My father furrowed his brows, not understanding what I meant.

“Mistress, Charles?”

“Chal said, today I’m a horse, Jinseung, your slip is—”

“......”

“Because Mistress ripped the slip, so—”

My father hastily covered my mouth with his large hand.

“Enough, I get it.”

I pressed my lips shut and fell silent.

My father sighed deeply and removed his hand.

I cautiously spoke to him.

“Balzac isn’t bad.”

“......Okay.”

Father quietly looked at Balzac.

Balzac flinched for a moment.

“Go and rest. Leave the book.”

“......Yes.”

“Just one question. Where exactly did you get it?”

“......”

“Balzac.”

“From the restricted library of Duke Lissian......”

Father hesitated.

Joshua’s gaze darkened deeply, and Balzac lowered his head.

I also looked at Balzac with a surprised face.

Duke Lissian was father’s twin younger brother.

In other words, the biological father of the little brothers.

‘I heard Uncle Lissian had a falling out with Father long ago.’

Until then, Uncle Lissian was the only person father trusted in the Astra family.

To father, Uncle Lissian was a kind younger brother born of the same mother.

They were inseparable brothers.

But some incident drove them apart.

The exact details were unknown, but rumors circulated.

‘Uncle Lissian poisoned father’s food.’

Because at the time of their falling out, father was poisoned and barely survived.

So when father obeyed grandfather’s order to have the twins inducted, everyone was very surprised.

‘It couldn’t be helped.’

The eldest son could not be inducted.

Because of imperial law. If the family head dies without naming a successor, the estate passes to the eldest son or his son.

Primogeniture is the rule.

Therefore, the eldest son could not be inducted, and all other second generation had children.

In the end, father, who had no children then, had no choice but to be inducted.

‘Anyway, it must be difficult for the twins to bring up Uncle Lissian with father.’

The atmosphere in the room grew heavier.

I rolled my eyes slightly and glanced at the little brothers and father.

Pretending to yawn, I made a big sigh.

“I’m sleepy.”

“Yeah, it’s late already. Go and rest.”

Thank goodness.

Father sent us away without further words.

The twins went out first, and as the door was about to close, I hurriedly chased after them.

We had no choice but to walk closely behind since our rooms were on the same floor and corridor.

Just as we passed the hallway leading to father’s office, Joshua said,

“You’re doing well.”

“......Shut up.”

“Stupid. Didn’t I say the book was pointless?”

Joshua twisted his lips and sharply turned to Balzac.

“Please, if you’re going to be ruined, ruin yourself. Better yet, disappear forever if possible.”

‘Wow....’

His words were harsh, but his voice and expression were even colder.

It gave me chills.

Joshua strode up the stairs ahead.

Balzac clenched his fists tightly and stormed out.

‘Something’s going on.’

Joshua’s comment that the book was meaningless.

And the quarrel I overheard while hiding in the wardrobe.

Brothers normally stay at their private residence near the factory during breaks.

So it was strange they suddenly came to Daymond’s domain.

‘They’re looking for something.’

What exactly made them come all the way to Daymond’s territory?

Especially Balzac seemed more distressed.

He crossed his lanky arms and groaned.

‘Whatever.’

What does it have to do with me?

I hope they stay indifferent while looking for that.

Thinking that, I climbed the stairs.

Step by step, one foot at a time, the book’s content suddenly came to mind.

Balzac Astra was unlucky. He had no one to rely on since childhood.

Born after his mother died, and just as his father was dying and his self-awareness started, he realized

He would be alone his whole life.

‘I don’t know.’

A child who couldn’t offer companionship. A child stained with blood that brought misfortune.

People called him that.

‘Don’t know.’

His life was full of misfortune...

‘I said I don’t know.’

As a child, he sometimes thought like that. Is my life worth living...?

Damn it!

I stopped dead in my tracks.

‘Of all people, he thinks the same as little Yoo Hyemin.’

I sighed deeply and looked back at the open door.

‘I’m only going to ask what’s going on.’

If they don’t tell me, I’ll just leave.

I went back down the stairs reluctantly.

Tonight was the night of the red moon, an especially eerie night.

‘S-So scary.’

Where had he gone?

I held back my fear and searched for a long time, but there was not a single strand of Balzac’s hair.

‘Should I go back now?’

I searched for at least an hour.

‘I’ve done all I can.’

As I was about to turn back, light flickered near the stables.

Though mostly hidden in shadow, I saw something that looked like a person’s head.

I crept toward the stables.

‘That’s Balzac.’

He was holding a candle.

Just as I was about to speak—

“Why does Charles say he’s becoming a beast... damn it.”

“......”

“Why is there such a book in the restricted library? What a mess.”

A grinding sound was harsh.

I peeked my head next to Balzac.

“Adults are just... waaah!”

Grumbling, Balzac jumped up.

Normally, aura users are very sensitive to presence, but with the red moon tonight, their Gaho was very weak.

“Y-You, why are you here!”

“I’m scared at night. Balzac’s scared too. Let’s go to the room.”

“You’re probably the only one scared of that. Stop bothering me—”

Then—

Breathing, breathing.

I heard heavy breaths from a small pony.

It was small enough for children to ride, but it suddenly trembled and collapsed with a whinny.

Balzac went pale and rushed to the horse.

“Hey, wake up...!”

I was startled and shouted,

“Vet! Vet!”

I hurried to find a veterinarian, but Balzac shouted,

“No!”

“It just hurts the hoof. We need a vet...!”

“I showed it to most vets. No one could cure the ‘King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse’ disease!”

I was a little taken aback by the horse’s ridiculous name.

Balzac frowned deeply.

“Don’t go. If you do, it’ll bother you. I’m really scared...!”

If this was a threat, he shouldn’t look so desperate.

He was desperate.

I crouched down beside the pale child.

“Why is the horse sick?”

“...Don’t know. It suddenly started last month.”

“Then why not go to a vet?”

“Not the castle or mansion vets. They’ll find out I care for the King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse.”

“......”

“They don’t know what the cousins will do. Got it?”

Maybe that’s true at the castle, but at the mansion they live in, they could call one, right?

“Why not call there?”

“Because the spies are everywhere there, too.”

“......”

Astra was truly a hard place to live.

You couldn’t even show affection, and there were spies all over the house.

‘Such a little kid.’

I sighed deeply, then got up and approached the collapsed King God... pony.

I examined it carefully.

‘Definitely a strange illness.’

I wondered if it was the disease from the Ice.Black.Hand novel, but I had no idea.

There were a bunch of shell-like things stuck on the horse’s fur.

They seemed painful to touch, so I gently stroked them, but the horse flinched in pain.

“Stop bothering me.”

Balzac said.

“You know, King God Ultra... um...”

“Just call it ‘Jener’.”

“Yeah, Jener... Jener?!”

Startled, I glanced sharply again.

‘That Jener?’

Balzac silently stared at Dalia, who had collapsed crying.

‘What could a monster bastard do for her to be like that...’

I had sensed it since the first time I entered the castle holding grandfather’s hand, but Dalia was different from the cousins.

Whenever I saw her holding the sick monster and falling asleep, memories came back.

The moment her precious Jener died...

‘It’s like she’s crying and wailing because of a monster.’

The narration clearly said Jener was a monster...

I was confused, then suddenly gasped.

“Oh, I see.”

Until his death, Balzac must have thought Jener was a horse like me.

That’s why he secretly showed it to a vet.

And later learned the truth.

Jener was not a horse, but a horse-like monster.

Something like a pegasus.

‘Wait. If Jener is a monster...’

I grabbed Balzac’s hand, several times bigger than mine.

“W-What is it!”

“We might be able to save Jener.”

He had thought it was a horse and showed it to vets, so they didn’t know the cause.

If it’s a monster, there might be another way.

“Uh...?”

“Come here!”

I grabbed Balzac’s hand and we hurried off.

Balzac was startled, saying “Huh? Huh?” but followed.

We arrived at the library.

I climbed a ladder to get a book on a high shelf.

It was an adult ladder, so the rungs were wide, but even a child like me could climb it.

While I was climbing, Balzac shouted,

“What do you think you’re doing? I already searched all the animal books.”

“It’s not that.”

“What?”

“There’s a mansion. A distant mansion.”

“Dog? Oh, do you mean the Needle Dog at Gate 2? Fool. The Needle Dog isn’t an animal, it’s a mon— huh?”

Balzac suddenly stopped mid-sentence as if he’d realized something.

I stretched on tiptoe at the ladder’s end.

“There’s a monster encyclopedia there... ugh.”

Why are my arms so short?

Just as I grabbed the monster encyclopedia—

The ladder wobbled.

It fell backward.

“Ahh!”

Balzac moved quickly.

He pushed off the ground and closed the distance in an instant, catching me as I fell.

I was so surprised my eyes were huge.

‘She’s going to cry now.’

What a nuisance.

If she started crying again, people would make a fuss.

But instead, Erilot opened her eyes wide and suddenly shouted,

“Panties─!”

“What?”

“Balzac is so fast. Amazing!”

“......”

What the heck.

Not crying.

Rather than crying, Erilot was excited.

“She came from over there, zooming. Really fast.”

“......I’m always fast. ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) But what’s that?”

“There are lots of monsters here. So many.”

“......”

Such a little thing, she could have just asked to be picked up instead of climbing.

Balzac cleared his throat loudly.

“Show me what you found.”

The two sat side by side at the library desk and opened books.

Hellhound, deep sea crocodile, Needle Dog...

Flipping through the pages, the two kids simultaneously shouted,

“Ah!”

Rare Monster

A beast-type monster living in snowfields. It resembles a horse.

It reaches adulthood after eight years, at which point scales grow on its body to endure the cold.

At that time, it cannot tolerate heat, so during hunts, fire is used to...

“Snowfield Horse! So the King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse was a Snowfield Horse.”

The illustration showed the exact stage where Jener had just started adulthood, matching Jener’s current condition.

Erilot pointed to one sentence in the explanation.

“Here!”

“Oh, [At that time, it cannot tolerate heat...] Ah, heat!”

Now that spring had come, the condition had worsened.

During the day, it barely moved.

At cold nights, it showed some signs of pain.

The two stared wide-eyed at each other.

“Maybe this can save the King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse?”

“Yeah!”

They nodded with fierce determination.

Thus began the grand operation to heal the King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse.

“Ice, please. A lot.”

They each took ice from the ice warehouse and food storage.

Balzac carrying a large bucket and Erilot a smaller one, they hurried to the remote stable.

From afar, they looked like Russian nesting dolls.

In the secluded stable was only the King God Ultra Generation Wild Horse.

They poured the ice over it.

“Is it enough?”

“No!”

“Bring more.”

The ice warehouse keeper was exasperated.

Spring was here, so it would soon get hot, but already a huge amount of ice had been taken.

The keeper crossed his arms and shook his head.

“No more. It’s all gone.”

He said softly,

“When it melts, one piece equals one bucket.”

No one could resist Balzac’s terrifying gaze and Erilot’s sparkling eyes.

“Ugh...”

In the end, the kids took all the remaining ice.

Thanks to their efforts emptying the warehouses, the wild horse slowly regained strength.

“Wow!”

“Yay!”

The two raised their arms in victory.

Meanwhile,

Daymond frowned deeply, his expression grave.

His aides swallowed dryly.

If Daymond was this displeased, something serious had surely happened.

Enzo asked with a stiff face.

“What is it?”

Was it a battle with another domain?

Was someone rebelling against the duke?

Everyone looked tense, and Daymond slowly spoke.

“Erilot won’t play with me.”