IPBD CHAPTER 6

“You’re right, but the filthier the secret, the more flies it attracts. Take care of it before it becomes troublesome.”

“Understood.”

The man bowed solemnly.

Roidane gestured for him to leave.

As the man was about to exit the room, Roidane, as if remembering something, added:

“Don’t forget to clean up once it’s done.”

“It’s a pity. George was quite a capable subordinate.”

When the man murmured with a regretful expression, Roidane narrowed his eyes and asked:

“Are you planning to spare him?”

“Of course not. Dangerous secrets are best kept as secrets between two people—it’s the only way they remain beautiful.”

The man shrugged with a cheerful tone.

Roidane, pleased with the man’s answer, burst out laughing heartily.

It was this demeanor that made Roidane keep the man close.

In Roidane’s life, disturbances were simply unacceptable.

That was why he didn’t hesitate to eliminate obstacles.

When the man bade farewell again, Roidane didn’t stop him this time.

With the business concluded, it was now time for each to focus on their respective tasks.

Leaning back into the luxurious leather chair, Roidane pondered.

If his older brother hadn’t married that woman of no standing, things wouldn’t have come to this.

Roidane smirked coldly as he thought of his lowborn nephew, Kairzen Dietrio.

Once that brat was gone, the Dietrio Dukedom would be flawless.

***

“Yangi, are you hungry?”

Before going to bed, Emelina, who had been reading a book for a moment, looked down at her lap, feeling a vibration.

Yangi, seemingly embarrassed, was licking his left paw, pretending not to notice.

“Hungry?”

Yangi shook his head.

“Liar. I can hear it even now.”

As if in response to Emelina’s words, a growling noise came from Yangi’s stomach, making her laugh.

Yangi’s stomach was an honest one.

Was it because he was growing? She thought she’d given him enough for dinner.

“You sure eat a lot,” Emelina said as she picked up Yangi and headed to the kitchen.

Since there weren’t any snacks around to nibble on, she decided to make him a late-night treat.

Fortunately, the dough made from the Paya fruit had just reached the perfect level of fermentation.

It was the ideal time to try making pancakes.

“Just wait a bit. I’ll whip up something delicious for you.”

“Gyao?”

“Do you remember when we first met? Those white, sweet fruits? This dough is made from the leftovers of those.”

Typically, once the pulp of the Paya fruit was used, the remaining parts would be mashed to extract oil.

Paya oil had many uses, making it quite valuable.

However, the residue left after oil extraction was too dry and crumbly to be eaten, so it was either fed to animals or discarded.

Emelina thought that was such a waste.

With just a bit of creativity, it could be turned into something edible and delicious instead of being thrown away.

After some experimentation, she discovered that lightly extracting the oil and then mashing the remains eliminated the dry, crumbly texture.

It had taken her two tries to figure it out.

By adding the right amount of milk and eggs, the resulting dough was quite satisfactory.

Now all that was left was to taste it.

Emelina heated up the griddle to cook the fermented dough.

As the griddle warmed, she poured the batter onto it.

Sizzle.

The sound of the batter cooking was soon accompanied by a sweet aroma that tickled her nose.

It smelled so appetizing that Emelina couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

Yangi seemed to feel the same, sitting neatly by the griddle and staring blankly at the batter.

As bubbles started to rise on the surface of the batter, Emelina expertly flipped it over.

The golden-brown top was perfectly cooked and looked absolutely delectable.

Using the same method, Emelina cooked the remaining batter, stacking the pancakes into layers until she had a perfectly presentable stack of pancakes.

“Alright, shall we try it now?”

“Kyaong!”

Yangi nodded his head vigorously and smacked his lips. His tail thumped against the floor, showing just how eager he was to taste it.

Emelina scooped a portion onto a plate and placed it in front of Yangi.

Without hesitation, Yangi grabbed a pancake as big as his face, biting into it and chewing as if savoring every bite.

Emelina followed suit, cutting a piece of pancake into a bite-sized portion and putting it in her mouth.

The natural sweetness of the Paya fruit spread across her palate, melting gently in her mouth.

It was better than she had expected.

After taking a few more bites, she glanced at Yangi.

He seemed to love it, enthusiastically devouring his portion.

The sight filled her with pride, and a smile naturally spread across her face.

‘He really does eat well.’

Since the incident with the snacks a while back, Emelina had learned that Yangi’s taste was exactly like that of a human.

***

No matter how hard she tried to find the right pet food or specialty treats for him, Yangi wouldn’t touch any of it.

He even went as far as to show obvious displeasure, while hungrily eyeing whatever Emelina made for herself.

At one point, he had even snatched a bowl of food and run off with it.

Eventually, Emelina gave up trying to find separate food for him and decided to share her meals instead.

Yangi showed no adverse reactions to her cooking, so it worked out well.

“Is it good?”

“Kyaong!”

Because of this, she didn’t think too much about it—about why Yangi, a cat, didn’t seem to mind eating human food.

As long as he ate it happily, that was enough for her.

But she should have thought about it at least once. Why did Yangi have such unusual tastes?

She should have considered it, at least once.

Her unanswered question was naturally resolved the next day when an absurd incident occurred.

***

That night, Emelina had a dream.

A sweet, fluffy dream where she and Yangi frolicked joyfully on soft, cotton-like clouds.

It was a childish yet endearing dream, filled with laughter.

As she played, Emelina scooped Yangi into her arms and rubbed her face against his soft-looking black fur.

The sensation was smooth and silky—a texture she couldn’t quite place.

‘Wait. Did I just think… skin?’

Confused by the unfamiliar texture, she rubbed her face against it again. What she felt was tender, baby-like skin softly brushing her cheek.

It even had the fresh, natural scent of human skin.

Startled by the indescribable sensation, Emelina’s eyes shot open.

And when she saw the black silhouette nestled in her arms—

“Eek!”

She screamed and jumped out of bed in alarm.

A strange child was sleeping soundly in her bed.

Not just on her bed—right in her arms, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It wasn’t one of those I woke up and suddenly had a child moments.

No, this was something far more absurd.

Emelina blinked rapidly, trying to process the situation.

As questions began to surface—why this child was here, how he got there—she suddenly realized something.

The thing she had been rubbing her face against in her dream…

Could it have been this child?

The vividness of the dream’s sensation made it seem entirely possible.

‘I’m losing it. Totally losing it!’

She scolded herself, feeling a strange sense of guilt.

***

The child lying there appeared to be around eight years old.

Emelina suddenly felt like an adult who had done something terribly inappropriate.

‘No, no, I don’t need to feel guilty about this, right?’

It wasn’t intentional, after all. And who could’ve imagined that a child would suddenly appear out of nowhere?

After debating this moral dilemma multiple times, Emelina decided to drop the useless thoughts.

This wasn’t the issue to focus on right now. She needed to calmly retrace her steps.

‘Last night…’

She remembered falling asleep with Yangi nestled in her arms.

But when she woke up, an unfamiliar child was there instead.

So where did this child come from?

“!”

At that moment, the realization hit her like a hammer.

Yangi was nowhere to be seen.

The place where Yangi should have been… was now occupied by the child.

“Could it be!”

Emilina made a complex expression, as if she couldn’t believe what she was thinking.

It was an absurd leap of logic, but… she couldn’t shake the thought that maybe, just maybe, it was true.

“Let’s wake them up first.”

No answer would come from endless worrying on her own.

The child was breathing steadily, as if in a deep sleep.

Emilina carefully shook the child awake.