Exposed Horns

“T… this room… what is this…?”

On the morning of Daisy and Viola’s second day in Baron Bolus’s territory, Viola had gone out to accompany Baron Bolus on an inspection of the conditions of the people living within the territory.

Meanwhile, Daisy was following the mysteriously secretive Miss Pelinda around, touring the lord’s mansion where they might be staying for a short while.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the residence, Pelinda eventually led her to a hidden room buried deep within the mansion.

“Please come in, Miss Daisy. I’m sure there are plenty of things in this room that will interest you…”

Pelinda spoke softly with a strangely suspicious smile on her delicately made-up beautiful face as she pulled open the carved wooden door, inviting the puzzled Daisy inside.

“?!”

The instant the door opened and Daisy saw the scene inside, she was so shocked she couldn’t say a word.

The room before her was dimly lit.

A sweet, strange fragrance drifted through the air.

Odd strip-like things hung from the ceiling.

Large, furry masses with bizarre shapes sprawled everywhere, looking almost inhuman.

No one could tell what those creepy things even were, let alone what this horrifying place was supposed to be for…

…Or at least, that was only the first impression.

In reality, inside the curtain-dimmed room before Daisy, the things hanging down everywhere were ribbons and gauzy drapes tied into butterfly knots.

On the bed, by the walls, on the windowsills, on the vanity table, every place capable of holding something had been stuffed with giant plush dolls.

White ones, pink ones, orange ones, brown ones, black ones.

Cats, dogs, rabbits, sheep.

Plushies of every kind had completely occupied the room.

At first glance, it actually was a little terrifying.

There was also a huge glass cabinet displaying all kinds of cream pastries and cakes.

The rich sweetness filling the room came from there.

There was no horror-movie scene at all.

The room was simply decorated with so much overwhelming girlishness that it completely lacked the neat elegance one would expect from a noble lady’s room.

“Wuwoahhh!”

This time Daisy let out an even louder cry of amazement than when she had first toured a noble estate.

Drawn by the sweet fragrance of desserts, she wandered straight into the room.

“So many fluffy things! And so many cakes!”

“…”

Behind Daisy, Pelinda wore the smile of a hunter watching prey willingly walk into a trap.

She watched little Daisy slowly wander deeper into the room, lured by the scent of sweets.

Then she tiptoed in after her.

Quietly.

Carefully.

She shut the door.

Click.

With a twist from inside, she locked it.

Cutting off Daisy’s escape route.

“Wuoh!”

Daisy excitedly ran over and hugged a giant teddy bear leaning beside the bed that was much larger than herself.

She felt like her entire body was sinking into fluffy softness.

“So fluffy indeed! Pelinda? This room is…”

Daisy had just come back to her senses and remembered to ask about the room’s origins.

Before she could even turn around—

Pelinda had already approached with a sneaky catlike silence and a cold smile.

Then she suddenly stretched out her ambushing claws toward the clueless little dragon from behind.

“Waaah!”

By the time Daisy snapped out of her surprise, she had already been tightly pulled into a soft embrace.

A faint floral perfume drifted into her nose.

Along with Pelinda’s ferocious cheek-rubbing assault.

“So cute! Little Daisy is sooo cute! Rub rub rub rub! I wanted to do this from the moment I first saw you!”

Pelinda completely shed her previous image of graceful elegance and revealed her true self.

Her face was utterly melted by cuteness as she hugged Daisy tightly and furiously rubbed her soft cheek against Daisy’s little face.

As if only this could satisfy the overflowing urge in her heart.

“P-Pelinda?! What happened all of a sudden? It tickles…”

“Little Daisy! Little Daisy! We’re finally alone! No need to care about other people staring anymore! Let me rub you more! Rub rub rub rub rub rub rub!”

“Pelinda! Calm down!”

After that bizarre assault and all kinds of strange attacks, Daisy finally escaped from Pelinda’s demonic grasp, dizzy and dazed from being rubbed nonstop.

Pelinda also reflected a little on her loss of control and, with an apologetic smile, took out a mountain of cream cakes and chocolate pastries of all flavors from her dessert cabinet as compensation.

The moment Daisy saw so many sweets, she instantly forgot her earlier shock.

She sat at the table and immediately began feasting.

Slurp munch slurp… chomp chomp… slurp…

“Sorry… I lost control for a moment earlier. It’s all because little Daisy is too cute…”

Pelinda, who had calmed down somewhat, poured Daisy a huge glass of fruit juice.

But she had absolutely no intention of returning to her previous graceful and elegant persona.

Instead, she behaved like an ordinary girl welcoming a friend into her room for the first time, relaxed and casual.

“This is my room. I’m actually like this normally too.”

“It’s just that outside, I have to preserve my parents’ image.”

“I have to speak with exaggerated elegance and act perfectly proper all the time.”

“Every day I’m learning etiquette, singing, dancing… always trying to live up to my parents’ expectations.”

“I barely have any free time at all.”

“It’s exhausting…”

Slurp…

“Parents’… expectations…?”

Daisy paused unexpectedly while eating.

The words Pelinda had spoken caught her attention.

She looked at Pelinda across the table in confusion.

“Parents’ expectations?”

Pelinda looked slightly helpless.

“Little Daisy is still too young to understand?”

She casually pushed the large cup of apple juice toward Daisy with one hand, completely ignoring proper etiquette.

“Most parents in this world don’t give birth to children solely so they can be happy.”

“It’s not that parents don’t love their children.”

“But their love usually isn’t unconditional.”

“Before children are born, parents often already expect them to become something… or bring them something in the future.”

“They quietly place their own wishes onto their children.”

“So parents’ love isn’t endless.”

“It comes together with equal expectations.”

“If a child doesn’t grow in the direction their parents hope for…”

“If they fail to become the successful child their parents wanted…”

“One day, they might use up all that love and become a child who is no longer loved.”

“Parents…”

Daisy listened with only partial understanding.

For her, Viola was also something like a parent.

As she thought about it, she absentmindedly picked up the juice Pelinda had pushed over.

But drinking juice without Viola’s water-absorbing fingertip felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Does Viola also… expect me to become… something?”

“Viola?”

Pelinda repeated the name in surprise.

She seemed to recall Viola refusing to reveal her name the previous night.

“That’s the name of the lady in black?”

“Wu?! N-No! That…”

Only then did Daisy realize she had slipped up.

She frantically waved her little hands around.

Neither denying nor admitting anything properly.

“So the name really isn’t convenient to reveal?”

Pelinda’s emerald-green eyes sparkled excitedly like a little girl discovering some world-shaking secret.

“Don’t worry! I’ll keep it a secret!”

“Ahhhhh! A secret shared only between me and little Daisy! This feels incredibly adorable!”

“U-Um… Pelinda?”

Daisy stared at Pelinda, who was happily dancing around after learning something she absolutely should not have known.

She honestly had no idea how to react.

Viola had hidden her identity to avoid the dragon slayers who might already be pursuing them.

The more people who knew, the more danger there was of attracting them.

If Viola found out that the utterly unreliable-looking Pelinda had learned her name…

She might directly silence her forever.

While these terrifying possibilities swirled through Daisy’s little head, Pelinda suddenly circled around the table and excitedly hugged her again.

“Little Daisy! Cute little Daisy! Since we’re done with desserts, let’s play something else!”

“I just happen to have tons of beautiful dresses from my childhood in my wardrobe!”

“They’ll definitely fit little Daisy perfectly!”

“What a brilliant idea!”

“Come play dress-up with big sister!”

“Hehehehe!”

“Pelinda! Wait! Wait!”

“Our father acts all noble and only wants to be a beloved lord to the people!”

“He supports so many residents and only collects the minimum taxes, so our family is practically broke!”

“Even Mother can’t afford expensive cosmetics!”

“But when it comes to me, they always do everything possible!”

“So my wardrobe has all kinds of amazing clothes!”

“Don’t worry about lacking good stuff!”

“That’s not the problem! Pelinda! Calm down!”

“Hehehe! Little Daisy, why are you so adorable?”

“Not only are your features as delicate as a doll’s, but your hair is such a unique pure white!”

“And your skin is so soft and tender!”

“Not only cute, you’re even a little handsome in that childlike way!”

“Ahhhhhhh! If I took off this hat, tied your hair into a little ponytail, and changed you into boyish clothes, you’d absolutely surpass all cute boys—eh?!”

As Pelinda hugged and rubbed Daisy again in her excitement, she accidentally knocked off Daisy’s large hat.

And just like that—

Daisy’s small crimson dragon horns were exposed.

The symbolic proof of dragon identity instantly froze Pelinda in place.

Her brilliant smile stiffened on her face.

“L-L-Little Daisy… your head… could you be…?”

“P-P-Pelinda… this… this is…”

Daisy completely panicked.

She backed away several steps from the table and stared helplessly at Pelinda, who had accidentally discovered her identity.

Thus, in the softly lit room hidden behind curtains, filled with ribbons and butterfly-knot drapes, giant plush dolls, and the scent of cake…

Daisy and Pelinda stood staring blankly at one another.

Big eyes against big eyes.

And in each other’s eyes—

there was only complete confusion.

What… were they supposed to do now?