“I want to see this mansion all at once!”
Having always wandered only inside, she had never seen the mansion in its entirety.
What Neya wanted to see was the exterior of the mansion, as if a castle had jumped out of a fairy tale. She was most curious about how it looked from outside.
“To see it all at once, we’ll need to go a little farther away. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ve run alone even farther than this before.”
Though she had gotten lost this time, Neya spoke confidently as if she had already forgotten that.
“Then let’s go to the garden near the entrance. From there, you’ll be able to see the main building at a glance.”
“Are there other buildings besides this one?”
“Yes. Counting the smaller buildings, there are quite a few more.”
“Wow…”
How rich must Mino be? Neya’s mouth fell open in amazement.
“I’m jealous. I want to live in a big castle like Mino.”
“Really? I think it’s kind of boring.”
“Why?”
“The bigger the place you live in, the fewer people you meet. I really don’t like that.”
Only then did Neya realize.
While Neya, who moved around in limited spaces, could see the faces of those she lived with almost too often, Mino lived in such a vast house that it was impossible to do that.
‘So that’s why Mino must have been even lonelier.’
Seeing Neya look at him with sympathy, Mino deliberately smiled brighter.
“It’s okay. Now I have you, Neya.”
Mino smiled with his eyes and tightly held Neya’s hand.
“So you really wanted a friend, Mino?”
“Yes. Very much.”
Mino nodded immediately.
“Except for the times my sister visits, I was always alone. Recently, it’s been harder for her to come home, so it’s been a little lonely.”
When Mino brought up his sister again, Neya asked the question she had been most curious about when she lived as a cat.
“Mino seems to really like your sister.”
“She’s an amazing person. My sister is.”
“What’s her name?”
Mino answered:
“Lydia Lopez.”
Lydia Lopez. She was the one who had ruined Azyur’s life—or at least, that’s what Azyur thought.
“Her name’s pretty~.”
Of course, Neya didn’t know that.
“I feel like I’ve heard that name before!”
“It’s probably famous. My sister was involved in a big incident once.”
Of course, that incident was between Azyur and Lydia—something Neya couldn’t know about.
“What kind of person is your sister?”
Since Mino often talked about his sister, Neya naturally became curious as well.
“For starters, she’s seventeen years older than me.”
“Whoa.”
Neya took a sharp breath. The age gap between them as siblings was significant.
‘That’s about the same as the age gap between me and my mom…’
It was accurate. Azyur and Lydia were the same age.
“She’s really kind and gentle, and she played with me a lot when I was little. Now she’s somewhere else, so I don’t see her much.”
“Where is she?”
“The royal palace.”
“Your sister works at the royal palace?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Mino’s answer was vague. Actually, it wasn’t so much that she worked at the palace, but that she was positioned as a future crown princess, making it hard to leave. Explaining that fully would take too long, so he gave a simple answer.
“And also, her health isn’t so good.”
“Really…?”
That was sad. Neya’s expression darkened instinctively.
“Was it always like that since she was young?”
“No. She was very healthy as a child. But then she got caught up in an incident.”
Again, the word “incident” came up. Neya blinked and asked Mino:
“What kind of incident?”
“Shh.”
Instead of answering, Mino grabbed Neya’s hand and pulled her.
Caught off guard, Neya followed Mino and hid behind a pillar.
“What’s going on?”
“Over there.”
Following Mino’s gaze, there were two maids walking toward them while chatting.
“Oh!”
Seeing people, Neya quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth. She hadn’t noticed them approaching because she had been so absorbed in Mino’s story.
Mino and Neya held their breath, waiting for the maids to pass.
The maids passed right in front of the pillar where they were hiding without noticing them at all.
Once the maids disappeared from view, the two lowered their hands from their mouths.
“Ahahaha!”
Their eyes met, and Neya and Mino both burst into laughter.
It was a small thing, but maybe because of the thrill of their little escapade, they found immense joy in secretly doing a tiny bit of mischief together.
“We’ll get caught like this. Let’s get outside quickly.”
“Yeah!”
The two started running down the long corridor.
Though the corridor at midnight was quiet, their faces were full of life as they ran.
After running for a while, they finally got outside and began walking slowly. The cold night air brushed against their noses.
“I want to see the building quickly~.”
“Just a little farther. Our mansion is really pretty. You’ll like it.”
“If we get caught, Mino will be in so much trouble!”
“It’s okay. The nanny can’t scold me when I’m laughing.”
The nanny wasn’t the type to scold harshly. She cared too much about Mino.
“What about your parents?”
Mino said nonchalantly:
“They’ve never really paid attention to me anyway.”
Neya recalled something Mino had told her before and made a face of realization.
Seeing that, Mino let out a small laugh.
“They’re not bad people, it’s just that they find it hard to treat me normally. They often avoid me openly.”
Though Mino’s parents tried not to show it, young Mino noticed more than they thought. No matter how much they smiled outwardly, he had already sensed that they avoided him inwardly.
“Doesn’t that make you sad?”
Neya asked worriedly. Mino’s gaze turned toward her.
Neya bowed her head slightly, speaking in a quiet, dark voice:
“When my mom didn’t pay any attention to me, I felt a little sad…”
Though she was somewhat closer to Azyur now, not long ago, Azyur had been indifferent toward Neya.
Neya had grown used to that side of Azyur and had bravely approached him anyway, but deep down, she couldn’t help feeling sad that Azyur didn’t care for her.
“I was very sad when I was younger, but now it’s okay. I’m lonely sometimes, but not particularly hurt.”
It was true. Mino no longer even felt disappointed in his parents. Perhaps it was because he no longer expected anything from them.
“….”
Just as Neya was about to ask if he was really okay again, someone called out to Mino:
“Master?”
“…?”
Mino’s eyes widened as he turned.
A knight had quietly approached. Mino froze in place.
Whether on patrol or not, the knight seemed puzzled to see Mino outside at this hour.
“Why are you walking around alone at this time?”
“Well…”
Mino hesitated and looked to the side.
Neya had already transformed into her cat form and subtly avoided Mino’s gaze.
“….”
Betrayal flickered in Mino’s green eyes.
“I’ll take you back to your room. Let’s go.”
“Okay…”
Their brief adventure had come to an end.
Back in their room, Neya transformed back into human form and flopped onto the bed.
“Ahahaha, Mino was so flustered!”
Neya laughed, clutching her stomach. Mino looked at her with a sulky expression.
“That’s unfair, Neya.”
“I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t get caught.”
Neya’s hearing was extremely sharp, so she had noticed the knight approaching in time. Thanks to that, she had been able to turn into a cat in advance.
“Walking around was fun, but it’s a shame~. I still didn’t get to see the mansion properly. If we had a holiday, we could’ve explored much longer!”
If Hoo had been with them, skilled in escaping and magic, they could have carried out even more adventures without being caught.
“Hoo?”
Startled by Mino’s confused voice, Neya flinched.
“Who’s that? A friend?”
“Yeah! A fairy friend, like me…”
Neya laughed awkwardly.
“Another fairy?”
“Well, not really a fairy….”
Neya, bad at lying, fumbled and couldn’t give a proper answer.
“….”
Mino just quietly watched her, then turned his head with an indifferent expression.
“Let’s sleep now.”
He didn’t seem inclined to press for more information.
