The Duke’s Companion

I instinctively looked for a place to hide. It wouldn’t matter if Mamela found out I escaped from the room, but if it was another human being, I needed to hide and watch them first.

‘I’ll never know. Mamela will be in big trouble if I go out on my own and someone sees me! ‘

The sound was getting closer. I looked around nervously.

Then, a little further away, I discovered a cabinet with pottery on it.

‘Let’s hide over there!’

I ran quickly and opened the wooden doorknob with my front foot and entered.

The door of the cabinet was closed. In an instant, the view was darkened. I held my breath in the dark cabinet.

After a while, the sound of the door opening was heard. Along with the crowd, strange voices were heard.

“Come back in an hour.”

“Only an hour?”

I heard a shallow sigh of fatigue.

“I can’t take a nap when I have a lot of work to do.”

“Your Highness, rest is important. At this rate, it’s worrying.”

There was a deafening silence. The sound of unspoken footsteps was getting closer and closer and was becoming suffocating.

After a while, a pleasant low voice broke the silence.

“By the way, did you go to the craftsman?”

“I’m going to visit there while you’re sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep either.”

“Yeah… What the hell is that?”

A man shouted, and a cold, calm voice returned.

“It’s noisy. It’s just a gift for Mamela, so I want to see it for myself.”

My ears stood reflexively.

Obviously, I heard the name ‘Mamela’. Even though they were in the same house, they seemed to be acquainted with Mamela.

“…Who is it?”

I gulped down and peeked through the crack in the door where the light came in. A blurry and narrow scene came to view.

“I’ll ask them to craft it well. In the first place, Ludavito’s garnet diamond is very good value even if it is made roughly…”

The man stopped suddenly and I heard a frightening sound.

“Sigh, I made a mistake. Don’t look at me like that because it’s scary.”

“Ansel, do you want to get fired?”

“I mean, leave everything to me and get some sleep. An hour is too short!”

The voice was gradually approaching beyond the visible gap. I waited impatiently for them to pass by.

However, I couldn’t help but clink at the scent that suddenly crossed my nose. One of those two humans smells like Mamela.

No, is it a little different..? A soft, cool scent with a strange difference from Mamela hung around the tip of my nose.

“Okay. I don’t need it.”

“Don’t do that. You know I’d be worried, Your Highness?”

It was just when they passed in front of the cabinet.

As soon as unfamiliar shoes appeared through the gap, the sound of footsteps suddenly stopped. I swallowed my breath in surprise.

‘Hey, what is it? Did they know that I was here?’

My heart fluttered at the situation where I didn’t know if I was seen by them.

A small movement was felt outside. Someone’s hand appeared through the field of vision between the gaps.

The fine fingers stayed at the feet for a short time and then disappeared. I watched it all while holding my breath.

Then I heard a murmur. “…Hair?”

“Your Highness, what’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

I shuddered at the sound of the voice right in front of me.

“Why aren’t you going? What if I suddenly open this door?”

A calm voice was heard again as my heart was pounding.

“Just, there was some dust on the floor.”

Finally, the sound of footsteps was heard, and the sound of the foot moved away. I stood there until I could no longer feel their presence.

After a while, I peek and open the door of the cabinet, and look around. After confirming that there was no one, I left the cabinet and ran through the hallway.

Then, as I was going downstairs where the real Mamela was, I met an unexpected familiar face.

“Oh, Aryl? How did you come out?”

Jonah looked at me with a startled look. I also looked at her in surprise, but I felt relieved because of the tension I had earlier.

“You can’t stay here. Let’s go back to the lady’s room.”

After Jonah caught me, I was forced to move in her arms.

Jonah, who patted my fur all the way, dropped me off in Mamela’s room. She shyly touched my front foot a few times and closed the door and left.

Remaining alone in Mamela’s room again, I looked at the fish doll with a gloomy look.

‘In the end, I failed, even more, to figure out what Mamela was doing.’ 

I was just caught, but I didn’t want to go out again. That’s what happened. I’m gonna have to stay calm.

Falling down on the sofa, I pulled the fish next to me. I looked around the room bored while bothering the fish without thinking.

Then my eyes reached the small table. Sometimes I only see Mamela sitting in front of me and combing her hair, and it was a place I had never climbed before.

I’m bored, I think it’d be perfect to go out now.