In front of the annex of Blue Shadow Palace, a chicken was wandering around, bobbing its head up and down.

The white chicken, sporting a short, deep pink comb, was pecking at the dirt with its bright yellow beak. Occasionally, it flapped its wings, sending its pure white feathers fluttering.

Three pairs of eyes were intently watching those fluttering feathers. Three pitch-black cats perched in a tree were staring a hole into the chicken waddling around in front of the annex.

「He kept singing a song about a pretty chicken, a pretty chicken, and it really did turn out to be pretty.」

「Mr. Moisture confidently promised he would get a pretty chicken, after all.」

「Hmm. It looks very appetizing.」

「They say what looks good tastes good too.」

The three of them stared at the chicken, drooling heavily.

The chicken really was beautiful. Its size and plumpness, the shape and color of its beak and comb, the texture of its pure white, fine feathers—there was absolutely nothing to criticize. So much so that even people passing by nonchalantly would remark, ‘Oh my, what a pretty chicken.’

One morning, on a day that wasn’t a birthday, an anniversary, or any special occasion at all, the gift the Prince suddenly handed Isaac was a chicken. A pretty chicken.

Isaac, who seemed to have forgotten he was the one who had been going on about a pretty chicken in the first place, looked a bit flustered upon receiving it. But soon, captivated by its prettiness, he let it loose in the front yard of the annex and began raising it. The rumor that this pretty chicken was a gift from the Prince to the witch spread quickly, and even if the chicken wandered out of the annex yard and strutted freely in front of Blue Shadow Palace, no one dared to touch it.

Every day in the late morning, Isaac would scatter a handful of feed for that pretty chicken, and the chicken would dart over like an arrow from afar and eagerly peck at the food. And behind it, the three cats would watch that plump, mouth-watering rear end, swallowing their drool.

However, today, the chicken, which usually strutted around with its head held haughtily high before Isaac scattered its feed, had been pecking at the dirt for a while now. Even though it was past lunchtime, Isaac hadn’t scattered the feed, so it was hungry.

「Looks like Manbang-ie hasn’t woken up yet.」

「He only went to sleep after the sun came up this morning.」

「How come he whines and cries about being exhausted like someone having their vital energy sucked out, when he’s the one supposedly sucking the vital energy?」

「Hmm. I think it’s because he’s too full. Isn’t it hard when you eat too much food? Mr. Moisture is force-feeding him way too much vital energy.」

「True, he does pour it into him until he’s bursting every single day.」

The cats, chattering about how he was a true horn of plenty, snapped their mouths shut in the very next moment.

The pretty chicken was passing right underneath the tree branch where the cats were sitting.

Watching it waddle right below them, the cats instinctively lowered their bodies flat and wiggled their rears. Swallowing their drool as they glared at the chicken, the cats couldn’t hold back and leaped from the tree the moment the chicken suddenly spun around, its tail feathers fluttering.

Just as the cats’ sharp front paws were about to pin down the chicken’s neck,

“Do not touch it.”

A low voice rang out.

Simultaneously, the cats quickly hid their claws and casually stepped aside, acting as if they had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Leaving his own residence, Blue Shadow Palace, the Prince walked out of the annex next door with slow steps. Looking as if he had just woken up, he lazily rolled his neck a couple of times, then picked up the feed bin sitting in front of the annex window and scattered feed for the chicken. The chicken, which had been pointlessly pecking at dirt, ran over happily and began to eat.

The three cats, who had been eagerly watching the chicken and drooling, also ran off excitedly when the Prince turned an indifferent gaze to them and instructed a passing servant to bring goat meat and wine.

「Mr. Moisture might be a bit mean, but the way he serves us is commendable.」

「Right. Even if Mr. Moisture won’t let us eat the chicken, he gives us plenty of goat meat, doesn’t he?」

「True. Even if Mr. Moisture torments Manbang-ie a bit, he gives us plenty of wine.」

The three of them chattered away as they dove into the mountain of goat meat served on a large platter today as well.

From a spot overlooking the cats and the chicken, the Prince, sitting at an outdoor table in front of the annex, gave a long stretch. He looked languid, but also full and satisfied.

Just then, a man came out from the direction of Blue Shadow Palace and walked toward the annex. Catching sight of the Prince on the way, he approached directly, as if he had business with him from the start. The Prince glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and acknowledged him with a mere look.

“I came to pay my respects while stopping by the capital for a relative’s wedding.”

The man speaking with a border accent and bowing his head was Rihan. Although he was a man the Prince only saw once or twice a year due to his post at the distant border, the Prince simply gave a casual nod and indifferently turned his gaze away. Rihan, already knowing the Prince was that kind of person, nonchalantly pulled up a chair next to him and sat down.

“Did you just wake up?”

Rihan asked in a tone of marvel as he watched the languid man cracking his neck side to side. The Prince was someone who didn’t sleep much and woke up early even if he went to bed late. It was extremely rare for him to sleep in until this hour.

The Prince just gave an ordinary nod. Rihan’s gaze, which had been looking at the Prince strangely, suddenly stopped at one spot. Bite marks near the Prince’s shoulder, and handprints on his forearm. The marks were vivid, looking fresh.

“…….”

Rihan stared at the marks for a moment before turning his head away without a word. Suddenly looking at the cats, he tilted his head.

“Isn’t that goat meat? You feed cats something that expensive?”

“No matter if it’s the Royal Palace, feeding cats something that only wealthy households eat occasionally as a delicacy?” When Rihan asked, the Prince replied casually.

“Because they are the ones he adores.”

“…….Ah, I see.”

Rihan nodded without even asking who ‘he’ was. He cast a sideways glance at the Prince as if he were seeing all sorts of strange things, but said nothing. Perhaps because it wasn’t the first time he was witnessing this, he wasn’t even that surprised anymore.

“…….Are you raising that chicken here too? It looks pretty.”

“Because he said he wanted to raise a pretty chicken.”

The Prince answered casually again this time, and after a brief silence, Rihan only replied, “Ah, I see.” Not talking pointlessly was the biggest factor that allowed him to keep his life and limbs intact despite having been by the Prince’s side for quite a long time.

But despite that, Rihan eventually couldn’t help but add,

“It seems you are treating that witch……, um……, well.”

As expected, it was too bizarre to bear. At least as far as Rihan knew, the Prince had never treated anyone like this before. Beyond treating someone like this, he had definitely never treated someone’s pets like this. But, at that moment, it felt like he heard a sudden shout from somewhere saying, 「WE’RE NOT PETS!」 and even more surprisingly, that young man was a witch.

The Prince looked at the beasts with a languid expression and said coolly.

“I can do up to this line.”

Up to this line. It seemed he drew a line somewhere. Having never even seen ‘this line’ in the first place, Rihan grew curious about what that line was, but as expected, he didn’t ask.

Just then, the door to the annex opened, and Isaac came out. Walking out looking like he had just woken up, his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Rihan.

“Oh, it’s been a while. What brings you to the capital?”

“Just stopping by to say hello while I’m here for a relative’s wedding.”

After greeting Rihan, Isaac headed to grab the chicken feed bin by the annex window, but stopped when he noticed the chicken was already pecking at feed over there. It seemed he had forced himself out of bed just to feed the chicken when he would have rather stayed asleep.

Rihan silently watched Isaac sit down on the opposite chair. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, perhaps as pajamas, the exposed arms and legs of Isaac were a miserable sight. Bite marks, handprints, bruises—it was hard to find an intact spot.

「Looks like Manbang-ie got his blood sucked again. Look at those bite marks. It’s not even the new moon, why suck his blood and drain his energy?」

「Mr. Moisture always likes sucking on things anyway. Even if he’s not drinking blood, he’s always sucking on his lips, skin, chest, and you-know-where.」

「Might as well just eat him alive, eat him alive.」

「No, if he gets eaten any more than now, Manbang-ie will die.」

The three cats, chattering amongst themselves, soon grew sullen. They narrowed their eyes, not that it made much difference since they were so huge, and glared at the Prince.

「Mr. Moisture treats us with the utmost devotion, giving us goat meat every meal……, but sometimes he’s just a bit much.」

「Hmm……, I feel the same.」

Alternating between glaring disapprovingly at Isaac and the Prince, the three of them still didn’t stop eating and drinking, adding, 「Still, the goat meat is innocent.」

Meanwhile, Rihan, who really had only dropped by to say hello and didn’t intend to stay long, stood up.

“Then I’ll be on my way now. I plan to stay in the capital for about a fortnight, so please summon me anytime if you need anything.”

Next to the Prince, who gave a barely noticeable nod, Isaac also stood up and said goodbye.

“A fortnight is quite long. You must get bored.”

“No, not really. Taking walks, going fishing, time passes quickly doing that.”

“Fishing, huh…….”

Come to think of it, I haven’t been fishing in a long time either, Isaac muttered like a soliloquy, then asked Rihan.

“Are you going alone?”

“Probably.”

“Let’s go together then. I’d like to go fishing for the first time in a while too. It’ll be less boring for two to go than going alone.”

“Sure, that sounds goo—”

However, Rihan, who was speaking casually, stopped mid-sentence. It was because he made eye contact with the Prince, who was sitting in the chair and glaring over at them at an angle. Stiffening for a moment under that chilling gaze, Rihan nonchalantly turned his head back to Isaac and said:

“Actually, come to think of it, I like to go fishing alone and reflect, so going together might not be a good idea.”

Ah, I see. This was the ‘line.’ He almost crossed it.

Rihan, whose intuition had become ghost-like through years of battlefield life, broke out in a cold sweat internally but didn’t show a hint of it on the outside.

“Can’t be helped then. What a shame.”

Rihan didn’t really reply to Isaac’s disappointed remark. He sensed that whatever he said, now was the time to retreat. Instead of answering Isaac, he bowed deeply to the Prince to finish his farewells and turned around.

Watching the back of Rihan striding away, Isaac muttered, “It’s been a while since we met, it’s a shame he’s leaving so soon,” and sat back down in his chair. Making eye contact with the Prince, who was staring intently at him from the side, Isaac gave him a questioning look. After a brief pause, the Prince shook his head as if it were nothing.

Stretching and leaning back in his chair, Isaac was oblivious to the three cats at his feet exchanging bleak looks as they chewed on goat meat.

「Looks like he’s going to get his vital energy massively devoured again tonight.」

「Yesterday too, he stayed up late talking and hanging out with his old colleague, and ended up getting his vital energy devoured all night long.」

「Mr. Moisture is practically oozing a pitch-black aura right now, can Manbang-ie really not see that?」

「This kid is just completely dense……,」 the three of them briefly turned their gazes to look at Isaac. The Prince was looking at Isaac with an expressionless face as Isaac patted his lower back, apparently still not recovered from the fatigue of being tormented until sunrise. Isaac seemed oblivious to the fact that the Prince’s expressionless face had grown faintly colder than before.

The three of them turned their heads back and sighed deeply in unison.

「Sometimes Manbang-ie acts like he’s a bit smart, but in the end, he’s clueless.」

「That’s why he got caught and dragged back by that man even after boarding the crescent moon boat.」

「I told him so many times to just drop him!」

One cat shouted indignantly, but soon added, 「But the goat meat is innocent,」 and chewed its meat.

Meanwhile, Isaac looked affectionately at the pretty chicken pecking at its feed beyond the three cats huddled next to the meat platter. In truth, raising a chicken wasn’t really his dream, and the chicken didn’t necessarily have to be pretty; he just had a simple desire to live happily in a pretty house with a pretty lover, maybe raising some animals.

But the Prince had actually gone and gotten a pretty chicken for him, and as Isaac raised that chicken in the elegant annex that was now practically his home, he suddenly realized that what he had wished for had come true.

“There’s nothing more to wish for. I have a pretty house, a pretty chicken, and a pretty…….”

Watching the chicken with narrowed eyes, Isaac unintentionally muttered to himself before suddenly stopping mid-sentence. Somehow, finishing the whole sentence felt a bit embarrassing, even if it was just talking to himself.

“……I have everything.”

Isaac let out a small chuckle and muttered alone.

It was a good day.

Even though he had been caught by the Prince last night—or more accurately, until this morning—to a very excessive degree, leaving his body languidly exhausted, the sunlight was nice, the chicken was pretty, the three cats were eating well with hearty appetites, and the Prince was sitting next to him.

Isaac let out a pleasant sigh and closed his eyes. It felt good to have the warm sunlight touch his eyelids.

Behind him, the Prince seemed to briefly raise his eyebrow. Watching Isaac silently as he whispered, ‘I have everything,’ the Prince’s eyes softened ever so faintly.

「……Looks like Mr. Moisture’s mood improved a bit.」

「Yeah. The pitch-black aura subsided a little.」

「Still, I’ll bet a meal’s worth of goat meat that he’s going to devour a massive amount of vital energy tonight.」

「Then I’ll bet a meal’s worth of wine that Manbang-ie will be wailing at dawn, begging to please let him sleep.」

「That’s why he should have dropped him when I said to, why did he pick up something like that!」

The cats chattered again. Clicking their tongues and looking back at Isaac, the three of them blankly watched Isaac, pleasantly stretched out in his chair. The Prince was sitting side-by-side next to him.

After watching them for a long time, one of the cats suddenly let out a deep sigh and muttered,

「Well……. if Manbang-ie likes it, what can we do. Just have to leave them be.」

Adding, 「I’m just going to drink some booze,」 it moved away from the emptying meat platter and lapped at the wine, *chap, chap, chap.*

[Fin]