C 53
After leaving the room of the female protagonist, I headed straight to the Duke's office.
Two soldiers were guarding the front of Duke Miriel's office, so I approached cautiously with my tail hanging down.
"Hello."
In response to my greeting, the soldier who was looking around lowered his gaze and knelt.
"Good afternoon, miss."
"Is Grandfather in?"
"His Excellency, Duke Miriel, is currently in a meeting with his vassals."
Ah, he's not here.
I moved my short legs forcefully to get here, but I encountered quite tiring news.
"By the way, didn't your lady-in-waiting accompany you?"
"Ah."
I forgot.
After Erno Etham left, I left the room immediately, so I didn't have time to call my lady-in-waiting.
"You forgot?"
"Hehe..."
As I awkwardly scratched my hair, the soldier smiled at me.
I thought soldiers and knights were very tough and scary, but he looked incredibly simple.
After hesitating for a moment, he carefully opened his mouth.
"My lady, perhaps... would it be okay if I touched your tail just once?"
"Hey, Philip!"
A fierce-looking soldier next to him slapped him on the shoulder.
"Oh, it's fine if it's hard!"
"... My tail?"
"Yes."
"Isn't it creepy?"
"... Not at all? It's cute."
"... Is that so?"
The soldier tilted his head with an expression that I didn't understand why he thought that way.
"Sorry, I really like repti... that kind of creature."
"Ah, it's okay. Go ahead!"
When I jumped and held my tail upright, the soldier named Philip quickly took off his glove and carefully touched my tail.
"Oh... why the heck is it... so soft...?"
Philip, who had mumbled that it was fluffy, was now carefully manipulating the tail with both hands.
"Oh my goodness, this is the first time I've touched a tail like this, but I wonder if tails attached to soft and cute people are originally this soft and fluffy...? Or is it because the lady is cute and adorable that it feels soft and fluffy...?"
I didn't know what he was muttering, but it seemed that Philip's pupils dilated a bit at this point. At this point, I felt a little perplexed.
"... Oh."
It feels strange that he keeps touching it.
It felt like someone was rubbing the soles of my feet.
"It's a little ticklish..."
And...
I'm scared, Philip!
I don't think he'll eat my tail like tail soup, right?
As I shivered feeling slightly scared, the fierce-looking soldier beside him grabbed Philip by the nape of his neck and lifted him up.
"Philip, why are you being so disrespectful?"
"Ugh, I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"
Philip widened his eyes and knelt down, pressing his forehead to the ground.
"I lost my head for a moment. I'm really sorry."
"Oh, no..."
Saying that, I slipped away from Philip and approached the fierce-looking soldier.
Kuuuung-
It was as if I had a vision of a stone falling on Philip's head.
With a look of despair on his face, Philip staggered to his feet.
"Miss."
"Yes?"
"I will take you to the meeting room."
"Oh, no. It's occupied."
"Well, I think he'll like it."
He'll like it?
Duke Miriel?
I crossed my short arms, looked worried for a moment, and then shook my head.
"It's because he couldn't overcome my father's stubbornness."
Indeed, if it weren't for Erno Etham, I would have been kicked out of the house right away.
"Of course, I apologized... ... ."
To be honest, I felt a little surprised and incredulous when I heard Kylo's translation, but I'm still not sure the answer is "Yes."
"Still, it's tomorrow, so I'll have to ask now...."
Didn't they say canceling a date would make you feel less bad if you told them even a minute before?
"Then let's go."
"I'll take care of it. Philip, stay here."
"Understood, Keyan..."
Philip muttered with a melancholic expression.
I couldn't help but rummage through the snack bag that Erno Etham had filled for me to eat when I got hungry.
"Take this."
It feels like I'm pacifying a child, but all I have are sweets....
"Are you giving it to me?"
"Yes."
"Thank you..."
I smiled awkwardly and followed the fierce-looking soldier, Keyan.
"Even though Philip looks like that, he has a lot of younger sisters. It wasn't ill-intentioned."
"Yes, I know."
"Did you know that His Excellency, Duke Miriel, has been making lizard plushies these days?"
"Lizard plushies...?"
That's a strange taste.
I laughed awkwardly and shook my head, and Keyan chuckled.
"This is the conference room."
"Yes, thank you."
"And miss."
"Yes?"
"Can I touch your tail just once?"
"…… Yes. Not like Philip, though."
"Not so recklessly."
Keyan knelt down, reverently removed his gloves, touched my tail a couple of times with a serious expression, and then cleanly stood up.
"Then, I take my leave."
"Yes."
It was when Keyan stood up after crouching.
Shwaaa-
Something flew out of his chest and landed gently on the ground.
"What?"
It was a small, rigid piece of paper about the size of his palm.
"Keyan, here..."
I was about to pick it up, but Keyan's hand flew at lightning speed and snatched the photo away from me.
It was so fast that my bangs fluttered.
"… What?"
Was it a photo?
I looked at Keyan; there was no change in his expression.
"Excuse me."
"It's okay..."
Here, there were "photographs" that you could generate through a video stone.
Moreover, there were "moving images" like gifs, commonly referred to in Korea.
"I heard it's expensive, but...."
Still, I heard that the Tower of Mages is doing quite well with them.
"Well, it looks like a family photo."
Still, why did he take it so quickly?
I felt a little uneasy.
"Goodbye."
"Yes, goodbye, Keyan."
Keyan stayed there until I received permission to enter the conference room.
"Cough, cough, go ahead."
A loud voice came from the conference room. I took a deep breath and entered.
When I entered, dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on me.
Tap, tap, tap.
I tried to control my racing heartbeat and approached Duke Miriel.
"Hello, Grandfather."
"Yes."
On his desk lay something that looked like a piece of wood, something in the shape of a lizard.
It was the color of wood as if it hadn't been painted yet.
Duke Miriel subtly covered it with his papers, probably noticing that I was looking at the wooden statue.
"What's going on?"
"I need to make a request... But aren't you busy?"
"A request?"
He casually embraced me and sat me on his lap.
"What?"
He did it very naturally.
I discreetly took the sweet out of my mouth in case the tiger lollipop I was eagerly eating stained it.
"What's that candy?"
"My sister gave it to me."
Now it's getting to the point where it's so sweet it's hard to eat.
"Mmm... Do you like sweets?"
"A bit."
"I see..."
He muttered something under his breath.
When I lifted my head resting on Duke Miriel's chest, I saw many vassals looking at me.
"Oh...."
I don't know why they're looking at me like that.
It was embarrassing to keep looking at them, so I smiled brightly to alleviate the discomfort, and their eyes widened.
"Do you like something cool and sweet?"
While both of us were embarrassed and exchanging glances, an elderly man with a long beard who was close to Duke Miriel asked me while stroking his beard.
"Something cool and sweet?"
"Yes, ice cream is a snack that has recently become popular..."
Ice cream?
You mean something like that exists here?
"Honestly, Korea and the worldview of this world were a bit mixed."
In the past, while reading <Adopted>, I thought the author had a lot of annoying things.
"I like it!"
When I leaned forward and opened my eyes, the old man's eyes opened a bit.
"Hmm, ahem...."
The old man scratched his cheek as if he were a little embarrassed and then opened his mouth.
"Then, I'll send it to you at the end of the day."
"Yes!"
While smiling broadly, the old man took out a round coin from somewhere.
"... Little fluffy thing."
"Yes?"
"I have a lot of those too."
Suddenly, Duke Miriel intervened.
