After finishing the contract, Leciel and Carren parted ways to spend some time alone.

Carren decided to do some light personal training before his afternoon session, while Leciel chose to explore her newly relocated room.

As she made her way to her room, Leciel briefly glanced around with interest but soon lost it.

After all, only the room’s location had changed; the furniture and items inside were the same.

“You must have had a hard time.”

Knowing all too well the hassle of moving, Leciel silently thanked the servants for their hard work in relocating her room.

She then released Mimi, who had likely been confined to her hiding place while Leciel’s room was being vacated.

Mimi, who liked to sleep with Leciel, had been left to sleep alone the previous night, and that had weighed on Leciel’s mind.

As soon as she unlocked the door, Mimi darted out and immediately jumped into Leciel’s arms.

Fortunately, Mimi was small enough that Leciel could easily hold her.

“Were you good while I was gone?”

Though Leciel knew Mimi couldn’t understand her words, she spoke to her affectionately.

After all, even if Mimi was a monster, she was now Leciel’s pet.

And Leciel knew that talking to a pet, even if it didn’t understand, was essential for building an emotional connection.

As expected, Mimi didn’t understand Leciel’s words. She just rubbed her face against Leciel, purring contentedly. But that moment of calm didn’t last.

“Grr, grr.”

Mimi suddenly bared her teeth and growled menacingly, having sensed a lingering presence on Leciel.

“Mimi?”

Surprised by Mimi’s aggressive behavior, something she had never seen before, Leciel looked at her with concern.

“Grr, grr!”

Mimi, who would usually perk up and respond to Leciel’s calls, was now completely focused on sniffing her, barking ferociously.

Mimi was in a state of extreme agitation.

It was because of the faint residual energy lingering on Leciel.

If it had just been Kael’s energy, Mimi wouldn’t have reacted so strongly.

But something familiar hidden within that energy had stirred Mimi up.

“Mimi, calm down!”

Leciel tensed, worried that Mimi might try to escape the room or cause some trouble.

By now, Mimi had even unsheathed her claws.

“Grr, grr!”

Despite Leciel’s soothing attempts, Mimi wouldn’t calm down.

Desperate, Leciel held Mimi tightly in her arms, trying to contain her and gently stroked her, hoping it would calm her down.

‘What in the world….’

Leciel was completely taken aback by Mimi’s unusual agitation.

The only relief was that Mimi’s excitement was slowly subsiding.

Now, Mimi was calm, though her heart was still racing so fast that Leciel could feel it.

“Mimi, what’s wrong?”

Leciel asked, filled with concern.

She couldn’t understand what had made the usually gentle Mimi so agitated.

She truly had no idea.

Just then.

-… I hate it. It’s scary. It hurts. It’s horrible.

Leciel heard a fading voice in her ear.

“Mimi, was that you?”

Leciel asked, her heart skipping a beat.

-… I only like Leciel. This is horrible. It hurts.

As that voice echoed, Mimi kept rubbing her head against Leciel, trying to erase the lingering energy on her body.

“So, it was you talking.”

Hearing her name, Leciel realized that the voice she had heard earlier was Mimi’s.

It wasn’t entirely strange—she had heard a monster’s voice before.

Once in the monster forest, and again during the monster attack at the Grand Duke’s villa.

That was twice in total.

‘I don’t know why, though.’

Although Leciel still didn’t know why she could hear monsters’ voices, she had noticed a pattern. The previous two times, as well as now, the monsters’ emotions had been intense.

Her guess was correct.

“You were scared. But what were you scared of?”

Even though she now knew why Mimi had been so agitated, Leciel still couldn’t fully solve the mystery.

She didn’t know what had frightened Mimi or what could have scared her so much.

Unfortunately, Mimi’s voice had faded because her emotions had calmed down.

“At least you’re feeling better now.”

Relieved that things hadn’t escalated to a point where she might have to part with Mimi, Leciel held her close.

Although she couldn’t entirely relax, she continued to cuddle Mimi, who had returned to her usual affectionate self.

As Leciel lay on the bed with Mimi in her arms, she eventually drifted off to sleep.

Even then, Mimi stayed close to Leciel, watching her with curiosity as she slept.

Soon, Mimi began to move cautiously.

Though she had calmed down, Mimi was still bothered by the faint traces of energy lingering on Leciel.

That energy brought back memories Mimi didn’t want to recall.

When had it happened?

It must have been a long time ago, though Mimi, being a monster, couldn’t tell exactly how long.

Back then, she hadn’t been a monster but a regular animal.

After being taken somewhere, Mimi had turned into a monster like she was now and gained the ability to think like a human.

During that time, Mimi endured horrible suffering.

Just remembering it made her heart race and brought back the pain.

However, Mimi was fortunate to maintain this relatively mild form, unlike others who had turned into much more terrifying beings.

And unlike those who died in agony, Mimi had survived.

But she didn’t feel lucky. This wasn’t the life she had wanted.

Yet, after meeting Leciel, Mimi began to think that maybe surviving wasn’t so bad.

Being with Leciel was comforting and peaceful.

It felt warm and cozy, like being in her mother’s arms.

But why, why did that horrible energy linger faintly on Leciel, who meant so much to her?

It couldn’t have been direct contact, as the energy was so faint.

It must have been transferred to Leciel through something else.

I’ll protect Leciel.

I won’t let anything horrible happen to her.

Just imagining her precious Leciel going through something as terrible as she had made Mimi’s heart ache as if it were being squeezed.

 

* * *

 

Several days had passed since Leciel became certain that Kael’s condition was due to a curse.

Fortunately, nothing had happened to Kael during that time, but Leciel didn’t let her guard down.

As long as the curse wasn’t lifted, there was no telling when his symptoms might return.

To gather more information about the curse, Leciel diligently read books.

However, there weren’t many books on curses, and beyond what she had learned on the first day, she hadn’t found much new information.

‘It’s disappointing, but it can’t be helped.’

Knowing this much was already fortunate in a way.

At least now she knew the cause of Kael’s symptoms and why he had met such a fate.

She hadn’t expected to solve everything all at once.

Besides, there were still other unsolved mysteries, but she couldn’t do anything about them for now.

“Ugh, maybe I should do something else for a change.”

After reading about curses every day, Leciel’s brain felt like it was about to cramp.

Since she wasn’t coming up with any new ideas, she thought it might be a good time to take a break and give her overworked brain some rest.

The only problem was… she had nothing to do.

Leciel’s daily routine was always the same, and there was nothing new on the horizon.

“Being jobless must be tough.”

How did people manage to do nothing every day? Oh, maybe it was because she didn’t have any friends.

No one to hang out with?

She didn’t just lack people to hang out with; she also lacked things to do.

“Maybe I should go watch Brother train.”

The last time she met Carren at the training grounds, he had said she could drop by if she was bored.

Enough time had passed since that day that she felt her heart had calmed down enough to watch him train without being overwhelmed by how impressive he looked.

Just as she was about to get up with that thought, there was a knock at her door.

The next moment, her personal maid, Rani, entered the room, followed by other servants carrying something in their arms.

“Huh? What’s all this?”

Seeing the neatly wrapped boxes, Leciel couldn’t guess what was inside and looked puzzled.

Her confusion was cleared up by the butler, who entered afterward.

“These are all gifts from His Excellency.”

“Gifts?”

“Yes. They’re to help keep you entertained, young lady.”

“Oh!”

Leciel’s eyes sparkled as she eagerly unwrapped the gifts, pleased to receive something new to distract her from her boredom.

However, upon seeing the contents, she felt disappointed.

‘Why are they all dolls?!’

Even if she looked like a child, she wasn’t so young that she would play with dolls.

The only consolation was that the dolls were adorned with jewels, so she could sell them for money.

But other than that, they weren’t very useful.

Maybe she could use one as a cuddly toy for bedtime, but she already had Mimi, who served as the perfect sleeping companion.

“Aren’t you pleased with them?”

“… not exactly, it’s just…”

Leciel couldn’t bring herself to say she didn’t like the gifts outright, especially since they had been sent with good intentions.

“If there’s something specific you want, perhaps you could visit His Excellency and tell him yourself?”

The butler, noticing the slight disappointment in Leciel’s expression, suggested cautiously.

Kael, who was always eager to do anything for Leciel, would be thrilled if she came to him with a request, especially since he had been so busy and hadn’t had much rest lately.

After a moment’s thought, Leciel decided it would be a good idea to visit Kael, if only to thank him for the gifts, and she headed to his office.