The White Stoat Princess - Chapter 53

As I was held in the children’s arms, I suddenly found myself reflecting on my own diet.

‘The chocolate cake I ate so casually must have been quite expensive for the residents. I should reflect on that.’

A lord and the territory’s people cannot live at the same level. In a world with a class system, nothing is more hypocritical than arguing for equality in living standards.

But.

‘Still, wouldn’t it be nice if Hadel’s territory people lived more abundantly than those in other territories? Eating lots of delicious things, always living vigorously.’

While a world where everyone lives well doesn’t exist, it’s possible to create a territory where everyone lives well.

We just need to sell more goods to other territories.

‘I should come up with ideas other than Hinari coal and hot springs. Hadel probably has some thoughts too, so I’ll ask him when I get back.’

Seeing the children filled my heart with hope too.

“Kyu kyu.”

I’ll create a territory where you can live happily.

I made a silent vow. Just then, one of the boys narrowed his eyes and glared at me.

“This weasel, doesn’t it act like a person? It’s creepy.”

“……Kyu.”

Is it that obvious? I’m sorry.

Like the butler, I seem to act human without realizing it.

Once one raised suspicions, everyone started looking at me doubtfully.

“But my dad said weasels have been hunted so much they’re almost extinct. It’s weird to see such a white and pretty weasel walking around the castle normally.”

“Yeah. Plus, its tail and ear tips are pink? I’ve never seen a weasel like this before.”

Right, you’ve never seen one. Because there’s no other weasel like me in the world.

‘It’s the weasel raised by the lord. Haven’t you heard the rumors?’

I wish they would recall that rumor and take me back to the castle.

‘No! How can I want to go back when I haven’t found any clues yet!’

The desire to go home quickly because of the cold and the desire to discover something clashed intensely. Just then, the girl holding me spoke up loudly.

“Could it be a weasel that escaped from Uncle Nero’s farm? That uncle raises all sorts of animals. I heard he even has wolves and wildcats.”

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense! Let’s take it to Uncle Nero!”

At those words, my eyes widened.

‘He raises wolves? Inside the castle?’

This is very suspicious.

I quietly waited for the children to take me to this Uncle Nero fellow. But what’s this? The girl’s grip as she lifted me was so rough that tears almost came to my eyes.

‘Ack! But could you not dangle me like that? My sides hurt too much!’

Hadel had been holding me gently all this time while thinking of me. I suddenly realized how much Hadel liked me. It brought tears to my eyes.

‘He always said mean things like he’d turn me into a scarf, or that I needed to fatten up to be even a handful, but from the beginning he was already thinking of me as his companion weasel.’

Hadel, when I get back, I’ll give you a big kiss!

As I was being dangled like that, we arrived at Uncle Nero’s farm.

“Uncle! We caught a weasel that escaped from your farm!”

“A weasel?”

The man who walked out of the farm looked very ordinary. Should I say he just looked like a person from this village? He didn’t look like someone who would plot bad things.

After briefly making eye contact with me, the man slowly nodded.

“……Ah, yes, it’s mine. Just a moment. Thank you, I’ll give you a gift.”

This bastard lies well too. Where exactly did you find me!

Although my opinion of him plummeted for lying to children, it wasn’t yet evidence that he was connected to the ice demons.

I wondered what gift he would give, but it was just a handful of candy.

‘That guy, trying to replace my value with some measly candy.’

I wrinkled my nose. It was just ordinary candy.

‘I thought it strange that the kids knew about candy, but it seems this guy has been giving candy to kids in exchange for animals like me.’

When he gave them candy, the children handed me over to the uncle. Then they went off to play by themselves.

“Looks like I’ve suddenly acquired a weasel.”

The man carried me into the house. There was another man inside.

“What’s that?”

“The village kids caught it.”

“I thought it was a rat, but it’s a weasel?”

“They are similar.”

‘What’s similar! Weasels and rats are completely different!’

I resisted the urge to bite his nose hard. He looked at me curiously.

“Where did a weasel like this come from? Its fur is pretty. This could probably sell for quite a bit.”

“Let’s put it in the cage for now.”

Here we go again with the fur talk. As I was sighing deeply, the man tried to put me in a cage in the corner of the house. The problem was that the cage was already crawling with field mice.

‘Ugh, what is this! It’s crawling with mice!’

The mice pushed their twitching noses towards me. Every time their long whiskers brushed against my body, it gave me goosebumps.

‘Ack! Don’t put me in with mice!’

The one fortunate thing was that there was no lock, so I could escape just by reaching out my front paws and unlatching the cage.

‘Urgh, but I don’t want to be in here with these mice even for a moment! What if I catch a disease! Just looking at them, they seem like they’re probably sick!’

Although I grumbled, I endured it to gather information. After caging me, the men talked amongst themselves.

“The village kids are so nice.”

“Isn’t Ella just too cute?”

“She really is.”

Up to this point, there was nothing special, but.

“Prince Saedel said he would make this place better, so it will be good for those children too.”

After Prince Saedel’s name came up, it was different. I perked up my ears.

‘Oh? This must really be the place.’

I had my suspicions, but to think there really were Prince Saedel’s collaborators in the territory.

‘But from the way they’re talking, it seems like they don’t even know they’re doing something bad?’

I kept listening, but there was no other special information. I impatiently tapped my feet.

The opportunity came from an unexpected direction. A fierce howling sound – woof woof, growl – rang out nearby.

“The big beasts are especially noisy today.”

“I’ll go check.”

“I’ll come with you. What if you get bitten?”

The timing was perfect as the men got up from their seats.

‘Now’s my chance.’

I stretched out my front paws and unlatched the cage. When I opened the door wide, the mice rushed out of the cage even faster than me.

‘Ugh, I’m never going in anywhere with mice again. It’s really disgusting.’

I want to go home quickly and take a bath first. And to go home, I needed to find clues.

‘There must be something that turns them into ice demons. It seems like they might have left it out in plain sight?’

The house was very dirty. Nothing was neatly in its place, but messily placed according to some rule only those men knew.

After looking around briefly, I quickly gave up and sighed.

When I looked up, I saw the mice huddled together and scurrying away.

‘Should I follow those mice?’

They probably have better sense of smell and intuition than me.

I trotted along following the mice. The place the mice headed was none other than this house’s warehouse. When I entered, I was shocked.

‘Wow! This is an enormous amount of food!’

It wasn’t just above the average level of the Grand Duke’s territory residents, it was comparable to the Grand Duke’s castle.

As I was looking around various parts of the warehouse, I heard a clinking sound at my feet and looked down to see something golden.

‘Money.’

It was gold coins. After finding that, everything fell into place. All the important items seemed to be gathered there, including everything I was looking for.

One of them was a pouch filled with white powder. A distinct chill could be felt even outside the pouch. Next to it was a letter conveniently placed.

‘Instructions for use.’

‘So they knew it was wrong.’

Until just now, I thought they might be following orders without knowing what it was, but now it was clear they knew everything.

‘To think they planned to turn humans into ice demons too, how evil.’

Aren’t they from the same village? It’s no different than trading their neighbors’ lives for money.

‘What did they plan to do with the money they received?’

Even if they had a lot of money, they wouldn’t be able to use it comfortably.

‘Anyway, I should take this powder with me.’

Whatever. I just need to take the evidence.

‘It’s too much to take the whole thing.’

It would be nice to carry that whole pouch, but it was too much for me.

‘No, but such a large amount of powder…’

I was briefly curious about its true nature, but I soon shook my head.

‘It’s too horrible to imagine.’

I couldn’t scoop out some of the powder either… Is it even safe to touch this with bare hands? As I was pondering, the men returned sooner than expected.

“What, why are there rats…”

“Ah! Where did they all go!”

“Check the powder first! It’ll be a disaster if the rats gnawed on the powder!”

It seemed like they would come this way any moment.

‘Ack! I need to run away!’

I wanted to take the powder, but I had to leave it for later. I scampered away. But the warehouse only had one entrance, and to escape I had no choice but to pass by the men.

“Hey, that weasel!”

“Kyu kyu!”

Save me!

The man shouted. I ran at my top speed. And when I glanced back.

‘No way, they’re really chasing after me! What should I do?’

They were still pursuing me from behind.

They shouldn’t even know that I paid attention to the powder, so why are they chasing only me so desperately?

‘Is it because of my white fur? Is that why!’

The only reason they were specifically chasing me while ignoring the numerous rats was that. I wailed inwardly.

‘I should change this fur color somehow!’