chapter 89
In the deep dawn, Koenig suddenly awoke.
It had already been five days since Cherry went into hibernation.
The room was still filled with her scent, so he did manage to fall asleep at night, though its effect was far weaker than the bold, war-song-like lullabies he was used to.
So around this hour at dawn, his eyes always opened on their own.
“Haah…”
Koenig swept a dry hand over his face and recalled today’s schedule.
He had to investigate the series of kidnappings occurring within the territory, and check the mining reports from the crystal mines.
He needed to get a bit more sleep if he didn’t want it to affect tomorrow.
As usual, he tried to fall back asleep while listening for the faint breathing of the squirrel—so soft that he normally had to focus to hear it.
But—
In the unusually silent dawn, once lost, sleep refused to return.
And at the same time—
‘It’s too quiet.’
Koenig realized something he should’ve been hearing… wasn’t there.
He shot upright and checked Cherry’s bed, but the place where the squirrel should’ve been curled up was empty.
He immediately checked the warmth of the bed while scanning the room.
There were no signs of intrusion.
Thankfully, the small bed still held a faint warmth.
It hadn’t been long since she left.
‘Did Cherry wake up?’
His gaze immediately turned to the three-tiered tray stacked with snacks.
According to the physician, since Cherry hadn’t prepared for hibernation, she might wake up briefly to replenish energy.
But the tray looked untouched.
Then where did she go?
“Cherry…”
He muttered her name through clenched fists, helplessly.
Thump.
A careful sound reached his ears.
It came from the room right next to his—Cherry’s room.
But it wasn’t Cherry’s sound.
It was faint, yes, but undeniably human.
As if someone tiptoeing had lost their balance.
Koenig’s eyes instantly narrowed in that direction.
A strange presence… in an empty room.
His thoughts didn’t need to continue.
He grabbed the sword he always kept beside the bed and stepped out.
Bang!
Before the door even fully closed, Koenig had already reached the next room.
He threw the closed door open.
Inside, the presence grew clearer—
A trembling, frightened breath.
So weak it seemed like it could stop at any moment, but that wasn’t going to earn lenience.
Koenig strode directly to the dressing room and flung the door open.
And what he faced—
“You…”
“H-Hicc…”
It was a face he had seen once before.
Silver hair sparkling like gathered moonlight, and cherry-colored eyes as if soaked in water.
The mysterious girl he’d found in his bedroom.
She had curled herself up among the long draping hems of the dresses, as if she believed she was hiding.
“…Ha.”
Koenig let out a faint laugh before he could stop himself.
He had thought it before—she was far too pathetic to be an assassin.
But no one in the Black Dragon Castle had silver hair and cherry-colored eyes.
Gerard claimed Koenig had been hallucinating from poison, but the girl was real.
He stepped forward.
His heart beat oddly loud.
“I… I don’t have any strength right now…”
She murmured something incomprehensible under her breath.
Koenig frowned as he stared at the girl trembling between the dresses.
Back then she had looked at him with teary eyes, and now was no different.
She hugged her knees, looking up at him—
As if she might burst into tears.
“…Ah.”
The moment he met those watery eyes, he saw someone overlap with her—
The squirrel he was desperately searching for even at this very moment.
And at the same time, he realized something he hadn’t noticed—
The dressing room was filled with a sweet cherry scent.
“…Cherry?”
He muttered the word unconsciously.
“Ke-niiiigh…”
A ticklish whisper echoed through the dressing room.
With only the hems of the dresses between us, silence fell between Koenig and me.
“You’re really… Cherry?”
Koenig turned his head away, covering his face with his hand, after confirming my name again.
‘So he really doesn’t like that I turned into a human.’
Should I erase his memory right now?
I hesitated, fidgeting with my fingers, but the conclusion was obvious.
‘No.’
Not because I decided it.
My animal instincts were telling me—today, the miracle from last time was not going to happen.
To be honest, even leaning against the wall like this, my body felt heavy like water-soaked cotton.
Keeping my eyes open felt like a miracle.
‘I’m scared…’
What kind of face Koenig would make… what he would say with that face… I couldn’t even imagine.
Tears threatened to fall, and I buried my face in the hem of a sky-blue dress.
‘What if Koenig hates me? No—he already does, doesn’t he…?’
Just the thought made the fabric soak with the shape of my eyes, nose, and mouth.
“I wanna go to Sister Eloise…”
I sniffled, on the verge of crying, when—
“Sister Eloise?”
Koenig turned toward me with terrifying eyes.
He softened his expression when he saw my widened ones—
But I had already seen it.
“My sister saw you? No—saw this version of you?”
I slowly nodded.
“Again?”
“A-Again…?”
Well, Erzin had seen me the day I became human, too.
It was the first time I transformed after coming to the Black Dragon Castle.
I raised two fingers… then added a third.
“Don’t tell me I’m the third one…”
“…Yeah.”
“If not my sister, then who else saw you?”
For some reason, Koenig’s voice dropped dangerously low.
His golden eyes gleamed in the darkness, as if ready to commit murder.
‘If I say Erzin was the first, he’ll definitely get mad…’
I wisely kept quiet.
I nervously fiddled with the silver hair pooling on the floor, and Koenig’s gaze followed my fingertips.
Then he reached out and twisted a lock of my hair between his fingers—
Just like he used to play with my tail.
“It wasn’t Erzin Astrahan, that bastard… was it?”
“…”
I remained silent.
But silence sometimes is an answer.
Koenig let out a deep sigh.
“I should’ve killed him back then.”
“…”
Oh gods, he doesn’t mean me, right?
I looked up nervously, and he brought the lock of my hair he held… to his lips.
‘What does that even mean…?’
One thing was clear—Koenig seen through human eyes was far more dangerous than usual.
“Just imagining that damned cat seeing you like this makes me want to kill him right now.”
“…Why?”
I hesitated before speaking carefully.
“Is it because I look weird…?”
Because I’m embarrassing?
Koenig’s expression hardened.
He stared at my face for a long moment, then spoke firmly.
“You’re beautiful. I thought so from the first moment I saw you in my bedroom.”
“Liar.”
“…What?”
“You’re just saying that to get me to come out of here…”
Even though I was scared of him, I mustered the courage to say it.
‘Koenig likes me as a squirrel, not as a human…’
More importantly—
No one had ever called Muriel Aimond beautiful.
Except my mother, who always adored me.
Everyone else said my hair looked like a broom, and whispered behind my back.
‘He must be lying.’
I concluded immediately.
I knew Koenig’s personality too well.
Koenig… could be mean.
Whenever I hid in his pocket and refused to come out, he would coax me with sweet words.
Then the moment I peeked out, he would spend all day teasing me.
He couldn’t bully me like that in human form…
‘…Wait, or does being human mean he can bully me more?’
Right—he might make me do hard labor.
He always said nothing in the Black Dragon Castle was free.
I edged closer to the wall just in case.
A deep sigh drifted from beyond the row of dresses.
“Cherry…”
He only said my name.
But—
Why did it feel so ominous?
