I should have escaped long ago.
No matter who came into the bedroom, I should have risked it and run away.
-I know you're alive.
After hearing that, I acted even more like a doll.
Otherwise, I might draw Ruperi's attention.
But perhaps my wish was granted, because after that, Ruperi paid me no attention.
No, he could not. Something had happened.
"Why do I have to play with them? It's time for tea with Mother, so why are they here?!"
"Madam told you, did she not? She said she could not find the time at all, so she thought she would have to invite the ladies and their children."
"That's why! Why are they here when I didn't even give permission?!"
The so-called tea-time incident.
Ruperi cried miserably.
The incident left Duchess Kreuz terribly sorry, and Ruperi's mood hit rock bottom.
Thanks to that, I could seize the opportunity.
'Good. You're asleep, right?'
It was the dead of night, with even the moon hidden behind clouds.
Watching Ruperi sleep after crying, I quietly climbed down from the mountain of toys.
PLOP-
Just as expected of Nellis Kere Teneris, a Grade 2 necromancer, it was a light landing.
But.
'This feels strange…….'
No matter how skilled a necromancer I was, I couldn't get used to the feeling.
That was because I had never properly walked for fear of alerting Ruperi.
I had climbed down, thinking I would get used to it if I simply moved my body.
Pitter, patter-
……What on earth is this feeling?
'I really need to escape. I'll escape and find another body!'
The strange sensation running through my body only made the urge to escape House Kreuz surge within me.
Whooosh-
After much trouble, I made it to the balcony. A warm breeze enveloped my small teddy bear body.
Thinking back to the time I had been cooped up in the laboratory, I could tell that the season had indeed changed.
I held out a hand. My stuffed arm came into view.
It was a truly remarkable body.
Perhaps because it was inanimate, I felt neither hunger, fatigue, nor the urge to relieve myself.
Only my senses felt completely vivid…….
'Right, this isn't the time for that.'
My research curiosity flaring, I belatedly came to my senses and looked below the balcony.
It was the second floor. The view from the window was low enough that I had hoped it was.
I hopped down.
PLOP, roll, roll-
As expected of a teddy bear made of fabric and stuffing, it did not hurt.
Having escaped the first hurdle, Ruperi's bedroom, I set off along the escape route I had planned in advance.
Pitter, patter-
'If I keep going straight and then turn right-'
I thought that if I hurried along on my short strides, I could somehow escape.
Grrrr!
But then I heard a growl from behind me.
A chill ran through me, and every hair on my body stood on end. When I turned around,
'W-wait a minute?'
an enormous dog was baring its teeth at me!
***
"Cough, cough! Achoo!"
Ruperi sneezed and sat up. Even under the covers, he felt chilly.
Having once again cried himself to sleep, Ruperi opened his swollen eyes and looked around the bedroom.
The fire in the fireplace was unchanged.
Whooo-
But a faint breeze made its flames bend low.
When he turned his head, the balcony door was slightly open.
"……That's strange. Anchina should have locked the door before she left, shouldn't she?"
Anchina might seem scatterbrained, but she was good at doing her job.
There was no way Anchina would leave without locking the door.
After staring blankly at the balcony door, Ruperi climbed out of bed.
He started toward it to close the door, but.
CLICK.
His toe bumped into something.
"……A string?"
Looking down, he found some string lying among the toys.
Ruperi lifted his head and looked at the curtains fluttering before him, then at the mountain of toys piled in the corner.
And there.
"What? It really was alive?"
The teddy bear that had been gloomily gathering the bedroom's darkness around itself was nowhere to be seen.
Ruperi's eyes regained focus. His blue eyes sharpened, as if he had never been sleepy.
The corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
WOOF!
Blanc's bark rang out.
When he went out onto the balcony to check, the damned teddy bear and Blanc were facing off.
"It didn't get very far, did it?"
To avoid Blanc, who was trying to tear it apart, the little teddy bear was wildly throwing punches as it desperately tried to get away.
***
I, Nellis Kere Teneris.
Not only had I come to an enemy house, I was now on the verge of being torn apart by the enemy house's dog.
A teddy bear's body was optimized for research.
Mental exhaustion aside—one still felt it even after becoming a lich through the Grade 1 Necromancy spell Life Vessel.
It felt like I had become a lich.
But unlike a lich, a teddy bear's body had one fatal flaw: it had no mana!
'Damn it!'
I tried every possible way to get away from the dog that wanted to tear me apart.
I tried to disable it by beating it up.
I tried to outrun it.
I even hid in the bushes and tried to slip away while it searched somewhere else.
But the damned dog-
easily knocked me aside,
had legs far longer than my shortened ones,
and, like the animal it was, even had an excellent sense of smell!
That was how I ended up cornered at the edge of the garden!
'That damned dog! If only I had a mana core!'
It would have fled in fright if I could cast magic!
I, Nellis Kere Teneris, am not going to die here.
I managed to escape that Teneris. I can't die here!
Grrrr-
How long had we been facing each other?
Seeing it about to pounce, I swallowed hard and scanned my surroundings. But there was nowhere to run.
Grrr-
It took a step closer. I backed away in nonexistent cold sweat.
'If only I had a mana core, I could summon a wraith!'
It lowered its body.
Then, as it had done before, it leaped at me.
The sharp teeth reached me in an instant, leaving me no time to dodge sideways-
'Aplin!'
I squeezed my eyes shut!
"Blanc! No!"
I braced myself for the pain that was about to come…….
'Huh?'
But I felt no pain.
"No. That's mine."
Whine-
"I said no. Don't bite it. If you bite it, I won't play with you."
Whiiine…….
Instead, I heard a voice I should not have heard.
I slowly raised my head and gaped at the sight before me.
"Dangerous? It's not dangerous at all."
After all, Ruperi, who should have been in his bedroom,
"Father knows this doll is strange, too."
Ruperi, who should have been asleep after crying, was standing right in front of me.
I blinked at Ruperi.
"It's okay. I stopped Blanc."
Then his innocent voice reached me.
The moon emerged from behind the clouds.
Pure white moonlight reached the corner of the thickly overgrown garden, and his jet-black hair rippled in the warm breeze.
The moonlight reflected in his blue eyes.
-It's okay, Nellis. Your big sister is here.
One dark night.
Ruperi's eyes seemed to overlap with Aplin's—the eyes of the sister who had held out a hand to me as I hid in fear.
In that moment, tears welled up and spilled over. Overcome by surging grief, I sank to the ground.
I covered both eyes with my very short arms.
"Hey! What's wrong with you?"
Ruperi stepped closer as if startled, but I couldn't raise my head.
***
When I came to my senses, I was in Ruperi's arms, crossing the garden.
Ruperi sharply admonished the dog that kept trying to bite.
"Didn't I say it's okay? It has never harmed me. It did make me uncomfortable by scrunching its face up so weirdly, but it stayed quiet."
Whine-
"So stop it, Blanc."
What kind of dog has such varied expressions?
I would have believed it even if someone told me Blanc was a wizard transformed into a dog.
Even so, Blanc kept rubbing up against Ruperi as if worried about him.
But rather than respond, Ruperi held me so I was facing him and spoke to me.
"Are you done crying?"
What?
"You were crying. With those tiny hands. Can those hands even cover your face?"
W-what are you talking about? When was I crying? Have you ever seen a teddy bear cry?
It seemed that possessing a teddy bear's body had been mentally taxing.
'How pathetic, seeing Aplin in a brat like him.'
My pride wounded, I pretended not to hear, and Ruperi snorted.
"What? Playing doll again? I saw you beating up Blanc."
You had been watching since then?
"If you want to play doll, just tell me. I'll play with you."
What?
"Watching you was fun, too. I'd been watching to see when you would move……."
Ruperi trailed off and giggled.
"So if you want to play doll, tell me. I was bored, so this worked out well."
Perhaps the swelling around his eyes had gone down, revealing Ruperi's finely featured face.
I was dumbfounded by Ruperi's bright smile.
'Is he an idiot? A doll in his bedroom moved, and he doesn't even think it's been enchanted?'
How can Teneris be losing to a house like this?
Looking at Ruperi, who behaved so complacently, I could not understand it.
As I stared at him in disbelief, Ruperi reached the edge of the garden, held me close, and headed for the manor.
"So, who are you?"