Translator: shiko
Proofreader: Myuuchi
Proofreader: Haru Honeyshiki and Royals
Chapter 6 "Doggy, why do you look so weak?"
My protests about "doggy" not being my name seemed to fall upon deaf ears. Just as I was about to tell him what happened, a memory pa.s.sed through my head. I looked up at the Emperor with determination in my eyes.
"Abel hit me…"
"What?"
The Emperor queried, an incredulous look gracing his face. I shook my head, pretending not to know.
This is not revenge.
Huu.
"Did Abel really touch you?"
"Yes."
I didn"t feel guilty. After all, it was Abel who tried to kill me in the first place, so I won"t lie about his warning. The Emperor patted my head.
"I"ll have a word with him."
"…Tell him a couple of things."
"I will."
Due to Abel"s departure, the Emperor"s answer made me sullen. I grinned and rubbed myself against him. Just like that, he patted my head, and it felt pleasant.
This felt like how you"d treat a pet, but to h.e.l.l with it! My goal to rattle up the Emperor was still valid, and it"s best to learn about power. In fact, it was a bit surprising even now.
Aizen Valeria Lasendall, the Emperor of the Lasendall Empire, was called a tyrant. Back when I couldn"t open my eyes was when I first heard of this man, and what I imagined him to be scared me.
But after our first meeting, I didn"t get a scary impression of him. I almost died, so it was still a little scary. However, after that, he"s always been nice to me.
Is this really the cruel tyrant who annihilated his father and his opponents to ascend the throne? Honestly, I don"t know.
"What"s wrong?"
"No, nothing."
I shook my head. There was no reason to ask him, the Emperor who was friendly to me, whether or not he was a tyrant.
"I"ll take you to your room."
The Emperor slowly began to move. I felt relaxed enough to fall asleep. A calm settled over me as I close my eyes, but suddenly, a great sense of guilt wrapped me. It was a guilt that I did not feel when I said lies to Abel to persecute him.
Huu, you"re telling me something, aren"t you? If I don"t speak up, I"ll feel like I"m hiding. I raised my paw, and the Emperor looked down at me when I placed it on his chest.
"What?"
"You know, there"s something I didn"t tell you."
"What is it?"
"The truth is… I went out and ran into a bunch of people."
That was the cause of my guilt: pretending not to know Abel. It wasn"t the only thing I hid from the Emperor, but I just wanted to repay his trust.
The Emperor stopped walking.
"People?"
"Mm. I went all the way to the stairs and b.u.mped into them. But when I spoke to them, they ran away."
"You spoke to them?"
I rolled my eyes and lowered my head gloomily.
"…Sowy."
He didn"t seem to be very angry, but I still felt the need to apologize to him. He, who looked at me with an unreadable expression, gave me a small smile.
"Well, it doesn"t matter. Why were you out there? I"m more curious about that."
"Barley rice… No, Boris ran away."
"Boris? Ah, the new guy."
"Yeah! I"ll curse him."
Even though I lacked teeth, I laughed brightly like "hihi" alongside the Emperor.
“Ah, come to think of it, I forgot to stop by the office.”
"Then, let me down here, and I"ll figure out how to get back."
The Emperor looked at me silently. I tilted my head and blinked. Why? Why are you looking at me like that?
I had a hunch, and that hunch told me that he doesn"t believe me.
"I can go by myself!"
"I"ll stop by the office, and I"ll take you with me."
"…Coming."
I jumped into his arms. This isn"t my room, but I think I could still look around. Since he brought me here, there must be a reason.
All right, let"s take a look! The Emperor smiled, seeing my twinkling eyes.
"Is it exciting?"
"Since I"ve just been born, it"s all unfamiliar…"
In the first play, this world, itself, is new to me. An unfamiliar world. If this was the novel world, I would recognize it. It might be because I retained my memories from my previous life.
I don"t intend to tell anyone about this fact, for I don"t know is there is anyone who will believe. It"s enough that I"m a talking dog.
“I"ll let you see more in the morning.”
"Okay!"
Again, I rubbed my face on the Emperor"s arms. The texture of the fabric was soft, so it felt nice. As expected of the Emperor! …You also use good cloth.
My eyes wandered around the palace as we approached a door. Is this your office?
The man waiting in front of a door opened it, his mouth dropping as the Emperor entered through it with me in his arms.
"Ah, Your Majesty. I"ve been waiting."
A man wearing a monocle greeted the Emperor informally. Though my eyes widened at the sight that beheld me from within.
Huge doc.u.ments stacked high upon each other until they reached the ceiling, and what was more surprising was that it was not limited to one or two piles. The expanse of the room was filled with doc.u.ments. In short, there was a mountain of papers.
Three desks were present, and accordingly, three people. I a.s.sumed that they were people who helped the Emperor in his work. They worked with their noses buried deep within their papers, indifferent to the Emperor"s entrance.
Of these three men, the one with a monocle approached the Emperor with a piece of paper, his fingers pressing hard on his temples. He startled me a glare.
"What is that dog?"
He clearly stared at me, while I awkwardly turned my head away from him. Umm…How am I supposed to react here? Thinking hard, I slowly lifted me head.
"…Bark?"
Silence greeted me. The other two who had their faces in their papers also turned to look at me. What, what?! What"s wrong?
"Your Majesty, that dog… is strange."
After a period of silence, the man with the monocle spat out his thoughts. Feeling restless, I pulled my head back.
I wish there was a rat hole I can hide in. It was the first time I"ve felt such humiliation, euk. I tried mimicking a dog"s barking with a dog"s body. How can this be?
In sorrow, I looked up at the Emperor. He was holding back his laughter. Ah, why are you laughing? Don"t laugh! But I couldn"t argue with him since I had to act like a dog. Soon enough, the Emperor laid his hand on my head.
"It"s alright to talk."
"…Really?"
Why would you let me talk? I turned my head away when I felt the coldness of my surroundings. Not mentioning the man with the monocle, the other two stared at me with their eyes wide open. I glanced at them and slowly opened my mouth.
"What you looking at? Never seen a talking dog before?"
"Your Majesty?!"
Everyone looked at me, stunned. Of course they"ve never seen a talking dog before. Confirming their reactions, the Emperor nodded admiringly.
"I also find it amazing that a dog can talk, and there"s nothing strange about an Imperial dog speaking. In the future, this doggy will become my loyal pet."
"I"m not "doggy"…"
I unconsciously raised my head and protested. I"m going to be a loyal dog? I don"t remember that being in my schedule. This is new to me.
The man in the monocle, obviously still in a state of shock, calmly and diligently looked at me, returning to stealthily observing me.
"Is this the pup Elijah gave birth to?"
"Yes. A talking dog could be a great diplomatic help. I"ll make a formal announcement when it grows older. It"s still young."
The Emperor stroked me, and somehow, I felt strange. Abelard regarded me as useless and threatened that he would kill me if I got in the way. Because of that, I thought I was an impurity in this world.
But the Emperor was different. He hasn"t ignored me since our first meeting, and now, he recognized my value. For reasons I was unaware of, I smiled.
I attempted to clench my fists, but it was impossible. Instead, I raised one of my paws and shouted,
"Your Majesty! I"ll grow up spectacularly!"
"What?"
"I"ll work out!"
Hiding at home was my hobby, so it"s not easy for me to exercise.
"I have to… eat food! But I can"t do that!"
I couldn"t allow myself to eat as much. It"s awkward because it feels like I"m being unfaithful to my previous life.
Those present looked at me with blank faces before laughing. Looking at them, my mouth opened slightly. Why are you laughing?
"Your Majesty, this dog is really cute. It"s name is… doggy?"
"Do you want to die? Call me Hari."
"Oh, you"re named "Hari"? Then, Hari, please take care of me."*
The man with the monocle reached out to me as if he was trying to stroke my fur. I lifted my front paw and placed it on his palm. No stroking. Only the Emperor can do that! Still, he was the first person to properly call me by my name, so it wasn"t a bad feeling.
"Plwase take care of me too!"
The excitement thrumming in my heart was hard to manage. In my past life, I was maltreated from beginning to end. After graduating from college, I barely managed to find a job and stayed at home. My mom constantly nagged me, and she hated to look at me.
On the other hand, my mother loved my brother no m after what he did. The more blatant the discrimination between us, the more my self-esteem withered away.
I told myself that she nagged me out of worry, but it didn"t feel that way. Then, I died and was reborn.
Here, the Emperor told me that I was useful. I can do anything I wanted to do, and so, to return his expectations, I wanted to be useful.
The Emperor, who dealt with everything in the office, brought me back to my room. Boris was there when he opened the door. When he saw us, he went rigid and straightened up. Where the h.e.l.l have you been?
The Emperor let me down when I hit his arm with my front paw. Eyes sparkling, I ran to Boris.
"Barley rice!"
"Eeeeeek?!"
Boris, looking deathly pale, ran away from me. He sighed with relief when he saw me stop, but the moment I took another step, he dashed away again, letting out some weird sound.
"Tch."
I stared at Boris with the sound of howling wind. He then stepped back, letting out another "Eek!". At this point, I feel like I"m carrying some sort of infectious disease.
I"m just a dog. A cute, loveable, newborn pup!!
I looked back at the Emperor and pointed at Boris with my front paw.
"Your Majesty! He"s neglecting his duties, neglecting his duties!"
"N-No!"
"You"re completely negligent now!"
Boris hesitantly came towards me with a pale complexion. When are you going to arrive here?
"Haah…"
I sighed deeply. There"s a long way to go. If I approached him once more, he"d run away, so in my fatigue, I stayed still. Boris then approached me gradually.
Like yesterday, a bright light erupted from Boris"s hands. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warm and cozy air. All feelings of hunger and fatigue dissipated when he removed his hands.
"Thank you, barley rice!"
"Barley rice…"
After thanking Boris, I ran back to the Emperor, but at that moment, my feet got tangled, causing me to fall over.
"Uweng!"
"Doggy?"
HHG has dropped this novel but i"m wayy too attached to stop translating