Chapter 17

The round object, placed on an unnecessarily extravagant pedestal, was—

A hamster wheel?

A tiny hamster wheel, just the right size for a squirrel beastkin to fit into.

After setting it down in front of Beatty, the boy’s eyes gleamed with anticipation.

“Do you want to try it now?”

‘…Is he messing with me?’

So that so-called kindness—I must have completely misread it.

Beatty furrowed her brows in reasonable suspicion.

“You don’t like the wheel?”

Tilting his head, the boy then pushed forward an enormous tray.

“Then how about this?”

“?”

Beatty looked up in confusion, only to see—

A seven-story mansion.

A grand residence complete with a lobby, a banquet hall, reception rooms, a dressing room—nothing was missing. It had everything one could possibly need.

A mansion for squirrels.

“……”

Seeing the perfectly scaled-down furniture, Beatty was at a complete loss for words.

‘What the hell is this…?’

“Is there nothing here you like?”

The boy began pulling things out from inside the miniature mansion, placing them in front of her as if encouraging her to choose.

A squirrel-sized bed.

A squirrel-sized dress.

A squirrel-sized tea set.

Beatty stared blankly at the tiny objects, each about the size of a chestnut.

“Oh.”

The boy’s voice carried a playful lilt.

“Hold out your hand.”

“?”

Hesitating, she extended her hand.

“Tada.”

He placed something in her palm—a life-sized squirrel plushie identical to the one she had seen decorating the banquet hall.

Beatty, now holding the plushie awkwardly with both hands, squirmed under his watchful gaze.

The boy studied her for a moment before speaking.

“A squirrel holding a squirrel.”

There was an unmistakable note of satisfaction in his voice.

Beatty just stared at him, utterly failing to comprehend.

***

“Oh ho ho. Were you two having fun together?”

“Yeah. I played with her.”

“Oh my, how sweet! You’re really looking after your little sister. Our young master has grown up so much!”

“I was always grown up.”

Played with me…? Not played around with me?

Hearing his completely unbothered response, Beatty felt deeply wronged.

Cheep…

‘Actually…’

She had been practically forced into transforming into her squirrel form under the relentless sparkle of her brother’s eager eyes.

Cheep-cheep, chirp-chirp, cheep-cheep-chirp!

I wasn’t the one being played with—I was the one entertaining him!

The moment she had transformed, his eyes had lit up like a predator spotting prey.

“Wanna try this?”

“How about this one?”

“Try going in here.”

He had dragged out every single toy in the room, relentlessly pestering her to play with them.

By the time she was done, she felt like she had run ten laps up and down an ancient tree from sheer exhaustion.

Cheep-chirp-cheep!

He’s such a weird lion!

Luckily, her brother couldn’t understand squirrel language.

“Oh my! Is that so? My lady, did you have fun?”

The real problem was—Johanna couldn’t understand her either.

Seeing the young lady waving her tiny squirrel paws enthusiastically, as if bragging about what she had done with her brother, Johanna simply smiled warmly.

“Oh dear, you must have had such a great time—just look at how rosy your cheeks are!”

‘It’s because I’m angry…!’

Beatty clutched her chest in silent frustration.

“Well then, my lady. Shall we put on something more comfortable for bed?”

Following Johanna’s lead, Beatty was taken to the dressing room—a place that could only be described as overwhelming. The sheer extravagance of the ducal household, providing such luxurious nightgowns even for a guest, was mind-blowing.

After changing into sleepwear, she padded back toward the bedroom.

Tap, tap, tap.

Despite her completely average leg length, the journey still took some time.

“…Huh?”

Standing there, smack in the middle of the room, was her brother.

‘Why is he still here?’

Beatty blinked in confusion.

“……”

“……”

The two siblings stared at each other in awkward silence.

Eventually, Beatty hesitantly called out.

“Carlitus El Aslan, Brother…?”

Would he mind if I called him ‘Brother’?

She hesitated for a moment, but no other title came to mind.

‘Well, I said his full name properly, so… this counts as polite speech, right?’

She had read somewhere that not omitting a person’s title, family name, or rank was considered the most formal way to address them.

“What even—”

Judging by his baffled expression, she must have remembered wrong.

“You’re not some official envoy. Why are you talking so weird?”

“Then… how should I…?”

“Just call my name.”

“Carlitus, Brother?”

He gave her a look, as if wondering why she was even asking.

“Hmm. Carlitus, Brother… aren’t you going to sleep?”

“I am.”

“Then why are you still here, Carlitus—uh, ugh.”

Trying to pronounce all five syllables in a row was too much for an eight-year-old’s tongue.

Beatty, flustered by the way her words tangled, turned red.

‘It’s because I’m still in this young body…’

She never made such mistakes before.

It was all because of this eight-year-old form.

Noticing her embarrassment, the boy let out a soft chuckle and spoke.

“Call me Carl.”

A subtle curve appeared at the corners of his lips.

Beatty’s round eyes widened at the unexpectedly gentle smile.

But just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. In its place was a mischievous smirk.

“With that short tongue of yours, it’s probably hard to pronounce.”

And, of course, he just had to add that annoying remark.

Beatty’s round eyes sharpened into triangles.

“…Carl.”

She called him as instructed.

But instead of simply accepting it—

Stretch.

Her soft cheeks were suddenly pulled outward.

“You have to add ‘Brother’ at the end.”

“…Carl, Brother, please let go of my cheeks.”

With her squished cheeks, her voice came out oddly muffled.

Beatty pouted, thoroughly dissatisfied with the situation.

Stretch, stretch.

Carl poked, prodded, and kneaded her cheeks like dough, seemingly entertained.

“Hm.”

Even though he was holding back his strength, his lion-like grip was still far too strong for a tiny squirrel.

Only when faint red marks threatened to form on her pale cheeks did he finally let go.

‘I’m finally free!’

The moment he released her, Beatty cupped her face and bolted a few steps back.

“……”

Carl wordlessly stared at her.

For some reason, there was a hint of disappointment in his gaze.

Beatty looked away.

Ahem.

“…So, Carl, Brother.”

“What.”

“I’m going to sleep now.”

“Go ahead.”

Beatty stared at him.

“…Aren’t you going to leave?”

She really wanted to sleep.

This tiny body was far too weak against drowsiness.

It hadn’t been that long since sunset, yet her eyelids were already getting heavy.

“I’ll leave after I see you lie down.”

“?”

Why would he need to see that?

Before she could ask, a strong force pushed her down onto the bed.

“Lie down.”

For him, it was probably gentle, but for her, it was like being shoved down by an elephant beastkin.

Fwump.

Her head landed on the plush pillow.

“Mmpph!”

The blanket was pulled up, burying her face.

“Sleep tight.”

Pat, pat.

After a clumsy yet thorough bedtime routine, Carl nodded in satisfaction and bid her goodnight.

“…Carl, Brother, you too.”

“Yeah.”

It was awkward, but—

Being put to bed like this was something Beatty had never experienced before.

After hesitating for a moment, she responded with the most polite goodnight greeting she knew.

“Rest well.”

A somewhat odd thing for a child to say to a boy barely older than her.

Carl let out a soft breath, amused.

“Yeah, Beatty.”

His hand tousled her hair lightly, like a gentle breeze.

“See you tomorrow, tail fluff.”

The door closed behind him.

“First I’m ‘little one,’ now I’m ‘tail fluff’…”@@novelbin@@

Beatty pouted.

Then—

She checked her surroundings.

Once she was absolutely sure that no one was watching—

She hesitated, then slowly raised her arm and placed her hand on her head, right where Carl had patted her.

As if doing so could hold onto the lingering warmth.