ORPDRL Chapter 35

Episode 35

"…...…."

Instead of answering Letty’s question, Grisys recalled another person who used to hit his head in the same manner.

Ishila.

'Ishila was too good for me.'

She was someone far too precious, and the pain of losing her was indescribably devastating. Grisys never wanted to create another Ishila-like presence in his life.

If warm sunlight were to shine upon the long winter of the Grizzly, then he wouldn’t be able to endure the harsh winter that would inevitably follow.

"It won't change anything... no matter what you do."

As if conveying that very thought, Grisys closed his eyes.

Letty, who had been quietly watching his closed eyes, firmly shook her head.

"Who says nothing will change?"

Until Tierra appears, Letty will protect Father-in-law.

'Tierra? Who is that?'

Hearing the child whisper the name, Grisys was puzzled.

'…Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.'

But soon, feeling too tired to think further, he stopped pondering and simply closed his eyes again.

✦ ✦ ✦

"Alright, alright! Off to the underground prison you go!"

After regaining his composure, Lorik swiftly took charge of the situation. Seeing this, Letty quietly slipped out of the main hall of the mansion with the fairy.

"Good thing the Grand Duke is the laziest person in the world."

Tinker, who had been on edge, worrying that Letty might be exposed for impersonating the Grand Duke, pressed its tiny chest and let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Imagine if he had questioned us. We could have been thrown into prison along with those guys for the crime of impersonating nobility!"

Even if Letty tried to explain that she acted for the sake of the Grand Duke’s household, no one would have believed her.

From an outsider’s perspective, Letty, who could pull out all sorts of powerful artifacts from her personal storage space and carried a creature that looked like a bug, was more than just strange—she was suspicious.

Tinker could always escape by hiding in the storage space or flying away, but Letty would have had no choice but to go to prison.

"Still, Letty and the fairy caught the con artists! That's a relief—hm?"

Completely unaware of how much Tinker had been worrying, Letty smiled brightly before suddenly stopping in her tracks.

While walking through the rear garden of the mansion on her way back to her room, something caught her eye—a vibrant forest at the edge of her vision.

"Why did you stop?"

"Over there… they said it’s the forest where the young master lives."

Unlike the dark, mist-covered forest, the oak forest connected to the rear garden was full of life. Thanks to the autumn season, the leaves were beautifully colored.

"It’s so pretty."

Dolores had once taken her to the entrance of the forest and told her where Mireil lived, repeatedly warning her never to go inside.

'But I really want to see it.'

The forest seemed to be calling to her, its brilliantly colored leaves swaying gently as if inviting her in.

Come in, it’s okay to come in.

Drawn in by the whispering voice of the forest, Letty unknowingly stepped onto the garden’s winding path.

"Didn't Dolores say it was dangerous and told you not to go in?"

The fairy, following close behind, tugged on Letty’s hood.

"Ah!"

Dolores had said the weather was chilly today and had personally dressed Letty in a red cloak, but now it was choking her neck. She glared at Tinker with narrowed eyes.

"It hurts!"

"I'm just stopping you because you're trying to go somewhere dangerous."

Letty glanced at the fairy, who looked reluctant, and then pointed her small finger at the forest where the wind howled.

"I think it'll be okay."

For some reason, she felt an irresistible urge to go into that forest.

"Letty’s intuition is telling me so."

Having recently learned the word 'intuition,' Letty tried to sound serious, but Tinker scoffed.

"That intuition of yours is acting up again? You’re just doing whatever you want and using your ability as an excuse, aren't you?"

At the fairy's sharp remark, Letty flinched.

"N-No, it's not like that!"

"Didn't you say last night that you had an intuition that you needed another plate of pudding?"

"I-It really felt that way! It’s my ability!"

Tinker looked at her with suspicion.

"Hmm, and what would have happened if you didn’t eat it?"

"I would have felt sad."

"…You're totally taking advantage of the fact that I don't fully understand your ability."

"This time, I'm serious!"

The pudding incident might have been an excuse, but this wasn’t.

Breaking free from Tinker’s grasp, Letty darted toward the forest entrance.

"So, fairy, are you coming or not?"

Tinker sighed deeply, glancing at Letty, who seemed determined to enter the forest alone.

It had noticed this before—Letty might have a sweet and innocent face, but she was incredibly stubborn and rarely backed down once she had made a decision.

"Fine, let’s go. Like you'd ever listen to me anyway."

Besides, Tinker was curious about Mireil, the boy living in the forest. <Panda Daughter-in-Law> was a novel where the protagonist, Tierra, took up most of the spotlight, leaving even the male lead, Mireil, with little screen time.

Tap, tap.

As if someone were guiding her, Letty walked confidently through the forest.

Then—

Thud!

A dull impact echoed somewhere, making Letty's eyes widen.

"Fairy!"

"Shh."

Tinker, worried she might shout, quickly covered her mouth with both hands and scanned the surroundings.

Thud, thwack!

"It’s coming from that direction."

Following Tinker's whisper, Letty dropped to the ground and crept forward, hiding behind the bushes.

In the clearing ahead, someone was collapsed on the ground, struggling to breathe. Surrounding him were a group of boys, panting and spitting out curses.

"You stubborn bastard. You won’t even apologize till the end, huh?"

‘A toad beastman?’

Tinker tilted its head, spotting a large, red-haired boy among them.

Among all the humans the fairy had seen, this one resembled a toad the most.

"Hey, bring a club. We’re really going to beat this guy to death today."

And that toad-like boy was ruthlessly attacking the most beautiful boy Letty had ever seen.

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