"Nyang?"

Translation: What?

We were in Soren’s office.

How we got here? Irrelevant.

What mattered was that just a few minutes ago, breakfast had turned into a full-contact sport.

Gawain rushed toward us, fork in hand, looking less like a man bringing food and more like someone about to commit a very specific, very personal crime.

For a split second, it genuinely looked like Mikael’s life was about to end... by cutlery.

Mikael, however, refused to die over breakfast.

Without even breaking his rhythm, he shifted slightly to the side—just enough for Gawain’s "attack" to miss completely—while smoothly bringing another piece of venison to my mouth like this was all part of a well-rehearsed routine. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

I bit down again.

Gawain froze mid-motion, fork still extended, now stabbing nothing but air and his own dignity.

Mikael didn’t even look at him. He just continued feeding me, entirely unbothered, like dodging attempted fork-based assault was something he did before breakfast every day.

Gawain turned immediately and went in again, this time faster, more aggressive, like a man who had decided that if dignity was already lost, he might as well go all in.

Mikael sighed internally but outwardly, he remained calm as ever, finally pausing his feeding duty to properly deal with the situation.

He raised his hand, holding a dinner knife and parried Gawain’s attacks with smooth, controlled movements, the faint clink of metal against metal echoing between them like they were dueling in some high-class, extremely unnecessary sword fight.

Meanwhile, I blinked because at some point, without me noticing, Soren was suddenly beside me.

’When did he get there?

How did he get there?’

No idea.

Because he had already picked up where Mikael left off, holding out a fork with perfect timing like this was a relay race and he had just received the baton.

I leaned forward and took the bite.

At this point, I didn’t even question anything anymore.

The world could collapse, the house could explode, these three could start a full-scale war in front of me—

As long as I was being fed, I was willing to overlook everything.

Still, I watched.

Because this?

This was peak entertainment.

But now—

Now we were in Soren’s office, and things had taken a tragic turn.

"What?" I repeated, staring at him like he had just personally offended me.

"School will be starting tomorrow," Soren said again, calm, composed, and completely unaware that he had just ruined my morning.

’That fast?’ I thought, internally spiraling.

I grabbed my OmniSync and typed with the urgency of someone trying to escape a life sentence. "Do I really have to go to school?"

"Yes you need to."

I immediately jumped onto his table and leaned towards him, refusing to accept this outcome. "I don’t want to," I typed, rubbing my head against him in a last desperate attempt at persuasion. Then I looked up, summoning my strongest weapon. "Don’t you want me to stay here with you?"

Puppy eyes.

Full power.

Maximum effect.

...Or at least, that was the plan.

Soren, completely immune to emotional manipulation, calmly reached out and closed my eyes like he was turning off a malfunctioning device—then, without a shred of hesitation, started playing with my tail.

Somewhere outside, Gawain was probably sensing this and fighting for his life to remain patient. If he were inside, Soren’s hands would’ve been gone already.

"Don’t give me that look," Soren said, completely unbothered. "You need to learn. You don’t know anything other than carving." He paused, then added, almost thoughtfully, "It’s like you don’t belong in this world."

I went still for a second.

’Well... he’s not wrong,’ I thought.

But obviously, I wasn’t about to say that out loud.

"You’ll be living in the school’s dormitory until you graduate," he continued, as if casually discussing my impending suffering, "but you can come home every weekend."

I frowned. ’That sounded... boring.’

Wait.

Dormitory.

More freedom.

More access.

More chances to meet clients.

More chances to get paid.

My eyes slowly lit up.

Soren watched me, his gaze narrowing slightly as if he had just witnessed something deeply suspicious. Then he reached out and pinched my cheeks.

"You have that weird look on your face again," he said. "Are you planning to start a war?"

I rolled my eyes, swatting his hand away. "My face is not weird."

"Yes, it is," he replied, smiling faintly as he poked my cheek again like he had no sense of self-preservation. "Whenever you glare or smile like that, you look like a villain."

I flicked my tail at him in retaliation because if I was going to be labeled a villain, I might as well start acting like one.

"See?" his smile widened as he caught my tail mid-swing like he’d been waiting for that exact moment. "You’re acting like a villain right now." And just to make matters worse, he squeezed it again.

I immediately recoiled. "Bad! Bad Soren!"

He laughed, like this was the highlight of his day.

Before I could escalate things further, he simply picked me up. "Let’s go have fun."

He carried me toward the bookshelves, stopping in front of one section before pulling a book like this was some kind of cliché secret passage scene.

And of course—

The shelves moved.

A hidden pathway revealed itself behind them, dark and dramatic like it had been waiting its whole life for this moment.

I stared.

Then slowly pulled out my OmniSync and typed, "Why are we not taking the usual route?"

"We can’t enjoy our time," Soren said as he stepped inside, "when a certain pesky fly keeps following us."

Ah.

That explained everything.

Gawain.

I almost felt bad for him.

...Almost.

I typed again. "So where are we going?"

"To the capital."

I blinked.

"Again?" I typed, because I distinctly remembered chaos the last time.

"Yes," he replied without hesitation. "We didn’t enjoy our time properly because of... annoying matters."

That was one way to put it.

I frowned slightly, suddenly remembering something important. "But I have to pack my belongings."

"Agatha will do that."

’Poor Agatha.’

Somewhere outside, Agatha was probably still running laps, questioning her life choices, while simultaneously being assigned packing duties.

Before I could protest—or feel guilty for more than half a second—we arrived.

Soren carried me deeper into the hidden passage until we reached a familiar room—the portal chamber.

He stepped forward without hesitation and in an instant we were back at the capital.

Again.

At this point, I was just hoping it would be less chaotic than breakfast.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

I take it back.

It was chaotic as hell.

The moment we stepped out of the portal station, reality immediately chose violence.

Soren, in all his brilliance, had apparently forgotten one very important detail.

His disguise.

Which meant that instead of a peaceful, quiet arrival into the capital, we were greeted by what could only be described as a full-blown stampede of admirers

Beastwomen, dozens of them, no—hordes came out of nowhere like they had been summoned by some invisible alarm that screamed "Soren has arrived, gather immediately."

One second there was fresh air and open space, and the next second we were surrounded on all sides by women with sparkling eyes, swishing tails, and smiles so bright they could probably blind someone at close range.

"My Lord! What a pleasant surprise to see you here!"

"Pray, what brings you to the capital?"

"Are you unaccompanied on this journey?"

"Perhaps you seek a companion to share your time?"

I blinked.

Then blinked again.

Because surely—surely—this was some kind of collective hallucination.

Soren, meanwhile, stood there like this was just another peaceful day.

The man didn’t even flinch as they closed in, voices overlapping, compliments flying left and right like arrows in a very aggressive admiration battle.

And.

I.

Was.

Still.

In.

His.

Arms.

Which meant—logically speaking—that I should have been very visible, difficult to ignore, and yet not a single one of them acknowledged my existence.

Not one glance.

Not one question.

Not even a polite "oh, what is that creature you’re holding?"

Nothing.

I looked at them then down at myself, just to confirm that I had not, in fact, become invisible somewhere between the portal and this very humiliating moment.

Nope. I’m still here and still being aggressively ignored.

At this point, I wasn’t even sure if I should be impressed or offended.

Actually, no—I was definitely offended.

So it’s true, then. Soren really is popular.

I already knew that, of course. It wasn’t exactly a secret. But seeing it like this, firsthand, was... something else entirely. The attention, the admiration, the absolute lack of awareness toward anyone that wasn’t him—it was almost fascinating.

Almost.

Because right now, I was stuck in the middle of it, being aggressively ignored.

And I didn’t like it.

Can’t one of these women even see me? I’m right here. Hello? Living, breathing, currently being carried like some kind of prize.

Or are they just choosing not to?

I narrowed my eyes slightly, staring at them as they continued to fawn over Soren like he was the main character of the entire world and the rest of us were just optional side content.

One of them leaned closer to Soren, her tail flicking elegantly behind her as she smiled sweetly. "My Lord, you must be tired from your journey. Allow me to escort you somewhere more comfortable."

’Escort him?’ I narrowed my eyes.

Another one stepped forward immediately, not to be outdone. "Nonsense, he should come with me. I know a much quieter place, away from the crowd."

I glanced around. ’Gurl....You are the crowd.’