The Crazy Killer Whale’s Favourite Penguin

Episode 32: Be Careful of What You Wish For (V)

Hanu looked at Iprus with resentful eyes.

“…Because of you, Lady Lia learned harsh words.”

“Why is it because of me? I didn’t say something scary like that?”

“Ha, in terms of cruelty, you’re above that level.”

“Huh. How can a person who had a rough mercenary life before becoming a knight not be able to hear things like that?”

“Even if you compare them, why are you comparing them to mercenaries? Is Lady Lia, who has just undergone humanization, and the mercenary the same?”

“…Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt while you’re both fighting hard.”

I didn’t speak any further and just glanced back. Then, their gaze naturally turned to what’s behind me.

As Jack came out of the room, he looked at Iprus with desperate eyes.

“Iprus. I want to tell you…”

“I’m not curious.”

“Huh…?”

“I don’t care what you say now.”

Despair fell across Jack’s face at her cold gaze.

Tears welled up in his eyes; he couldn’t control his emotions.

Around the time when it was so full that it seemed like it would fall off if I touched it.

“But.”

Iprus took a deep breath, then exhaled it like a sigh.

“It’s true that I have received help several times recently… I’ll listen to what you want to say.”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Iprus cleared up the misunderstanding with Jack that day.

Her reaction at the sight of Jack’s animal form was static, but I could see how desperately she was suppressing her excitement.

Maybe she wanted to put it in her mouth right away.

In her imagination, he might have already been eaten several times… 

Of course, even if the misunderstanding was resolved, it didn’t mean that her heart, which had cooled down, could be restored to the way it was before.

Iprus said she would give him a chance once more and if he still liked her he should try to seduce her, and Jack happily agreed.

If there was a problem… 

It’s that all the attention of Iprus these days was plugged into me.

It was a fact that I could tell just by looking at how she, who had been in a relationship without a break, never met anyone after I ran away.

Even when I go to the Weil family estate, if it’s Iprus, she would try to follow me unconditionally.

Well, that problem… It’s Jack’s problem.

I had already received the necessary information, and like a gangster penguin, I decided to turn into a spectator, abandoning my sense of responsibility and conscience.

A few days after that, the night before the banquet.

I whimpered as I tried to release my tangled hair.

This all happened because Suradel tied my hair.

After struggling alone for a long time, I missed Iprus more desperately, who took care of me well when I was a penguin.

Eventually, I decided to ask someone else for help and left the room.

After passing through the hallway and reaching the stairs, I saw Suradel standing neatly dressed below.

“Suradel?”

He noticed me a few seconds later and had a bright smile in his eyes.

“It’s Lia. You haven’t slept yet?”

“I’ll go to sleep soon. But where are you going? I thought you were in comfortable clothes for dinner.”

“I’m going to visit the Wulf family for a while.”

“It’s bedtime soon. Why are you going there?”

“Well. I don’t know the exact reason either. The letter from the carrier only asked if I could go to the Wulf residence right now.”

Late at night, the Wulf family called Suradel?

Could it have something to do with Theodore, who hadn’t come out of his room?

‘But Suradel doesn’t seem to know what’s going on…’

Even if he did know, he wouldn’t be able to tell because it was between families.

I decided to solve the immediate problem as I thought I would know something after tomorrow’s banquet. 

“Hmm… Is it very urgent?”

“No, I can teleport anyway, so it’s not that urgent. Why? What’s wrong, Lia?”

“It’s not a big deal, but you have something to be responsible for.”

“…Responsibility?”

Suradel’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

It felt like he was stabbed greatly because he often did a lot of things.

I spoke up before he had a strange misunderstanding.

“My hair. Bring it back right away.”

“Uh… huh?”

Blankly, he raised his hand and smoothed his hair.

“…I have silver hair, but would you like to take mine?”

“Not that.”

I sighed and went all the way down the stairs to show him the pitiful condition of my hair.

“Oh!”

Perhaps because of my haste, I tripped. In an instant, I lost my balance and my body tilted.

Time seemed to pass slowly.

I closed my eyes, anticipating the future pain to come.

Tuk.

However, what touched my body was not a hard staircase, but something soft and firm.

“You have to be careful, Lia.”

To the low voice above my head, I carefully opened my eyes.

The first thing that came into sight was a large white hand supporting my body.

The veins protruding above the long, well-groomed fingers were attractive.

‘…Even his hands are handsome.’

I looked up at where the voice had just come from.

Then, as if it was an instinctive reaction, Suradel, who had his eyebrows gathered together, met my gaze.

“What would have happened without me.”

“…I must have fallen thanks.”

In fact, when I was a penguin, falling was a common occurrence.

However, I had a lot of fat on my body, so no matter how much I fell, it didn’t hurt at all.

But now, in this weak human condition, if I fall down the stairs, I could break my bones.

‘Clearly, I need to be careful.’

Having fully reflected on myself, I twisted my body that was being held by Suradel.

It felt awkward to be held in his arms.

“Thank you, can you let me go now?”

“Well…”

But he didn’t seem to have any intention of releasing me.

“Sorry, I can’t move my hand.”

“Don’t be shallow.”

“It’s Lia’s fault for surprising me, so can’t you give me a few minutes to calm down?”

In response to the shameless answer, I bared my teeth like a cat and a predator and snarkily said, 

“If you don’t let go, I’ll bite you.”

‘You already have the experience of being bitten and forced to bleed by me. Isn’t it?’

Then Suradel blushed and shyly raised the cheek that was facing me.

“If possible, this side please.”

‘He’s crazy.’

I thought I could be eaten if I stayed like this.

I struggled and freed myself from his arms.

Suradel stared at the hand I had escaped from with eyes full of regret.

“My human tranquilizer…”

“Don’t keep saying weird things. Do something about this.”

“Yes?”

I circled back and pointed at my hair. Then, as if realizing what the problem was, he sighed.

“Ah, your hair got tangled.”

“I was trying to untie something that was tied behind me, and this happened.”

Suradel finally settled down and started untangling my hair. It was a kind touch, like when he tied her hair.

“You should have called a maid. It must be painful.”

“You know I don’t have a personal maid.”

“There’s a nice person I know. Would you like me to assign her to you?”

With my back to him, I waved my hand and expressed my disapproval.

“It’s fine.”

“Her name is Iprus. She’s a friend of mine who used to work at the Magic Tower, but she quit a while ago and decided to come to my family.”

“…Iprus?”

“Yes. Since she is Sir Hanu’s sister, I think she’ll be able to get along with Lia right away.”

I shouted ‘jackpot’ in my heart. But there was no such thing as a coincidence. So I spoke in a stern tone and tried to avoid showing a quick change in attitude.

“…Hmmmm, if it’s Sir Hanu’s sister, she’ll be trustworthy.”

“Right? With her species trait, she’ll figure out what you want well.”

Suradel smiled and nodded.

“How about it, do you want me to make her your personal maid?”

“Mmm…”

“If you refuse, Iprus will be assigned a tougher job… I think being your personal maid would be better for everyone.”

“If you say that, then what…”

“Then I’ll understand that she will be assigned as such. If I deliver the order tomorrow, she will be able to come to work the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, got it.”

I tensed my facial muscles so that my happy heart wouldn’t show on the outside.

Excitement overflowed at the thought that I could be with Iprus in Weil.

Just as Suradel had unraveled all of my tangled hair, he lifted the end and brought it to the tip of his nose.

“Lia smells good.”

“…I don’t smell anything? Rather, a good scent comes from you.”

“Well, to begin with, you can’t smell yourself well.”

Suradel laughed lazily, as if intoxicated by the smell, and opened his mouth as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“That’s right. Lia, we will go to the Weil family estate as soon as the Igle family’s succession banquet is over tomorrow.”

“Yes…?”

“Before I go, I have a present for you.”

At the word ‘gift’, a smooth stone came to mind.

It was an empty hope because there was no nest made of stones in the room.

‘…Oops.’

Come to think of it, he didn’t know I was a penguin.

In other words, the probability of him giving a stone or jewel as a gift was extremely low.

In a somewhat depressed voice, I expressed gratitude like a machine.

“Uh, I don’t know what it is, but I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks.”