Chapter 16
As a result, I ultimately had no choice but to take the form of a weasel.
This time, instead of the hallway, I approached from outside the window, pressing my face up against Princess Terea’s window.
As soon as I stuck my face to it, I could see inside the room.
‘At least it’s not a complete mess today.’
Seeing the clean room brought a sense of relief.
And in the center of the room stood Princess Terea’s bed.
Inside the bed, draped with a white, semi-transparent canopy, I could faintly make out a figure.
‘That must be Princess Terea.’
Judging by the fact that she was lying in bed in broad daylight, her condition didn’t seem good today either.
I rolled my eyes, searching for anything unusual in the room.
‘Of course it wouldn’t be easy to find.’
Good thing I came in this weasel form.
Time to infiltrate!
‘The window latch isn’t even locked.’
Grateful for the lax security, I quickly climbed up the wall toward the window handle.
Creak, creak.
The wooden fittings made noise as they rubbed together, but I desperately tried to minimize it.
‘Just a little more…!’
Got it! It opened!
The window opened more easily than expected.
As I squeezed my body inside, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Why does breaking into places feel so natural now?’
How did someone who used to live honestly end up casually slipping through someone else’s window like it was nothing?
And I’m even good at it.
Why am I good at this?!
‘Infiltration successful.’
Putting aside my grievances, the room I entered was quiet.
Princess Terea’s faint breathing barely brushed against my ears, and a certain scent filled the room.
‘Did she light incense?’
There was a strong floral fragrance mixed with a faint burnt smell.
‘This much would give anyone a headache…’
No matter how pleasant a scent is, too much can be overwhelming.
But I figured it was just because my weasel senses were more sensitive.
‘She must be deeply asleep.’
Fortunately, Princess Terea didn’t move at all, which made me less worried about the sound of my claws scraping the carpet.
At the same time, I headed toward the large drawer cabinet I had noticed earlier.
I worried it might be too heavy, but by bracing it with my legs and pulling with my hands, I managed to open it without much trouble.
‘Guess nothing important is in here.’
Inside were invitations, letters, pens, candles—just miscellaneous items.
‘Makes sense. No one would leave something important out in the open. Then… maybe over there.’
I searched the desk and vanity in turn, but found nothing.
‘There’s probably a hidden safe somewhere.’
At this point, it was a reasonable suspicion.
Everyone has at least one hidden safe, right?
And for a princess, it would be stranger if she didn’t.
‘A secret passage behind a wardrobe? Or a safe hidden behind a painting?’
My imagination was running wild.
‘Yeah… that painting above the headboard looks suspicious.’
At the head of Princess Terea’s bed hung her portrait.
Her sandy-colored hair flowed softly, but her sharp eyes and firm lips gave off an oddly intimidating aura.
‘She looks mean.’
Maybe I was biased because of what I’d seen before.
Either way, I decided to take a risk.
I had to check behind that portrait.
‘She’s sleeping soundly, so it should be fine. This is practically a free lunch!’
Thanks to her sensitive nature, no one seemed to enter her room, which worked in my favor.
As I carefully approached the bed, her breathing grew louder.
“Mmm…”
At the sound of her sleep murmur, my body froze.
Like playing freeze tag, I stopped completely.
‘Please don’t wake up!’
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…
After confirming she hadn’t woken, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The bed was quite high for a weasel to climb, but who do you think I am?
‘Climbing this is easy.’
I stabbed my claws into the wooden bedpost and climbed up.
The post extended all the way to the ceiling to support the canopy, so reaching the painting wasn’t difficult.
There was just one problem…
‘Too short.’
My arms were too short.
Not just my arms—my body, my legs… even my thinking, apparently.
The wall was too smooth to grip.
If no one were on the bed, I could try freely, but with the princess lying right there…
If I fell on her face…
‘You dare fall on my face? Throw this disgusting thing out immediately!’
If I were lucky, I’d just get thrown out quietly. Otherwise, I might get torn apart.
A serious dilemma.
Also… what kind of wood is this? My claws feel so comfortable in it.
Palace items really are top quality.
‘Wait, this isn’t the time for that.’
I was getting distracted by the quality of the wood instead of focusing on the mission.
‘No, there has to be something! I didn’t come this far to fail twice!’
What’s life without a little risk?
Even if I get thrown out later, I might as well try.
My goal: latch onto the frame.
Surely it’s made of high-quality wood too.
‘Here I go!’
One, two… jump!
With perfect calculation, I landed right on the frame.
I dug in my claws—
‘Huh…?’
Instead of sinking in, my claws slipped off with a metallic scrape.
Panic set in.
“Eep!”
I fell.
As I dropped, one thought crossed my mind—
‘Damn it… that wasn’t gold-plated—it was actual gold?!’
My mistake was simple.
The palace’s luxury was beyond imagination.
‘My tax money…’
No wonder the country’s in this state!
And just like that, I plopped onto the bed.
“Oof…”
Thankfully, the soft bedding absorbed the impact.
Though the bed’s movement made my fur stand on end.
I lay buried in the white sheets, holding my breath.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…
‘Did she not notice?’
Fortunately, no scream followed.
Slowly opening my eyes, I found her face right next to mine, partially hidden by her hair.
‘That scared me!’
If I had landed just a bit to the side, I would’ve fallen right on her face.
‘Phew…’
Luck really is on my side.
Feeling oddly proud, I decided to stay calm.
On a bed this soft, any movement had to be careful.
One positive thing—when I grabbed the frame during the fall, it shook enough to confirm there was nothing hidden behind it.
‘Messy, but I achieved my goal, right?’
Of course, everything was part of the plan.
Totally intentional.
‘But…’
Catching my breath, I observed Princess Terea from just a hand’s distance away.
Her hair had been messy, but now I could see her face clearly.
She looked like a masterpiece carved from jade.
‘You’d believe she’s an angel.’
Even with her eyes closed, her beauty was striking.
If I were a poorly made dumpling, she was a sculpture crafted by a master.
She really did look like an angel while sleeping.
The contrast with her earlier convulsions made it even more striking.
Her brow twitched slightly.
‘Dreaming?’
Then it returned to normal.
So she’s not a statue.
‘Looking at something beautiful really is nice.’
They say beauty relieves stress—it seems true.
Lying beside a sleeping goddess…
‘Huh… why am I getting sleepy…?’
My eyelids suddenly felt heavy.
My head grew hazy.
Maybe something had been off for a while.
‘This isn’t good…’
Sleep overwhelmed me.
My body went limp.
Could the bed be enchanted? A magical sleep-inducing bed?
“Eep…”
I couldn’t even squeak properly before collapsing.
For the record, I don’t like sleeping next to someone.
‘She doesn’t have bad sleeping habits… right?’
More than being caught, I was worried about getting crushed to death.
With that final thought, I closed my eyes.
