Baby Squirrel Is Good at Everything-Chapter 64

Although the misunderstanding that her family disliked her had been resolved, Beatty still found it difficult to grow accustomed to those kinds of gazes.

All she had done was briefly lose consciousness, no different from a short nap, yet she was being treated with such excessive care...

“It’s not like I was that sick.”

Still feeling awkward, Beatty absentmindedly pressed down on the soft white blanket, smoothing out its wrinkles.

“I’m not some dandelion seed...”

As if they thought she might break if they held her too tightly or that she would fly away with the slightest breeze.

She truly felt like a delicate, fluffy seed that could be carried off at the slightest gust.

Even the mere sight of her stumbling slightly as she got out of bed sent her family into a frenzy, as if the very foundation of the duchy had begun to crumble.

As a result, Beatty had been confined to her room for days on end. Yet, even so—

“So this is what it feels like... to be worried about.”

Even the excessive attention, which some might find suffocating, felt pleasant to Beatty, who had never before experienced such a natural form of familial care.

For some reason, her cheeks felt hot, and in an attempt to shake off the embarrassment, she rubbed her face vigorously.

Knock, knock.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“You have a visitor here to see you.”

Hearing the announcement, Beatty tilted her head in confusion.

"Who could it be?"

Unlike Beatty, who was busy trying to think of anyone who might visit her, Carl immediately scowled, as if he already knew exactly who it was.

"Tch. He actually came? Annoying little pest."

Clicking his tongue, Carl openly voiced his disapproval. In contrast, the Duke remained expressionless as always.

“My child.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t want to see them, you can refuse.”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s fine.”

Beatty blushed at his concern for her, but unlike usual, the Duke’s expression darkened slightly.

“Are you certain? If it makes you uncomfortable, I will not allow them to take a single step inside.”

Though his face remained impassive, his tone was unusually firm, as if he was strongly encouraging her to refuse.

Almost as if he wanted her to say no.

"Wait... why?"

Even if she didn’t refuse, wasn’t it up to her father whether the visitor was allowed inside in the first place?

While the Aslan family was discussing among themselves, the door finally opened.

“Oh!”

Beatty’s eyes widened.

“It’s been a while, my lady.”

The visitor, stepping into the room with a bright smile, was none other than Aether.

The Duke scowled, his face filled with undisguised disapproval as he recalled the moment when the First Prince had requested to visit.

“Is the little lady alright?”

“Tch.”

At Aether’s question—one that he only ever asked when Beatty wasn’t around to hear—Carl clicked his tongue in irritation.

“So? Is that a yes or a no?”

“......”

Carl simply turned away with a sulky expression, showing no intention of answering.

In the end, Aether turned to the Duke instead.

“Your Grace?”

“What is it.”

“About Aslan’s little lady—”

“I have reviewed the report you provided.”

The Duke curtly cut him off before he could finish.

“Aslan does not withhold gratitude when given assistance. Name your reward.”

To make it clear that this was an official gesture of recognition, the Duke, who spoke informally to all but the king himself, addressed Aether with formal courtesy.

“Hmm. No, there’s no need for a reward.”

But this time, it was Aether who disrupted the Duke’s flow of conversation.

“It was purely a personal favor.”

Aether knew exactly why the Duke was offering compensation: to erase any lingering "personal" ties between him and Beatty with a hefty reward.

“If you don’t want money, I can lend you the power of my house instead. Surely the First Prince has use for it?”

“Haha. Really, there’s no need.”

Feigning ignorance of the Duke’s intentions, Aether smiled casually and made his request.

“Rather than that, I’d like to visit Aslan’s little lady.”

“......”

The Duke’s gaze turned icily sharp.

"Tch."

The fact that Aether refused to simply accept a reward and leave irked him.

Back when he had seen him on the battlefield, he had thought that, for a royal, Aether had a decent level of military talent.

"Like a conniving reptile."

Whether it was a snake or a dragon—

You could never trust a reptilian beastkin.

Seeing Aether’s clear interest in Beatty, the Duke erased any prior favorable impression he had and instead regarded him with open hostility.

“Your Grace?”

Grinning, Aether pressed for an answer.

By now, in the Duke’s eyes, the First Prince was nothing more than a tenacious leech.

Still, he couldn’t completely disregard the merit of Aether having brought the report.

Grit.

In the end, the Duke was forced to grant permission, though not without grinding his teeth in frustration.

***

"If not for that."

If only he had figured out what had happened to his child sooner.

Normally, with Aslan’s long-standing influence, it would have been possible to gather such information.

However, the vast spread of the battlefront during the Great War had created a serious obstacle.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

To track the movements of enemy forces pouring in en masse, their intelligence network had been stretched beyond the kingdom’s borders.

Furthermore, with the royal family firmly established in the capital, the city had always been a place shrouded in secrecy, making investigations even more time-consuming.

Retrieving the scattered informants from across the continent and redeploying them had added further delays.

Ultimately, despite having fallen out of the king’s favor, the First Prince—born to an imperial mother from the Eastern Continent and with his main base situated in the capital—was bound to have the upper hand in intelligence gathering.

After all, he was investigating his own backyard.

The Duke had no desire to grant permission, absolutely none. But regardless of his reluctance, the First Prince had discovered Beatty’s situation first.

“But that is that.”

Though he was forced to permit the visit, the Duke did not do so unconditionally.

Strict conditions were set.

Maintain an appropriate distance.

No physical contact under any circumstances.

No unnecessary conversation.

Immediate expulsion if he caused Beatty even the slightest discomfort.

The Duke had listed these conditions in a low voice, his presence radiating such intense pressure that Aether had muttered, “Killing intent?” in disbelief. But the Duke hardly even remembered that.

"If he breaks even one of these rules..." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Recalling the lengthy list of restrictions, the Duke watched the First Prince with razor-sharp focus.

He fully intended to interpret these conditions in the broadest ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ sense possible.

An "appropriate distance" meant staying out of Beatty’s field of vision.

"Contact" included not only handshakes but even a mere kiss on the back of the hand.

"Unnecessary conversation" meant any words spoken to Beatty that did not come from family.

Most importantly, anything that made Beatty uncomfortable was absolutely forbidden.

When someone feels uneasy, their face naturally tightens, doesn’t it?

At the moment, it seemed like Beatty was merely startled by the unexpected visitor.

"But the moment she even so much as knits her brows—he's out."

If her eyebrows, forehead, or even her pupils so much as twitched in displeasure, he would immediately throw the prince out.

As a result, Aether was now in danger of being kicked out the instant Beatty so much as sneezed.

—

“My lady, I came to see the face I’ve missed.”

Yet, completely oblivious to his precarious situation, Aether smiled brightly and approached Beatty.

For Aether, it had been days since he last saw her. The ironclad watch of the lion beasts surrounding the supposedly "ill" Beatty had been so strict that not even in his beastkin form had he been able to approach.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ah.”

Beatty blinked at the unexpected note of concern in his voice before answering.

“I’m fine now. Thank you for your concern.”

She began to lower her head in gratitude, but Aether quickly stopped her.

“There’s no need to bow. It’s only natural to worry about someone who’s unwell.”

"Is it?"

Up until now, the only people Beatty had ever seen worry over her being sick were the Duke and Carl.

She tilted her head, pondering the unfamiliar concept.

“I heard that it was Your Highness who informed my family about what happened in the capital.”

Her aunt’s embezzlement of her upbringing funds.

The abuse from the servants under her aunt’s control.

Had the misunderstanding never been cleared, she might have lived the rest of her life never even realizing she had been mistreated.

“No, more than that...”

Through this ordeal, she had come to understand her family’s sincerity.

And for giving her that opportunity, Beatty felt truly grateful toward Aether.

It was still a little unfamiliar, but the person she had once only thought of as her brother’s friend now carried the label of someone to be grateful to.

Beatty spoke with sincerity.

“Truly, thank you, Prince Aether.”

Her black eyes—ones Aether had once thought resembled the starry night sky—curved in a smile, shining as brightly as the sun.

Faced with a smile more dazzling than sunlight, Aether froze.

For once, he completely forgot to put on his usual slick demeanor.

Instead, the boy found himself momentarily lost in Beatty’s smile, before hurriedly averting his gaze.

“No need for thanks.”

For the first time in his life, someone had thanked him without any ulterior motives, without any hidden agenda—pure, unfiltered gratitude.

"Little Star was always like this."

She had always been the first to give him something he had never experienced before.

The first to meet his eyes without hesitation.

The first to look at him without fear.

The first to show him an expression filled with nothing but sincerity.

And they were all given to him by his Little Star.

The smile that came across Aether’s face in response was powerful in its purity.

Blink, blink.

Beatty instinctively reacted as if she had been blinded by something too bright.

She even felt an urge to rub her eyes, as if she had just witnessed an impossibly beautiful painting.

“My lady’s smile is my greatest joy.”

Fortunately, the overly smooth words that followed brought Beatty back to reality.