Chapter 154 -152

Chapter 154: Chapter152

"Soren!" I yelled the moment I stepped out of the portal and into the mansion. "I’m back!"

Silence.

"...Hello?"

Still nothing.

I frowned.

That was odd.

Normally, someone would have appeared by now. A maid. A butler. Agatha. Mikael. Soren somehow sensing my existence through sheer possessiveness.

Today?

Nothing.

The entire mansion was suspiciously quiet.

I glanced at Gawain. "...Do you think they all collectively decided to ignore me?"

He shrugged. "Maybe they finally got tired of your personality."

"...That’s rich coming from you."

"I know."

I pushed open the door leading out of the portal room.

"..."

"...Soren really wasn’t exaggerating."

There were countless of plushies everywhere my eyes could land and it was a very familiar-looking leopard cub.

Round ears, white fur, black spots, big red eyes, and a tiny grumpy expression.

I slowly picked one up and turned it around.

It had a white tip at the end of its tail just like mine.

I looked at the rest of plushies.

One was wearing a tiny suit.

Another had a miniature crown.

One somehow wore sunglasses.

There was even one dramatically lying on a fainting couch.

"Why are there so many plushies of me?"

This wasn’t even a collection anymore, it’s more like a factory working twenty-fours a day just because they were bored!

Gawain gasped dramatically, snapping me out of my thoughts. "My Lady."

"What?"

"I’ve found my soulmate."

"..."

He hugged one of the plushies to his chest with both arms. "It looks like you."

"I know."

"It feels like you."

"It absolutely does not."

"It smells nice."

"...Why are you smelling it?"

"I was curious."

"You concern me."

He ignored that entirely.

"This is incredibly soft."

He rubbed his face against it.

"It’s perfect."

"Gawain."

"I could sleep with this every night."

"It will haunt you in your dreams."

"I understand Soren now."

"No you don’t."

"He has excellent taste."

I sighed. "Put it back."

"But why?"

"Because it’s not yours."

"It’s technically you."

"It’s technically not."

"But it’s you."

"It resembles me."

"It is you."

"It is stuffed cotton."

"It has your face."

"It has buttons for eyes."

"It captures your spirit."

"It captures polyester."

He clutched the plushie tighter. "No."

"...No?"

"I’ve grown attached."

"You’ve known it for twelve seconds."

"We’ve been through a lot together."

"What exactly?"

"We survived your lecture."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Gawain."

"No."

"Put. It. Back."

"If you take him away from me, you’ll create another tragic love story."

"...Fine," I grabbed the plushie from his hands.

He gasped like I had just stabbed him. "Murderer!"

"I literally took a stuffed animal."

"You separated a family."

"There wasn’t a family."

"There is now."

I placed it back onto the shelf exactly where it had been.

Gawain looked like he had just watched his first heartbreak. "You’ve changed."

"I always change," I glared at him. ""Especially when I’m not in the mood."

"The old Blanca would’ve understood."

"The old Blanca also would’ve put duct tape over your mouth."

"I miss the old Blanca."

"Unfortunately, I do too."

We continued walking through the mansion.

Or at least...

I continued walking while Gawain continued committing plushie theft.

Every ten steps—

"Oh."

Grab.

"This one’s wearing pajamas."

I kept walking.

Another ten steps.

"Oh!"

Grab.

"This one has a tiny sword!"

Another ten.

Gasp!

Grab.

"This one’s sleeping!"

"...How do you know it’s sleeping?"

"I can feel the sleepy energy."

"..."

I wasn’t even going to ask.

Eventually, I stopped turning around every time I heard him making delighted little noises.

At this point, whatever plushie-related crimes he committed were between him, Agatha, Mikael, and Soren.

Just in time, we passed several maids dusting shelves, polishing windows, and straightening decorations.

The moment they noticed us, they immediately paused what they were doing as one of them hesitantly stepped forward.

"Excuse me, miss..."

"Yes?"

She politely folded her hands in front of her apron.

"How did you get inside the manor? We weren’t informed that Master was expecting a guest today."

The other maids nodded in agreement, though I noticed one discreetly shifted closer to the emergency bell hanging on the wall.

’...Wow.’

They were about three seconds away from sounding the intruder alarm.

"Oh."

Right.

Of course.

The first time they met was when I had been a leopard cub.

To them, I had basically gone from adorable house pet to random woman trespassing in the general’s residence.

"That makes sense," I admitted.

The maids exchanged confused glances.

Without another word, I reached into my pocket and dropped my energy stone to the floor.

In an instant, I transformed back to my beast form.

"Nyang."

All of them gasped simultaneously.

"Miss Blanca!"

"Oh my goodness!"

"We’re terribly sorry!"

"We didn’t recognize you!"

They all bowed so quickly that I was worried someone would get their necks broken.

I calmly picked up my energy stone. "It’s really fine so please stop bowing your heads at me."

"It’s our fault!"

"It really isn’t."

"We questioned Lady Blanca!"

"I mean... to be fair, I did look like a completely different person."

One of the younger maids peeked up from her bow. "...I honestly thought someone had broken into the mansion."

"...Reasonable."

"And you were... incredibly beautiful."

"...Thank you?"

Another maid nodded vigorously.

"We simply never imagined Miss Blanca’s human form would be so..."

She paused, searching for the right word.

"...Elegant."

The maid beside her whispered, "I was going to say ’gorgeous.’"

"I was thinking ’breathtaking.’"

"I forgot how to breathe."

"I forgot my own name."

"...Ladies," I sighed.

They all straightened immediately.

"Right! Sorry!"

"Like I said, don’t worry about it. This is your first time seeing me like this, so I’d be more surprised if you had recognized me."

The tension instantly melted away.

"I just wanted to ask where Soren is—"

I stopped myself.

Actually...

Knowing Soren, if he wasn’t in his office, he’d probably be wandering the mansion looking for me after realizing I had already arrived.

It would probably be faster to ask for the people who actually stayed put.

"...No, never mind. Do you know where Agatha or Mikael are?"

The head maid nodded.

"The last time we saw them, they were in the hallway leading to Master’s office."

Perfect.

"Thank you."

"It was our pleasure, Miss Blanca."

As Gawain and I resumed walking, I heard one of the younger maids whisper the second she thought we were out of earshot.

"...Master’s leopard cub is actually a beautiful woman."

Another whispered back, "...Suddenly the mountain of leopard plushies makes so much more sense."

"..."

"..."

Neither of them knew I could still hear them.

I quietly sped up my pace.

Behind me, Gawain failed spectacularly at suppressing his laughter.

"I was wondering how long it would take for someone to connect the dots."

"...Not a word."

"I didn’t say anything."

"Your face is saying plenty."

"My face is saying that the general has never been subtle a single day in his life."

"No. I will not acknowledge it."

Before he could tease me even further, we heard voices echoing down the hallway.

We cautiously peeked from the corner to see Agatha and Mikael standing several feet apart, neither seeming remotely interested in letting the other finish a sentence.

"I already told you that’s not what happened!"

"Oh, really? Because from where I was standing—"

"You weren’t standing!"

"I was emotionally standing!"

"That doesn’t even make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense!"

"No, it doesn’t!"

"Yes, it does!"

"It doesn’t!"

"It absolutely does!"

I leaned towards Gawain. "...Are they fighting?"

He watched for a few more seconds. "...I honestly can’t tell."

"They look angry."

"They also look... weirdly happy."

"They’ve been smiling this entire time."

"They’re also standing awfully close."

"They keep leaning toward each other."

"I think they’re flirting."

"...Aggressively."

Agatha suddenly shoved Mikael’s shoulder but Mikael only smirked at her, leaning even closer.

"Oh, that’s cute."

Agatha only rolled her eyes.

"...They’re absolutely flirting."

"I hate that you’re right."

Neither of them had noticed us yet. Probably because they were too busy having what looked like a lovers’ quarrel disguised as a debate competition.

So I decided to destroy their moment as I cupped my hands around my mouth.

"Agatha! Mikael!"

Their heads immediately snapped toward me.

I waved enthusiastically.

"Hi!" I called with the biggest smile on my face.

The two immediately jumped apart like teenagers who’d been caught holding hands by overly religious parents.

"My lady!" Agatha hurried over, looking genuinely delighted but embarrassed at the same time. "Since when did you arrive?"

"Just now."

She let out a relieved sigh. "I’m glad you came to visit us."

"Good morning, Miss Blanca," Mikael finally reached us, wearing his usual smile.

He gave a slight bow before his gaze shifted to the person behind me.

"...Gawain."

"Mikael," Gawain offered nothing more than a curt nod.

I looked between them. "...You two really don’t like each other, huh?"

"We’re simply acquaintances," Mikael answered politely.

"I tolerate him," Gawain corrected.

"Likewise."

"...Wow."

I decided to move on before someone started another territorial dispute.

"I have a very important question."

Agatha blinked.

"What is it?"

I pointed dramatically down the hallway we’d just come from.

"What’s with the army of plushies?"

Mikael answered with a perfectly straight face. "Oh, Master simply missed you so much that he ordered us to create plushies that look like you."

I stared at him. "...He what?"

"He personally commissioned them."

"..."

I slowly turned to look back toward the hallway filled with leopard cub plushies.

"..."

Hold on.

Soren had told me they made the plushies. He neglected to mention one very important detail.

He was the one who ordered them.

Every.

Single.

One.

"..."

How many had he commissioned exactly?

Fifty?

A hundred?

Two hundred?

No...

Judging from what I’d seen...

There was enough stuffing in this mansion to traumatize an entire cotton farm.

"I..."

I honestly didn’t know how to respond.

"That’s..."

I wasn’t sure whether to be touched...

...or deeply concerned.

"...Very Soren of him."

"Indeed," Mikael agreed without missing a beat.

Agatha nodded as though this was completely normal behavior.

"I think your master has a problem."

"No," Mikael replied calmly.

"Our master has excellent taste."

"I think you’re enabling him."

"I’ve accepted my fate."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Soren could’ve just called me instead of commissioning an entire plushie civilization."

"That," Mikael interrupted smoothly, "is also the reason."

"...What?"

He looked at me with the same expression one would use when explaining basic arithmetic to a child. "You don’t answer his calls on time."

"..."

"And you frequently forget to reply to his messages."

"..."

Agatha nodded sympathetically. "Sometimes for days."

"I get busy."

"You left him on read for four days."

"I was teaching students."

"You replied to me during those four days, my lady."

"...In my defense..."

I had no defense so I looked away, feeling a little bit guilty.

"...I forgot."

Mikael gave me a small, understanding smile. "Master is aware."

"...That somehow makes me feel worse."

"It should."

"...Well..." I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Where is he? I need to see him."

Instead of answering immediately, Mikael reached inside his coat, pulling out a neatly sealed envelope as he held it out towards me.

"Master isn’t here."

I accepted the letter, suddenly feeling a little disappointed.

"He was called away unexpectedly."

"Where?"

"There has been an urgent matter at the palace."

The lighthearted atmosphere faded slightly.

"And..." he added, nodding toward the envelope in my hands, "he asked me to make sure you read that letter since he’s been expecting you the moment he woke up."