I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 87

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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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87

Chapter 19. Beasts Don’t Only Live in the Jungle (4)

Like Mother, the Graceful Empress was also someone who truly didn’t age.

Perhaps because of that, the dignified and stately Emperor with deep wrinkles looked relatively older. I greeted the two people sitting side by side at the head table according to proper etiquette. Raven looked at me as if surprised.

I may look like this, but I learned everything I needed to learn. I’m organic, organic…

My Parents nearby were looking at me with pleased smiles. The people around were staring at the two sweetly smiling figures with disbelieving eyes.

Don’t look at them, look at the Emperor, Mother, Father…

“Raven. Welcome back after completing your long 11-year journey abroad.”

“I merely fulfilled the duties I was obligated to perform.”

“Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease. You have made known the strength of the Bayard Empire to the continent in my stead, and furthermore expanded our territory by subjugating the Riamd Kingdom – your achievements are great. If there’s anything you desire, I’ll grant whatever it may be, so speak.”

“Emperor’s health is my most earnest wish, so you’ve already granted my desire.”

“Ha, really…”

An inevitable hearty laugh spread across the Emperor’s somewhat sharp face. It was a gaze as if looking at a grandchild rather than a son. Only then did I feel a little relieved.

“Truly befitting the Prince who will lead the Empire following in my footsteps. Your capacity to think of the Empire’s future without being bound by small achievements before your eyes is very great.”

Earlier he said the achievements were great, now he calls them small achievements before one’s eyes. His rhetoric of elevating concern for his health as thinking of the Empire’s future was masterful.

Raven responded as if accustomed to it.

“You’ve held such a grand banquet and festival for me. This is sufficient for me.”

“Yes! Yes, good! Enjoy yourself to the fullest! Today is a joyous day!”

And finally it was my turn. When the two people’s gazes reached me, I deliberately put on a well-mannered act. Perhaps understanding it as nervous gestures, the Graceful Empress spoke gently.

“It’s been a long time, Shana. Seeing you here makes it even more delightful.”

“I’m sorry for not visiting you more often, Your Majesty.”

When the Empress spoke first, the Emperor glanced at her. Then as if competing, he spoke up.

“You’ve grown beyond recognition. The last time I saw you was…”

“It would have been when I was 11, Your Majesty.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Time really flies.”

Could it be dementia? The Emperor was Raven’s father, but not just in appearance but in age too, he was closer to a grandfather and grandson.

No matter how I looked at it, the Empress was such a waste that it smelled criminal, making their two-shot quite uncomfortable to watch.

“I look forward to seeing you more often in good occasions in the future. Hoho, we shouldn’t interfere with young people’s time. Now, Raven. Since you’re the star today, please open tonight with the first dance.”

Raven bowed, then turned to me and extended his hand.

I expected it, but indeed I’m the one who has to open the first dance with him… He returned after 11 years, couldn’t he show some filial piety by dancing the first dance with his mother? I hesitated for a moment, then placed my hand on Raven’s.

“Do you know how to dance?”

“What do you take me for?”

Father’s joy for a time was teaching me to dance. Though I wasn’t particularly athletic, I wasn’t bad at rhythm, so fortunately I could learn easily.

Waltz was surprisingly an exercise that required tremendous core strength. It wasn’t called dancesport for nothing. With my stamina, two songs a day was the limit, and I needed sufficient rest between songs.

“And what if I didn’t know how to dance?”

“I was going to tell you to step on my feet.”

“…I graduated from that when I was eight… Are you my dad?”

“Isn’t this better? I’m younger and more handsome.”

Should I point out that his confidence is excessive? I closed my mouth and got into position.

From now on, I need to concentrate. Fortunately, the music was a song I knew, and since everyone was watching us, I didn’t need to worry about bumping into anyone. There was no need for high-difficulty moves like changing partners either.

I steadied my breathing with the solemn heart of an idol about to debut. This is a stage.

Raven, you’re not a partner but a rival. I’ll shine brighter than you. This is competition…

“Shana.”

“What. I need to concentrate, so don’t talk to me.”

“Did I ever say I liked you?”

“What?”

“Just so you know.”

The moment I looked up at Raven, he started the steps, and I was pulled along.

Hey, what kind of confession do you make so suddenly!

***

Thunderous applause poured out. Wonderful! A perfect couple! Excellent!

‘I did it!’

Though my rhythm was disrupted because the starting timing was stolen, I never once stepped on Raven’s feet, nor did my steps get tangled. I tried to keep rhythm while being mindful of my expression management.

I liked how the voluminous dress hem spread like blooming petals each time it spun around, so I spun two or three more times without noticing my aching feet, and by the time the dance ended, I was breathless.

I must endure, I must endure. Smiling face…!

Surprisingly, maintaining my expression was as difficult as not messing up the dance. I don’t know how people manage to dance while even having leisurely conversations.

‘This must be social life in this world…!’

I completely ignored Raven who kept talking to me throughout the dance. It wasn’t that I wanted to ignore him, but I couldn’t catch the timing to speak.

“I lost! I lost…. Huff….”

“How can there be winning or losing in dancing?”

“There is! I was being led around the whole time!”

“The result was good, so isn’t that fine?”

“I’m the type who values the process over results, huff….”

“For now, you need to rest.”

Raven grabbed my elbow as if supporting me. I could see my parents approaching from afar with worried expressions. Since I need to rest right now, let’s dance later…. Mother seemed to understand my condition from looking at my complexion and held Father back.

I’m saved. If they had asked me to dance consecutively, I really would have fainted.

“Should we get some fresh air outside?”

“Anywhere, huff, where I don’t have to smile.”

“….”

“Trying to catch my breath while smiling, huff, is killing me, hah….”

“…The breathing sounds of a woman I like might not be this seductive….”

Raven looked down at me for a moment. You don’t like me. Why are you staring like that?

“People would never know you’re like this.”

“…I don’t think you’re one to talk.”

“Surprisingly, everyone knows. My personality.”

Raven led me to the sofa. After helping my staggering self sit down, he said.

“Wait a moment. I’ll bring something to drink.”

“Take your time.”

I waved my hand gently to see him off. Since my complexion must have turned pale from lack of breath, I planned to pretend to be sick and set the mood until Raven returned.

That way it won’t be awkward when I collapse later.

When should I collapse at the right moment? I had promised to dance with Father once today too, so at least not right now. When the atmosphere ripens a bit more, when people are watching me appropriately….

“Haah….”

A long sigh escaped naturally.

What should I do? Raven seemed more serious than I thought, quite so.

I had no idea what could have been the trigger for Raven to become conscious of me as the opposite sex. I wasn’t particularly someone who fit the feminine ideal of this era, and rather I was too free-spirited to fit into his world.

Although Raven had gone from considering me his possession to treating me as a friend, I honestly thought he wasn’t conscious of me as the opposite sex at all. I felt the same way.

But why, how did such a tragedy come to pass….

I could see Raven, who had been coming toward me, getting caught by people swarming around him. My parents visible in the distance were in the same situation. This place was a beast’s den.

A leopard approaches. It timed its attack and pounced, but the prey escaped! Oh no, how unfortunate. Ah, but there was a pitiful rabbit waiting where it fled to. It seems they can’t just leave an injured rabbit behind….

‘Still, he’ll get a new fiancée soon enough….’

It would be perfect if I had popcorn. Ah, Raven is one step away from exploding with irritation.

Near me too, people who seemed to want to talk to me were gathered and hovering around. But since my status was high, those of lower status couldn’t speak to me first when we had never met.

Father was one of only six dukes in the Empire, and in terms of rank, he was not inferior even compared to the Crown Prince. So they can’t easily approach me. Unless there’s someone I know….

This place was fun for a night’s entertainment, but too inconvenient to live in for a lifetime.

“Wentworth Noblewoman?”

“…Yes?”

I almost said Mr. Eason.

“Are you alright? You don’t look well. Ah, I’m called Nathan. For now, I’m Raven’s older brother.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m sorry for suddenly speaking to you and startling you. Thinking that you could have been my fiancée, I unconsciously felt friendly toward you….”

Mr. Nathan is Raven’s older brother? Didn’t they say he was weak? When he came to the hospital, I couldn’t find anything particularly wrong with him?

No, more than that, they don’t look alike at all? He’s handsome but not flashy? Then when I thought of the Emperor, it made sense. Ah. He was an upgraded version of the Emperor.

I blinked my eyes. Meeting an unexpected person in an unexpected place and even hearing an unexpected identity made my thoughts stop for a moment.

Mr. Nathan continued speaking in a friendly manner.

“Somehow we never got to greet each other. Since we might become family, I wanted to say hello.”

“I too…, am happy to meet you, Your Highness. Please forgive my rudeness due to my poor health.”

“I too have lived with a weak body my whole life. I understand that hardship well enough. Ah, please don’t get up.”

As I hurried to stand up, Mr. Nathan reached out his hand. He extended his arm as if to embrace my shoulders, and I was wondering if I’d be criticized for pushing it away, when Raven, who had rushed over, knocked his arm away instead of me.

Thwack!

…He must not have controlled his strength.

Mr. Nathan’s hand, which Raven had knocked away hard, swelled up noticeably. He really is physically weak. He seemed to have a paper doll body no less than mine.

‘Didn’t he say he got a potion prescription too…?’

Not only most illnesses, but his stamina should recover for a while too.

“Please don’t touch my fiancée, brother.”

“…Raven. There seems to have been a misunderstanding. I was just trying to help….”

Mr. Nathan, who trailed off, quietly lowered his gaze. The atmosphere of the people who had been desperate to impress Raven just moments ago changed completely in an instant.

How could you lay a hand on poor brother?

Originally, it should have been His Highness Nathan who became Crown Prince.

As expected, Prince Raven clearly lacks human emotions.

Rejection and wariness toward something extreme rippled like waves. As if looking at something alien.

‘Ah.’

It’s because of Nathan. This is.

People find guilt hard to bear. When even the slightest feeling of remorse toward someone arises, they don’t hesitate to attack others to eliminate it.

‘But so suddenly like this?’

Raven’s face changed again like when he was young.

It was the look he gave the bothersome and tiresome ‘other side.’

I can never leave Raven alone when he’s like this. Because I can’t leave him alone, I couldn’t refuse his request to come along either. Even knowing it was a lie, I was worried about this kind of thing.

I reached out and grabbed Raven’s index finger. I gripped it tightly.

Raven looked at me in surprise, then slowly exhaled. And quietly took my hand in return. His rigidly hardened lips softened.

Raven’s world is cold. Frozen cold.

Who made him this way?

I looked at Nathan. He was smiling harmlessly.

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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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