Nikita looked me in the eye and asked.
“So, is it really for no reason that you came to my house?”
“Yes.”
Truly, the purpose of visiting Nikita’s house was to kill time until Anemone left work.
The real purpose of today’s outing was to meet Anemone.
Well, that didn’t mean that visiting Nikita was entirely meaningless.
I opened my mouth and spoke as if I had suddenly remembered.
“Oh, about the whales.”
“Did you find out something?”
Her eyes lit up in anticipating.
It seemed that this was the reason she kept asking why.
“I couldn’t find anything about when the whales you mentioned started using magic, but I did find something much bigger.”
“What is it?”
“Well, I could shed some light since you’re curious…”
I answered with half-lidded eyes and a meaningful smile.
“That text in your notebook. There was a book made entirely of those letters in the Weil library.”
“…What?! Is there such a thing in a family with such a short history?”
Nikita seemed to think of Korean as an ancient language.
I shrugged lightly.
“I guess they got it from somewhere. Since it’s a family with magic, perhaps there are a lot who liked research.”
“The content…! Have you read the contents of the book?”
I nodded my head calmly like a detached person.
“huh. It was shocking.”
It was shocking.
I thought there would be something, but it’s just a normal romance novel.
“Then can you tell me what it is about?”
With eyes full of expectations, she put her hands together and looked at me pleadingly.
I replied affectionately, placing my hand on top of her clasped hands.
“You know, Nikita. The reason I bother to say this is because I will need your help if a plague that only affects pure-blooded humans breaks out later.”
“You’re too mean… Can’t, can’t you tell me a little bit?”
“No.”
“I also have a conscience, so I won’t just run away after receiving information…! I’ve even been caught by the lady!”
Meeting the eyes of Nikita, who seemed to go crazy with curiosity, I slowly moved my lips to utter,
“Soon.”
In the original work, after Theodore imprinted on Anemone, they went through various conflicts…
With the extinction of pure-blood humans, Theodore comforted Anemone, who was in depression, and their relationship was restored.
According to the original work, now was roughly the time of conflict.
I didn’t know the exact date, but that day would come soon.
The day when the extinction of pure-blood humans begins.
⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆
“Anemone.”
Anemone looked back at the voice calling her.
“I… prus?”
Naturally, Anemone thought that a pure-blooded human had called her. So she was a little surprised by the unexpected person who appeared in front of her.
Iprus was the only one she, who loathed demibeasts, could face.
It was because Iprus often ran into her while working as Adelia’s maid for several years.
But before long, Anemone hardened her face.
It was because she remembered that Iprus abandoned Lady Adelia and left the Magic Tower.
Didn’t she cry and search for Lady Adelia? But she left the Magic Tower without looking back.
Teacher frantically searched for Lady Adelia even after Iprus and Suradel left.
With what shame did Iprus appear in front of her?
“I’m sorry, Iprus. I don’t want to see your face.”
“Well, that’s a relief. It’s not me who has business with you, it’s the lady.”
“…The lady?”
Anemone almost rejoiced at the moment, thinking Iprus had found Adelia.
Until she noticed the woman with white spots in her dark hair behind her.
She couldn’t not know.
That it was the new killer whale Weil found after decades.
When she realized that the lady Iprus was talking about was that woman, her cheekbones twitched and her lips trembled.
She was angry.
‘Are all demibeasts so low and cowardly.’
“You. You abandoned Lady Adelia and got a job with the Weil family so quickly?”
“Why do you talk like I betrayed her, Anemone? You know I did my best to find her.”
“Still, you should have been with us until the end! Even though Lady Adelia went missing, Teacher didn’t take away your salary!”
Eventually, Anemone couldn’t contain her anger and let it out.
“Why did you leave the Mage Tower?”
She couldn’t understand.
That Iprus, who had served Adelia with utmost loyalty, left the Magic Tower in less than a month.
It was when Anemone was gasping for breath as she couldn’t control her emotions.
“Anemone.”
Lia, who came with Iprus, calmed Anemone.
“It was because of my request that Iprus came to Weil. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”
Swish.
Anemone turned her head away, clearly revealing her intentions, and ignored Lia.
Lia laughed bitterly.
She thought it would be more difficult than she thought.
‘Should I reveal that I am Adelia the penguin?’
‘However, if Anemone, who hates demibeasts like my father, shows the same attitude even after learning my identity…’
‘I think my heart will break.’
Lia decided it was good to just bump into her for now and asked cautiously.
“Mone. Can you teach me magic?”
Then, Anemone, who had been ignoring Lia, responded with an annoyed tone.
“Isn’t it rude to call me by a nickname when I did not approve of it?”
Lia was surprised.
As a penguin, she had a habit of calling those around her by their nickname, so it surfaced naturally.
Come to think of it, even when she first met Iprus in her human state, she called her by her nickname.
As Lia stiffened and stared with a startled expression, Anemone felt her heart weaken somewhat.
However, she couldn’t allow this favor. Anemone hardened her heart and face.
“Besides, you should learn magic from the Weil family, which you belong to. I don’t understand why you’re asking me.”
“Anemone. Before I humanized, I was raised in the home of a pure-blooded human.”
At those words, Anemone swallowed a small gasp.
It was because she had heard rumors that the new killer whale demibeast of the Weil family had been abused.
The cogs in Anemone’s mind spun rapidly.
‘Who is it?’
‘Is the killer whale raised as a test subject for magic research?’
However, unlike her complicated mind, she managed to pull of a calm performance very well.
“…I don’t know what it has to do with me. Are you telling me to pay for their sins instead?”
Lia swallowed her saliva.
It was a gamble from here on out.
With the following words, Anemone might discover her true identity, or she could buy her sympathy and come to her aid.
“Anemone. I am not a killer whale.”
“…What?”
Nonsense.
What other demibeast would have such unusual hair besides a killer whale?
Lia continued, her words tinged with bitterness.
“Somehow, I’m being misunderstood as a killer whale, but since I have nowhere else to go, I keep lying.”
“But then, the special ability…”
“Fortunately, I have mana in my body, so I think I can learn magic. That’s my special ability. But whales use magic with the mana in the air.”
‘Before the Weils reveal my true identity, I must learn magic from pure-blooded humans like you.’
Lia added quietly, earnestly staring at the Anemone.
At that moment, lightning-like realization flashed through Anemone’s head.
‘Suradel is obsessed only with Adelia.’
‘Iprus is loyal only to Adelia.’
‘Who are the two of them falling for now?’
Wasn’t it the demibeast right in front of her eyes?
‘And, since when did those two become not desperate in their search for Lady Adelia?’
Suradel.
He, who had been collecting attendance stamps at the Magic Tower every day, did not come to the Magic Tower on the day Lady Adelia went missing.
It was revealed later that it was the day a new killer whale entered the Weil family.
Iprus.
On the day that Lady Adelia disappeared, she searched all over the Magic Tower like a crazy person.
But on the third day, she was no longer frantic.
Like…
…She had already found Lady Adelia.
“That’s enough, I don’t want to get involved with demibeast, so I’ll go now. I don’t want to see you again like this.”
Anemone spat out the words that were akin to ‘stop bothering me’, and then dashed off like she was running away.
She needed time to think.
