The Daughter of Evil - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.14

chapter 3, section 1-the inside story on the girl; scene 4
Praefacio of Blue, page 161-162

✥ Kyle Marlon ~The Country of Marlon, “Freezis Estate/Foyer”~

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My whole body hurt from being clawed up by Keel.

“That jerk…He really overdid it.”

Though it was my fault for forgetting the depth of Keel’s affection towards Yukina.

There’s certainly going to be an uproar when she eventually gets married.

I imagined what that would look like, and without thinking let out a sarcastic laugh.

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In the foyer I ran into Mikina, playing with a red cat.

“Oh, heading home so soon?”

She smiled at me with a face so youthful you could hardly tell she was older than me.

Mikina was a long-standing acquaintance of mine in her own right. In actuality, I had known her quite a while before I’d even met Keel.

I had met Mikina, the young daughter of the famed Sfarz family, at a dinner party that had been held in Marlon castle when I was ten years old. My first impression of her was that, unlike the other sheltered noble girls, she was a consistent and level-headed person. At that time I had no idea that later on she was the kind of daring individual who would run away with Keel and emigrate to Elphegort.

Because we’d known each other for so long, we didn’t have the kind of relationship where we showed that much tact on the difference between our social positions. Normally, when the ruler to one’s country came by to visit someone’s house, the lady of the family would dress up and play the role of the lovely, virtuous wife as well as she could. But Mikina didn’t get herself worked up like that, nor had I any wish for her to.

I was more concerned with the cat that was with her than her. I felt like I’d seen it somewhere before.

That’s right. Abyss. That’s the cat she always had with her.

Come to think of it Elluka had told me that the cat had wandered here soon after Abyss’ defeat.

Well, it’s not like the cat’s done anything wrong.

After bidding farewell to Mikina, I headed for the front gate. I could see my retainers and bodyguards waiting for me there.

–At that moment, I had forgotten.

I had forgotten that a single cat had barged in at the banquet where I had first met with Mikina. That, though I had thought her a steady person, the moment she’d seen that cat she’d screamed and fainted.

That she’d whispered to me, in a voice so faint I could barely hear, that she hated cats.