The White Stoat Princess (5 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 8

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The place Hadel headed to was none other than the training ground at the very heart of the castle.

Practicing swordsmanship at the training ground in the early morning, before anyone else had risen, was Hadel’s long-standing habit.

Whoosh!

Whenever he held a weapon, his flames grew harder to control, so he preferred to train alone when no one else was around.

Sometimes those flames surged so fiercely that, regardless of his will, they set fire to the surroundings of the training ground.

But today was different.

‘The flames aren’t erupting wildly.’

Normally, when he gripped his sword, it felt as if he’d opened a dam—his suppressed flames would burst out like a bomb.

But not today. The flames coiled around his blade like serpents, beautiful and even wondrous.

‘Until now, I thought it was just my imagination.’

Now that he held the sword, he was certain—the flames emanating from his heart were unlike usual.

And this change—

‘Began after I found Kyu Kyu.’

The small, adorable white weasel who actually seemed to enjoy his flames.

Meeting her in the forest had been pure chance. Intrigued by how she didn’t flinch from his heat—instead wriggling contentedly in his arms—he’d brought her back.

‘Ever since bringing her home, controlling my flames has become much easier.’

It was the same at night. Because of the constant heat bubbling in his gut, he’d never once slept deeply.

But today, he’d enjoyed a wonderfully restful slumber. When he opened his eyes, the weasel he’d placed on the floor was peacefully dozing beside him.

‘Though Kyu Kyu herself didn’t seem to have slept well.’

Normally, he’d have jumped out of bed the moment he woke and headed straight to the training ground, but today he hesitated, reluctant to wake the weasel.

Because of that, he ended up seeing it all clearly.

[Kyu…]

The weasel, crying pitifully in her sleep.

‘She’s shown many suspicious signs. Her body felt icy when she slept.’

Her sleeping body had been cold—so cold it wouldn’t have been surprising if she were dead.

‘Ordinary creatures don’t drop their body temperature while sleeping. Unless she’s a monster.’

Monsters—creatures with frozen hearts. A single bite from one could freeze a human to death.

‘But they say a rare few humans survive without dying. Occasionally, they even turn into monsters and attack others.’

Could this white weasel be one such case? Perhaps she was slowly turning into a monster.

‘But then, she should hate my flames.’

No matter how deeply he pondered, nothing fit perfectly. Hadel simply swung his sword in silence.

‘I’ll keep watching. The answer will come.’

Since she posed no immediate danger, he had no intention of abandoning her.

After swinging his sword a few more times and summoning flames, the dark night sky gradually brightened into dawn.

As he walked back into the castle with heavy steps, the butler waiting for him handed over a towel and water.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Drinking the water in large gulps as he strode down the corridor, Hadel opened his bedroom door. The butler moved to follow, but Hadel’s gaze fell on the cushion placed in the middle of the floor.

‘Kyu Kyu.’

The weasel still seemed to be sleeping. If the unfamiliar butler entered and fussed about, she’d surely wake up.

Without even realizing how deeply he cared for the weasel, Hadel spoke bluntly to the butler.

“I’ll wash up myself. No need to worry.”

It was a clear order not to enter. The butler, startled for a moment, bowed his head and asked,

“How shall we handle your meal?”

“Hmm.”

He usually ate in the dining hall or study.

‘Then I’ll have to specifically instruct them to feed Kyu Kyu separately.’

But he worried whether the peculiar weasel would accept food from a stranger. Judging by her looks, her tastes probably weren’t ordinary either…

After a brief hesitation, Hadel gave a curt command.

“Have it sent to my room.”

“Yes, understood.”

Trending

Just as Hadel thought the conversation was over and turned to enter his room,

the ever-polite, usually silent butler hesitated unusually before speaking.

“If I may be so bold, Your Grace…”

Wondering what grave matter required such preamble, Hadel glanced sideways—and saw the butler, after long hesitation, squeeze his eyes shut and ask,

“Might I inquire… why the weasel is in Your Grace’s room?”

“Hmm.”

It was because of the white weasel Hadel had carried in.

‘Indeed. Why did I put her in my room?’

There were reasons—he needed to analyze the strange phenomenon of her absorbing fire mana, and her unnaturally cold body troubled him.

‘But nothing’s confirmed yet.’

If he spoke carelessly, they’d only worry and likely insist on killing her immediately. So Hadel sighed and offered a plain excuse.

“I plan to raise her a bit more before skinning her. See that she isn’t harmed until then.”

“Ah?”

The weasel’s only value was her pelt.

Yet Hadel, who always ran hot, never used furs.

‘Besides, is there really a need to raise her just to get a slightly larger pelt?’

Weasels weren’t large animals to begin with—raising her or not wouldn’t make much difference.

‘So in the end, this is just His Grace saying he wants to keep her, isn’t it?’

Hadel hadn’t realized it himself yet, but he seemed quite fond of that weasel—perhaps even deeply attached.

“…I’ll have to remove any mousetraps, then. Understood.”

After another moment of hesitation, the butler bowed his head.

Well, His Grace would realize it soon enough.

[This is the timeline separator]

After Hadel left, I couldn’t fall back asleep and tossed restlessly.

‘Ugh, this is uncomfortable.’

The cushion was soft and plush, yet somehow incredibly uncomfortable.

‘It’s missing something warm. Missing coziness, too.’

As that thought crossed my mind, the shiver I’d felt earlier when I’d briefly licked his hand tingled through me again. I shook my head vigorously.

‘No! However nice it felt, that’s unacceptable.’

Licking someone else’s skin!

‘…But the amount of mana flowing into my body when I did was undeniably different.’

Now that I knew that warmth, nothing else would satisfy me. In despair, I scratched furiously at the cushion again.

‘Hrng! What even is this!’

How many times did I repeat that cycle—closing my eyes to sleep, opening them from the cold, crying in frustration?

Just as drowsiness finally washed over me in a hazy, dreamy state, a deep voice drifted into my ears. Hadel had returned.

‘My personal heater!’

Delighted, I sat up and turned toward him. But then—

“I plan to raise her a bit more before skinning her. See that she isn’t harmed until then.”

What?!

At words I’d never expected, I froze solid like ice.

‘S-Skin me?! I thought that was long forgotten! He hasn’t given up yet?!’

Worse—he intended to fatten me up first to get a larger pelt before killing me!

‘This isn’t the time to guard the room over some cookies! I must escape before he skins me!’

My eyes darted wildly now that I knew Hadel’s true intentions. Just then, I heard his footsteps approaching.

‘Eep!’

Afraid that if our eyes met, he’d skin me right then and there, I quickly curled up and pretended to sleep again.

His footsteps seemed to slow slightly near me, then faded toward the door he’d called the bathroom. Feeling him leave, I let out a sigh of relief.

‘Phew… I panicked for nothing.’

I’d thought we’d grown quite familiar, but hearing those words unsettled me deeply.

‘Ugh, even those cookies seem suspicious now.’

ads

Had he fed me high-calorie treats on purpose to fatten me up?

‘Sob… Well, to Hadel, I’m clearly just a weasel. Nothing I can do about it.’

I couldn’t blame him. Expecting him to treat me like a human was unreasonable to begin with. He was merely acting toward me exactly as one would toward a weasel.

‘Hrng… Still, it hurts.’

Being alone in the forest, waking up in a beast’s body, had been painful enough—but meeting Hadel had somehow doubled my sorrows.

I was still sniffling and whimpering to myself when—

‘Footsteps.’

A sound drew steadily closer. I quickly buried my face back into the cushion and feigned sleep.

The one who entered was a middle-aged man in a neat tailcoat—clearly the castle’s butler.

And what he wheeled in…

‘Food?!’

Delicious, warm steam rose invitingly from the cart he pushed.

‘Breakfast! Right, it’s morning—time to eat!’

He must be having breakfast in his room. That worked well for me too—no one would find it odd if I eagerly tore into bread.

‘What’s on the menu? What should I eat first? What’s the tastiest?’

As I excitedly pondered this—

‘Gasp.’

The butler narrowed his eyes, watching me as I thumped my tail happily against the cushion. Startled, I buried my head deeper.

‘Is he estimating how much my pelt’s worth?!’

He’d probably scurry off to Hadel next and say, “She’s fully grown—ready to be skinned.”

I curled into the tiniest ball possible to look as small as I could.

After staring at me for a long while, the butler finally exhaled sharply and muttered,

“…She’s just an ordinary weasel.”

Then, with a grave expression, he added under his breath,

“Could it be that a monster is impersonating His Grace? His Grace isn’t soft-hearted—yet he keeps a beast like this weasel by his side.”

Even I wanted to protest that.

‘Soft-hearted?! Where does he get that idea?!’

Didn’t he hear the part about skinning me?

I’d thought the matter was dropped after that one mention, but apparently, he’d been plotting all along.

Soon after, Hadel emerged with damp hair, and the butler quickly left the room after setting down the breakfast.

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