The Seventh Prince Runs Away from Awkward Situations

Chapter 17 : Experiment (2)

“Cu, cute!!”

“What?”

Surely, unless she had outrageous nerve, she wouldn't say such a disrespectful thing to the 7th Prince, so I furrowed my brow and asked back.

I asked blankly, unlike myself, but she seemed to have her gaze completely stolen by something and was looking at my feet.

I followed that gaze and turned my head.

And there.

“Squeak?”

The owner of a familiar face was shamelessly staring at me, wagging its fluffy, striped tail.

Only then did I remember the bag that had been strangely heavy.

To think of the source of that feeling, which I hadn't thought deeply about because I'd returned in a bit of a hurry, was this fellow.

This squirrel looked up at me with its cheeks puffed up, having apparently diligently packed them with the acorns and hazelnuts that were in the bag.

Right, so it was an ambitious squirrel, wasn't it?

“Ah! Yo, Yo, Your Highness, th-that must be a squirrel that wandered in by mistake because the forest is nearby. I'll chase it out right away!”

As I was glaring at the squirrel, Anna, perhaps having misunderstood something, watched my expression and falteringly defended the squirrel.

The child's voice trembled, visibly worried that I might be contemplating how to skin the squirrel.

Then, she hurriedly reached out her hand toward the fellow standing on the floor on its hind legs.

“Kyak!”

Unfortunately, based on my experience, that tiny fellow was not such a calm animal.

The squirrel instantly dodged Anna's hand and started running around here and there.

“W-wait! Hold on!”

Anna couldn't get a grip on the squirrel's swift movements as it started circling around her.

“Uwak! Don't!”

The squirrel, owner of a reckless personality unfitting its adorable black eyes, finally climbed up Anna and latched flat onto the child's face.

Anna was on the verge of tears.

“You can't even catch a single rat, how on earth do you work in the kitchen?”

I sighed and grabbed the small fellow stuck to Anna's face.

“I-I'm sorry, Your Highness.”

Anna answered with her head bowed, perhaps embarrassed that she had confidently stepped forward only to scream.

Now, what to do with this fellow.

If I just let it out, I had no way of knowing if it could find its way back to the forest.

It would be a relief if it just didn't get caught and eaten by a stray cat on the way.

While I was having various thoughts, the fellow, completely bound in my hand with only its face poking out, began to make 'Kkwek kkwek' sounds, perhaps dissatisfied with its posture.

“Ah.”

It happened in an instant.

The fellow bit my hand quite hard before I had a chance to avoid it, and using the gap when my grip loosened, it scurried out and climbed up the bookshelf.

Seeing this, squirrels seemed to be tougher creatures than I thought; it looked like it could repel something like a stray cat with its teeth alone.

It seemed it would survive just fine on its own even if I threw it outside.

“Heok! Your Highness! B-blood!”

At Anna's horror, I looked at my hand, and blood was dripping, as if I'd been bitten quite deeply.

“I!!! will go get medicine!!”

I was about to say it was nothing and not to make a fuss, but Anna ran out of the room, making all sorts of commotion, before I could even open my mouth.

Right, from the child's perspective, seeing a member of the Imperial Family get injured right before her eyes was enough to make her faint.

Besides, the fact that it was an injury caused by the squirrel that had been stuck to her face would also play a part in her fright.

I understood and looked at the cause of all this commotion.

The adorable fellow, perched on the top shelf of the bookshelf, was grooming its head with its paws when it met my eyes.

“Why don't you come down now?”

Even at my words, the fellow twitched its nostrils a few times, then turned around and began to take out the tree nuts it had stored in its cheek pouches from between the books.

If only I could climb up, I would grab it right away and throw it out.

It was the moment that thought crossed my mind for just a brief instant.

“Haha, my goodness.”

Absurdly, the sensation I had been waiting for all afternoon enveloped my whole body.

A familiar heat began to wrap me from head to toe.

And when I opened my eyes again.

I had become a palm-sized squirrel.

Looking down at my tiny paws, a dry laugh escaped me.

Betrayal? What betrayal? It wasn't that complicated.

So, it meant I just had to touch its neck?

“Squeak?! Squeak squeak! Kkwek!!”

I chuckled a little at the squirrel that was about to faint after witnessing a person turn into a squirrel right in front of it.

My body felt light climbing the bookshelf.

***

That day, small things changed.

First, Anna seemed to have come to respect me a little.

Anna, who had made a fuss and brought back first-aid supplies, was surprised to see that I had not only caught the squirrel but also tamed it, and muttered quietly, ‘As expected, those eyes……’.

It was loud for a mumble, but I pretended not to hear.

Yes, it's probably a good thing if she finds me scary.

And I started coming to the forest a little more often.

I secured animals I could transform into, 3 per day at most, 0 at least.

Focusing on animals with useful abilities, just in case there might be a limit to the number.

The characteristics of my ability that I learned through this are as follows.

First, it's true that animals are quite favorable toward me.

As seen in Anna's case, the wild animals of this world were not particularly friendly or amicable toward humans.

Whether it was the influence of the ability, they didn't guard themselves much even if I approached them first upon meeting, and they didn't refuse my touch.

This was a great help in stroking their napes.

Second, however, the more intelligent the animal, the harder it is to touch its nape with just the initial favorability they have for me.

Third, previously I only knew how to turn into an animal that suited what I desired, but in truth, I can transform into a specific animal just by thinking I want to become it.

When I only had two, if I thought I wanted to fly or wanted to run, I could automatically transform into the most appropriate animal for it.

However, as the number of animals I could transform into increased, I learned that I could just transform by wishing to become the animal I wanted.

For example, like this.

‘I want to turn into a weasel.’

When I opened my eyes, I had become a long-bodied weasel with glossy fur.

“Squeak!! Squeaksqueaksqueak!!!”

And the squirrel fellow riding on my back started screaming in fright.

This is also one of the small changes.

That this squirrel started following me wherever I went.

Ever since that day, the fellow seemed to firmly believe that I was fundamentally one of its own kind, even though I transformed into a human or briefly into something else.

And, perhaps finding that version of me fascinating, it absolutely refused to return to the burrow in the forest where it used to live, back to the wild.

The very next day, to take the squirrel back to where it belonged, I set it down near the spot it had appeared and left, but the fellow trotted along following me.

I tried dodging it and hiding, but the fellow was relentless.

There were several skirmishes, but I eventually lost.

Because I couldn't win against a fellow that chased me as I transformed into a crow and flew into the sky, only to crash its head into a tree and faint.

Thanks to that, the fellow came to follow me completely.

On days I went to the forest, the fellow would climb onto my back after I turned into a crow, and wander the forest with me.

“Squeak!! Squeak squeak!”

Although it still gets angry and beats me up when I suddenly transform into another animal.

***

Today, I had to leave the forest with no particular gains.

It seemed there were no more particularly necessary abilities among the small animals, and as I mentioned earlier, if there was a limit to the number of animal types I could transform into, it seemed better to secure medium or large-sized animals.

Should I go to the medium-sized animal zone starting tomorrow

I, who had left the forest in the form of a crow, scanned my surroundings and flew in through my room's window.

The room was quiet, no different from when I left a few hours ago.

Thanks to the employees who followed my order not to let anyone in as sharply as a knife, I could spend a few hours a day in the forest.

It seems no one came this time either.

Relieved, I unfastened the bag I had carried.

Perhaps because of flying and running around the forest for the past few days, fatigue slowly crept in.

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes to rest.

I should get some shut-eye.

-Hurry up and call the 7th Prince, I said??!!!

But all my plans went down the drain at the sound of that irritable voice.

When I heard the sound of a Knight, who was just repeating that he couldn't open the door due to the 7th Prince's orders, being overpowered, I had no choice but to sigh and stand up.

I imagined the chaotic situation in front of the door and flung it open.

The gaze of the red-haired young man gripping the Knight's throat followed me.

It was my damn younger brother, the 8th Prince, with red hair and red eyes.

***

“You live in a dump, just like me.”

The 8th Prince, Cellos Abalan, muttered, clicking his tongue as he scanned my office.

True, compared to where the 1st Prince lived, this place was a bit old and shabby.

Still, it was luxurious compared to the old villa I originally lived in.

I pondered the relativity of wealth, then looked at the 8th Prince, who was sitting restlessly like a dog needing to relieve itself, and opened my mouth.

“To see how my younger brother, who lives like a prince, is doing, I guess I'll have to visit you every day.”

“What?! There's no need for that. Don't come. Don't you dare come.”

When I spoke with a shrug of my shoulders, the fellow flinched and stopped me.

“It's because I've lived like a beggar my whole life, so I don't know what a place where one lives a prince-like life is like. A younger brother should teach his unlearned older brother.”

“Dammit! You're living well too, not like a beggar, so don't come!”

The fellow glared at me and finally corrected his words.

Only then did I nod.

“Right. You wouldn't have come to see your older brother living like a prince.”

When I brought it up, the fellow hesitated, glancing at me.

It wasn't clearly visible when he was grabbing someone by the collar at the door just moments ago, but seeing him sitting on the sofa, I could tell how hard of a time the fellow had been having.

It was dark under his eyes, his face was rough, and he had lost weight, making his cheekbones protrude slightly.

Because the fellow didn't open his mouth, I also just stared at him.

“A-are you going to spill everything today?”

The fellow, who had been hesitating for a long time, squeezed his eyes shut once and asked me.

I knew what he was talking about.

Because today was the first of the Emperor's family rituals held after the Hunting Competition.

We would once again have a time where all the brothers and sisters gathered and sat at that long table.

He must be worried about how I'd run my mouth there.

The 8th Prince making a move was within my expectations.

Rather, I was surprised that the fellow hadn't come to find me until today.

I thought he would come rushing in on the day of the Hunting Competition, or the next day at the latest.

He was so quiet that I even wondered if he was hiring assassins and sharpening his blade like Rasia.

But to think he just came after worrying and worrying.

I let out a 'pik' laugh at his uncharacteristic timidness and answered.

“Well.”

“That's……!!!”

Cellos, perhaps angered by my lukewarm attitude, slammed the desk and was about to shout, but when I stared at him blankly, he lowered his voice again.

“What do you mean? Yes or no. You have to say it clearly.”

“It means it's up to me whether I say it or not.”

“Dammit, if there's something you want……,”

“You'll grant me anything? How?”

“……”

Cellos didn't answer.

Well, he could probably grant most things, more or less.

He could give me money, buy me people, and maybe even change this Castle that he cursed as beggar-like.

Because the fellow had someone like a genie of the lamp watching his back.

Although it seemed he hadn't told that person about me yet.

If he had told them about me, they might have given me what I wanted at first, but not long after, they would have tried to kill me without anyone knowing.

“I can't say I'll keep my mouth shut forever, but at least it's not today. Maybe not even this year.”

I reassured the fellow because I didn't know what might happen if I pressured him too much.

The other party, however, sent a look that seemed rather puzzled and anxious, so my goal was not achieved.

As expected of a hot-blooded teenager, he had many complaints and anxieties.

“Why? Were you expecting something? If you want, I can get on the table as soon as I enter the banquet hall today and shout. That the 8th Prince's Manis can actually barely light a candle.”

“You, just because I'm like this, you seem to be mistaken that you've become something, but you're forever a cripple and a half-wit.”

At my sarcasm, the fellow's eyes glinted quite fiercely.

For once, he's saying something right.

I nodded as if agreeing with his words.

“It's just as you say.”

“What?”

The fellow, who had been glaring at me fiercely, asked back, as if he hadn't expected me to agree.

“That those words are right. It means, very rarely, you've said something correct. It's a rare opportunity, so savor it.”

“Are you mocking me right now?!”

Even though I agreed with him, Cellos raised his voice again, as if he was getting heated up easily.

I slowly scrutinized him.

My red-haired half-brother, who was half a head taller than me.

A fellow who was just big in size but no different from a child.

“You said something right for the first time in a while, so you should carve it in your mind. That just because the other person is a cripple, it doesn't mean anything gets better for you. You just said it with your own mouth, didn't you?”

“……”

“Remember it well.”

The fellow looked at me with an uncomprehending expression, and I didn't have the kindness to explain it all to him, so I kicked him out, saying 'that's enough, get lost'.

The 8th Prince looked displeased, but perhaps thinking I might change my mind if he stayed any longer, he turned toward the door relatively obediently.

“Ah.”

The moment the fellow grabbed the doorknob, I remembered something I had forgotten and called to stop him.

“You said you'd grant me anything, right?”

“You said you didn't need anything.”

“I never said that?”

“……”

The 8th Prince glared at me with a provoked expression.

“What is it you want?”

I cut off the fellow who was about to add that he could give me any amount of money, and spat out.

“Use polite speech.”

“What?!”

Cellos looked at me with an expression as if he had just seen the Emperor tap dancing with a huge grin on his face.

Why so surprised?

“I'm your older brother.”

“Why are you my older brother!”

“Because I'm the seventh prince and you're the eighth?”

“That's……”

“I'm two years older.”

Truthfully, I was eleven years older, but he had no way of knowing.

“If you don't want to, I can't help it. I'll just, as promised……”

“Who said I don't want to! Fine!”

“……”

“Alrigh, ...t.”

The fellow hurriedly closed the door and left, looking like he was going crazy from his wounded pride.

I was just about to tell him to rest assured that I'd keep the secret as promised.