The White Stoat Princess (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 5

Hadel, meeting my eyes, muttered in a subdued tone.

“…Well, I suppose even if I skinned you right now, I couldn’t manage to take two of my own heads.”

Here we go again, here we go again! Just a moment ago, you kept flip-flopping, toying with people’s emotions!

‘Do you really think I’d fall for it again? You’re just saying this to lull me into letting my guard down, so you can immediately threaten to skin me again, aren’t you?’

I kept my arms crossed and maintained a sharp glare at Hadel, refusing to relax my eyes.

Go ahead, say what you’ve got to say. I’ve already steeled myself. I won’t be surprised in the slightest.

But the words that reached my ears had nothing whatsoever to do with skinning.

“I suppose I’ll fatten you up a bit first before deciding.”

“Kyu?”

Fatten me up?

At those words, it felt as though a bell rang loudly inside my head.

‘Does that mean I’ll get more food?’

In that brief instant as I grasped his meaning, memories flashed through my mind—the entire arduous journey of forest life ever since I’d become a weasel.

Filling my stomach with water, digging in the earth to catch grubs, then fleeing in horror without eating them, and drinking yet more water.

‘But he’s offering me food now?!’

At this very moment, no words could sound sweeter to me.

I flapped my stubby arms furiously, shouting “Hurray! Hurray!” over and over again. Hadel, who had been silently staring at me, turned his head and asked the knight,

“What do weasels eat?”

Apparently, weasels eat beef—piled high with even more beef. They also love pork and chicken.

‘Quick, say meat!’

I gazed pleadingly at the knight. After a moment of stroking his chin in thought, the knight answered with a calm smile.

Well, he did mention meat.

“I’ve seen them rip apart mice before.”

“Mice?”

“Kyu-uu?!”

…That kind of meat was something neither Hadel nor I had ever imagined.

While both Hadel and I stood stunned into silence, the knight calmly explained the weasel’s habits.

“In the northern regions, people sometimes raise weasels specifically to catch mice. But since they also attack chickens and ducks, they’re rarely kept as pets.”

“They attack chickens and ducks?”

“Though chickens are much larger than these creatures, once they latch on, they can hunt them down.”

“…”

Hadel looked down at me with an expression that clearly asked, ‘Really?’

I shook my head desperately.

Chickens? Of course, I love chicken meat! But I absolutely cannot pounce on a chicken and hunt it!

‘My claws are this tiny and short to begin with. That would mean I’d have to rely on my teeth to hunt chickens…’

I decided not to imagine any further—for the sake of my sanity. Indeed, back in the forest, that very issue had left insects as my only food option.

Hadel hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then asked again,

“What about other foods? Do they eat grains, like bread?”

“They also catch and eat frogs and fish quite well. Still, they prefer mice the most. I’ve often seen them carrying mice as big as their own bodies.”

“…So they’re carnivores, then?”

Hadel fixed his gaze on me again. Though his lips remained closed, somehow his voice echoed in my ears.

‘Then why did you enjoy that bread so much?’

But I felt wronged too.

‘I didn’t know!’

Me—a carnivore?! How could I be a carnivore?!

‘Then what’s going to happen to those two big bites of bread I already swallowed?’

Surely I wouldn’t end up with stomach pains like before, when I writhed in agony after producing those flames?

Just as I was making a miserable face, Hadel, oblivious to my inner turmoil, spoke earnestly,

“I wonder if there are any mice suitable for this creature in the castle.”

He sounded ready to have one caught and brought over immediately.

“Kyu!”

‘Mice? Absolutely not!’

I shook my head vigorously back and forth. Whether my fierce determination got through to him or not, Hadel fell silent for a moment, pressing his lips together in thought.

After a long pause, he asked the knight,

“…If it eats fish and frogs, that means it must swim well, right?”

“I suppose so?”

“Then if I put this creature into the pond within the castle grounds, would it be able to hunt on its own?”

“Don’t weasels in the wild survive exactly like that?”

“Then perhaps we should build a weasel house right in the middle of the pond…”

At this rate, my home was going to become that pond, so I protested loudly.

“Kyu!”

Of course I hated the idea. I detested swimming!

‘Swimming? Absolutely not! My heart’s practically stopped already! I’ll freeze to death if I get in the water!’

As a fire-affinity being, I never liked swimming. Though I had learned how to swim out of necessity during combat situations.

‘No way! Absolutely not!’

With that resolve burning fiercely in my eyes as I glared at Hadel, he tilted his head slightly and murmured meaningfully,

“How strange.”

“It is strange,” the knight agreed.

I tapped Hadel’s hand sharply with my short forepaw in protest.

‘What’s so strange about it? There are all kinds of weasels in the world! Some of them hate water and never catch frogs, you know!’

Even though I’d only recently discovered I was a weasel myself, I chirped defiantly as if representing every weasel on earth. Just then,

Hadel narrowed his eyes and stared firmly at me.

“It almost seems like it understands human speech.”

“Hic!”

Oh no—was I being too obvious?

Only then did I realize it was odd for a weasel to react so clearly to every word of human speech. I shrank my shoulders and blinked innocently, pretending to be docile.

But I’d already shown too much, and suspicion was hard to dispel. The knight asked cautiously,

“Could it possibly be a monster?”

A monster?! Do you even know how hard I’ve fought against monsters? A weasel that listens—how offensive!

Hadel pressed his finger firmly against my growling head. Suddenly hit by a surge of flame, I melted into a puddle again, just like before.

‘Ahh… so good.’

Hadel showed this to the knight and replied flatly,

“If it were a monster, it would be incompatible with me, so it wouldn’t be this docile under my flames.”

“That’s true, but…”

Hearing their conversation, I tilted my head in confusion.

‘Wait—monsters are incompatible with fire? That can’t be right.’

During the war, monsters didn’t have any specific elemental affinities. That’s precisely why Espen, who wielded ice, Yulnisia, who enchanted weapons with mana despite having little herself, and I—bearing fire affinity—fought together.

‘Perhaps most monsters in these lands are ice-affinity? Given the climate, it’s possible. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.’

Just by looking at the tall groves of birch trees stretching toward the sky, it was clear this region had a cold climate. In such conditions, it made sense that only ice-affinity monsters would gather.

‘Anyway, a grand duke, huh.’

I let all the strength drain from my body and relaxed completely into Hadel’s stiff hand. In my mind, the bread I’d eaten earlier spun around in circles.

‘That means there’ll be lots of delicious food, right? I should start expecting a feast.’

He did say he’d fatten me up himself, so he must give me lots of tasty things, right?

‘Ah, but maybe because it’s so nice and warm… I’m getting sleepy…’

Probably because I’d been tense since yesterday, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake, my eyes kept drooping shut. I drifted off to sleep.

[This is the timeline separator]

Hadel looked down at the limp white weasel resting in his palm.

“Kyu-uu…”

The little creature, apparently dreaming something pleasant, grinned sleepily and nuzzled its head into Hadel’s hand. When he gently shook his hand, its tiny head rolled around as if it had no bones.

Seeing this, the knight cried out in shock.

“Yikes! Is it dead?!”

I’d been startled too when I first saw it—thinking I’d accidentally blasted it with too much flame and killed it.

Hadel twisted his lips slightly and answered calmly,

“No. It’s asleep. It’s breathing.”

“But… why is it so completely limp? Wait, do weasels normally melt like cheese like that?!”

“I don’t know.”

One would need to have observed animals this closely before to know.

No matter how much he shook it, the weasel didn’t wake up. Watching its round pink ear tips, Hadel lifted the creature gently with both hands. The weasel hung limply like slime, filling his palms completely.

‘It’s like it has no bones. How can it bend so fluidly?’

He shifted his palms slightly, changing angles and creating small drops, yet the weasel remained half-liquid, gently swaying in his hands while sleeping soundly.

‘And if it looks comfortable… is something wrong with my eyes?’

It should have been suffering from the heat and avoiding him entirely.

“Kyu, kyu…”

Flinch.

Hadel, who had been staring seriously at the weasel, jerked his shoulders involuntarily as the creature let out a faint groan.

A very old memory suddenly rang clearly in his ears.

[Don’t come near me!]

Back when he still lived not in this desolate North, but with his family in a grand palace.

[Because of you, my beloved puppy died!]

Back then, Hadel had even less control over his flames than now. It had been a complete accident—his younger sibling’s puppy had suffered severe burns and ultimately died.

No matter how adorable it seemed or how happily it wagged its tail, he shouldn’t have touched it carelessly.

[You’re no different from a monster! It’s horrifying! Don’t let him anywhere near us!]

After that incident, whenever his sibling saw Hadel, they’d scream hysterically for him to be driven away. As a result, Hadel was granted the title of Archduke and sent alone to the distant North.

Even here in the North, nothing changed. He still couldn’t ride horses, and he couldn’t touch people.

But this weasel, far from showing any pain, clung comfortably to Hadel and slept soundly.

“…You really are a strange one.”

Hadel murmured softly.