Chapter 82

"Well then, I'll take a break for a moment, shall I?"

"Yow!!"

The scale horse, with Hailoot on its back, let out a cry and started walking.

From the side of the forest path, a short distance from Letitia's villa, Hailoot narrowed his eyes.

"That is..."

He was looking at the side of the path, where the trees grew thickly.

The dense green shadows, where the human eye could not penetrate the darkness.

After observing for a while, Hailoot stopped the scale horse and dismounted.

"Can you wait here for a moment?"

"Yaya!!"

The scale horse cried out as if to say, "Understood!!"

Its large, black eyes looked at its master affectionately.

When Hailoot stroked its cool, smooth neck, it closed its eyes in pleasure.

"Hmm, indeed, an animal that is fond of you is a cute thing."

Hailoot sighed and walked into the forest's dim light.

Due to certain circumstances, Hailoot tended to be disliked by dogs and cats.

The same went for horses; while he was never thrown off, they never opened their hearts to him.

That's why the existence of the scale horse was refreshing.

In Hailoot's homeland, the Kingdom of Riolbern, most riding animals were horses.

There were several reasons for his visit to the Kingdom of Volvwart, but meeting the scale horse, even by chance, was a good outcome.

"…If only other things could go as smoothly as my relationship with the scale horse…"

Hailoot muttered.

This time, his words were not just a soliloquy.

Ahead, in the darkness created by the trees, a figure was visible.

"It's been a while, Hailoot."

In the dim light, the owner of the beautifully shining silver hair stood.

Glenreed, without any attendants, stood with a cold gaze.

He had apparently walked through the forest in wolf form, returned to human form, and was waiting.

"Your Majesty, it's been a while. Or should I say, since just now? Was the pizza delicious?"

"……Forget what you saw just now."

Glenreed ordered with a look of disgust.

Hailoot was one of the few people who knew that Glenreed could transform into a wolf.

While it was no longer an issue to see him in wolf form, it seemed he did not like being reminded of his pizza obsession at Letitia's villa.

"Sure, sure, I understand. If Your Majesty wants it that way, I have no choice, do I?"

"Good. I don't want to have a bad relationship with your master either."

With a shrug, Hailoot replied, and Glenreed responded matter-of-factly.

"Still, why did you visit Letitia before coming to see me?"

Though Glenreed's expression was unchanged, his voice had a hint of displeasure.

Hailoot, finding this interesting, smiled slyly.

"What's the matter, Your Majesty? Are you that upset that I contacted Lady Letitia?"

"……Not particularly. I was just curious."

"There's no big reason. I had heard a lot about Lady Letitia and knew she was Lord Claude's sister. I thought I should at least meet her once, so I got excited."

As he teased, Hailoot remembered the words of Letitia's brother, Claude.

"My sister is cute. She's strong and has a scary smile like Father, but if you talk to her, you'll see how cute she is."

It was a somewhat ambiguous introduction, filled with love for his sister.

Indeed, as Claude had said, she was a very beautiful and cute girl.

Despite hearing that her smile was scary, she had a bright and approachable aura.

"Still, I was a bit surprised to see Lady Letitia, the duchess and queen, serving food herself. I had only planned to ask one of the villa's servants to pass on a message and hoped to meet her another day. Meeting Lady Letitia in the front garden was just a coincidence."

So there was no need to be so wary.

Hailoot looked at Glenreed as if to convey this silently.

"Your Majesty seems to care a lot about Lady Letitia. I was a bit surprised that you went out of your way to talk to me."

"Originally, I wanted to have a conversation with you since you returned to the capital. It would be troublesome for us to meet openly, given your public role as an artist. This was a good opportunity to catch up with you."

"That's true. I appreciate it."

Hailoot responded and, to answer Glenreed's words, briefly recounted his time away from the capital.

Glenreed had been helping Hailoot to some extent for his mission.

While they did not fully trust each other, Hailoot felt it was necessary to reciprocate the favor.

"……I see. Since there were some interesting stories, please summarize them in writing and send them to me."

"Of course, I intend to do so. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Indeed……I have one piece of advice."

Glenreed's blue-green eyes pierced Hailoot.

"I understand that you want to get close to Letitia and observe her, but if it's just a casual interest, I advise you to stop. She can sometimes exceed your expectations. I can't guarantee what will happen, and as you know, she is my queen in name. Be careful not to get too close and cause misunderstandings."

"……Don't worry about that. I'm not that popular."

Hailoot responded with a sense of discomfort, like scratching a scab.

Glenreed then slightly narrowed his eyes and transformed into a wolf, disappearing into the forest.

Watching the silver wolf vanish, Hailoot gazed in the direction of Letitia's villa.

"……So, she's Lord Claude's sister, and Your Majesty is so interested in her."

Perhaps it's time to gather more information about Lady Letitia, he thought to himself.

Thank you for reading!

The Hailoot who appeared in this story also appears as a supporting character in my other work, "When My Little Sister Stole My Fiancé, I Was Favored by a Beast Prince (※as a side story)."

"Little Sister" is set in the same world as "Fluffy Cooking," but about two years earlier, in a different country.

As the title suggests, the hero in "Little Sister" also has a fluffy beast form, so I hope you enjoy it.