I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 117
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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117
Chapter 24. End of Vacation (9)
Even with a sharp blade pressed against my throat, I wasn’t nervous.
Of course, there was no way Raven would harm me. That was just faith without rational basis.
Besides, perhaps because this body was sturdy, even Raven’s threatening grip on my shoulder didn’t hurt, and the blade lightly touching my skin didn’t sting or draw blood, so I wasn’t scared.
No matter how suspicious, would he really cut my throat for such a reason?
‘…If he really tries to do it, I’ll have to grab his pants and stop him no matter what to prevent him from becoming Emperor…’
Down with tyrants.
Still, I had lived 18 years being born and raised in this Empire, so I couldn’t let it fall to ruin.
Raven stared down at me as I kept my mouth shut. Looking at his tightly pressed lips, cold expressionless face, and golden eyes devoid of emotion, he seemed like a stranger.
Come to think of it, the maid who had rushed in to save Nathan’s life had essentially snuck into his quarters. Would he want to listen when someone secretly snuck in and asked him to hear her out?
‘Everything I did was for his sake.’
Finding the Prince’s quarters in the main palace had been easy.
The maid outfit was the ultimate stealth gear. Wearing this and walking briskly, no one paid me any attention. Even when I occasionally made eye contact with other maids or servants, no one suspected anything when I casually nodded as if it were natural.
‘I… must have the qualities to survive anywhere!’
Since several people felt friendly enough from my nods to try talking to me, making friends probably wouldn’t be difficult either.
Was I really one of those famous people who could survive even if thrown into a desert!
Not that I was planning to run away from home.
Anyway, it was good that I found Raven’s quarters while admiring my own adaptability. It was good, but… Raven was the problem.
When I was told he was in his study and opened the door to enter, he immediately pressed a blade to my throat and threatened me.
Then he wouldn’t let me finish a single sentence. From his eyes, his will was clear – he’d figure out my ulterior motives no matter what. But to find out my motives, he should listen first.
Don’t you know that the most important ability a leader should have is listening…!
Since he wouldn’t listen when I tried to speak, I kept my mouth completely shut, and the silence lasted longer than expected.
I looked up at Raven. He was quietly observing me, thinking about something.
“Can I speak now?”
“Speaking informally? You’ve got some nerve. Don’t you know who you’re standing before?”
“Of course I know. Don’t you know?”
Don’t you know who I am?
I knew that hoping for Raven to recognize me was an absurd expectation. My appearance was different, my voice was different, and if you really looked into it, even my species was different. No matter how free-thinking someone was, this would normally be unimaginable.
If it weren’t for Seth, I wouldn’t have believed it either.
Everything from head to toe was different from my appearance.
Even I was confused that a glimmer of hope was sincere. If he didn’t recognize me, I’d be slightly disappointed, but not enough to say anything about it.
Come to think of it, this was really ridiculous.
This was torture. How was this different from nitpicking by asking someone to make a camel pass through the eye of a needle?
I should just tell him.
“Shana.”
“Huh, how did you know?!”
“…Ha, as expected.”
Raven covered his face with his large hand and let out a long breath. I was the one who was flustered, just blinking my eyes.
Raven didn’t even raise his tone at the end of my name. He called it definitively.
As if he was certain.
“How did you know, I’m asking!”
“…You were the one who asked.”
“Still!”
It’s scary that you actually got it right!
I was genuinely flustered and stammered with my mouth agape. Words wouldn’t come out easily.
“My face is different and my voice is different too! I’m a completely different person!”
“But you asked if I couldn’t recognize you anyway?”
“I was just asking! I wasn’t even expecting it!”
“Really?”
“…I was hoping a little.”
“Good that you’re honest.”
Raven smiled lightly and tapped my forehead. He withdrew the sword that had been hanging below my throat and stepped back a little. Even as I watched him walk with large strides to sit on the sofa, I couldn’t completely shake off my bewilderment.
How did he recognize me? What is he, some kind of fortune teller? What the hell.
What the hell made him recognize me!
“Raven. I’m asking seriously. How did you know it was me?”
“Stop saying the same thing and come sit here. Where did you get the maid outfit?”
“This is what I was originally wearing… no, that’s not right. You should be asking what happened.”
“You keep saying ‘what’ over and over.”
“Why are you acting so relaxed!”
Shouldn’t it be the other way around?!
Raven eventually got up and led me to the sofa himself. After settling me on the plush sofa and sitting down beside me, he said.
“I’m curious too.”
“Not as curious as I am.”
Now you’re starting to seem like a ghost to me.
“What resemblance gave it away? Was it obvious?”
“Well.”
“Do you gain the ability to see through people’s identities when you become an imperial prince?”
“As if that could be possible.”
Raven burst out laughing as if it was absurd. The one who’s really absurd here is me.
“I just knew somehow.”
He’s calling this an answer.
“That’s not an answer.”
“Because your eyes are similar?”
Unlike when he called my name, this time it was a question. Usually it should be the opposite.
“You didn’t recognize me at all when we first met.”
“Ah, back then…”
Raven furrowed his brow. You’ll get wrinkles. When I pressed his brow with my finger, he smiled.
“I thought it was strange. The way you looked at me felt oddly familiar.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You looked at me coldly like I was the world’s trash.”
“Me?”
Why is he playing innocent?
“You.”
“That’s a misunderstanding. I wasn’t really angry back then.”
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t lie in front of you.”
Since he added the qualifier ‘in front of,’ I guess he does it well behind my back. Instead of nitpicking his words, I narrowed my eyes and looked at him.
“It was ordinary. My brother always collapses in front of me, so I thought it was just another one of those times. It was tiresome, but I wasn’t angry.”
He seems innocent.
“Do you go around threatening people with your eyes like that when I’m not around…?”
“I threatened you?”
“Do you know how scary it was? That was the first time I realized how frightening you could look. Usually…”
You smiled quite well normally, didn’t you? Even if it was closer to smirking. You joked around well and skillfully returned any provocations.
“Anyway, it’s the complete opposite of your true nature.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Do I resemble Evelyn a bit?”
“If you stood next to Evelyn now, you’d look exactly like sisters, right?”
Raven reached out and brushed my hair aside. He seemed to want to see my eye color, so I quietly showed him my face. Then Raven actually pulled back slightly.
“Even your eye color is exactly the same.”
“…Who played this prank? Lady Anais?”
“No.”
Since I couldn’t say it was Seth’s doing, I roughly explained that I had arrived at Wentworth Domain and was asked to treat a beastman.
“As soon as you touched a child who appeared to be sleeping, you were inhabiting that child’s body?”
“Yes. She’s a maid at the separate palace. Her name is Sena.”
“Why did you go to my brother?”
“The head maid sent me on an errand to deliver documents.”
“What I’m asking is why you went to my brother instead of me.”
“Well, because he had collapsed…”
“…”
“What else could I do? If I was with you and something happened to him, you’d be wrongly accused.”
“It was really your first time meeting my brother?”
“Of course! I’ve only been like this for a short while.”
“For such a short time, you two seemed oddly close.”
“No we weren’t, you idiot.”
I firmly twisted Raven’s nose. How is it that even with his nose twisted, he still looks handsome…
Raven, who had been quietly looking at me while his nose was ungracefully grabbed, grinned.
“So you helped my brother because you were worried about me.”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Raven looked unnecessarily pleased. I felt strange and pulled back a little.
“Anyway, I don’t know what’s happening to my original body, and Evelyn and the twins are probably worried, so I came to you to let my parents know about my situation.”
Seth said he would send me back when the time comes, but he didn’t tell me when that would be.
‘I don’t think he’ll keep me trapped here for long though.’
This too was merely a premonition.
Seth spouted nonsense about showing me kindness, but I probably thought it was because he wanted to show me something. It went without saying that it wouldn’t be helpful to me.
What the hell is his scheme. It was also strange that he specifically chose a ‘beastman’s’ body.
Knowing I was being played with while being unable to change the situation was quite stressful.
“That works out perfectly. I was planning to go to the Wentworth Estate this evening anyway. I heard they’ve identified where Maria is hidden.”
“Mom and Dad are totally capable! Let’s go quickly! Oh, you’re busy. When can you go? Should I wait? I’ll be good! I’ll just stand here quietly!”
“Calm down.”
I felt like a puppy begging to go for a walk. His laughter annoyed me for no reason. I could go by myself, you know.
“Shana?”
“Why are you calling me.”
“Your body.”
What? I was startled and looked down at my hand. My hand was blurring hazily.
This was the same sensation as when I held Maria’s handkerchief.
I knew this would happen. I knew that bastard Seth wouldn’t leave me alone. I wasn’t careless, it’s right in my palm, that bastard.
‘Did he make it with a beastman’s body so he could use this body as a part too? Nathan seemed to like this body. That lying bastard Seth, what kindness! Actually, this works out better – if I’m being dragged along, that’s even better.’
First, I had to get away from Raven. I couldn’t let him get involved. But Raven grabbed my wrist faster than that, preventing me from moving away.
“Hey, let go…”
But before I could finish a single sentence, Raven pulled me into a strong embrace. Somehow I couldn’t budge at all. I definitely got stronger though.
“No. Not this time. I can’t let you go.”
This future tyrant who doesn’t know how to listen.
…This idiot who doesn’t know how precious his own body is…
‘Bring Sena! Where did you hide Sena?’
‘I want to sleep deeply.’
‘Where did you go, Sena.’
Nathan’s weak voice could be heard.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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