ORPDRL Chapter 22

 

Episode 22

“Do you understand? To us, you are a sinner against my sister and our family. Even after death, you won’t be able to atone for this sin.”

“Yes……”

Grisys couldn’t deny the man’s words and answered weakly.

Because he was right.

Isilla died because of him. She died for someone as worthless as him.

Grisys felt his body sink lower, even further down, as he slowly closed his eyes.

The pain in his chest was far worse than the back of his hand, which had been trampled by Moriel. It felt as if someone had carved out his heart.

‘So sleepy…….’

As he sank deeper into the pain, drowsiness overwhelmed him. The curse that had shackled him for years felt almost like comfort. After all, lazy people cannot see reality.

Grisys wanted to turn away from everything – the world without Isilla, and himself, who caused her death.

“If not for you, my sister could have lived happily with our family.”

“You terrible man—!!”

Just as Grisys was about to drift deeper into slumber, a small figure darted past him, snapping his eyes wide open in surprise.

Thud, thud—!

Clinging to Moriel like a cicada on an old tree, Letty was smacking his leg repeatedly.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Bad words! Bad words!”

Fuming with anger, Letty clenched her fists and pounded Moriel’s thigh.

‘Mom said violence is bad……!’

But Mom also taught her not to endure if someone hit her first.

“What the—who’s this little kid?!”

Though her punches seemed as soft as cotton, the sting was sharp enough for Moriel to cry out, “Ouch! Ouch!” He quickly retreated, stretching out his hand toward Letty.

As Letty was roughly lifted, her sparkling reddish-brown eyes met Moriel’s lifeless black gaze.

‘A bad guy…….’

With white hair brushing his shoulders, Moriel tucked it neatly behind his ear, showcasing a sleek appearance unusual for a bear beastman.

He wore a single purple earring that swayed gently in the breeze coming through the window. It suited him well, making him look like a model from the jewelry catalogs Letty’s mom often subscribed to.

‘Still a bad guy.’

Letty thought as she glared fiercely at Moriel.

Handsome but bad.

Mom said good-looking men are precious and should be protected, but Letty didn’t feel the slightest urge to protect Moriel.

“You’re a bad person. Mom says bad people are ugly!”

Letty shouted as if reporting to someone that Moriel was the villain of [Panda Daughter-in-Law].

“What? Did you just call me ugly?”

However, apart from Grisys, only Moriel was in the office. He glanced at Letty, who was pointing at him, and let out a hollow laugh.

“Hey, kid. You probably don’t know this, but among bear beastmen – no, among all carnivore beastmen – it’s rare to find someone as handsome as me.”

Even his sister, Isilla, used to tell him, “You’ll have no problem finding a woman to live off just by your face,”

and often pressured their father, saying that Moriel was better suited to a leisurely life than as the head of the family, so he should pass on the position to her.

‘Hmm, come to think of it, maybe that wasn’t a compliment.’

Realizing this nearly ten years after Isilla’s death, Moriel furrowed his brow and glared at Letty.

“No! You’re ugly! UGLY MORIEL!”

“Hah! What is this, brother? Where did this little brat even come from?”

At that moment, he lowered Letty toward Grisys, who had dozed off again, as if tossing her down.

“Your Grace, it’s about time we move you to the bedroom……”

Lorik entered the office, holding a mountain of documents.

“Oh my!”

Letty, who landed safely on the soft sofa, seized the moment to put on a dramatic performance as if her shoulder had dislocated, mimicking a Hollywood-style reaction.

“Ow, ow! Letty hurts! Letty’s dying……!”

This was because Tinker was eagerly signaling to her from outside the office window.

The child staged a reaction as if choking herself before collapsing onto the sofa, following the fairy who had flopped down beside her.

“Gasp! Young miss, are you alright?”

Lorik hurriedly rushed over and scooped Letty up.

“Sniff.”

Facing off alone against a white bear beastkin resembling a nine-tailed fox, and then encountering an innocent red fox beastkin who sincerely believed she was a panda, Letty felt so relieved that tears welled up in her eyes.

“Goodness, are you hurt? Let me take a look.”

As Letty’s eyes filled with tears, Lorik panicked and held her more tightly.

“Lord Moriel, did you fight with the young miss by any chance?”

Hearing Lorik’s question, Moriel let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.

“What do you take me for? Do you think I have so much free time that I’d bother fighting with a little kid like this?”

At Moriel’s irritable response, Lorik couldn’t argue further and began checking Letty’s condition.

Although he had a slightly sensitive side, Moriel was, after all, a valuable talent who handled nearly all of Grizzly's big and small incidents in place of Grisys, the current head of the household.  

Lorik, Grisys's chief aide, believed it was his primary duty to find a way to fill his absence.

“Lorik, do you know this kid?”

Moriel, watching Lorik carefully examine Letty, asked with a puzzled tone. From what he knew, there weren’t any children as young as Letty living at the Grizzly estate.

“Yes. This young miss is Letty, brought by Elder Brunhardt as a prospective bride for Young Master Mireil.”

“Hah! You mean that panda bear?”

Moriel’s face twisted in disbelief at Lorik’s reply.

“You’re telling me this is a panda beastfolk?”

Moriel scrutinized Letty from head to toe as she lay in Lorik’s arms. He then reached out and firmly pressed her cheeks, glaring at her threateningly.

“Hey, kid. Transform into your animal form.”

“…....….”

Letty snorted and turned her head away at Moriel’s command. She had no interest in listening to a villain, and his sharp gaze made her uneasy.

“I said do it. I may be a bit out of touch, but I’ve been to the Eastern Continent and met panda beastfolk there.”

Thump.

Letty’s ears perked up, though she pretended not to hear him.

Even the fairy eavesdropping from the window trembled its wings in surprise.

‘The ocean dividing the Eastern and Western continents is beyond the sea god’s blessing. Most beastfolk can’t cross it because of severe seasickness. How did that guy manage to get across?’

As Tinker frantically searched through [Panda Daughter-in-Law] to verify the setting, Moriel narrowed his eyes and continued to track Letty’s gaze, which avoided his own.

“There was a princess called Princess Pu. She was royalty from the Eastern Continent, but she looked quite different from you.”

“......……!”

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