SVPW 07

Chapter 7

“Huff…!”

How long had it been since I’d last run at full speed like that?

After returning to the Crown Prince’s room, I immediately forced the jewel’s power to dissipate, undoing my human form.

This was one of the methods of controlling the jewel’s power that I had learned from books.

If I forcibly extinguished the jewel’s power, I could return to my original form whenever I wanted. Of course, since jewels were precious, it wasn’t something people usually did.

Turning back into a white weasel, I scurried into the cage.

Safe!

As if I had never escaped at all, I curled up on the soft blanket.

And after some time had passed—

Click.

The door opened. The Crown Prince had returned.

If I had been even a little late, that would’ve been a disaster.

I felt proud that I had rushed back so quickly.

In his hand was the basket of bread I had delivered earlier.

I hadn’t noticed it when I handed it to him in such a hurry before, but now that I looked closely, the sight of the Crown Prince holding that tiny bread basket was so funny I almost burst out laughing.

Wearing his neat uniform, with a face sculpted like a masterpiece, he walked in carrying a bread basket covered with a cloth decorated with strawberries.

It actually suits him.

I snickered quietly so he wouldn’t notice.

“I’m not sure if this is right.”

The Crown Prince approached me with the bread basket in his hand. A fragrant, warm smell of bread slowly filled the room.

But seriously—this man really must like animals.

The first thing he did after returning to his room was feed me.

The Crown Prince stared into the basket, wearing a thoughtful expression.

Was he trying to choose the tastiest one, or wondering if giving bread to me was even correct?

Either way, the situation was so amusing that the corners of my lips twitched.

“Strawberry jam, huh…”

Was he really the type to listen carefully to what others said? The Crown Prince was looking for a bread roll with strawberry jam.

But his deliberation was taking far too long.

I hadn’t eaten anything all day!

To be honest, if my body consumed jewels, I didn’t really feel hunger for ordinary food.

But since I had spent most of my life living in human form, I had grown used to eating meals. If I skipped one, it left me with a strange empty feeling.

A kind of habitual hunger, maybe.

So that delicious-looking bread was incredibly tempting.

“Squeak!”

Growing impatient, I grabbed the cage bars and shook them, urging the Crown Prince to hurry.

“It seems you’re very hungry.”

At least he wasn’t completely oblivious. The Crown Prince quickly picked up a piece of bread.

For some reason, when I was in human form I didn’t feel this way, but in this form I suddenly felt bold.

No matter how rude I behaved, I was just an animal. The Crown Prince wouldn’t even realize I was being impolite.

“Can you eat this?”

He placed the bread in front of me and asked.

Did he really think the human version of me was some kind of fraud?

To dispel his doubts, I immediately hugged the large bread.

Even though my weasel form was fully grown, I was only about the length of a human forearm, so even a single bread roll looked huge to me.

I buried my face in it and began devouring it.

Sweet strawberry jam spread through my mouth.

The jam burst out, smearing my cheeks and white fur. My front paws were already sticky with it.

But after such an exhausting day, the craving for sugar was impossible to resist.

Whether jam painted pictures on my face or not, I focused entirely on eating.

Chomp. Chomp chomp.

I ate so greedily that the bread—almost half the size of my body—was soon reduced to just the end piece.

When I stuffed the last bite into my mouth, my belly immediately puffed out.

Uh… did I eat too much?

But it was so delicious!

Slurp. Slurp.

To finish, I carefully licked the jam off my fingers.

“……”

Then I met the eyes of the Crown Prince, who had been watching me the entire time.

Wait.

You were still watching?

Don’t you have anything better to do?

If someone returns home after finishing their work, shouldn’t they wash up and prepare for bed?

“Squeak?”

What are you looking at? I asked with my eyes.

The Crown Prince removed the hand he had been resting against his chin and spoke.

“So that was true after all.”

He looked satisfied.

By “that,” did he mean what I had said earlier?

He reached out his hand toward me.

I instinctively shrank back. His hand paused for a moment before slowly continuing forward.

Brush.

“…What?”

He started rubbing my round, full belly.

Even if I was in animal form, rubbing my stomach like this was—

This was… seriously…!

“Grrr…”

Why was that sound coming out of my mouth?

When his hand slid from my belly to under my chin, my body relaxed and a pleasant rumbling sound escaped me.

It was completely reflexive.

“You must feel good because you’re full.”

“Sque…! Grr… grrr…”

I wanted to protest, but my eyes kept closing.

Maybe he was right—I did feel good. That realization hurt my pride a little.

“The maid said you’re nocturnal.”

That part was true.

But weasels sleep a lot. Day or night, they sleep whenever they want.

“I won’t be able to play with you at night, so I should at least buy you some toys.”

What toys?

Just move your hand already.

When his hand stopped for a moment, I smacked it lightly with my paw.

As if he understood exactly what I meant, he resumed stroking my fur.

Ah… this is nice.

If the petting was this good, maybe living here as a pampered pet while eating delicious bread three times a day wouldn’t be so bad—

Wait, what am I thinking?!

My mind snapped back to reality.

What kind of stupid thoughts were those?

I had risked my life to steal jewels so I could live as a human, and now I was purring because someone was petting me!

I grabbed hold of my sanity and started slapping the Crown Prince’s hand with my paw.

He flinched and pulled back.

A small bead of blood formed on the tip of his finger.

“…Oh.”

That was more than I intended.

I hadn’t meant to cause bloodshed.

I just wanted to show him I wasn’t some easygoing weasel.

Now I feel guilty…

Seeing the blood droplets made me panic a little.

“So it’s true that raising a weasel can leave holes in your fingers.”

But the Crown Prince simply chuckled, as if someone had warned him about this.

“Oh right. I brought you a gift.”

He smiled brightly.

It was the kind of smile that could charm anyone.

“I put it in my pocket…”

He searched inside his coat.

Please don’t pull out some weird food…

He didn’t secretly bring a mouse, did he?

I stared anxiously at his hand.

“Ta-da.”

What he pulled out was a red ribbon.

“….”

Was I supposed to like this?

“So you won’t get mixed up with other weasels, I prepared a pretty ribbon.”

Honestly, if it had just been a plain red ribbon, I would’ve hissed and asked if he was trying to put a leash on me.

But—

The round, glittering gem set in the middle of the ribbon caught my eye and instantly erased my irritation.

A ruby. Top-quality ruby. At least seven carats.

When it came to judging gemstones, my eyes were never wrong. My heart began pounding.

“It’s yours now.”

It’s yours now.

It’s yours now.

It’s yours now.

It’s yours now.

The Crown Prince’s single sentence almost made drool spill from my mouth.

What had I done to deserve a jewel?

Did royal pets normally live such luxurious lives?

For a moment, this place felt like paradise.

Then suddenly anger surged up.

All those years I had struggled desperately just to collect even low-grade jewels…

And yet my life had been worse than that of a royal pet?

There had been such an easy path all along…!

But anger was anger.

And I had absolutely no intention of letting this free prize slip away.

“Squeak.”

I quickly stretched out my neck.

Hah, you foolish Crown Prince.

You’ve just become my perfect sucker!

I brainwashed myself into believing this was proper compensation for the humiliation of being treated like a pet.

“I’ll make sure it’s not too tight.”

The Crown Prince carefully tied the ribbon around my neck.

Thankfully, the fabric was soft and comfortable.

What really made its presence known, though, was the heavy ruby.

Be as heavy as you want!

Like I’d ever give you up!

“All done.”

He finished tying it, and I touched the ruby with my paw to check that it was secure.

“You seem to like it.”

Like it? If I knew the appraisal value, I’d probably like it even more.

A greedy smile escaped me.

The Crown Prince, unaware—or perhaps aware—of my greed, lazily smiled and reached out to pet me again.

Crunch.

But I bit his hand.

“……”

If you come anywhere near my ruby again, I’m biting you.

That’s right.

I’m an animal—no, a human—who quickly forgets favors but fiercely protects what belongs to me.

“Squeak!”

* * *

Grrr… grr…

Because of the strange sounds coming from the sleeping weasel, Shabelian chuckled as he lay down in bed.

“How does something like that even make those noises?”

He recalled the moment earlier when he had tied the ribbon.

The way the animal’s eyes sparkled at the ruby, almost as if it understood gemstones.

Maybe it was like a crow’s habit of being attracted to shiny things, he guessed.

“Grrr…”

“Heh.”

Its body was tiny, yet the sounds it made while sleeping were thunderous.

He had thought such a small creature wouldn’t make much of a difference in the room.

But clearly, he had been wrong.

“Snrrk… khh!”

At this point, it didn’t just make a difference.

Its presence filled the entire room.

“Someone might think I’m raising a lion.”

But Shabelian didn’t mind the noise.

In fact, he found it better than the suffocating silence.

Strangely enough, it made him feel at ease.