulous hands, suddenly pulled me off with a stiff expression.

 

“But why is your body so hot?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Come to think of it, it seems like Licht’s body temperature is colder than usual.

 

His cool hand touched my forehead.

 

Hmm. But why did his face look so blurry than before?

 

“Yernian, you…!”

 

My consciousness was quickly sucked into the darkness, and Licht’s voice rang out from my ears.

 

***

 

Askari went on a flower hunt for Yernian today.

 

He was able to get a considerable amount of sunflowers to the extent that it was worthwhile to go to the flower garden of the furthest detached palace.

 

Askari’s moist nose twitched as he carefully bit his robe and the stalk of a giant sunflower.

 

‘This is really the last time.’

 

Askari, who had already made up his 37th promise, climbed up the tree skillfully.

 

It was a tree connected to Yernian’s bedroom terrace.

 

He paused instead of heading to the table where he usually offered flowers.

 

‘But why is security like this?’

 

Askari, unaware that Yernian and Licht’s bedroom are connected by a single door, gritted his teeth.

 

‘I’ll have to tell Brother to move Yernian’s bedroom or something.’

 

A human with a subtly blind corner tended to work more than expected.

 

In addition, the rumors that she was favored by Licht were all fake, and everything she had was shabby.

 

Askari raised the quill pen that had been tattered with dirt on his hands and let out a groan.

 

‘No human beings dare damage the prestige of the royal family.’

 

Even for the sake of the royal family, he had no choice but to take care of the insignificant and laborious human.

 

As Askari, who raised his chin proudly, was about to drop the flower he was holding in his mouth on the table, indescribable words pierced his ears.

 

“Her Highness the Princess is in critical condition because the fever reducer doesn’t work…”

 

The conversation that was leaking through the terrace door was cut off at the sound of,

bang

!

 

Askari, who had already returned to his human form, quickly sewed his clothes on. With a grimace on his face, he slammed the terrace door open.

 

Loen and the Chief Maid, who were having a conversation with a serious expression, turned pale.

 

“Your Highness the Fourth Prince…? Why are youㅡ”

 

“What happened to Yernian?”

 

Strength entered Askari’s hand, which was holding the cravat that he hadn’t been able to tie.

 

“Won’t you tell me quickly?”

 

The crawling tail stood up fiercely, as if to represent his discomfort.

 

With a heavy sigh, the Chief Maid summarized the events that had happened while Askari had left the main palace.

 

“Damn it…!”

 

Askari ran out of Yernian’s bedroom along the way and ran down the hallway.

 

Then he ran into Noha, who had arrived first in front of the gate guarded by the knights.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

After looking at each other with strange expressions for a while, their heads swung around with the sound of the door opening.

 

Mir, who had become emaciated within a few hours, showed courtesy to the two of them.

 

“What about Yeni?”

 

“What about Yernian?”

 

Mir frowned at the question the two princes uttered at the same time.

 

“I’m sorry to both of you, but His Majesty has issued a strict order that no one is allowed in while the Princess is recovering her body.”

 

“What? Why!”

 

Unlike Askari, who was furiously angry, Noha asked in a calm voice.

 

“…How is Yeni doing?”

 

“The fever is getting higher, but since His Majesty’s magic is an attack-type, it seems that healing magic doesn’t work well.”

 

“Then what should we do?! They said the medicine doesn’t even work.”

 

Askari grabbed Mir’s collar with a pale face.

 

As Mir soothed the anxious Askari, Noha shut his mouth in anger and stared into the air with helpless eyes.

 

The problem was that his entire bedroom was under a silent spell while he was investigating the source of the relic, the Duchy of Avicinian.

 

He later found out that Yernian had disappeared and went to look for Licht, but the office was already empty.

 

He was vaguely walking down the hallway when he heard the news that Licht had returned with Yernian and was about to run.

 

‘She can be saved.’

 

No, she must be saved. He can’t lose someone like this helplessly again.

 

Noha’s eyes, who looked down at his hands, were dyed dark.