Four months had pa.s.sed since the incidents involving Auguste and the angel – that was the advent of the early summer.
The season changed and the color of the trees changed from green full of vitality to soft red and yellow.
The dwelling s.p.a.ce of the Duke of Aurelia had also moved to 〈Autumn Palace〉 in a small warm land.
This palace was a palace in the golden forest as it was surrounded by trees with leaves that turned yellow such as Ginkgo biloba, etc.
From the veranda in my room, I could see the golden forest and it looked like a yellow carpet.
I sat on the chair placed on the veranda while holding two envelopes I had received from a maid.
Then Tirnanog came out from under the tablecloth.
『Are those letters?』
“Yeah, they seemed to have reached Spring Palace, these letters are from Klaus and Auguste.”
『The black-haired good-looking dwarf and the prince with blonde hair. What is written on them?』
“Wait a moment……”
I opened the letter from Klaus.
Rendered speechless by the simplicity of it for a moment, I read the letter aloud.
“……‘Are you in good health? Do not lose to anyone until I return to Ichthyes.
I got even stronger. I can hardly wait for the day when I can meet you again.’……”
『This time, it’s a letter of challenge for sure.』
“As expected, it’s similar to a letter of challenge.”
It was troubling that he still wanted to put me in the position of his rival.
Even now he was acting with Eduart-oniisama in the South, so I was hoping that he was being reformed or tempered himself a little.
Or rather, maybe this happened because he continued to taste defeat after challenging my older brother many times?
Maybe he had the idea of first trying to prevail after winning against me as his sister?
Drowsiness began to creep up owing to the fact that I used the part of my head that I never used.
It wasn’t good to be carry mental stress.
I decided not to see the letter from Klaus, I would pull myself together after reading Auguste’s letter.
There was a pressed flower using a vibrant flower that seemed to be from the South.
And from the paper, the faint fragrant of the perfume of the flower could be smelled.
“‘Dear Erica.
By the time this letter arrives, it will definitely be autumn in Aurelia.
I will deliver the summer remnant of Ignitia.
I will be glad if you like it.’”
『Hou, the prince with blonde hair is quite refreshing.』
“‘Here, I am as busy as ever.
There is so much work to do as a prince and it is very difficult for me to stretch my wings.
Oh yeah, as part of that work, I decided to attend the launching ceremony which will be held soon at Knot Reed.
I heard that the Duke of Aurelia will partic.i.p.ate as well.
I’m really looking forward to see you again after a long absence.’”
『Launching ceremony……aah, it’s the location for that plan.』
I nodded back to Tirnanog’s interjection.
In the launching ceremony that would be held in the Trade City of Knot Reed, we were planning to avoid the next death flag.
“‘My dragons are about to hatch from their eggs soon.
If there is an opportunity, I will introduce them during the launching ceremony.
At that time, I hope you can get along with them.
May the grace of G.o.d be with you.’……that’s what he said.”
『Good news, huh.』
“Yes, we must also tell Palug about this.”
『That said, I thought that it was unusually quiet……where is that cat?』
Tirnanog climbed up the handrail and looked around the garden.
I also got up and looked around for Palug’s figure.
When I looked down at the garden, a maid stopped sweeping the yard and was waving her hand towards this direction.
Silver hair stretched to the shoulder, suntanned skin.
She was a girl whose face somewhat resembled Auguste.
(Hm……a girl? Wait a minute, is that really a girl……?)
The person whose gender was unknown ran slightly, jumped up and landed on the handrail of the veranda.
Huh? But, this place was the third floor!?
“!?”
『Cat. Erica will be surprised. Do not appear suddenly with unfamiliar appearance.』
“My, my, I’m sorry. I’m just very glad that my power came back.”
The maid pinched her skirt and curtsied while sticking out her tongue.
Cat ears appeared between her hair and a cat’s tail jumped out from the hem of her skirt.
It seemed that it was the transformed figure of Palug.
“That was surprising……who are you turning into right now? From the look of the face, is it someone from the royal family of Ignitia?”
“This is the childhood figure of my King Guillaume. Isn’t it cute?”
While saying so, Palug raised both of her lightly curled hands on both sides of her face and took a cat-like pose.
Ah, if I looked closely, unlike Auguste, the color of the eyes was sky blue.
“Guillaume is the ancestor of Auguste and the Founder King of Ignitia, right?
Is it really okay if you use such a great person’s appearance to wear female clothing?”
『Hundreds of years after his death, only to be blasphemed by a domestic cat……what a pitiful man.』
“Eh~. What’s with those reactions. Even though this appearance is so cute.”
“It’s cute, but please stop it.”
I had no excuse for the people of Ignitia if they knew that a look-alike figure of the Founder King was seen wearing female clothing.
If the color of the eyes changed, it was practically Auguste, so the feeling of guilt was doubled.
When I offered the letter from Auguste as a shield to request for her to release the transformation, Palug nodded with a reluctant expression.
Palug made a turn with a twirl.
In a blink of an eye, her appearance changed and she was in the figure of her usual gorgeous beauty.
The clothes that she was wearing changed from the maid’s clothes to a southern-style dress.
It seemed that Palug’s original ability was to imitate the figure and voice of the contractor who she ever got blood from.
According to the person herself, she seemed to have been a phantom beast of a cat who only had the ability to transform before becoming an angel.
It was only after Ignitia’s only G.o.d had taken her in, that she got the characteristics of heat and light.
Resting and ingesting one drop of my blood each day, gradually the power of Palug was returning.
For now, it seemed that her ability to transform was recovering faster than her ability to fight as an angel.
“My, my, even though it’s a love letter addressed to Erica from Auguste, my heart is also fluttering~”
“It’s not a love letter. I think that it’s a normal status report that friends give each other.”
I decided to deny it after taking the distant future into consideration.
It wasn’t good idea to make too much misunderstanding, so I would like her to do it in moderation.
“Eeeh! The eggs finally hatched?!
We have to celebrate it! I will demand a full-blown festival as the guardian angel of the country!”
『Cat……you’re becoming an angel only when it is convenient for you……』
Palug hugged the letter as she was spinning and dancing.
It seemed that she didn’t hear his words.
Since the dragons’ hatching was a long-standing wish of Auguste and Palug, it was reasonable.
『Cat. Getting carried away and all is fine, but you better have improved at that ability to transform of yours.
We can’t bring a useless freeloader, you know.』
When Tirnanog called her out in provocation, Palug suddenly stopped moving and her face turned serious.
“How rude. I’m going to be much more useful than a dead-weight fake dragon, you know?”
『Hah, the other day you were just all talk and no action.』
“Fine. I will show you the result of my practice!”
Palug turned around once and transformed.
Golden hair rolled softly, eyes as green as emerald.
A girl around eight years old wearing a dark blue simple dress appeared.
The one who appeared was exactly me, Erica Aurelia.
Except, that ‘me’ had cat ears and tail.
『Cat……the monster parts are still there……』
“Oh no……I have to change the plan……”
“What~. This is just a little joke.”
When Palug covered them with her hands, the cat ears and tail had disappeared.
This time she became completely like me.
“Amazing, Palug. With this, it will be fine even if you replaced me.”
『No, she still has long ways to go.
The eyes are too sparkling, and the expression is too lively.
You might be able to fool strangers, but you cannot fool your father or older brother.』
“Fufufu. Today I’m different from before. How about this?”
All of a sudden, facial expression disappeared from the face of the ‘me’ that Palug had turned herself into.
Her mouth formed a thin smile, but it didn’t seem like she was having fun at all.
Her emotion couldn’t be read from the eyes, and she felt somewhat like an artificial product.
Rather than being a gaudy and malicious girl, she seemed like a boss whose specialty was criticizing and cursing.
『Ooooh!!』
“……This is exactly the same, isn’t it?”
『Umu, the voice color is also perfect. In this case you may even be able to fool me.』
“Fufufu. This is the result of steady observation.”
Palug who turned into me smiled quietly.
Eh, it felt somewhat scary.
“Huh? Am I so scary when you look at me objectively?”
『You are not scary. I like your calm and reserved impressions.』
“The emotions you expressed are also watered down, huh. But I think you are cute like a doll.”
I wondered how far I could trust the sensibilities of the phantom beasts.
I would make more efforts to look cheerful that was appropriate for my age.
“This perfect-level of transformation seems to be fine. You will be able to makeshift for me while we’re dealing with the next oracle of ruins.”
When I began to talk, the two phantom beasts nodded with a daring smile showed on their faces.
“The next key person’s name is Harold Nibelheim.
The only son of Count Nibelheim, the feudal lord of Nibelheim which was adjacent to the City of Ca.n.a.ls, Knot Reed.”
Also, when Palug is in her cat form, I will use 『…』 for her dialogues, but when she’s transforming into human, I will use “…” for her dialogues.