#22. A Beast-person, You Say?

“Yes, I understand.”

“Ah, but are you certain the other commoner women aren’t thin?”

It was strange that the woman from that night was a noble.

The material, type, and number of clothes he had removed that night didn’t seem like something a noble woman would wear.

Even though he wasn’t in his right mind due to his heat, he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t remember the feeling and memory of what he touched with his own hands.

No.

I suppose I can’t claim to know much about women’s clothing. While my sensations might be accurate, my knowledge could be lacking.

Even so…

Something felt off.

It was a particularly shabby inn he had urgently entered when his spring heat cycle started a few days earlier than expected while moving to his villa.

The kind of place he would never stay at normally.

But a noble woman was staying there alone?

“Yes, excluding Chloe Liden, the other two are quite plump. Not thin at all.”

“Hmm… is that so? But that woman in Kinden… no, never mind. You may go.”

Hughgray changed his mind mid-sentence. If that woman really was the one he had imprinted on, he didn’t want to discuss her body with another man anymore. Even if it was Joyce, who was like his own limbs.

He had been displeased from the start when Joyce talked about the woman’s physical characteristics.

They had to discuss it to find her, so there was no choice. In fact, those details needed more explanation than her clothing or the inn’s condition.

“Yes, I’ll take my leave then.”

As he watched Joyce’s retreating back, Hughgray recalled that night.

Specifically, the image of the woman who was far from what one would call ‘voluptuous’.

Of course, Joyce’s standards could be different from his own.

But by his standards, he wouldn’t describe her that way. To him, she had simply been perfect in form. Just like everything else about her.

So it made sense to go see the woman in Kinden.

* * *

The Duke and Sir Joyce left for Kinden at dawn.

They would return late tonight at the earliest. Or perhaps tomorrow.

But if the Duke’s eyes were functioning normally, wouldn’t he return tonight after all?

He should be able to tell that the noble woman in Kinden wasn’t the woman from that night.

Either way, it didn’t matter to Chloe.

Anyway, the Duke had left and Chloe had gained freedom for today.

It felt like a dream to have this rest, considering how constantly the Duke had been calling for her until receiving the last message about Sir Joyce’s return.

Of course, after learning that the Duke had saved her mother, she wouldn’t mind even if he worked her harder than before.

She couldn’t help but reflect on how she had wondered if his personality had changed or if his character was different.

She was just one of many servants, yet he had spent money equivalent to her annual salary, or perhaps even more, to help a servant’s family.

With her current feelings, if only the Duke would stop searching for the woman he spent that night with, she felt she could serve as his attendant for another 10 years, if not for life.

Knock knock knock.

While she was dwelling on her infinite gratitude toward the Duke, there was a knock. Chloe quickly opened the locked door.

Since returning to the Duke’s mansion, she always kept her door locked when in her room. Remembering how the Duke had searched for blonde hair, she couldn’t let her guard down.

The butler appeared beyond the opened door.

“Clyne, someone from the information guild is here. Come out and meet them for a moment.”

“Me?”

“They say they want to report directly to the person who made the request.”

“But the Duke made the request. I only ran the errand.”

“Well, you should at least tell them the Duke isn’t here. They say they want to confirm that with you too. That’s just how these information guild people work, you know.”

“Ah, I see. Yes, understood.”

She roughly understood what the butler meant.

They probably won’t even speak to anyone who isn’t the actual client. It seemed the information guild people wouldn’t trust anything unless it came from someone they had seen with their own eyes — even the news that the Duke, who made the request and paid them, was absent.

The guild member who had taken the request before was waiting for Chloe in the garden.

“So you’re here. I came to give an interim report, but I hear the Duke isn’t in.”

“Yes, that’s correct. The Duke is away, so you’ll need to come back tomorrow or the day after.”

“Looks like I’ll have to make two trips. Well, at least I’ve confirmed it. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

The guild member grumbled as if talking to himself.

“Or would you like to tell me, and I can relay it to him?”

Chloe asked with ulterior motives. It wouldn’t hurt to hear what the guild member had found out first.

“We don’t mind. You’re the one who brought us the request anyway. Of course, you’ll be responsible for the information after receiving it.”

Oh! It worked!

The information guild definitely trusted the person who had visited their guild directly the most.

They clearly put the highest faith in what they personally met, saw, and heard.

It was lucky for Chloe that the Duke had sent her to make the request, and that he happened to leave for Kinden today.

“Of course. Please tell me.”

As soon as Chloe finished speaking, the guild member delivered his findings as if he had been waiting to do so.

It was hard to tell whether to be surprised or disappointed, as it was the same information Sir Joyce had found.

That there were 5 people matching the conditions, and one of them was a noble from Kinden.

By the way, this person had also found out about Chloe Liden. Just how did they learn about her?

She had been too cautious to ask Sir Joyce in front of the Duke, but she thought she might carefully ask this guild member.

“How did you find all 5 of them? It couldn’t have been easy.”

“We have our ways. The noble lady was famous, and while the commoners’ information was harder to find… Well, that’s why we get paid for our work, right?”

“Ah, yes. Did you personally see all five of them?”

“No, not all. I only heard rumors about the Chloe in Bergen. They say she was the younger of blonde, blue-eyed twins. Several conditions match, but I didn’t see her. Recently, even the villagers haven’t seen that family.”

“The villagers?”

Was he talking about the people from the village at the foot of the mountain?

Those people knew about her family?

“Well, they lived in the mountains, and while they didn’t interact much with the villagers, they would come down occasionally to shop at the market. The twin siblings had such striking appearances that all the villagers who saw them once remembered them.”

“……!”

Good heavens.

She had thought they lived without drawing attention, but it was both surprising and chilling to learn that her family had left such an impression on people’s minds.

“Actually, that’s why I think that Chloe, the twin, might be exactly the woman the Duke is looking for.”

Chloe barely managed to suppress a shudder. The guild member continued listing his reasoning without being asked.

“Duke Wulfaz, I mean. He’s no ordinary person, right? Never even heard rumors of him meeting women. If such a Duke slept with a woman, she must have been quite beautiful, right? Like attracts like, that sort of thing.”

“No! You said you haven’t even met that woman. How do you know if she’s beautiful or not? And what do you mean ‘like attracts like’! I’m telling you they didn’t sleep together!”

Chloe couldn’t help but object.

Really, it was fortunate this person came when the Duke wasn’t here. He just says whatever comes to mind.

“Really? You’re saying Duke Wulfaz didn’t sleep with that Chloe woman? The inn, a man, a woman. It all adds up, doesn’t it?”

“Ha! No, it doesn’t.”

“If you say so. Why are you getting so worked up?”

“I’m not worked up… Do you have any other information?”

Realizing she had gotten too excited, Chloe composed herself and changed the subject.

“Nothing particularly. Ah! Except for the old folks’ absurd claims.”

“What claims from the elderly?”

“You know, from the owners of The Night of the Dog and Cat.”

“……?”

“Well, this hardly counts as information.”

The guild member scratched his head.

“No, please tell me everything you found out.”

Just what did the elderly people say?

Chloe tensed up, wondering if she had said something nonsensical to the old people while drunk.

“Ah. Well, according to those old folks, about the woman who stayed that night. Chloe. They said she was a beast-person?”

“What?”

What was this about? She was the woman who stayed that night, but they’re saying she’s a beast-person.

“See? I told you it doesn’t make sense. Beast-person? Where would you find beast-people these days? Really. There are rumors that some are hiding somewhere unknown to us, but it’s been over 200 years since beast-people disappeared.”

“Ha! Right. That’s nonsense. Why on earth would the old folks say such a thing?”

She was genuinely curious. What were the old people thinking to say such things?

“Who knows? They asked me why people were looking for that woman, saying someone else had come looking for her before but didn’t tell them why.”

He must be talking about Sir Joyce.

“And then?”

“What do you mean ‘and then’? I told them a high-born gentleman was looking for the woman he slept with.”

“What?”

Chloe raised her voice.