"Your father, Duke Lyndon Tajiri, ordered me to... execute you," he said quietly, watching my face like he expected some dramatic reaction.

I didn’t feel anger, shock, or heartbreak. Instead, I only felt a strange kind of pity.

Not for myself but for the little leopard cub that once belonged to this world before I arrived.

’To be born... only to be ordered dead by your own father.’

I looked down at my paws for a moment.

’I hope wherever you are now... you get reborn into a warm family,’ I thought silently. ’Something like the one I had in my past life.’

Then I opened my OmniSync and typed calmly. "If it was the Duke’s order, why didn’t you kill me?"

Gawain snorted. "I’m not as heartless as your father," he said, flicking my forehead lightly.

I immediately smacked his hand away.

He chuckled.

"And besides," he continued, folding his arms. "I promised that I would take care of you and protect you until the day I die."

He said it casually but his eyes were steady.

Just... a simple promise.

I stared at him for a moment then slowly began typing again. "So basically you’re saying you became my manny for free?"

Gawain froze.

His mouth opened.

Closed.

Opened again.

Then closed once more.

He looked like someone had just unplugged his brain.

"...That is the most disrespectful way anyone has ever summarized my heroic sacrifice," he said finally.

I tilted my head.

He rubbed his face with both hands. "I infiltrated the Duke’s residence to avenge you."

Silence.

"I hacked and erased both our records in the Imperial Database."

Silence.

"I evaded multiple military patrols."

Silence.

"I almost became an international-level criminal if I didn’t fake my death."

Silence.

"And the conclusion you reached," he said slowly, "is that I became a free babysitter?"

I nodded.

He stared at the screen then at me. "...My Lady."

I tilted my head.

"...You’ve gotten meaner."

I immediately began typing. "What do you mean I’ve gotten meaner? This is how I am."

He sighed and reached out, rubbing my head.

I tried slapping his hand away, but he simply kept rubbing my fur like he had full ownership of my skull.

"Yes, yes," he said patiently. "My Lady was already mean the moment I took care of you."

I glared at him.

He only smiled wider and poked my cheek.

’The audacity.’

I lifted my paw and slowly typed again. "I’m more concerned about becoming human again."

He blinked. "...Wait what?"

I pointed at the row of carved energy stones on the shelf then pointed at myself. "I don’t know if I’m suffering from Hysteria or not but I need to shift to my human form."

Gawain slowly turned his head toward the shelf, the dragon carvings glittering beneath the chandelier, at the mechanical carving arm lying down on the table, then back at me.

"...My Lady."

"Yes?"

"...What the hell happened to you while I was gone?"

I typed calmly. "I have a talent for carving so basically I became a carver."

He stared at me suspiciously.

"My Lady," he said slowly, "I know you were a bit... mentally challenged when you were young—"

I narrowed my eyes.

"—but identifying yourself as a carver?" he continued. "Have you become mentally challenged again?"

I smacked him right on the nose.

He recoiled. "OW!"

I typed again. "You don’t believe me?"

He folded his arms. "Not even a little."

"Then show me your energy stone."

He raised an eyebrow but eventually reached to his waistband and pulled out a small object and handed it to me casually.

But instead of reacting the way I had when I first saw Soren’s or Agatha’s stones—

Instead of frowning or having second thoughts, I immediately grabbed it and threw it out the window.

Gawain stared at the empty window then slowly turned toward me. "My Lady..."

His eye twitched. "Have you really lost your mind?"

His voice rose. "Do you also have anger management issues?!"

He looked like he wanted to strangle me and throw me out the window next.

But strangely enough... I found myself smiling.

It had been a long time since I’d messed with someone who felt...Familiar.

Gawain froze as he leaned closer. "Wait...Are you smiling?"

He squinted harder. "Seriously smiling?"

I calmly typed on the OmniSync again and showed it to him. "Shift to your beast form."

He stared at me like I had just asked him to turn into a vegetable. "My Lady," he said slowly, "you just threw my energy stone out the window."

I nodded.

He pointed outside. "That stone cost three months of my life savings."

I nodded again.

He grabbed his hair. "AND NOW YOU’RE ASKING ME TO TRANSFORM?!"

"If you don’t transform, I’ll throw you out next."

Gawain stared at the screen. "...You’ve definitely gotten meaner."

Then he sighed like a man accepting his tragic fate. "Fine."

His body suddenly shimmered.

In the next second, the man standing beside my table was gone.

In his place was a very large snake.

Black scales slid smoothly over one another as his long body coiled across the floor and partially around the table leg.

I blinked. ’Oh... So he’s a snake.’

The scales weren’t pure black though. Under the chandelier’s light they had a gunmetal grey sheen, his eyes were greyish-brown, and pale white on the underbelly.

"So?" Gawain said, voice echoing slightly in my head through beast speech. "Now what?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

I ignored him completely as I hopped off the table and began circling him slowly.

He followed my movement with his head. "...My Lady."

I kept circling, examining every detail.

The tone of his scales, the reflection of light across them, and the subtle gradient along his spine.

"...My Lady."

I continued analyzing and confirmed that this would be difficult.

To carve a proper energy stone, the stone’s color had to match the beast’s natural tones as closely as possible.

Gunmetal grey, grey-brown, and pale white. These shades rarely appeared in the same stone and Gawain’s former energy stone was black and grey.

I stepped back and frowned slightly. ’This would certainly be tricky.’

"My Lady," the snake said slowly, "why are you inspecting me like a suspicious vegetable?"

I jumped back to the table then dove straight into the box of energy stones.

Too bright.

Too dull.

Too soft.

Not even close.

I didn’t notice Agatha coming back inside.

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

Agatha was pushing a small trolley with a tray of snacks and tea, probably thinking she had arrived at the perfect time to offer a quiet break.

Instead, she walked straight into chaos.

Her eyes widened in horror the moment she saw Blanca tossing energy stones left and right like decorative pebbles.

"My Lady—!"

One gemstone flew toward the floor.

Agatha almost fainted.

She immediately shoved the trolley aside and lunged forward, catching the stone mid-air with both hands.

Another one flew past.

She caught that too.

Then another.

She moved swiftly across the room, intercepting the falling stones like a desperate goalkeeper protecting an absurdly expensive goal.

"My Lady please have tea first!" Agatha pleaded while rescuing another gemstone from a tragic end.

Meanwhile, Gawain was leaning lazily against the wall, watching the entire disaster unfold with obvious amusement. He had already shifted back into his human form long before Agatha entered, making sure she didn’t see his beast form.

He even had the audacity to laugh.

Agatha’s eye twitched. "What are you doing there just watching?" she snapped while catching another stone before it hit the floor.

Gawain pointed at himself innocently. "Me?"

"Yes, you!"

He shrugged lazily. "I don’t care what My Lady does as long as she’s safe and happy."

Another gemstone flew past Agatha’s head. She caught it safely then her glare turned even colder. "You’re completely useless."

Gawain grinned. "Correct."

Agatha groaned in frustration and continued chasing after the airborne gemstones while Blanca remained fully committed to her excavation project inside the box.

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

My paws stopped digging. Buried beneath several other stones, I slowly pulled it out.

The stone shimmered under the chandelier’s light.

Gunmetal grey, subtle metallic sheen across most of the surface. When I tilted it slightly, faint grey-brown veins ran through the core like hidden smoke, and along one edge, a streak of pale white curved across the stone.

Perfect. This stone had everything I needed.

Gunmetal grey for the body, grey-brown for the eyes, and pale white for the underbelly.

My tail swished happily.

Behind me, Agatha finally finished collecting the stones I had thrown around and placed them back neatly into another box.

She turned to see me staring intensely at the gemstone. "My Lady... did you finally find a suitable one?"

I held it up proudly.

"That... is indeed a very good stone," she said, nodding slowly.

Before I could begin working though, something else caught my attention.

The snacks.

The tray Agatha had pushed aside earlier was still there.

Milk, small cakes, sweet pastries, and fruit slices.

My stomach immediately made a very persuasive argument.

’Maybe I should eat one bite first.’

’Just one.’

I hopped down and grabbed a pastry.