But I didn’t feel any better.
I chimed in and complained.
“Isn’t Aedis sad? I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I changed my body. I was dreaming about doing various things with Aedis’ body.”
“Oh my. I’ll have to add that to the wife’s wish list.”
Aedis laughed. Even if it wasn’t today, it seemed like he would listen to it someday.
I spoke to the voice we heard before our bodies returned to normal.
“I can never forgive you for calling what made us suffer like this a game.”
Aedis ran his hand through my hair and wondered.
“That’s strange. The wife didn’t seem to suffer at all.”
“Hmm, hmm. anyway! Let’s go catch the culprit right now! According to Paimon, the cats might know something.”
“Are you not going to do what you were going to do?”
“Even, even if you tempt me like that, I won’t fall for it. I’m very, very angry right now.”
But my eyes overflowed with longing, and my hands still held Aedis.
“Wife, your words and actions don’t go together.”
“…I’ll play with you now.”
I said nothing and let go of Aedis with tears in my eyes.
The need to refrain from using his powers was gone, so Aedis immediately moved to the North with me.
Seeing us suddenly return to Cyclamen castle, Sarah’s eyes widened.
“Your Grace? Why are you back already?”
“I came for a moment. What about the cats?”
“They’re gone. But will they come back tomorrow? The work rules from a long time said that it was normal for cats to disappear during a full moon, so don’t go looking for them.”
Sarah commented indifferently.
I tilted my head, having been able to guess the correlation between the full moon and cats only through 〈Collection of Northern Fairy Tales〉.
“Is it different from the work rules the chief handmaid showed you? How long ago do you think it was?”
Sarah explained with an excited expression.
“That was a work rule used 30 years ago. Besides that, when I saw a long shadow wandering alone in the hallway at 3 am, I greeted three times and asked to pass by. We all saw it, so do you want me to bring it to Your Grace?”
It wasn’t even a Napolitan ghost story,* what an odd rule.
Well, Cyclamen Castle is very old, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were about ten ghost stories.
“I’ll see it later.”
While I was chatting lightly with Sarah, Aedis located the cats. They were beyond the Crystal Gate.
“Not surprising.”
I knew it.
Beyond the Crystal Gate, you will find the largest monster habitat on the continent.
Rumors about the mysterious fish that live only there and wild bears the size of a house are still rife.
It must have been the best place for the unusual cats to go to play during the full moon.
Aedis made sure I put on my coat and moved us there.
Eventually, the place we arrived at was an ice forest that glowed blue.
The trees that rose through the ice were also tinged with a soft blue color, and I felt as if I had fallen on the boundary between reality and fantasy.
If it hadn’t been for resisting my husband’s temptations, it would have been interesting to watch it.
I hurried. After passing some trees, I saw three cats perched on an icy rock.
And that wasn’t all. Birds lurked in the branches, and creatures with shining eyes lurked in the shadows.
“There must have been a party here while we were at the parent’s gathering.”
I summoned Peep.
“Pyaak!”
Peep jumped out and ran around and buried itself in the snow. I shook my head and put Peep in my pocket.
The cats watched the scene and meowed like saying something.
“Peep, translate it for me.”
“Ppii.”
Peep wiped the snow and used its superpowers.
Soon the cat’s words began to be understood by me, too.
“It’s Eve!”
“It’s our master!”
… Me? Not Tolymann Elliott?
The birds were agitated by the cats’ conversation. All of them seemed to envy the cats who had me as their master.
I approached the cats.
“Until now, Aedis and I swapped bodies? Do you know anything?”
I went straight to the point, but the raccoons nearby opened their mouths.
[“That, that is nonsense! Are you really Lady Maevia’s familiar?!”]
[“Lady Maevia spoke to me first!”]
I tried to ignore the exclamations that came from everywhere.
“I’m in a bad mood. Can you be honest with me?”
Carolina, the smallest cat, smirked.
“I’ll tell you! Everything! But you must do us a favor.”
Then Maximus and Isabelle made their demands as if they had been waiting.
“Please give me scratches!”
“Scratch my chin! Say I’m pretty!”
Aedis spoke.
“There are a lot of unnecessary demands.”
The cats quickly became polite hearing the voice cooler than the atmosphere surrounding the icy forest.
“The fairy is over there! Go straight ahead!”
“What are you guys doing! Don’t block the road! Get out of the way!”
With the cats’ urging, the animals scattered and cleared the way.
I glanced at the raccoons as I crossed the road.
“As Paimon guessed, the culprit was a fairy. So, are those raccoons also fairies? I don’t think they’re beasts.”
Then Maximus called me over.
“Ex, excuse me, Eve!”
“What?”
“That child is stupid, but not a bad child.”
Maximus said hesitantly.
“He thought Eve would come to see him right away, but you didn’t come, so he got sulky.”
Isabelle asked while licking her paw.
“Did Eve come late on purpose? Because you’re trying to break that fairy’s habit of making a fuss about stealing Eve’s attention? I know everything!”
I came late to enjoy it to the fullest.
Suddenly, a whimpering sound reached my ears.
I blinked in bewilderment before moving forward.
Something huge, the size of a house, was weeping sadly.
“…… A bear?”
I didn’t want to say that to the raccoon fairies, but this one was a bit scary.
Is that blood on its mouth?
It, it ate fish, not people, right?
I quietly hid behind Aedis.
Aedis once said that I was cute because I resembled a polar bear. However, I wondered if that looked like me.
I gulped and opened my mouth.
“Did you change our bodies?”
The white bear looked at me. The look in his eyes was like it had starved for two days and found plump prey.
[Me…!]
“What?”
[Accept me as a familiar, too! I’ve heard all the cats brag about it. I’m going to be Lady Maevia’s familiar, too! Waahh! Uwaaahh! Let me be Lady Maevia’s familiar!]
As the bear lay down on its back and issued an unreasonable demand, the ice, which could not withstand its weight, began to crack.
Can a fairy go crazy?! I exclaimed while holding on to Aedis.
“I don’t have a familiar! Those cats aren’t my familiars either!”
Far from being persuaded, the bear’s eyes turned crazy.
[Then I want to be Lady Maevia’s first familiar! Right now!]
A bear with blood on its mouth crawled toward me.
That crazy bear was ten times more terrifying than Paimon’s main body, the dragon itself.
How can that be a fairy?! Apologize to the fairy tale fairies!
Embarrassed, I caught my breath, and Aedis kicked the bear.
The bear shattered the ice and crashed into a tree.
“If you wanted to become Eve’s familiar that much, you should have begged on your knees.”
Aedis’ words made the bear feel maligned.
[Fairies can’t kneel and pray! They gave something better instead! I heard Lady Maevia’s desire!]
Finally, the bear roared. If it wasn’t for Peep, those words would only come as ferocious cries, so I might have fainted long ago.
I frowned.
“Have you granted what I desire?”
[I can hear what humans desire. Lady Maevia desired after that body, so my mischief came into play!]
The bear pointed at Aedis. The animal fairies who were watching whispered.
[What is desire?]
[I don’t know either.]
[You know?]
“…..I’ll kill it. I’ll shut that mouth.”
The bear in front of me was not afraid at all.
I clenched my fists while Aedis was busy giggling and laughing.
“The wife likes me very much.”
I couldn’t stop my face from burning up. I chose to attack instead of defend.
“That’s obvious, right?! Go and attack!”
“Pyaak!”
When I landed it on the floor, Peep lunged at the bear.
The momentum was great, but the bear snatched it at once.
[What’s this? Should I eat it?]
Peep was about to enter the giant bear’s mouth.
It wasn’t a real creature anyway, so it wouldn’t die, but Peep pathetically sent a rescue signal to me.
“Ppppiiii! Ppppiiiikkkk!”
… Looking at that figure, who would think that it is an almighty lump of power?
I sighed and stepped forward a little. The bear looked more closely.
When I look up close it’s cute……as if!!
I stepped back, brought Aedis to be my shield, and asked.
“Why do you want to be my familiar?”
The bear really didn’t intend to gulp Peep, so it put it down on the floor.
[Right now, no one plays with me, but if I become Lady Maevia’s familiar, I’ll be popular, too, right? Like the cats, I will receive lots of food as presents!]
It was a very personal and earthly reason.
I begrudgingly asked.
“Don’t you think that no one plays with you because they’re afraid of getting eaten?”
—
*Napolitan horror story: so it’s a horror story that doesn’t really mention the existence or the danger, but rather incites imagination. For example: not to pick up phone calls when staying in a hotel at night, or run away as soon as someone comes up from a certain room number. There’s no explanation as to what causes the rule or anything.
