The Crazy Killer Whale’s Favourite Penguin

Episode 44: Be Careful of What You Wish For (XVII)

My mind turned white, and I couldn’t hide my embarrassment and spoke gibberish.

“Oh, no. Madam Bella, this is…”

“…….”

Completely shocked, she just stared at me and Suradel with her mouth slightly open.

Suradel raised an eyebrow and shamelessly said,

“Mother, it’s troublesome if you interrupt our private time.”

The stiff Bella finally recovered and said,

“…Sorry to startle you, Lia. It must be my fault for not knocking.”

After sincerely apologizing to me, she gave Suradel a sharp look and shut the door.

“I want to see you separately later.”

Click.

As soon as the door closed, I cried and grabbed Suradel’s hair.

“You fool, what are you going to do? Because of you, instead of clearing up the confusion, Madam Bella went out with a solid misunderstanding. Aaaa!”

But Suradel raised the corners of his mouth into a smirk. It was as if he was even happy that I had grabbed his hair.

“Was there anything wrong with it? It’s true that we kissed.”

“It’s not my lips that hit you, it’s my beak! And it’s not just the posture that matters. Right now I’m wearing nothing but a robe. She must have misunderstood something!”

“What if she misunderstood?”

“That…!”

For some reason, I had no words to say, and I tried to stand up while keeping the robe close to my body.

“Anyway, humanizing was successful, so I’ll go out now. It would be better for me to clear up the misunderstanding with Madam Bella myself.”

But I couldn’t get out of Suradel’s lap. As he suddenly hugged me.

I glared at him, not hiding my anger and confusion.

“Aren’t you going to let me go?”

“I… I’ll close my eyes, so give me back the robe…”

“Ha? Are you seriously saying that?”

“…You don’t think so either? Then what about staying like this for ten minutes?”

“Are you crazy?”

“I’m sorry Lia, but me being crazy is real, so there’s no blow.”

“It’s okay, stop joking around and teleport to your room. I need to get dressed.”

“…Teleport? Right, there was such a way.”

Suradel’s eyes were shining as if he had met a savior.

“Lia, you are such a genius, thank you!”

Poof–!

Suradel, who seemed like he would never let me go, thanked me and quickly disappeared in front of my eyes.

I frowned, glaring at the spot where he had just been.

“What’s wrong with him…?”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

After safely humanizing, I took a bath with the help of Iprus.

It was a long-awaited bath; I hadn’t washed up after going to the banquet yesterday.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, I found Bella.

I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings she might have.

When I heard that Bella was in Suradel’s room, I headed there without the slightest hesitation.

Even if she wasn’t there, there was one thing I had to ask of Suradel, who I now know knew my identity.

Tok tok.

“Suradel, I’m here.”

“Come in.”

After carefully knocking and opening the door, Suradel was nowhere to be found; only Bella was standing in the room.

The expression on her face as she looked at me seemed to be tangled with many complex emotions and thoughts.

“What brought you to Suradel’s room, Lia?”

The person I was looking for was Bella, but when I stood in front of her, my lips didn’t part.

“I… I just remembered something I forgot to tell Suradel earlier.”

“I see.”

I struggled inwardly at the awkwardness flowing through the air before plucking up the courage to speak.

“Um, Madam Bella. What you just saw…”

Tak.

Bella grabbed both of my hands before I could finish speaking.

“Lia. I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

“…Yes?”

“Since when did it start with Suradel… No, why…”

She took a deep breath as if she still couldn’t believe it. There seemed to be a little anger too.

“I don’t know if this is right, Lia.”

“What… do you mean?”

“I know I shouldn’t meddle in your relationship with Suradel, but even so, it hasn’t been a month since you’ve humanized and met him…!”

When she, who had always been kind to me, spoke in a storm-like rush, I lowered my gaze, slightly intimidated.

“Lia. Straighten your shoulders. You are not at fault.”

“…But…”

It was obviously a voice filled with anger.

“I’m just angry at Suradel for targeting you.”

Ah. I was right that she was angry.

“Madam Bella. There is no need to be angry. With Suradel, not…”

I paused before I could utter ‘I have nothing to do with him’.

I was with Suradel in that posture and in that outfit. This, coupled with the fact that we were not in a relationship, would likely incite Bella’s anger even more.

“Not?”

I swallowed my saliva at the words that came back in question as if urging.

“Nothing has happened yet.”

“…That is fortunate.”

What. I think I felt a bit of regret in Bella’s voice. Was I mistaken?

The moment I tried to carefully examine her expression for the strange reaction…

Suradel, wearing a white robe, opened the bathroom door connected to the room and came out.

When he saw Bella and I in his room, he said with surprise in his voice.

“Huh. What did everyone come to my room for?”

I looked at him and tilted my head.

“Su, did you take a shower?”

Why was he showering all of a sudden? Didn’t he wash in the morning?

Our gazes locked for a brief moment, but Suradel quickly averted his eyes and ran a hand through his wet silver hair once.

“Uh. It’s just hot…”

Bella stared at such a Suradel and sighed lightly.

“Lia has something to say to you. Come to the office when you’re done. I’ll be waiting.”

With that, she went out and I looked at the door with a slightly uncomfortable face.

She misunderstood… right?

Just in case, I asked Suradel.

“When you talk to Madam Bella later, do a good job in explaining. Understand?”

“…Okay.”

It was a voice with a hint of sadness, even though he was smiling.

Suradel still couldn’t make eye contact with me properly.

“By the way Lia, what do you mean you have something to say to me?”

“I want to ask you for a favor.”

“Oh, I’m so excited that Lia is asking me for a favor.”

Only then did I confirm that Suradel had returned to his usual self, and I got to the point with some relief.

“I want to send a letter.”

Suradel’s smile deepened ominously.

“…To whom? Perhaps, a man?”

It had been less than a month since I had humanized. There was no way I would have a man.

“I want to tell my dad, who is still searching the continent, whether I am alive or dead. As an unknown sender.”

“Aha. To Lord Reynos?”

Suradel’s voice got brighter.

His spoiled, fluctuating mood today seemed to have been caused by the hot weather.

“Hmm. Can I see the letter you’re going to send?”

I silently took out the letter and handed it to Suradel.

It was a letter that I had written in the past with the help of Iprus, but I couldn’t send it due to a couple of worries.

[The penguin is with me. We are living happily, so stop fighting attrition and forget about it. Someday, I will send it home safely.]

After reading the letter, Suradel looked at me with an expression that suggested he didn’t know how to react.

“Ah… Lia. I can send the letter, but this will take some time.”

I replied with a sullen expression.

“Isn’t it better than having my dad endlessly looking for me without even knowing if I’m alive or dead?”

“It is, but…”

Suradel asked with an ambiguous expression as he shifted his eyes here and there.

“From the contents of the letter, it seems clear that it was kidnapping. What if Lord Reynos gets angry and tracks the letter?”

“That’s why I need you. I beg you, the genius wizard Suradel!”

As I irresponsibly handed over the task to Suradel, one corner of his mouth curled up at an angle.

“With just bare words?”

“I’ll forgive you for cheating in rock-paper-scissors earlier.”

Suradel slowly ran his thumb over his lips as if recalling the kiss.

His excited eyes curved as he grinned.

“Certainly, it’s paid in full.”

Suradel received my letter and put it in the subspace.

“I don’t want to be caught, so I’ll secretly drop it when Lord Reynos isn’t there.”

“Thank you.”

While closing the subspace, Suradel muttered, having suddenly remembered something.

“Right. Your humanization distracted me so much that I forgot about it, but now I can give you the present.”

“Ah, that. I was wondering if the gift even existed because I put it off so much, but I’m glad it did.”

“Sorry, sorry. I prepared it with great effort, so I wanted to give it to you in your human state.”

He chuckled and put his hand into the subspace that hadn’t been closed yet.

And what came out from the inside… 

“Ta-dah. Lia, I started making it not long after you came into the Weil family.”

It was a very pretty magic wand.

It totally looked like a magic wand carried by magic girls with ice or water attributes.

A snowflake-shaped head and pieces of mysteriously colored mana stones floating around it.

The cane was unusual and pretty, with the coral as a point and a fluttering ribbon.

Even at a glance, it seemed like it’s entirely made with expensive materials…