9

“Gyaaa!!!”

“Uwaaaa!!!!”

Both of them unexpectedly ran into another person in a forest where no one was supposed to be, and they ended up raising voices so loud they echoed throughout the forest.

“Ah… What!!! What are you, you country girl!!! This is within the detached palace grounds. Get out of here at once!!!!”

Beth seemed to have come quite deep into the forest while chasing the turtle.

A young man with terribly painful-looking skin suddenly appeared in Beth’s field of vision, which had only been watching the forest and the turtle, and Beth instinctively screamed loudly.

The young man must have been the same. Apparently, he had not thought anyone would be there, and, taken by surprise, shouted loudly.

She had heard that the deeper area was the royal family’s forest and off-limits, but there were no ropes strung up or signs posted, so it seemed Beth had apparently chased the turtle and accidentally entered the royal family’s land.

(That said, since Beth was treated as a guest of the royal family, even if she entered the grounds, she would not be punished for anything.)

Felix had unexpectedly encountered someone in the forest, and what was more, a young woman, though a rather country-looking one, so out of shame that made his body feel as if it were burning, he shouted in anger.

It was a rare day when the weather and temperature allowed him to go outside without threatening his skin.

Judging that he would not meet anyone in the forest, he had not wrapped bandages around his face or body.

His scalp had peeled raw, and he had gone out bareheaded, with nothing covering the head from which his hair had fallen out.

If he did not wrap bandages around his face either, bodily fluid leaked from the areas where the skin had peeled, and even his eyelashes had fallen out. The sight of himself in the mirror was truly terrible. For someone to see him in such a state, and moreover for that someone to be a young woman, was—

“You… damned…”

The time he spent in this forest, where there were no mirrors and no water surfaces, had been a very precious peace of mind for Felix, but anger at being unexpectedly disturbed and shame at having his ugly form seen caused magic to overflow from Felix’s body, and his skin became densely covered in blisters like water bubbles.

Felix clenched his teeth, and his face turned red with fury.

He could not control his anger, and the control of his magic lagged behind.

Magic that had drifted away from his control rose from his body. The old magic tore through Felix’s skin, and itching attacked his whole body.

“Aaaagh!!! I-It itches!”

Unable to endure it, a voice leaked out, and Felix clawed at his face.

Felix, nearly in tears, screamed in his heart.

(Ah, that is right. You should scream that I am a monster too, then run away from here at once!!!)

When he had first come to the detached palace, he had once happened to run into a child from this village in the forest.

The child had cried, shouted, “Monster!” and ran away from Felix.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there was a legend that a monster appeared in this forest, so the villagers apparently did not make a fuss.

Since then, the villagers had been strongly told that the royal family’s grounds were off-limits to them.

Felix waited for the girl before him to scream and run away while breathing roughly from his shoulders, but the girl did not scream or run away, and simply stared at Felix with a curious expression.

(…Um… What, is she too frightened to move her legs?)

To the confused Felix, Beth quietly spoke.

“It looks painful. Is it itchy? Wait just a moment.”

After saying only that, she took a small bottle filled with some kind of water from the bag she was carrying and pressed it onto Felix.

The inside of the bag was full of junk, perhaps things she had gathered in the forest, such as weeds and fruits he did not really understand, and even cicada shells and pinecones.

“You should mix this into your bathtub. I think the itching will get a little better.”

After that, as though she had lost all interest in Felix, she slipped right past him.

Felix was startled and looked back at the girl, only to see that she was in an unseemly half-crouched posture, with her stuffed-full bag accompanying her, and seemed to be quietly, slowly chasing something.

(…What… is she doing?)

When he timidly shifted his eyes toward where the girl was looking, a large turtle was trudging through the undergrowth of the forest at the end of her gaze, and this country girl apparently had her attention taken by the turtle and seemed far too occupied for Felix. Matching the turtle’s slow steps, the girl disappeared into the depths of the forest one step at a time. Not once did she look back at Felix.

(What was that…?)

Left alone, Felix stood there in a daze for a while.