Even though I quickly left that house and ran down the road, the men continued to chase after me.

How long had I been running like that?

‘Surely not until now?’

The sound of footsteps seemed to echo right behind my back. Afraid they might snatch me up, I looked back. Fortunately, they were quite far behind me.

‘Hah! It’s not easy to chase four legs with two, is it?’

At that moment, someone I hadn’t expected picked me up from the front.

“Kyu!”

I let out a startled cry, but I soon recognized who it was and smiled brightly. I felt the rush of fiery mana the moment we touched.

‘Hadel!’

Hadel had come all the way here to find me. Delighted, I raised my front paws, but Hadel’s eyes narrowed.

“You and I need to have a talk later.”

“Kyu!”

Why? That’s scary.

As I was cautiously observing Hadel’s expression, the men who had been chasing me stopped, their faces red and breathing heavily.

“Huff, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

“My Lord.”

Hadel gently wrapped both hands around me and pulled me closer to his body. It was clearly a gesture of wariness towards them.

“This is the ferret I’m raising. Do you have some business with it?”

“What? Is, is that so?”

“No, we didn’t know that…”

As soon as Hadel appeared, they immediately lowered their tails. It seemed like things would end smoothly, but.

‘If you let me go now, I’ll run away.’

That can’t happen! What have I been through all this trouble for!

“Kyu kyu! Kyu kyu kyu! Kyu kyu!”

I eagerly tried to tell him to capture and lock them up. When Hadel didn’t seem to understand, I even mimicked being strangled with my two short front paws.

‘If you can’t understand after I’ve gone this far, our relationship is nothing!’

So hurry up and capture them, Hadel!

Fortunately, Hadel understood what I was saying.

“…It seems my ferret has something to say to you.”

“What? The ferret?”

The men made expressions as if asking what nonsense this was. Hadel cleared his throat.

“Let’s go to the castle for now. I was quite distressed when the ferret disappeared, so I’m grateful that you seem to have taken care of it.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Oh my, you don’t need to do that.”

When the lord offered to treat them, the men didn’t strongly refuse and obediently followed. I let out a whining sound.

“Kyuing.”

I was a little, just a little, unsatisfied.

‘I meant to capture and lock them up… but I’m glad they’re being brought to the castle like this at least.’

Yes, regardless of the method, as long as the result is the same, it’s fine.

‘When we get to the castle, I can turn back into a human and talk to Hadel.’

I nodded, thinking positively. That’s when Hadel suddenly turned around, dangling me.

“We’ll go by carriage.”

“Kyu?”

You came by carriage, Hadel?

You used to ride horses well, so why did you take a carriage?

It was also a stuffy carriage without windows, completely enclosed. As soon as we got in the carriage, Hadel held my small body tightly and kissed me. It happened so quickly that I didn’t even have time to push Hadel away.

“Mmph.”

After shivering in the cold outside for so long, Hadel’s mana flowing in felt unusually hot.

‘Why is he suddenly kissing me so urgently?’

The hand that had been holding the ferret’s side was now gripping my round shoulder tightly. Like an eagle snatching its prey, his fingertips were tense in a way that was unlike Hadel in many ways.

‘Does he have something urgent to tell me?’

That was about the only reason I could think of.

“Haa.”

Only after the long kiss ended did Hadel slowly pull away. Belatedly, I realized that the carriage had already started moving. I had been so focused on Hadel that I didn’t even notice the swaying.

Hadel draped a cloak over me, now transformed back into a human. I tilted my head and asked Hadel.

“Why did you come by carriage?”

“Just a moment.”

Instead of answering, Hadel hugged me tightly. His rough breathing sounded like a wounded beast trying to forget its pain.

“Hadel…”

Hey, I’m embarrassed, can you let go for a moment?

I wasn’t even properly dressed, so being tucked into Hadel’s embrace like this was too embarrassing.

Hadel was hugging me so tightly that I could only wiggle my fingers helplessly. After a while, Hadel spoke in a small voice.

“I couldn’t control the flames without you.”

“Huh?”

He’s been controlling them well recently, so why suddenly?

Wondering if something had happened to Hadel, I wanted to examine his face, but he wouldn’t allow it. He continued to hold me, only letting me hear his voice.

“Thinking you had disappeared… I was anxious.”

“Oh, come on.”

In the end, it meant Hadel had become anxious because I had run out of the castle leaving only a letter behind.

I hugged Hadel’s waist in return. Since I was only wearing a cloak, I couldn’t spread my arms wide to hug him boldly.

I patted his back to reassure him.

“Where would I go without you, Hadel?”

“Still.”

Hadel’s Adam’s apple bobbed greatly. After hesitating for a moment, Hadel tightened his arms around me.

“You know, Marian…”

“Hadel.”

If we had more time, I would have liked to comfort Hadel, but now wasn’t the time for us to be reuniting like this. I brought up the main point.

“Those men from earlier, they’re the ones who created the ice monsters in the territory.”

“…What?”

Only then did Hadel loosen his hold and face me. I grinned.

“Before the evidence disappears, let’s hurry and confiscate it first.”

Since we didn’t know what side effects the powder that could create ice monsters might cause, Hadel personally moved it and entrusted it to me.

Sitting in the carriage, I stared at the pouch of powder. After filling my body with flames, I touched it and could tell even more clearly.

‘This is Espen’s heart.’

The feeling of pure ice. There was no doubt it was heart ground into powder.

‘With this much, they must have turned almost all of Espen’s heart into powder like this.’

Now that I had actually found the powder, my deductions were back to square one.

Evelyn said she had transplanted my heart in various places, and that I was the one who had awakened in the body of a ferret, one of those places.

I had been suspecting that Prince Saedel and Espen might be the same person. Prince Saedel’s movements that seemed to recognize me and the ice attribute mana he possessed were the basis for this. But for that to be true, Prince Saedel’s heart would have to be Espen’s.

‘If it’s all turned into powder here, doesn’t that mean Espen and Prince Saedel can’t be the same person?’

Maybe it was too hasty to assume Prince Saedel and Espen were the same person.

I rested my chin on my hand. Of course, it was more natural to assume they were different people. Isn’t Prince Saedel younger than Hadel?

Besides, just because Hadel has my heart doesn’t mean he became me.

‘It’s difficult to assume all situations are the same without question.’

Evelyn also said she recognized me right away after hearing about Marian’s appearance from Yulnisia several times.

‘Prince Saedel could be a similar case.’

Either way, Prince Saedel was likely on the side receiving orders from Espen. No, not just Prince Saedel, but the entire royal family.

‘If they did heart experiments on Hadel, they would have needed the tacit approval of the king and queen. Above all, Hadel doesn’t remember the experiment itself.’

That only means the experiment was done when Hadel was very young.

‘The king and queen are under Espen’s control? Then what benefit did they receive?’

What kind of gain would make the king of a country allow such a reckless experiment on his own son?

‘Ah, I don’t know.’

Just as I was irritably running my fingers through my hair, the carriage door opened. Instead of me, who had no clothes and was in the carriage, it was Hadel, who had gone to the farm and confiscated all the evidence.

“I’ve taken care of everything, Marian. And my subordinates will be guarding that farm to prevent anyone else from entering.”

“Did you check how many animals there were?”

“An enormous amount.”

According to Hadel, there were all kinds of animals. So many that it was hard to imagine how they managed to feed them all.

‘Ah, is that why there was so much food in the warehouse?’

I hadn’t gone into the underground storage where they kept meat like ham, but even what was in the warehouse was quite a lot. It made sense if that was food for the animals.

After briefly explaining the situation at the farm, Hadel held out a bundle.

“And here are some clothes. The butler packed and sent them.”

“Ah, you brought them from the castle.”

When he called for subordinates from the castle to guard the farm, they also sent my clothes along. He was so mean when I was a ferret, but now.

‘He’s quite perceptive.’

I raised an eyebrow at the butler’s thoughtfulness. After handing it to me, Hadel closed the carriage door.

“I’ll ride on horseback, so you can change slowly inside the carriage.”

“Ah, okay.”

As soon as Hadel closed the door, the carriage started moving. I could feel the determination not to waste a single moment. It was natural for Hadel to be serious, given that this happened within the grand duchy.

‘Hadel must have a lot on his mind too. He’ll have many things to direct as well.’

But being left alone in the carriage suddenly made me feel empty. I already knew why I was feeling so complicated and ambivalent.

‘My head is a mess.’

Though I was moving along, pushed by the ceaselessly unfolding situations, I was just as shocked by the truths being revealed.

I let out a heavy sigh. In the end, at the core of all these situations was the goal of saving me, and Espen moving towards that end.

‘It won’t be resolved until I meet Espen directly.’

I already knew the conclusion. Yet I hesitated.

‘…But is it okay for me to meet Espen now?’

Espen, my colleague who used to dislike me.

He might have already become something I don’t know, like Yulnisia.