Formo, who trudged out of the greenhouse, placed the book back in its original spot and returned to the bedroom. When he roughly collapsed his body onto the wide bed, he felt the quiet air heavily settling on his entire body. Right. Though it was rather boring and awkward without Serdin, it was still better to be alone for this moment at least.
Even though he had washed away the imagination from his mind, if he were to face Serdin in this state…… he might unconsciously blush again. It would be fortunate if it ended at just that. Since he couldn’t rule out the possibility that his body might transform into an animal on its own like yesterday, it was worrisome. He couldn’t show such an embarrassing sight to Serdin again.
Imagining himself transforming into a long-tailed tit in front of Serdin again, his insides, which had been somewhat calmed, became disturbed and he couldn’t just lie still. Formo, who sat up his upper body, looked out the window. While looking up at the blue sky and earnestly trying to picture himself flying around mingling with female long-tailed tits, various sounds could be heard from outside.
“Widen, come here.”
“You come, Chester.”
“If I approach, you’ll run away.”
“No way.”
Though he knew it wasn’t proper etiquette, since he heard a conversation with an affectionate feeling, he couldn’t help but instinctively listen. Formo, who wrinkled his nose for a moment, got up from his seat and headed to the window. Then a beastman couple playing around with each other came into view. It wasn’t the Crown Prince of Chaimb and the sparrow he saw yesterday. However, like them, this couple openly whispering love outside also appeared to be same-sex.
“……Huh.”
Formo looked at them with a stunned face. Like Serdin’s reaction yesterday, their appearance seemed to be common, truly like an everyday occurrence here.
Formo quietly watched the beastman couple passing in front of Sotes Palace. Even though it was broad daylight with the sun at the top of their heads, they unhesitatingly showed acts of kissing or rubbing each other’s cheeks. They even stopped while passing by and lightly bit each other’s ears. While in human form, not animal form, at that.
Formo, who had been watching that scene in a daze, ended up making an imagination he shouldn’t have without realizing it. He had substituted himself and Serdin into their appearance.
“Hii, hiik!”
Formo, startled by the image his mind had created on its own, took steps backward and ended up tripping and falling on his bottom.
“Ugh, ah!”
Though he made a loud sound from being a bit startled, thanks to losing pain as a side effect, it didn’t hurt. Formo rubbed the area around his heart that was pounding intensely, then got up from his spot and sat on the bed.
Before he knew it, Formo’s face was displaying a reddish-purple color. He sat on the bed staying still, then suddenly shook his head vigorously. Instead of the graceful figure of a female long-tailed tit, Serdin’s face smiling sweetly while looking at him floated around in his head. It was all Kert’s fault. Because Kert spouted nonsense, he kept drawing strange imaginations, didn’t he?
“Haha, Widen. See? I knew you would run away.”
To make matters worse, he could even hear the affectionate conversation of those outside the window. Formo bit his lips, pondered for a moment, then bolted up from his seat. Then he fled as if escaping to the drawing room attached to the bedroom.
Formo sat on the sofa with a serious face. Regardless of his intentions or wishes, he kept becoming conscious of other people, especially couples. Not only that, but he even substituted himself and Serdin’s appearance onto them. This was a very serious problem.
If this continued to repeat, his intelligent brain might really come to recognize Serdin as a romantic partner.
“Th-that can’t happen!”
Formo, who shook his head vigorously as if shaking off the ridiculous thought, bolted up from his seat once again. If he stayed still like this, he felt like he would keep having strange imaginations. He should cool his head by taking a walk or something.
Formo left the room and headed to the large rear garden of Sotes Palace. It was the first time going to the rear garden without Serdin, so it felt a bit unfamiliar, but it was rather good. In a place with no memories of Serdin, he would have fewer strange thoughts related to him, right?
He arrived at the rear garden with very quick steps and walked around here and there. Formo, who had been walking obligatorily with a thoroughly stiff face, stopped in front of a flower in full bloom. To be precise, it was in front of a bee hovering near the flower.
When he was a long-tailed tit, he would search for such insects every day. Recalling those memories made him feel strangely wistful. As Formo was bending down to his waist and watching the busily moving bee for a while, an unfamiliar presence reached his ears. It seemed to be coming from outside the rear garden.
‘There were no beastmen who came this close……’
The rear garden of Sotes Palace was quieter and more secluded than any other place in the castle. Wasn’t this a place where Tersium beastmen who mistakenly walked near the rear garden would flee in shock as soon as they realized where this was? Formo, who knew well that the reason they fled in panic was because of Serdin, raised his eyebrows with a puzzled face.
Perhaps a beastman belonging to the delegation got lost here while touring the castle? If that’s the case, it made sense. It seemed better to help them before they were spotted by servants and a report went to Serdin.
Formo, who moved his steps to the fence close to the outside, slightly stuck out his head to check beyond the fence.
“Where is this again?”
A beastman of similar height to Formo was muttering irritably with their back turned. Their neatly groomed, voluminous brown hair was impressive. Formo stuck his head out beyond the fence and was observing them when he asked.
“Are you lost?”
“Eek!”
Seemingly startled by Formo’s voice from behind, the beastman jumped in place and spun their body around.
“……Huh?”
Formo, who saw the beastman’s face head-on, opened his mouth with surprised eyes.
“Sp-sparrow?”
To think the beastman who was lost and wandering was none other than that sparrow who confused Formo last night. Formo had a dumbfounded face at the unexpected coincidence.
“……What. Who are you?”
The sparrow beastman glared at Formo with sharp eyes. At the bewildered reaction, Formo couldn’t close his mouth. That was what Formo wanted to ask. Just how they got here, and what kind of sparrow they were to have fallen in love with the Crown Prince of Chaimb—it was precisely Formo who wanted to definitely ask.
However, seeing that force was entering the fists placed beside their thighs, right now that sparrow was clearly not just wary but thinking of threatening him. Though there was no way he, who was born with the fate of a guardian, would fall ill from the sparrow beastman’s cotton-like fists, he still absolutely hated being hit by someone.
Formo calmed his momentarily surprised heart and opened his mouth.
“I’m Formo Puer. I came from Arancha.”
“……Arancha? Not an assassin sent by Chaimb’s coyote bastards, but a long-tailed tit from Arancha?”
The sparrow beastman asked while still not letting down their guard.
“Yeah.”
“Why is a long-tailed tit from Arancha among feline predators?”
“That’s…… there are circumstances.”
Formo, who responded in a small voice to the sparrow beastman asking as if interrogating, soon widened his eyes.
“What about you, how did you end up coming here? Are you lost?”
“Yeah. I guess because it’s an unfamiliar place.”
The sparrow beastman answered while shrugging, perhaps feeling a bit more at ease at Formo’s words. It was a much more relaxed attitude compared to just before when they had been on edge. After clearly confirming that the sparrow beastman had released the force from their fists, Formo said.
“Anyway, I was taking a walk in the rear garden and you seemed to be lost, so I was trying to help.”
“That’s quite welcome news. I was just trying to get back to my room before that Kaien bastard returns from lunch when I got lost.”
“Kaien?”
“Yeah. There’s this kid named Kaien who’s so foolish that I have to take care of him.”
To think someone was so foolish that this tiny sparrow had to take care of them. Just how small and weak of an existence could they be? Formo looked at the sparrow beastman with stunned eyes. The sparrow beastman, receiving that gaze, looked at Formo with puzzlement, then moved their lips with an “Ah” interjection.
“Ah, right. I’m Bléar.”
“Bléar?”
The sparrow beastman introduced themselves as Bléar. Perhaps because they were a beastman from Chaimb, they had a name with an unfamiliar pronunciation. Formo muttered the name Bléar several times as if practicing pronunciation, then nodded.
“So your name is Formo Puer?”
“Mm-hm. But just call me Pipi.”
Formo answered in a gloomy voice. If Serdin discovered someone else calling him by the name Formo, it would definitely become troublesome. In fact, if it were the old days, initiating to be called Pipi would have been unimaginable.
However, rather than enduring Serdin making his life miserable asking why he allowed his name to others, it was several times better to be called by the shabby name Pipi.
“Ah, wait a moment. I’ll come over to your side right away.”
Formo gauged the height of the fence, then jumped up and crossed over it. While crossing, he felt like his leg slightly grazed the pointed part of the fence, but he didn’t care at all. The reason was simple. Because he didn’t feel any particular pain.
“I’ll take you. Let’s go.”
Formo, who stood beside Bléar, said so and took the lead.
“Wait, Pipi. Your pants are torn a bit. Are you okay?”
Formo, who was about to move his steps, looked down at his calf at Bléar’s words from behind. As Bléar said, the pants were torn a bit, but it didn’t seem like there was any particular injury. Even if there was an injury, since there was no pain, it didn’t feel very serious either.
“I’m fine.”
Formo responded nonchalantly and began to guide Bléar.
