I Became the Wicked Beastman's Catnip

‘He is a man?’

Turns out a boy could be that pretty, too. Noha was much more beautiful than the skinny body I saw through the mirror before losing my eyesight in my previous life.

“If you’ve seen her, go back to your room.” Licht kicked Noha out without hiding any signs of annoyance.

Noha, who grabbed the door before it was closed, glanced back at me as if he was disappointed. “…Can I come here again?”

I blinked, yawned in Licht’s arms. Considering that I could feel the mana and he called Licht ‘brother’, it was clear that he was one of the three princes living in the main palace.

‘It might not be bad to make as many sides as possible just in case.’

While hesitating, I replied soon as I pressed my cheek on Licht’s shoulder, which smelled like grass.

“Ung. I wike it.” (Mm. I like it.)

Now the mouth of Licht, who could hold me quite skillfully at the moment, became strange.

“…You like it?”

“Ung.”

Noha closed the door and disappeared after smiling softly at my answer.

Slam!

As soon as the door closed, the scary full-scale questioning began.

“He didn’t even bribe you. What do you like about him?”

“Pwetty.” (Pretty.)

“Pretty?”

“Ung.”

Noha, the Third Prince whom I saw for the first time today, was like a princess who appeared in a fairy tale. A beautiful princess who would appear in the fairy tale book that the nanny and the maids read every night.

Licht snorted at my answer without hesitation, lightly poked my forehead with his index finger.

“He’s not pretty.”

“Ah!”

Once I pouted my lips, Licht’s mana touched every inch of my body. I quickly felt better with the refreshing sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time, and I trembled. While leaning sideways against the cradle, he looked down at me with an expressionless face.”

“And then me.”

“Ung?”

“What do you think of me?”

Surprised by an unexpected question, I shut my lips.

‘Does he really think of me as a baby?’

Sometimes Licht treated me, who wasn’t even a year old yet, as if I were his age. It is said that the growth of beastmen from newborn to infancy is much faster than humans. He would sometimes ask questions that were too difficult for me, who couldn’t walk or speak properly, to answer.

‘Of course, Licht is pretty too.’

Even in my eyes, where there were a few of beauty standards, Licht’s face was like a well-kept sculpture without flaw. However, for some reason, it wasn’t easy for me to say that Licht was pretty. Eventually, while chewing my lips, I chose to avoid answering him.

“I don’th wnow. I wanth tho shweep.” (I don’t know. I want to sleep.)

“…”

While raising one of his eyebrows, he calmly put me down in the cradle.

Then slowly, my eyes were losing consciousness. A voice that sounded like a lullaby pronounced my name.

“Yernian.”

“Ung.”

“I’m going to hold a banquet to celebrate your first birthday.”

I gazed upon Licht, feeling the drowsiness that was hanging ran away from my eyelids.

“Bwithday banqueth?” (Birthday banquet?)

“Yeah.”

Licht, who was slightly positive, recited a similar explanation as last time. It is said that in the kingdom of Merni, where I was born, a banquet was held to commemorate the safe birth of a royal baby and the year that was well spent. It was a banquet to wish for the baby’s healthy growth in the future.

If Licht hadn’t brought this up, I wouldn’t have known that there was such a banquet in my life.

[Only you who must survive.]

Mother’s voice, which was still in my ears, crumbled.

I’m so sorry to my mother who tried to save me until the end, but it hadn’t been long since I first knew about my home country. It’s a small country located on the outskirts of the continent. After being attacked by those who aimed at me, it was absorbed by a nearby power.

That was all.

Those who trampled on my home country basically were more interested in the mana that was sleeping in my body than in the humble circumstances of the deceased.

I replied in a slightly sleepy voice.

“Ith’sh oway.” (It’s okay.)

“Perhaps, you don’t like it?”

“…I donh’th wnow.” (…I don’t know.)

The corner of Licht’s lips, who was still looking at me, slightly went up.

“Then find out.”

Whether I liked it or not.

Licht left only vague words today and suddenly disappeared.

‘Why are you suddenly hosting a birthday banquet?’

I dug up the knowledge they had instilled in me in my previous life. To support my brain growth, they locked me up and didn’t give up on various forms of education. Thanks to that, my knowledge, which can be said to be the basic culture of the continent, had accumulated considerably.

It’s a birthday banquet.

Even if it was far from me in my previous life, those words that had been far away for a long time floated in my head.

‘I’m sure he’s not just trying to host it without any meaning.’

What benefits could Licht get from my birthday banquet? There must be a purpose.

I was lost in thought with my eyes drowsy. I remembered the night when I first met him.

The Messiah of the Myo Clan.

On the first day we met, Licht definitely called me that.

‘It’s definitely related to those words.’

I had a strong hunch that Licht’s real purpose to bring me here would have something to do with the Night of Prophecy, which destroyed my life.

With my eyes closed, I recalled numerous toys Licht had thrown in the name of ‘bribery’. Starting with a fishing rod with a hanging butterfly, all the popular toys on the continent, including rattles and horses, were sleeping in the next room.

[It’s already been half a year, but why are your nails still so short?]

[Your Majesty, most humans don’t have sharp nails like the Myo Clan. That’s why obviously, she doesn’t need a scratch.]

That day, an unidentified elongated object disappeared and became ashes in Licht’s hand.

‘They lack information.’

In the first place, the beastmen were taught a little of the continent, except for the early wars. Because of that, I was on the ignorant side of the beastmen.

‘First of all, I don’t think their goal is to experiment with my body.’

Even so, I thought it’d be better to hide it until my body grows to some extent.

‘Just in case.’

I should pretend that the mana curled up in my body couldn’t be expressed yet. I decided to try to negotiate with Licht when I was able to handle mana stably. So that I could use mana to protect me or run away.

‘…It would be nice if they had the purpose I could grant them.’

It would be the best deal if Licht could achieve his purpose of bringing me here and I got my full freedom.

It wasn’t a completely hopeless story.

Until now, I couldn’t tell what Licht’s actions were about. It seemed like the beastmen tried to win my favor.

There must be a clear reason for him, the head of the Myo Clan, to bribe me for more than half a year without getting tired and to give me a favor of washing my body with his mana.

‘Let’s not be in a hurry.’

I’ll find out when the time comes. First, focusing on the growth of my body was the priority. 

‘In order to do that, I have to succeed in flipping it first.’

I forced myself out of the rush of sleep and gave strength to my whole body. I was about to succeed in flipping it several times. With an unfamiliar feeling of the body falling over, my face hit the cradle’s hard railing.

“Huuung…!” My nose was tingling and my inner cry filled my throat.

A strange laughter came from the darkness, which reflectively twisted his face. When I raised my head, Licht, who was laughing with his shoulders shaking as he got his back against me, caught my eyes.

‘Of all things, why…!’

Struggling with the shame, I buried my face in the soft 요에.

“That way, you’ll get suffocated, Yernian.”

The movement that was creeping closer laid my body straight while I was still struggling with shame. When the soft, silver mana passed by my nose, the pain decreased as if it was a lie.

“Ah, really…” He put his hand on my back, whispered with his voice smiling.

“Why are you so funny?”

“…”

“Is this how humans are?”

I even closed my eyes and pretended to sleep at his voice, digging into embarrassment.

“I can see your eyelids shaking.”

If you know it, please just go away.

The heat on my face was hot, yet I didn’t open my eyes until the end. Then at some point, Licht’s patting on my back felt so cozy that I really fell asleep.

***

At the end of the letter, a fire made of a silver mana was caught.

Licht watched the thin letter, which was becoming black ashes, with a heartless look. The smoke that was swallowing the name of the Second Prince, Ignis, reminded him of the day when Ternian was first discovered.

“It’s been a year.”

Yernian El Merni.

Looking at the mana in her body, he was sure she was the Messiah in the prophecy.

Why was the Messiah of the Myo Clan born in such a small country that had nothing to do with the wizards?

Licht leaned on the back of the chair as if he was hanging, lowering his eyes. Since the coronation ceremony ended last year, the position of the head had been annoying enough to make him remember to rest properly.

“Mir.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Mir, who was classifying documents not too far from him, ran to his side.

“Human babies grow much slower than beastmen.”

“That’s right. Her Highness is somehow growing a little slower than other babies.”

Mir, the son of the former royal chamberlain, was quite knowledgeable about humans, perhaps thanks to his more than a decade of studying abroad on the continent.

Licht tilted his head, fixed his eyes on the half-opened window. His voice subsided in a dreary manner.

“But why do I sometimes feel like she’s my age?”

The eyes that didn’t exactly look like babies’. It felt like she understood her situation properly and was wary of him. Furthermore, the growth of her body was slow, yet she spoke well with a leaky pronunciation on topics where her teeth hadn’t properly grown.

“Her Highness is particularly calm, but isn’t that just your illusion… I’m going to get back to my place now.”

Mir noticed the light flash was passing by Licht’s eyes and quickly stepped back.

With a nervous sigh, Licht buried himself deeper in the chair. It was not as easy as he thought to win Yernian’s favor, who was only a year old.

Until now, numerous toys presented to Yernian in the name of bribery were stuck in a room similar to a warehouse and were accumulating dust day by day.

Licht breathed deeply.

‘I still have a lot of time, anyway.’

There was no need for him to be impatient. There were still 17 more years left before Yernian’s mana fully blossomed as she got into adulthood. In the meantime, he had to capture the baby’s heart and voluntarily remain in the Myo World.

“Anyhow, tomorrow…” Licht looked down at his blunt nails, stood up.

There was a familiar mana mixed with the spring breeze that came over the half-opened window. Licht approached the window silently, leaned sideways against the window frame and looked down.

Mir, who was sitting in front of the desk and classifying documents, opened his mouth. “Ah, Your Majesty. A merchant from the Kingdom of Merni reported that he has finished preparing all the necessary supplies for the banquet.”

He held out a stiff piece of paper to Licht in a polite manner.

Tomorrow is Yernian’s birthday banquet.

According to his order, all directs and heads from each family, except for the Second Prince who was secretly on the continent, were scheduled to attend.

Now that he let go of the bait that there’s an important announcement, those who tried to snatch on the Messiah would feel anxious.

A cold smile spread around Licht’s lips. 

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s better if those stupid things show their teeth on their own.”

“Won’t Her Highness be surprised?”

“I don’t know. She looked indifferent.”

“But what are you looking at… Gosh!”

Mir’s face turned blue as he was looking down following Licht’s gaze.