Formo looked with dumbfounded eyes at Serdin, who was convinced he would stamp his footprint. He only wanted to try writing a letter to send to his family, but that wretched human had jumped to his own conclusions and was sending him expectant looks.
Feeling burdened, Formo was about to flap his wings and tell him not to misunderstand, when he caught sight of Serdin writing something with a quill pen while wearing a smile on his lips. Without even lowering his wings, Formo glanced sideways at what Serdin was writing.
“……”
Formo’s eyes grew cold as he haltingly read the upside-down letters. He couldn’t read all of it, but it was clear that what was written on the paper were words he couldn’t bear to look at with his eyes open. Surprisingly, Formo was quite proficient in the common language of beastmen. Before being a guardian, it was a natural qualification he needed to possess as a prince.
However, Serdin didn’t even check his reaction, perhaps thinking Formo couldn’t read. Or perhaps he was writing it deliberately for him to see.
Formo’s beak twitched in displeasure as he silently watched that brazen behavior.
“Pipi.”
Serdin set down the quill pen and called Formo in a soft voice. Upon observation, this wretched human would craft an unnecessarily soft and affectionate voice whenever he wanted something from him or had some strange ulterior motive.
And the innocent Formo would get his nose cut off by such a Serdin every time. Even with his eyes wide open, it was useless in front of the sly Serdin. Determined not to fall for his nonsense this time, Formo opened his eyes wide. His face said “go ahead and try talking.”
“Pipi, do you like me so much that you can’t take your eyes off me even for a moment? You’re going to bore a hole through my face.”
“……Ppit.”
At the completely unexpected words, Formo ended up staggering and letting out a hollow laugh. But he soon narrowed his brow as much as possible to make a scary expression and chirped.
“Ppik! Ppiit!”
Serdin had the amusing thought that that high-pitched chirping was close to nagging as he pushed the paper toward Formo. Formo, who had been chattering sullenly with his wings on his hips, spotted the paper pushed in front of him and closed his beak.
Soon, Formo’s tail feathers trembled as he read down the paper. On the paper Serdin had presented were lots of characters that he had seen earlier—truly absurd, close to nonsense, deserving of having his cheeks pecked.
*By stamping his footprint, Pipi solemnly promises to give Serdin Belius one kiss before tomorrow comes.*
Next to that sentence was a square drawn slightly larger than Formo’s foot. It seemed that was where Formo’s footprint was supposed to go. Formo’s eyelashes trembled upon realizing this.
“Pipi, wait just a bit. Once Kert brings the dish, I’ll let you stamp your footprint right away.”
His tone was as if soothing and coaxing Formo, who was supposedly making a fuss because he wanted to stamp his footprint. Just as Formo, unable to bear it any longer, was about to stride toward Serdin, Kert knocked on the door with perfect timing.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought the dish you requested.”
Formo, who had been moving vigorously with his shoulders squared, trembled at Kert’s voice in surprise. Serdin pretended not to notice, but looked at Formo with his bean-sized courage with amusement in his eyes, then opened the door.
“Will this size do?”
Kert asked while presenting a dish slightly larger than Formo’s foot. Serdin carefully examined the shallow dish and nodded.
“It’s suitable. Good work. You may go now.”
“Yes. ……Pardon?”
Serdin coldly closed the door on Kert, who asked again with a blank face as if he had misheard. Kert, who had been left standing alone in front of the firmly closed door, stammered with a flushed face.
“G-good work……? He said good work for bringing one small dish……? Am I dreaming right now?”
Serdin was someone who had never said “good work,” not even as a courtesy, even when Kert showed his competence by efficiently handling troublesome and difficult tasks. Rather, he would often sneer, saying that as the Emperor’s confidant, wasn’t it natural that he should do his job well?
For such a Serdin to say good work for something like this. Kert had to wonder if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
“Pipi, you need to dip your foot in here to stamp it. Try dipping it carefully. Okay? The dish is shallow, so there’s no way you’ll fall in.”
But upon hearing Serdin’s voice vividly coming from inside the office, he realized it wasn’t a dream and turned to leave. If he stayed any longer, he felt like he would hear all sorts of things. Kert’s footsteps leaving the front of the office were several times faster than usual.
Meanwhile, Formo was hesitating while looking at the dish Serdin had presented. He had to dip his foot in that pool of ink to write a letter. But if he got ink on his foot, he would surely end up stamping his footprint in that square box.
Formo pondered with a serious expression.
“Pipi, you don’t want to stamp it?”
When Serdin asked in a caring voice, Formo quickly nodded. Contracts should never be made carelessly. Contracts required the utmost caution and care. Formo had heard such advice countless times from his parents. As a prince, Formo had to stamp carefully, whether it was a footprint stamp, a beak stamp, or a feather stamp.
Yet that wretched human kept urging him to stamp his footprint!
There was no one more detestable and wicked. Formo glared at the white paper placed at his feet with blazing eyes, then spread his intact wing. Then he quickly flapped it so the paper would fly far away.
The paper, hit by the wind created by Formo’s wing-flapping, fluttered into the air. Just as it was about to fall under the desk, the quick-reflexed Serdin easily snatched it.
“……”
Formo’s pupils shook mercilessly as he witnessed that tragic scene before his eyes. His plan to blow away and get rid of the paper had come to nothing. Formo clenched his beak, and the moment Serdin returned the paper to its place, he rushed in and tore it to shreds with his beak.
After tearing the paper to pieces, the white-headed long-tailed tit looked at Serdin with a very triumphant expression. If the wicked Serdin tried to present paper again, this time he intended to peck his cheek instead of the paper.
And perhaps Formo’s intentions were properly conveyed, because Serdin smiled as if he had no choice and presented a blank sheet with nothing written on it.
“Alright, Pipi. I was being mischievous.”
Formo, who had overcome adversity and finally obtained what he wanted, forgot that he had been angry and sparkled his eyes. He put his foot into the ink dish on his own—the one he hadn’t even glanced at when Serdin had told him to dip it.
Formo waited quietly for the black ink to thoroughly soak his foot pad. Then, when he thought it was enough, he gently shook his foot to leave just the right amount of ink. Soon, Formo’s small footprints dotted the white paper. Formo imprinted his footprints on the paper with a serious expression.
Serdin, who had been quietly watching the cute footprints being stamped, secretly slipped in a new sheet of paper without Formo noticing. One black footprint was firmly stamped on the new paper that had been cunningly overlapped with the paper Formo was diligently walking on. It was an incredible coincidence.
Serdin added a sinister smile to his lips and carefully pulled out that paper. Formo was still absorbed in imprinting meaningful footprints and didn’t know what Serdin had obtained.
Having obtained the paper with Formo’s footprint clearly stamped on it, Serdin carefully folded it and hid it in his breast. By the time Formo felt something suspicious and belatedly raised his head, it was already too late.
He could only vaguely sense that Serdin was hiding something from him.
And so, a day that went smoothly only for Serdin passed by.
—
* * *
Lately, Kert had been in a very troubled state. It was because of his superior, Serdin. Since keeping Formo by his side, Serdin seemed to have completely lost his mind, as if he had forgotten the important fact that he was a jaguar. As a vassal, Kert intended to firmly remind his superior not to forget the duty of a jaguar.
If not him, who would tell him such invaluable advice? Serdin had such a terrible personality that aside from himself, he didn’t even have a proper friend, let alone a subordinate he could use like his own hands and feet.
He could only shed tears at the sight of himself following the Emperor’s order to firmly guard the side of Serdin with his terrible personality, unable to refuse.
Feeling sorry for himself, Kert visited Serdin’s bedroom. This lazy superior hadn’t shown even the tip of his nose in the office even though it was late afternoon. At this rate, forget work—he wouldn’t even set foot in the office. Having come to the bedroom himself to prevent such a disaster, Kert grumbled.
“Even if it’s a vacation, this is too much.”
His superior seemed to be resting far too much. Sometimes he should put effort into work too. Ahem, clearing his throat, Kert knocked on the bedroom door.
“Your Highness.”
He stood there for a while, but no answer came. Kert tilted his head and said cautiously.
“I’m coming in? I’ll take it as permission……?”
Even though he said something that would typically annoy Serdin, there was still no answer. After rolling his eyes for a moment, Kert seemed to make up his mind and grabbed and turned the door handle.
“Your…… Highness?”
The sight Kert encountered upon opening the bedroom door was truly absurd.
His superior Serdin was lying on the bed in a proper posture, enjoying an afternoon nap, and Formo was nodding off on Serdin’s forehead, his body curled up round like a snowball.
