Chapter 28
The Flower That Was Swallowed by the Beast
Chapter 28
Jamie returned after the meal ended.
âItâs ready, boss.â
âLetâs go, Irie. I have something interesting to show you.â
Because of the talk about the Sleep Stone she had forgotten that Keivrand had said he would show her something fascinating.
Iris got up holding his hand.
They headed for the stable in the corner of the mansion.
On the wide plain in front of the stable, sturdy-looking horses can be seen resting or running comfortably.
The stable was empty, as if all the horses had been let out.
Walking along the path in the middle of the stable, there was a closed door.
Jamie opened the door.
The first thing she saw was Eugene.
Eugene, who was usually cold and expressionless, was looking down and smiling sweetly.
Then, realizing that the door had been opened, his expression quickly changed.
âBoss. Sister-in-law.â
âLong time no see, Eugene. How are you?â
As she spoke cheerfully, Keivrand grabbed Irisâ chin slightly and turned her around.
âWhat you need to see is this way, not there.â
Iris, who inadvertently turned her eyes, let out an exclamation without even realizing it.
âAh!â
A small white horse standing close to its mother who was also white.
But the surprising thing was,
âHornâ¦â
The little horse had a horn.
A long golden horn.
Iris covered her mouth with both hands.
A white horse with a long horn, Iris recognized it. But such a thing was a mythical creature.
âUnicornâ¦â
She never thought she would see a unicorn in real life.
âYes, itâs a unicorn.â
âButâ¦the mother doesnât have a horn.â
The mother looked like an ordinary white horse.
âThese guys can hide their horns when they become adults. They have evolved to survive.â
Keivrand pulled Irisâ hand and placed it on the mother horseâs head.
Iris was worried that the horse would bite her hand, but the horse stood still.
Although she couldnât see anything, she could feel something hard.
âThereâs something.â
âYes, something. White.â
White must be the name of the unicorn.
When Keivrand called her name, an invisible horn appeared.
A golden horn that shines much more brilliantly than the foal.
Iris held her breath and captured the phenomenal sight of a legend becoming a reality.
âUnicorns are smart and strong. They can understand what you say, and theyâre very loyal when they accept you as their master. It can also fly in the sky after becoming an adult.â
âItâs the same as the legendsâ¦â
âItâs not a legend, Irie. Humans have just given creatures they thought to have gone extinct the wonderful word legend.â
Whiteâs horn disappeared again.
Keivrand looked down at the baby unicorn.
âThis kid doesnât have a name yet.â
âI see. I donât think you should name it.â
âHmm? Why?â
âYour naming sense is a littleâ¦the name White.â
Eugene, who was standing quietly, nodded.
White also seemed to have nodded.
âWell, I couldnât name her black.â
âAnyway, I think someone else should name this kid.â
âYou name it.â
âWhat?â
âThis kid is yours now.â
Iris widened her eyes and looked at Keivrand.
Was he serious?
It was already hard enough to believe that unicorns really exist, but now he was giving her a unicorn as a wedding gift.
If a unicorn can really fly in the sky, shouldnât Keivrandâs shadows have it?
Iris looked at Eugene. However, Eugene didnât seem to know what she was thinking.
So she looked back at Jamie this time. Jamie grinned.
âIris, you take it. Weâre not good at parentingâ¦â
âParenting?â
âWell. What should I say? In fact, we objected to the idea of giving this kid to you as a gift.â
Of course they would.
Such a precious thing.
âItâs not a gift but a curse, sister-in-law.â
Eugene, who was standing silently, stepped in as if he could no longer stand it.
âWhat?â
âUnicorns are cute. Theyâre very beautiful and elegant. Butâ¦â
Eugene extended his right hand to the unicorn.
And,
Snap-!
Was bitten.
âLook.â
Eugene said without pulling out his hand.
âUnicorns without owners are fierce. Unruly. It took a really long time for the boss to tame White.â
Now Eugene tried to pull out his hand, but the unicorn wouldnât let go.
âYou have to think itâs like raising a three or four-year-old child with no home education, sister-in-law. Do you know what itâs like to have a kid like that?â
Papapa-
She heard the sound of rain.
The baby unicorn was peeing while it held Eugeneâs hand in its mouth.
Eugene pointed to the baby unicorn with his left hand, as if telling her to look.
âYou need to teach and tame it so it will recognize you as its master. Itâs not something anyone can do, sister-in-law. It seems to me that the boss is trying to pass on the parenting to his wife.â
Iris looked back at Keivrand. He was smiling pleasantly.
âEugene, are you serious?â
âWhat do you think?â
âA little bit of truth. And a little bit not.â
Keivrand was looking at Iris as if he knew what she was thinking.
âIâm looking forward to it. I hope I can tame this kid.â
âIâm sure itâs not just wishful thinking. Youâll definitely be able to tame this kid.â
âWell. Iâve never had a child before.â
It was hard to deal with children in her previous life. She had never been treated like a child since she was young, so she didnât know how she should treat them.
âUnicorns are so fast that even horses canât catch up.â
Keivrand held Irisâ hand.
âI want to run with you on these kids.â
Iris tried to imagine herself running with Keivrand on these dazzling unicorns.
But she couldnât imagine it. It was because she had never ridden before.
âButâ¦â
In the future, there may be times when Iris has to ride out alone.
It would be useful if she has a unicorn.
âOkay.â
Iris replied.
âLet me be the owner of this child.â
* * *
Iris returned to her room with a load of books from the study room.
[Interesting Fantasy Creatures Dictionary], [Legends of the World], [Creature of Legends], [Fantasy Creatures That Really Exists], [Legendary Creatures for Hunters Guidebook].
Most of them were third-rate magazine-level books that were read for fun and discarded.
Information on unicorns was published in each book since it was an appealing topic.
However, most of them were short lines and only their appearance was written, so Iris still didnât know what a unicornâs habits or preferences are.
The information that made Iris appalled was the following.
[Unicornsâ staple food is live mice.]
âDonât tell meâ¦it really eats live mice?â
She didnât want to imagine a cute little creature chomping on a mouse.
âMiss Iris. Why are you reading so diligently?â
Elly, who had been struggling to sit still for a while, asked while Christina was away.
âDo you know anything about legendary creatures?â
âI studied liberal arts at the Academyâ¦â
âHow about unicorns? Did you learn what they like?â
âUnicorn? Oh, I thinkâ¦They enjoy eating big caterpillars.â
âAhâ¦â
This time it was a caterpillar.
Iris also didnât want to see the unicorn eating caterpillars either.
âI heard unicorns were real back in the day, and that their personality isâ¦No, their personality is very bad. However, I heard unicorn meat is good for you. Especially unicorn horns. If you eat it, you can even come back from the brink of death. So they were hunted without mercy and eventually went extinct.â
âI see.â
âBut why are you asking about unicorns?â
Iris hesitated to tell Elly about the unicorns.
Because it seemed that only Keivrand and his shadows knew of their existences.
âI got a foal as a gift from the Count, so I became interested in unicorns.â
In the end, she decided to lie.
Elly nodded without doubting her.
âFoals are gentle. Scratch the back of their neck, make eye contact, and feed it some carrots. Itâll follow you in minutes.â
The problem is that Iris didnât think that would work.
âHave you named your horse?â
âNot yet.â
âItâs better to name it first. You have to give it a name if you want to get closer to it.â
Iris had never given a name to a creature.
So she couldnât think of a good name for the pretty little unicorn.
âItâs a white horse. What would you name it?â
âWhite horse? Then little white. White.â
ââ¦Ah, is that so?â
Ellyâs naming sense was no better than Keivrand.
Closing the book, Iris got up and left the room. She didnât think she would know more about unicorns by reading books.
She ran into Nathan, who was rushing up the stairs.
âOh, sister-in-law! Good morning.â
Nathan paused and bowed.
âGood morning, Nathan. Where are you going?â
âThe boss called me to do something. Oh, right. Sister-in-law, I heard you got a unicorn?â
âYes, thatâs what happened. Do you have any advice?â
âWell. Advice, adviceâ¦â
Nathan folded his arms and furled his eyebrows.
Nathan, who was deep in thought, stared seriously at Iris and spoke.
âBe careful not to get bitten. Itâll be able to kick backwards when it grows up, so you canât stand in the back. Youâll get kicked. But itâs not good to stand in front of it. You might get rammed by its horn. It would be better to just throw it a fresh carrot and watch from afar.â
âThatâs very useful advice.â
Nathan smiled brightly.
âBe careful, sister-in-law. If you get hurt, Cel will kick the boss.â
âIf Iâm hurt, why would sheâ¦?â
âBecause the boss gave his wife such a dangerous and terrifying gift.â
A dangerous and terrifying gift.
She was losing confidence.
Will she be able to tame that little kid?
As she was walking through the garden after leaving the main building deep in thought, Iris stopped when she heard something.
She could see gray hair through the neck of the garden. The late Count and his wife were walking in the garden.
She had forgotten that the late Count and his wife were still here at this mansion.
Perhaps she should go greet them, she thought.
In her previous life, Alfredâs parents had waited in front of her room in advance. They got very angry when she didnât greet them in the morning.
They would say she didnât learn anything and didnât know anything, and that she was a good-for-nothing. That kind of thing was a regular occurrence in the mansionâ¦
Iris hurried to where the late Count and wife were.
âOh, Irie. Did you sleep well?â
Fortunately, Helena didnât look upset.
âYes, mother. Iâm sorry. I should have said hello.â
âHmm? Hello? Oh, hello. Sheâs saying hello, dear.â
âHahahaâ¦â
Wyvern smiled as if he was amazed.
Iris couldnât understand the reaction of the two. They werenât angry and they werenât laughing at her.
âThatâs very polite of you, Irie. Iâve never received a good morning from my kidsâ¦Right, that kind of thing does exist.â
Helena seemed really surprised.
Only then did Iris relax. She had decided to live a life different from the past, but she still couldnât escape the trauma of her past life.
The Green family is different from the Whittle family and the Hutch family.
âBy the way, Iâm glad youâre here, Irie. I wanted to ask you something.â
Staring at Iris with her amber eyes, Helena asked.
âHow do you think we should treat Duke Whittle and his wife?â
== Translatorâs Note ==
1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etcâ¦in the comment section .