Although he wasn’t prone to stumbling over words, Cael strangely tended to stutter only in front of Paradisium’s emperor, that is, my father Lucius.

Every time that happened, Cael had to endure severe scolding or lectures. Even at a young age, he was often compared to his eloquent stepbrother.

Of course, as the son of the government’s Esica, he could only speak at the level of mentioning mom and dad…

As memories of that time resurfaced, Cael’s mood became even more somber.

At that moment, the large hand Icar created a shadow over Cael’s head.

‘Is he about to hit me?’

Instinctively, Cael tightly closed his eyes.

‘Your Majesty has even dealt with a bear barehanded. Of course, it was a bear cub…’

Coincidentally, it wasn’t Cael’s will that Vane’s past remarks came to mind…

“Commander.”

“…?”

Instead of a dull pain, a somewhat rough but comforting hand began to stroke Cael’s head.

Cael cautiously raised his gaze to look at Icar.

The slight smile in his eyes was quite charming.

For a moment, Cael’s attention was stolen by that smile.

And soon, the hand that was stroking Cael’s head withdrew.

“Follow me.”

After saying that, Icar took the lead.

‘…He’s not planning to abandon me in the mountains, is he?’

With a suspicious glance, Cael looked at Icar’s broad back.

“Let’s go.”

At Dahan’s words, Cael followed Icar hesitantly, trembling with internal unease.

Fortunately, the suspicion came to an end with no further consequences.

Following Icar outside the palace, Cael was able to return safely to the palace guest room that evening.

And when he left the palace, Cael’s arms, which had been empty, now held a small, furry creature.

Staring down at the fluffy, sleeping creature, Cael couldn’t resist reaching out.

And gently, he stroked its back.

“…!”

The fur between his fingers was unbelievably soft, almost causing him to scream, but he endured.

With a bit more courage, he caressed the small body of the sleeping creature.

Whether deeply asleep or not, the baby animal showed no reaction to Cael’s touch.

Seeing Cael’s eyes widen, Dahan asked.

“Do you like that little one?”

Cael nodded slightly and brought his index finger to his lips.

“Shh.”

Understanding, Dahan nodded and mimicked the action of pressing his lips together.

Then, silently, they moved somewhere, suppressing their footsteps.

Cael, observing Dahan’s actions while stroking the creature’s fluffy fur, saw him bring out parchment a little later.

“How about dinner? It seems Your Majesty will leave today’s hunting to the chef.”

‘Today’s hunting?’

Cael recalled the events that took place at the hunting ground earlier.
The group that went hunting had followed Icar deep into the mountains.

Kkeeing kkeeing.

The thin cry of a beast echoed.

At the same time, the steps of Icar, Dahan, and Vane abruptly stopped.

Cael also stopped walking and listened carefully to the sound.

Eudeug.

The sound of bones breaking echoed.

‘It’s like something as hard as teeth is crushing bones….’

It was when Cael shuddered at the eerie sound.

Icar, holding a sharp longsword at his waist, rushed forward like a meteor, with Vane following behind.

“…?”

“Please wait here for a moment.”

Saying that, Dahan also quickly ran after the two.

After a while, Dahan’s voice echoed not far away.

“Lord Cael, would you come this way?”

Cael’s eyes widened as he headed in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, several corpses of gigantic creatures, easily twice the size of Icar, were rolling on the ground.

“W-what is that?”

To Cael’s question, Dahan answered.

“Monsters. We received reports of imperial citizens being attacked in this area recently…”

Dahan’s explanation continued, but it didn’t register in Cael’s ears.

Because hidden among the bushes nearby, Cael had discovered a small creature with raised fur, staring at them.

And reaching out to that small creature was a rather impulsive action.

“Lord Cael, it’s dangerous!”

Dahan raised his voice as a warning, but it was already too late.