NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 107: Besides You And Me
“I came here to observe, to learn, and to contemplate you all!”
With such a grand declaration, one might think the Lion Princess had arrived alone. Yet, she was accompanied by a group of companions—or perhaps they were her retainers, or party members.
"Then why didn’t you say ‘we’?" I thought but refrained from voicing, knowing she wasn’t the type to listen.
“Let me introduce my guard, Nerva. She’s a leopardess beastkin. She used to be a bodyguard in a Tobi beastkin settlement before I recruited her. And, as I recently discovered, she’s the younger sister of Nova, the leopardess beastkin who guards Lex Asuka.”
As Lapis Kruger introduced her entourage with an air of self-satisfaction, I glanced at Nerva. She was quietly eating, acknowledging the introduction with a slight nod. Whether she was naturally taciturn or simply a glutton was unclear.
“Next, we have Martla, Kartla, and Shutra. They are Simlika, a species akin to mole beastkin but closer to spirits in nature. Don’t ask me for details; I’m not an expert.”
Lapis laughed heartily, her mouth wide open. The three named individuals were draped in dark gray hooded robes, revealing little except their slightly taller stature compared to kobolds. Their faces, hidden in the shadows of their hoods, seemed distinctly beast-like.
Despite their silence, the Simlika trio showed interest, pausing their meal to observe me. The meaning of "closer to spirits" eluded me, but I filed it away for later consideration. My mental shelf was sturdy enough.
“And this large, spiral-horned one is Roppa Garrah, a gnu beastkin. He’s the elder of a small southern settlement of survivors from a village nearly destroyed by my father. Roppa here is knowledgeable and a bit of a nag, but a good old man.”
“I am Roppa,” the elderly gnu beastkin said, bowing with surprising grace for his size. His appearance was almost like a demonic figure from medieval illustrations—broad-shouldered with a goat-like head, his body tapering to slender legs.
The exact nature of a gnu escaped me, but it didn’t matter. Regardless of what he was, it wasn’t a concern.
“This is me and my retinue! Quite an unimpressive bunch, don’t you think?” Lapis laughed, puffing out her chest. Her demeanor conveyed there was nothing to be ashamed of.
“Whether you and your followers seem strong or weak is irrelevant to me. Right now, you’re just a troublesome guest,” I replied.
“For now?” Lapis raised an eyebrow.
“You said you came to observe, learn, and think. So, I’ll entertain you. But more than just observing, talk to me, listen, engage with us before deciding anything.”
I folded my arms, mirroring her confident stance, a sly smile playing on my lips. Lapis returned the gesture with a grin reminiscent of Randall’s, filled with anticipation. I understood what lay behind it: expectation. Not just in me, Euphemia Grimwood, but in her own future, a hope for exciting things to come.
“We’ll be in your care, Euphemia Grimwood.”
“Yes, for a short while. We’ll decide what comes after, then.”
I believed my words conveyed the intended meaning. If Lapis Kruger intended to judge us, we would do the same. Should this Lion Princess prove to be a worthy neighbor, she would be welcomed with open arms, her presence desired. If not—well, that’s another matter entirely.
“But, my lady, why you didn't return to the capital?”
After a long day of work, Zonda Pauga joined our impromptu gathering, holding a bowl of food. He had briefly left his duties to identify Lapis as the Beast King’s daughter and returned to work before now joining us.
“And you, Lapis, why weren’t you in the Beast King’s capital?”
Randall had two children in the capital: Garland, who acted like a close aide, and Brandon, who plotted and executed their father’s assassination. There were whispers of other children, but they were either killed by Randall or fled from his tyranny.
“This broth is delicious. How can something so simple be so good? I usually just grill everything, so I’m not familiar with cooking... Ah, right, I left because my father and I had a fight, and he almost killed me.”
Lapis nonchalantly mentioned her escape as if it were the most natural thing while sipping the soup prepared by the Taurus women.
“Yeah, it’s really good. The fight itself was trivial. I must have suggested something minor to my father—maybe that he should do this or that. I can’t even remember. He didn’t like it, and I was convinced I was right, so we clashed.”
This wasn’t just a clash of opinions—it was a physical confrontation. To enforce obedience, Randall often resorted to violence, a principle he valued highly.
Whether he spared her because she was his daughter or because she was resilient is something we’ll never know now that Randall is dead.
“My father probably held back, but I couldn’t change his mind with my strength. So I ran away, left the capital, and decided to change myself. I realized I couldn’t defeat him as I was.”
With a decisive thud, Lapis placed her bowl on the table and turned to Serena, the fox spirit seated beside me, her eyes narrowing nostalgically.
“A fox, huh? I remember you—or rather, I remember when the fox spirits were driven out when I was a child. One of them looked extremely frustrated while the others seemed sad, resigned, discontented, or anxious.”
“The one who looked frustrated?” Serena raised an eyebrow, and Lapis nodded.
“A fox woman with nine tails. She looked like she’d rather die than leave but still followed my father’s orders. I found it strange. If she was that angry, why didn’t she defy my father, even if it meant dying?”
If something is worse than death, then one might as well die. It was a logic that made sense.
In that case, whatever line or reasoning this fox followed, it wasn’t “worse than death.” Lapis had thought at the time that she was just a liar, pretending to be that frustrated.
“She said, ‘I am still alive. Beast King Randall hasn’t killed me yet. So, when I can, I will come back to kill him. Just attacking head-on would be a real escape.’”
If Lapis is now eighteen, then this pipeline or whatever it was spewing its curses must have been to a girl no older than ten at the time.
“I was a bit surprised. If you confront someone and lose, it means you were weaker. The weak should submit to the strong. But she didn’t submit despite being weak and vowed to kill my father someday. Yet she remained weaker than my father.”
How would she kill him? How could he?
“Change,” Serena muttered.
Not the fox people’ mystical transformations, but the inevitable change that comes to everyone and everything.
“If you can’t win now, become something different so you can. That’s what it meant. I didn’t fully understand it then, but I remembered it when I fled from my father.”
Otherwise, she would have fought to the end and been killed. Lapis concluded her story with a distant gaze, then broke into a bright, cheerful smile.
“Although, when I finally returned, my father was already dead.”
She laughed heartily, genuinely seeming unconcerned about her father’s death. It appeared she didn’t harbor any anger or grief over it.
“…But, my lady, from the way you tell it, you thought you could defeat Randall now?” Zonda interjected with a skeptical look.
“Not at all. I still can’t beat him. But now, I feel I could talk to him better than I did before.”
“You’ve matured since we first met, Princess,” Roppa Garrah, the gnu beastkin, said thoughtfully.
I wasn’t particularly interested in the “Adventures of the Lion Princess and Her Merry Band,” so I gave a noncommittal nod and decided to say what was on my mind.
“Lapis, I heard Randall’s last words. Do you want to know?”
“Absolutely. Tell me.”
Her immediate response left no room for games, so I answered plainly.
“He said, ‘It would have been better if I were weaker. That way, I could have had more fun.’ Randall Kruger was certainly strong. Too strong. That’s why he rarely had any fun. The only time he seemed to enjoy himself was when he found an enemy to fight.”
“…”
“Lapis Kruger, you seem to be having fun.”
I finished with a smile, and after a brief moment of contemplation, Lapis returned my smile, genuine and free of any hidden motives.
“Yes, I am having fun. Now and, I believe, always will.”
"By the way, about that nine-tailed fox. I heard from the she-hairless that she’s under your command now. She’s not here, though. What’s she up to?”
So, you’ve been talking to Lex Asuka. I had hoped to brush off any mention of her, keeping her safely tucked away in the recesses of my memory. She’s a sly woman better left forgotten.
“She’s on a reconnaissance mission,” I replied.
I had sent Kairine and Junos eastward into the wilderness to scout the human territories. The nine-tailed fox possessed powerful illusion magic, making her ideal for the task. If she betrayed us, Junos was the only one capable of swiftly and decisively dealing with her alone.
“A reconnaissance mission? So, there’s an enemy. And you plan to face them here? Why go through such trouble?”
If there’s an enemy, just charge at them and kill them. Lapis’ reasoning was perfectly aligned with the logic of beasts. However, it wasn’t the way of humans.
“Because there are many others in this world besides ‘you and me,’” I explained.
Lapis seemed to struggle with this concept. I didn’t feel the need to elaborate further.
