Chapter 31: Bad Talk
Juna sat on the edge of her bed, watching the princess sit at the small desk across the room.
’Why is she here?’ she thought, her tail wrapping tightly around her leg while her ears twitched. ’Is she going to confront me about something?’
She still felt that strange hostility whenever Didi was nearby. It wasn’t anything the princess actually did, but the feeling sat in the back of Juna’s mind like a constant, annoying itch that made it hard to relax.
Didi sat perfectly still for a long moment, looking at the floor with a very serious expression.
This all just made Juna even more nervous, ’she’s definitely going to say something bad, maybe she knows I don’t like her?’
Didi finally exhaled, looking up and meeting Juna’s eyes, "I have a massive favor to ask you," she said, her voice completely flat.
Juna stiffened, her claws digging slightly into the mattress. "What is it?"
"I need you to convince Hajin to attend the royal banquet next week," she said.
Juna blinked, her brain completely stalling. ’Wait, what? A banquet?’
"A banquet?" She repeated, her ears popping up in confusion.
"Yes," Didi said, rubbing her forehead. "The King is throwing a formal dinner next week to celebrate my safe return. All the major noble houses will be there, and my father expects my savior to attend. But I already know that if I ask him directly, he will flat-out refuse."
Juna tilted her head, ’he definitely would refuse.’
"He seems to hate nobles and attention," Didi continued, leaning back in the chair. "But he listens to you, well, I assume he does anyways, going off how I saw him treating you. If you ask him to go, he might actually say yes."
Juna felt her ears turn a little warm at that. ’He listens to me?’ she thought, looking down at her hands while a small, proud feeling settled in her chest.
’Why does hearing that make me feel happy?’ she thought, rubbing her thumb over her palm. She didn’t understand it, because he was still a human, but the idea that he actually valued her opinion made her feel genuinely good.
She shook her head quickly, trying to clear the thought before looking back up at Didi.
"I don’t have that kind of power over him," she said, her tail flicking nervously against the bed. "He does whatever he wants. If he already decided he hates nobles and doesn’t want to go, me asking him isn’t going to change his mind."
Didi watched her for a moment, her eyes dropping to the collarless neck and the cheap clothes Hajin had bought her.
"Are you sure?" She asked, tilting her head a little. "I mean... are you his slave? Because if you are, he treats you very differently than how most masters treat their property."
Juna went completely still, her ears pinning flat against her head while her claws slid out on instinct, digging into the mattress.
’A slave?’ she thought, the word making her feel light headed.
All the good feelings from a second ago vanished completely, replaced by a sudden, violent anger. She remembered the men in the guild looking at her like a piece of meat, assuming she was just a thing to be bought and sold. The fact that the princess looked at her and saw the exact same thing made her stomach twist with pure disgust.
She stood up fast, the mattress squeaking under her feet.
"I need to take a bath," she said, her voice dropping into a low, hostile tone. "Get out of my room."
Didi blinked, realizing she had stepped on a landmine, and quickly stood up from the chair.
"Wait, I didn’t mean it like that," she said, holding her hands up defensively. "I was just asking because beastkin usually—"
"I said get out!" Juna snapped, baring her teeth while mana flared around her hands.
"You ignorant royal brat," she said, taking a step forward while her claws gleamed in the light. "Fuck off right now before I claw your face off."
Didi stopped talking, her eyes dropping to Juna’s glowing claws for a second. She didn’t look scared, just deeply regretful that she had ruined whatever small progress they had made.
"I am sorry," she said quietly, giving a small bow before walking and closing the door softly behind her.
Juna stood there breathing hard, her claws slowly retracting back into her fingers while the anger started draining out of her, leaving her feeling completely tired.
She brought both hands up and rubbed her face hard.
"Dammit," she muttered, dropping back onto the bed.
Hajin knocked on her door exactly ten minutes later. When she opened it, he noticed right away that something was off.
Her eyes were a little red around the edges, and the usual way she held herself had shifted into something stiffer, more guarded. She looked like someone who had been crying but was trying very hard to pretend she hadn’t.
"You ready?" he asked, keeping his tone casual.
"Yeah," she said, stepping out and closing the door behind her without meeting his eyes.
They walked down the wide hallway together, heading toward the main dining hall after a servant had come by to summon them for a meal.
The silence between them felt stiff.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, noting how her ears were still pressed flat against her head. She kept her arms crossed tight, and her shoulders looked incredibly tense.
"Are you sure you are feeling alright?" he asked, looking directly at her face. "You look really off."
She looked away quickly, staring straight ahead, "I am fine," she said, her tone coming out a little sharper than she probably meant. "I just didn’t sleep well in a new place."
’Yeah, that is a complete lie,’ he thought, watching her tail flick irritably behind her. ’She slept like a rock last night. Did someone say something to her while I was exercising?’
He decided not to press the issue since she clearly did not want to talk about it, so he just nodded and started walking again.
A few minutes later, the sound of heavy boots echoed from the other end of the corridor.
A man walked toward them, wearing a dark coat tailored with expensive silver thread. His posture was completely straight, carrying that an arrogance you would only expect from a noble.
’Judging by those clothes, that guy is definitely a high-ranking noble,’ he thought, taking a step closer to the wall. ’I really do not want to deal with any pointless drama today.’
He reached out and gently pulled Juna by the sleeve, moving her to the side so the man had plenty of room to pass.
They stood quietly against the wall, but the noble did not just walk by.
He stopped right in front of them, his eyes slowly dragging over Hajin’s clothes before shifting to Juna. The man’s face remained completely blank, but the sheer contempt in his eyes was obvious.
He clicked his tongue before he started walking again without saying a single word.
Juna bared her teeth slightly, a low growl starting in the back of her throat, but Hajin put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place before she could do anything stupid.
The stream panel blinked at the edge of his vision right away.
[ CringeSlayer91:] bro what is his problem??
[ ShadowMage44:] just walking around clicking his tongue at people, what a loser
[ NewViewer_02:] hajin you should have tripped him
[ DarkBlade:] nah seriously, someone needs to give that guy an ass whipping
He ignored the chat, his eyes staying completely fixed on the noble’s back as the man turned a corner and disappeared.
It was not just the snobby attitude that bothered him.
’That wasn’t just a noble looking down on commoners,’ he thought, feeling a cold chill linger on the back of his neck.
For a split second when the man stopped, the air around him had turned completely heavy. It was hidden under a layer of calm composure, but Hajin recognized the feeling perfectly from his time hunting in the border woods.
It was pure, unrestrained bloodlust.
’He actually wanted to kill me right there,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing slightly while the corridor went quiet again. ’Just who the hell was that?’