I wiped the tears from my reddened eyes and sat down.
Actually, I almost cried.
‘I’m glad I held back my tears.’
If I had cried, I was sure Madam Borgier would have found fault with me.
I didn’t expect the boys to cling so pitifully, but it was clear that I did what I had to do.
Was that so? As if executing the only mission given to an extra, my mind soon became calm.
‘I have to focus on my goals.’
Because now I was hanging from the top of an apple tree.
If I fell, I would be at least severely injured.
‘How do I escape?’
I looked at Madam Borgier’s eyes and aimed for a suitable timing. In the meantime, the carriage had moved quite far from the Forest.
“Madam Borgier… I want to go to the washroom, can you stop the carriage for a moment?”
Cold brown eyes stared at me.
‘Wow, eagle eyes!’
“When you become a member of the imperial family, you cannot go to the washroom at any time. When it comes to important meetings, like meetings with nobles, are you going to leave your seat at any time, impatiently?”
But, madam, this was not a meeting with the nobles.
“When you leave your seat, you will never know what kind of words come and go in the battlefield called the Imperial Palace. You must always keep your mind straight. So–”
Madam Borgier’s lips twisted.
“Be patient.”
I blinked.
‘Ah, do I have to be dignified to become an imperial family member?’
From the beginning, I felt the will to kill a 12-year-old child.
If so-
“Yes! Madam Borgier! Thank you for the great teaching.”
I said with excitement, and with my eyes lit up.
“……!”
Then, on the contrary, Madam Borgier flinched again.
She had eyes that wondered what on earth was I doing, ‘This little girl, who had no sense of being damaged.’
“But I’m getting motion sickness. Can I open the window, Madam?”
“…Do you have carriage sickness?”
“The Trees in the Forest usually walk. Other than during socialization training, I rarely ride a carriage. If there’s an unexpected bump, Madam Borgier’s dress might be a mess—”
“Open it right now.”
This time, when I threatened that I would lose control, she quickly opened the carriage window.
I leaned over and looked out of the window to get some fresh air.
Madam Borgier didn’t seem to want to check what I had eaten this morning, so she let me look out the window for a while.
Thus, after a while–
“Ah…! What to do! My scarf flew out the window!”
“Forget about that cheap scarf.”
When I allowed my scarf to fly away and made a fuss, Madam Borgier calmly responded.
‘Eagle indeed, I knew she wouldn’t even blink an eye.’
But what about this?
“But, the embroidery on that scarf is a symbol of the Tree? It is supposed to be a gift to my parents later as a souvenir. For the Prince!”
“……!”
“If I lose it, the Prince might be angry…”
Madam Borgier’s complexion changed.
Hastily, she knocked on the carriage to get it to stop. Bang! Then opened the door and said to me:
“Sit here and wait. I’ll get you the scarf!”
“Yes, Madam.”
I answered with my eyes shining like a naive model student.
And–
Woo-hoo, I rubbed my nose and smiled.
‘She’s deceived. Shall I jump now?’
There wasn’t much time. The scarf flew a bit far, but she would pick it up soon.
‘So let’s hurry.’
I pulled out the necklace and took out the magic tool that I hung as a substitute for the pendant.
Which was what the unidentified phantom thief boy gave me.
“The contract is valid from today. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Press ‘it’ on the carriage and you’ll have a way out.”
‘Press this?’
‘Will the phantom thief really come to pick me up?’
I glanced out the window, but saw no one at all.
He gave me a business card and told me about an appointment, so I suddenly thought that there was nothing I could do about it even if he didn’t come to pick me up.
‘Doesn’t it sound like a scammer?’
He was wearing a mask, but somehow his impression seemed dirty.
His true form might be an old man who looked like a troll…
But first of all, a promise was a promise.
Gulp— I swallowed my saliva, closed my eyes, and pressed the magic tool with a prayerful heart.
Click.
“…….”
And it was quiet everywhere.
Nothing happened.
—Was I deceived?
“Ppi-pi-pi! (As expected, I was fooled!).”
I stomped my feet.
“Ppi-pi? (But, what does this mean?)”
As I looked around, the tiny ball of cotton reflected in the carriage window looked at me.
Black eyes, a pink nose, dainty, trifling ears, fluffy body.
“Ppi?! (Huh?!)”
―I became a chinchilla!
The baby chinchilla flopped down in the seat with its thick buttocks.
“Ppi-ppi (there is no such thing as this…).”
‘Hehehehe, I have such a trivial body.’
I despaired for a moment, but soon realized a shocking fact.
‘Now that I’m small, I can’t take the treasure bag, right?’
When I looked to the side, surprise! I saw the bag had become as small as me.
In my mind, I raised the evaluation of the phantom thief boy to the next level.
Such a detail! It was so nice that I wanted to give him a kiss right away.
I twitched my butt(I couldn’t help it with every step) and walked over to grab the treasure.
And smiled happily.
“Ppi (Fufu, my treasure…).”
‘This is not the time. Shall I get out of here?’
I hung the treasure bag around my neck and looked around diligently.
Then I saw a small hole under the carriage.
‘There!’
It was a necessary hole by design, and a human wouldn’t be affected by that hole, but a chinchilla would be able to get through it.
‘Let’s go.’
Whiik, tuck, slink, twitch.
Chop!
‘Uh, huh?’
I am stuck… My body’s chubby and it’s stuck!
“Pppiiiii!”
I cried hard and pounded.
Bang!
The chinchilla, who managed to pull itself out, ran hard under the carriage.
***
“…Here it is.”
Madam Borgier picked up the scarf. She frowned.
“Such a clumsy orphan. When we return, she’ll need rigorous education. It can’t be a stain on my career.”
At that moment, a hand, holding a bloody magic gun, popped out over her head.
And then there was a clear and beautiful sound.
—Bang!
Madam Borgier, who had been hit on the top of her head, fell sideways.
“Move her.”
“Shhhh, move gently.”
After a while.
The grass shook and Madam Borgier appeared.
To be precise, it was a man wearing the madam’s dress and a sloppy wig.
The back zipper didn’t go up, so the man’s hideous back was exposed.
This muscular man, with golden teeth flashing under his lips, pretended to be Madam Borgier, and calmly climbed into the carriage. Then, bang bang! He knocked on the door.
Whoosh!
Without knowing anything, the carriage started moving.
But soon a carriage in the middle row stopped, and a wizard with good sense got off, feeling something was strange.
He was Gerard’s escort wizard, the man who attacked Sislin earlier.
The wizard stopped the last carriage, opened the door and checked inside.
“……!”
And he hardened.
It was because Madam Borgier’s size was seriously blown up.
“What, what is this lump?!”
The muscular man, wearing a suspicious mask and stroking his shaggy chin, asked,
“Is my disguise not working?”
“…You think that will work!!!”
Bang bang!
The magician was thrown backwards by the sudden shot of the grinning man.
It was then that Gerard’s carriage stopped.
“What’s going on!”
As soon as the escort who got off hastily asked for a horse, there was the sound of horse hooves around the quiet surroundings, and men gathered like a pack of dogs.
Seeing the red knots and oddly patterned masks hanging from the black horses’ manes, the guards’ faces turned pale.
“Balrog has appeared!!! …It’s Circe’s attack! Ah!”
The man who had been shouting turned quickly.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of gunshots being fired lightly was heard below the sky.
“Stop them!”
Everyone tried to block them, but the men of Circe swept through them like waves.
Meanwhile;
Thunk, slink, slip.
There was a brave chinchilla crossing the chaos.
‘Heuk-heuk, I can’t run fast because my legs are short. Besides, the gun sounds are too loud. It’s scary, it’s scary!’
Whoong!
At that moment, the sound of a strong black horse was heard nearby.
A boy in a mask with trump diamonds studded under his eyes was running towards her on the horse.
“Pppiii, pi (phantom thief boy)!”
I, as a chinchilla, warmly waved my little paw.
The boy grabbed the reins of the running horse in one hand and reached for me with a flexible tilt of his upper body.
Then he curved his hand like a scoop, whoosh— and he caught me naturally.
Like ice cream from a store with 31 flavors, I was contained in a ‘circle’, ‘Chinchilla Flavor’.
“Piii (Nice to meet you!)”
The masked boy grinned, keeping eye level with the chinchilla on his palm.
“Hello, cutie.”
‘Hello, Annette.’
The little Annette was lovely, and the boy smiled.
I was overjoyed, and as a chinchilla, my ear twitched.
And I exclaimed through my little front teeth.
“Pppiiii (Let’s go…!)”
The boy tucked me into his front pocket and rode his horse briskly.
Circe, who destroyed the prince’s procession in an instant, followed Balrog (whom his son disguised as) and escaped the scene like a low tide.
The sound of cheerful laughter and horseshoes reverberated across the sky.
I wiped the tears from my reddened eyes and sat down.
Actually, I almost cried.
‘I’m glad I held back my tears.’
If I had cried, I was sure Madam Borgier would have found fault with me.
I didn’t expect the boys to cling so pitifully, but it was clear that I did what I had to do.
Was that so? As if executing the only mission given to an extra, my mind soon became calm.
‘I have to focus on my goals.’
Because now I was hanging from the top of an apple tree.
If I fell, I would be at least severely injured.
‘How do I escape?’
I looked at Madam Borgier’s eyes and aimed for a suitable timing. In the meantime, the carriage had moved quite far from the Forest.
“Madam Borgier… I want to go to the washroom, can you stop the carriage for a moment?”
Cold brown eyes stared at me.
‘Wow, eagle eyes!’
“When you become a member of the imperial family, you cannot go to the washroom at any time. When it comes to important meetings, like meetings with nobles, are you going to leave your seat at any time, impatiently?”
But, madam, this was not a meeting with the nobles.
“When you leave your seat, you will never know what kind of words come and go in the battlefield called the Imperial Palace. You must always keep your mind straight. So–”
Madam Borgier’s lips twisted.
“Be patient.”
I blinked.
‘Ah, do I have to be dignified to become an imperial family member?’
From the beginning, I felt the will to kill a 12-year-old child.
If so-
“Yes! Madam Borgier! Thank you for the great teaching.”
I said with excitement, and with my eyes lit up.
“……!”
Then, on the contrary, Madam Borgier flinched again.
She had eyes that wondered what on earth was I doing, ‘This little girl, who had no sense of being damaged.’
“But I’m getting motion sickness. Can I open the window, Madam?”
“…Do you have carriage sickness?”
“The Trees in the Forest usually walk. Other than during socialization training, I rarely ride a carriage. If there’s an unexpected bump, Madam Borgier’s dress might be a mess—”
“Open it right now.”
This time, when I threatened that I would lose control, she quickly opened the carriage window.
I leaned over and looked out of the window to get some fresh air.
Madam Borgier didn’t seem to want to check what I had eaten this morning, so she let me look out the window for a while.
Thus, after a while–
“Ah…! What to do! My scarf flew out the window!”
“Forget about that cheap scarf.”
When I allowed my scarf to fly away and made a fuss, Madam Borgier calmly responded.
‘Eagle indeed, I knew she wouldn’t even blink an eye.’
But what about this?
“But, the embroidery on that scarf is a symbol of the Tree? It is supposed to be a gift to my parents later as a souvenir. For the Prince!”
“……!”
“If I lose it, the Prince might be angry…”
Madam Borgier’s complexion changed.
Hastily, she knocked on the carriage to get it to stop. Bang! Then opened the door and said to me:
“Sit here and wait. I’ll get you the scarf!”
“Yes, Madam.”
I answered with my eyes shining like a naive model student.
And–
Woo-hoo, I rubbed my nose and smiled.
‘She’s deceived. Shall I jump now?’
There wasn’t much time. The scarf flew a bit far, but she would pick it up soon.
‘So let’s hurry.’
I pulled out the necklace and took out the magic tool that I hung as a substitute for the pendant.
Which was what the unidentified phantom thief boy gave me.
“The contract is valid from today. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. Press ‘it’ on the carriage and you’ll have a way out.”
‘Press this?’
‘Will the phantom thief really come to pick me up?’
I glanced out the window, but saw no one at all.
He gave me a business card and told me about an appointment, so I suddenly thought that there was nothing I could do about it even if he didn’t come to pick me up.
‘Doesn’t it sound like a scammer?’
He was wearing a mask, but somehow his impression seemed dirty.
His true form might be an old man who looked like a troll…
But first of all, a promise was a promise.
Gulp— I swallowed my saliva, closed my eyes, and pressed the magic tool with a prayerful heart.
Click.
“…….”
And it was quiet everywhere.
Nothing happened.
—Was I deceived?
“Ppi-pi-pi! (As expected, I was fooled!).”
I stomped my feet.
“Ppi-pi? (But, what does this mean?)”
As I looked around, the tiny ball of cotton reflected in the carriage window looked at me.
Black eyes, a pink nose, dainty, trifling ears, fluffy body.
“Ppi?! (Huh?!)”
―I became a chinchilla!
The baby chinchilla flopped down in the seat with its thick buttocks.
“Ppi-ppi (there is no such thing as this…).”
‘Hehehehe, I have such a trivial body.’
I despaired for a moment, but soon realized a shocking fact.
‘Now that I’m small, I can’t take the treasure bag, right?’
When I looked to the side, surprise! I saw the bag had become as small as me.
In my mind, I raised the evaluation of the phantom thief boy to the next level.
Such a detail! It was so nice that I wanted to give him a kiss right away.
I twitched my butt(I couldn’t help it with every step) and walked over to grab the treasure.
And smiled happily.
“Ppi (Fufu, my treasure…).”
‘This is not the time. Shall I get out of here?’
I hung the treasure bag around my neck and looked around diligently.
Then I saw a small hole under the carriage.
‘There!’
It was a necessary hole by design, and a human wouldn’t be affected by that hole, but a chinchilla would be able to get through it.
‘Let’s go.’
Whiik, tuck, slink, twitch.
Chop!
‘Uh, huh?’
I am stuck… My body’s chubby and it’s stuck!
“Pppiiiii!”
I cried hard and pounded.
Bang!
The chinchilla, who managed to pull itself out, ran hard under the carriage.
***
“…Here it is.”
Madam Borgier picked up the scarf. She frowned.
“Such a clumsy orphan. When we return, she’ll need rigorous education. It can’t be a stain on my career.”
At that moment, a hand, holding a bloody magic gun, popped out over her head.
And then there was a clear and beautiful sound.
—Bang!
Madam Borgier, who had been hit on the top of her head, fell sideways.
“Move her.”
“Shhhh, move gently.”
After a while.
The grass shook and Madam Borgier appeared.
To be precise, it was a man wearing the madam’s dress and a sloppy wig.
The back zipper didn’t go up, so the man’s hideous back was exposed.
This muscular man, with golden teeth flashing under his lips, pretended to be Madam Borgier, and calmly climbed into the carriage. Then, bang bang! He knocked on the door.
Whoosh!
Without knowing anything, the carriage started moving.
But soon a carriage in the middle row stopped, and a wizard with good sense got off, feeling something was strange.
He was Gerard’s escort wizard, the man who attacked Sislin earlier.
The wizard stopped the last carriage, opened the door and checked inside.
“……!”
And he hardened.
It was because Madam Borgier’s size was seriously blown up.
“What, what is this lump?!”
The muscular man, wearing a suspicious mask and stroking his shaggy chin, asked,
“Is my disguise not working?”
“…You think that will work!!!”
Bang bang!
The magician was thrown backwards by the sudden shot of the grinning man.
It was then that Gerard’s carriage stopped.
“What’s going on!”
As soon as the escort who got off hastily asked for a horse, there was the sound of horse hooves around the quiet surroundings, and men gathered like a pack of dogs.
Seeing the red knots and oddly patterned masks hanging from the black horses’ manes, the guards’ faces turned pale.
“Balrog has appeared!!! …It’s Circe’s attack! Ah!”
The man who had been shouting turned quickly.
Bang! Bang!
The sound of gunshots being fired lightly was heard below the sky.
“Stop them!”
Everyone tried to block them, but the men of Circe swept through them like waves.
Meanwhile;
Thunk, slink, slip.
There was a brave chinchilla crossing the chaos.
‘Heuk-heuk, I can’t run fast because my legs are short. Besides, the gun sounds are too loud. It’s scary, it’s scary!’
Whoong!
At that moment, the sound of a strong black horse was heard nearby.
A boy in a mask with trump diamonds studded under his eyes was running towards her on the horse.
“Pppiii, pi (phantom thief boy)!”
I, as a chinchilla, warmly waved my little paw.
The boy grabbed the reins of the running horse in one hand and reached for me with a flexible tilt of his upper body.
Then he curved his hand like a scoop, whoosh— and he caught me naturally.
Like ice cream from a store with 31 flavors, I was contained in a ‘circle’, ‘Chinchilla Flavor’.
“Piii (Nice to meet you!)”
The masked boy grinned, keeping eye level with the chinchilla on his palm.
“Hello, cutie.”
‘Hello, Annette.’
The little Annette was lovely, and the boy smiled.
I was overjoyed, and as a chinchilla, my ear twitched.
And I exclaimed through my little front teeth.
“Pppiiii (Let’s go…!)”
The boy tucked me into his front pocket and rode his horse briskly.
Circe, who destroyed the prince’s procession in an instant, followed Balrog (whom his son disguised as) and escaped the scene like a low tide.
The sound of cheerful laughter and horseshoes reverberated across the sky.
