Chapter 10 – An unexpected turn of events

Several days have passed since that day, and it may even seem that its events are long forgotten, but I still have this strange feeling that a certain challenge connected to it lies in front of me. After all, life is never easy when you are a half demon, and my experiences from the past taught me to beware of possible complications at any time.

On the other hand, I have to say that the past few days have been quite calm, almost as if everyone slowly accepted my unrequested presence here to the point of pretending it's nothing unusual, so one would say I have nothing to complain about.

Nevertheless, there was one thing that 'surprisingly' kind of annoyed me, well, at least to some point. It was how Lord Inutaisho always seemed to know what I was doing every day. Of course, he could not follow me all day long, which left me to the idea of a sort of watch or spy, but the most obscure element in this theory was that I could not find out anyone doing so, which confused me a lot.

'If there's a spy, how can they go totally unnoticed?' I've never smelled nor heard anyone, but there clearly must be someone. 'Could it be I'm just failing to realise it? Am I worse in monitoring my surroundings than I thought?' All those questions kept streaming in my mind especially in times when some of my doings were brought to light, however insignificant they were.

I mentally sighed. 'There is no way I would miss a dog demon following me around here!' I told myself, and it was the exact moment when it struck me. 'Dog demon! What if it's not a dog demon! There might be smaller demons loyal to Inutaisho! How stupid of me!' Finally realising this information, I start to wonder about the supposed guardian watching over me – or to be specific who it actually may be. 'How tiny this small demon could be? Like… size of the mouse? No, that would still be quite easy to notice, wouldn't it? Well, of course, it's less noticeable than dog, but still…'

I walked from side to side of my room, thinking about this riddle. 'Come on, Natsuki! What are the smallest living creatures you know? … smallest… tiny… Wait a sec… it can't be… Insects?!' I blinked at the sudden idea, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. After all, tiny insects are easily overlooked due to their insignificance.

It was already getting quite late, so I lay myself on the bed, closing my eyes. 'Alright, now I suppose I have an idea on who might be watching me all the time, however, I have still to notice them in reality… The most reliable way how to find out is probably to trick them to show themselves… but of course that is easier said than done… I don't know anything… neither the time nor the distance I am being watched from.' I started to realise that figuring this puzzle out will be very challenging.

'Or... maybe I'm just overthinking this...' After all it's not like my life is on the line unlike some of my previous experiences. I suppose that relaxing a bit more while taking this as a distraction is a better option here. The worst that can happen to me is probably being scolded. 'Well, at least I hope so.' I smile a bit at that and fall asleep peacefully in the next five minutes.

…

The next morning, I venture to the halls with a basic plan. I feel like there are some holes in it, but surprisingly I'm not too bothered by it. If I'm not mistaken Lord Inutaisho is not in the castle for today. At first, I spend some time in the library, going through some books as usual, then I simply roam around the place, doing basically nothing. Later I stop at the walls where I sat down for a while. Oh, I've nearly forgotten to mention that as the day goes on I make myself look sadder and more reserved, deliberately avoiding the others company. 'Not that that would be such a challenge!' I mentally smirk. Anyway, I hope it will put the little spy on edge.

It's in the evening that I make this plan of mine culminate. I'm alone in one of the rooms with no one else close enough to hear me, well except for the demon probably watching me. It has already gotten quite dark, when I look out of the window with a lonely expression.

"I suppose, it's time for me to finally disappear…" I mutter to myself with a broken voice, hide my scent with my powers, open the window, and silently jump up on the roof. As I do so, I focus my senses to the max, and to my pleasure I notice almost inaudible yelp, followed by the familiar feeling when someone leaves my scent protection. I aim all of my attention at the source of it and find out that it's a small flee that is heading towards the main gate. I suppress a smirk as I continue to pretend I'm trying to leave the castle for a few more seconds before returning to my room, which I enter by a window that I let slightly opened in the morning. Still hiding my scent, I sit down on the bed, being both pleased and amused by how well it went.

'Maybe I could get some rest now…' I think to myself, but then if only for the sake of entertainment I decide to keep hiding my scent for another half an hour. A childish smile crosses my face every time I hear some noise from the halls. 'Oh my… I should put myself together soon!' I haven't returned to my child-self for quite a long time, but this place may not be the best option for me.

Having calmed a bit I release the scent protection, and I kind of expect someone coming into the room, but no one does so, which is why I fall asleep shortly after that.

…

I'm woken up by the door crashing open. I blink to settle my vision, and I am greeted by a stern look on Inutaisho's face. 'Oops, looks like I'm in trouble…'

"I've heard a certain rumour," the Lord says, stressing the last word, and his icy tone sends a shiver down my spine, "and I have no intention of leaving before it is explained to me!" For the first time since my first encounter with him I feel uncomfortable. "A rumour…?" I reply silently, wondering if someone made up more to the story then there is.

"Yes, a rumour. A rumour of you deciding to leave this place out of nowhere!" That caught me off guard. I expected something in the sense of a-romour-of-you-deciding-to-give-the-quards-here-a-hard-time-by-playing-a-foolish-game, but not this. Being now fully awake I noticed from Lord Inutaisho's tone that his concern was the act of leaving itself rather than the impact it had on the other beings in the castle. 'But why? Could it be… that he genuinely cares…?'

Suddenly I feel a bit remorseful. I momentary close my eyes before replying: "I wasn't planning on leaving…" His eyes prompt me to continue. I take a deep breath to explain the situation slowly, but I suddenly realise that the small flea from yesterday is present in the room as well which makes me shorten my reply. "I was simply trying to get to know this flea that has been keeping me company for some time already," I say while pointing subtly my head to the direction the little demon was at.

A small "What?!" comes from that place, but I keep looking at the dog demon expression which undergoes a change. At first the rises an eyebrow in mild surprise, and then the gleam in his eyes turns from annoyance to understanding. "I suppose it's clear to me now," he says before calling: "Myoga!" The flea jumps on his shoulder and I can finally see what the little spy looks like: "Yes, milord!" "It seems you failed to remain unnoticed…" "But milord, she made it look like she was really leaving, and I felt like-" "Enough of that." "Yes, milord!"

Then Lord Inutaisho turns his attention back to me: "Honestly, I did not expect you to be looking for troubles like this… Anyway, with the recent turn of event it looks like it may make a certain difference…" His remark confuses me, so I look at him questioningly. 'Could he mean another test of strength in a fight…?" I wonder, but a subtle shake of his head answers my thought.

He looks at me with what I would distinguish as uncertain expression and says: "Young lady Akemi has requested for you to be her new lady-in-waiting."

'WHAT?!'

A/N: Firstly, I would like to thank an unnamed friend who encouraged me to write this down. Secondly, I want to apologise for yet another long gap between chapters. Thirdly, I would kindly like to ask for your feedback because it has the power to motivate me to continue writting. At lastly, I want to thank to everyone reading this story, for... your silent support. =D

Published: August 17, 2018