Time goes back to the morning.
Eve asked Noelier to summon Lu.
Lu fluttered over to Eve's side as if he had been waiting. Eve tickled his chin and spoke affectionately.
"Do you remember the cat who was with me? Can you bring him over?"
Lu immediately understood and flew straight to the west to catch Miya.
"What are you doing! Put me down right now!"
In the state of a healthy woman.
It seemed that the saying that a phoenix could lift an elephant was true.
"Eve...!"
Miya strode closer to Eve. Miya's eyes were filled with joy.
However, what Eve wanted was a cute black cat. She was not happy to see an adult woman. As Eve frowned and stepped back, Miya looked hurt.
"If you weren't going to be happy to see me, why did you invite me?"
"I need something, so let's borrow a few herbs."
"W-Was that all you called me for?"
Miya pouted as if she were hurt. At that, Noelier glared at Miya with a flash of eyes.
Thanks to that, Miya was able to erase her lingering disappointment without any regrets.
"That's a really valuable reason! Of course I'll give it to you. What do you want? I'm good at anything!"
Miya raised her hand high as if she were confident.
Eve headed into the castle holding the herbs she had obtained with Miya's help.
It was the place where the wolf that had invaded with Ed was.
“Julie?”
The wolf, who had been shyly getting up, was startled to see Eve.
She tried to run away, but it was a meaningless gesture.
Eve fed the instinct herb to the fallen wolf. Then she handed the shrunken wolf to Noelier.
"You can do it, right, husband?"
“Of course.”
And so, all plans proceeded smoothly. What remained was...
Eve clutched the herb she had received from Miya tightly. Noelier spoke with a worried look on her face.
"...But I still think it would be dangerous. I think requesting a visit..."
"No. I want to see it with my own two eyes."
Eve's eyes, bathed in moonlight, shone blue. Noelier could not help but nod at her earnestness.
***
In front of a heavily guarded patrol post.
Someone wearing a hat approached the scouting post.
With slanted eyes and orange hair, it was a familiar face.
Normally, an identity check would have been conducted, but he was a man famous as the King's messenger. No further verification was necessary.
The guard nodded and stepped aside.
"Enter. But that thing held in your arms..."
The guard frowned and gestured at the wolf.
"Ah. This is my pet. Isn't it really cute?"
The man gently stroked the wolf's head.
Wow!
“Ahh!”
The man recoiled as if startled.
"Th-this child is so whiny..."
The man smiled awkwardly and swayed the wolf. But the wolf's growling did not stop.
'Do you want to rummage?'
The man, with his head bowed, gave a fierce glare. With a sharp ring, it finally fell silent.
“Just come in.”
“Thank you.”
The man straightened his posture as if nothing had happened and went inside.
“I was waiting.”
As soon as he took a step, someone greeted him politely. The man accepted the greeting nonchalantly and boarded the carriage.
After running endlessly for some time, the carriage came to a stop. Finally, they had arrived at their destination. The man entered, guided by a servant.
The large door opened, and he, sitting on a high place, appeared.
"You must have escorted him respectfully, right?"
The King gestured to the wolf in his arms and asked.
The man bowed respectfully and placed the wolf he had been holding on the floor. Looking anxious, the wolf whined at the man's feet, asking to be held again.
"Of course. Please check for yourself."
Hmm, the King narrowed his eyes and reached out his hand.
Then, a great light began to envelop the baby wolf. Before long, the wolf's true form was revealed.
However, what changed was not one, but two.
The man turned into a silver-haired woman, and the wolf turned into a trembling fox kneeling on the floor.
The man who should have been standing there with a triumphant look on his face.
The positions of the two people had been reversed.
The eyes of the attendant who had guided the man widened in surprise.
"What! W-where am I? I was definitely...!"
The man, who had returned from being a wolf to his original form as a fox, located his position and shuddered.
It was a castle in the human world!
The fox trembled as if struck by lightning.
He tried to steal a wolf, but instead he was defeated by the Southerners.
The fox could change its appearance to look like another person using a leaf imbued with magic.
It seemed as though that woman used his leaves to transform his appearance and even herself.
Two fallen leaves on the ground told the story.
'How did you know about the leaves? I haven't told anyone!'
The fox shivered.
He ended up getting caught because he let his guard down. Since the King had easily entered this place because of him, it was only a matter of time before he would be killed.
It was then.
“Is that you?”
A strange voice rang out. The fox's gaze turned toward the source of the sound.
The owner of the voice was a silver-haired woman.
She was looking at the King with unwavering eyes.
Eve quietly gazed at the King sitting on a high place.
'It's finally here.'
She had entered the human world she so desperately wanted, and on the King's Island no less. Entering without permission, however she pleased, she will take charge on her own two feet.
Her heart pounded like crazy. The King, looking down at her, resembled her more than she had ever imagined.
Eve clenched her fist, composing herself from the trembling heart.
Even until then, the person who had led this matter had not said a single word.
So, Eve spoke first.
"...What is the reason you sought me out, Your Majesty?"
Eve's blue eyes reflected the motionless King.
The King slowly opened his mouth.
“Welcome.”
It was an unexpected welcome.
As Eve slightly furrowed her brows, the King chuckled. It seemed like a mocking laugh, but it wasn't. It was a gentle smile.
"Even the face is identical. And the way you handle herbs..."
A faint sadness lingered in the King's eyes.
"...You look exactly like Aden."
Aden, Eve's breath stopped.
It was her father's name. Her blue eyes trembled slightly. The King nodded and spoke.
"Yes, I am your grandfather."
Even though it was a fact she had already expected, it felt like her heart sank.
What a grandfather.
She thought her father was just an ordinary commoner without a surname who had somehow ended up in the beast world.
"...I can't believe it."
Eve opened her mouth after a long while.
"I don't understand. If I am your granddaughter, why did you try to kidnap me? You didn't care at all when Dad was alive, so why are you looking for me now? Am I really... your granddaughter?"
Questions poured out in a rush. He did not even avoid the King's gaze. The fox, watching this, trembled.
'She must be crazy.'
To think she would ask the King such a question so casually. Just how fearsome a person the King is!
The fox, wary of getting caught in the crossfire, quietly hid itself in a corner.
They stared at each other for a long time. After a suffocating silence, the King spoke.
"Should I explain it from the beginning?"
The voice that spoke those words was tinged with long-held sorrow.
'No. It's too early to let your guard down.'
Eve stared at the King silently without letting her guard down.
"...Right, I guess I'll only believe it if I see it with my own eyes.
She reached out her hand toward Eve.
Soon, the surroundings slowly distorted, and the situation was completely reversed.
She saw a young boy sighing as he looked at himself in the mirror.
It was a familiar face. Eve took a deep breath in surprise.
"This is..."
"It is your father's memory."
The King spoke calmly.
“Are you surprised?”
"..."
"I don't think you'll believe me if I just tell you, so I'll show you with your own eyes. You still don't trust me, do you?"
Instead of answering, Eve quietly gazed at her father in the mirror.
'So Dad was this young, too.'
Moreover, even though he was young, it was the first time he had seen such an expression. After all, her father was always smiling.
Suddenly, Eve felt like she was about to cry, but she held back her tears. She couldn't show her tears in front of the King.
Eve's father, Aden, lowered his gaze from the mirror and looked at his palm.
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