MTLNOVEL 50
“……What?”
What did I just hear?
A chill ran down my spine as my entire body went cold. I stared at Sen, who looked completely flustered in front of me, and tried desperately to process the meaning behind those words: “Cashew Nut is gone.”
Cashew Nut. In other words, I was gone.
From where?
Where else? The hamster house, obviously!
The corner of my mouth twitched violently. The problem was that I had only been keeping an eye on Kyle, thinking no one else would dare enter the Grand Duke’s room.
I had no idea why Sen went into that room, but the fact remained—Cashew Nut was not in the hamster house.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
They say that even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you’ll survive as long as you keep your wits about you.
I quickly opened my inventory and scanned my list of items. Fortunately, I still had a replica hamster I had bought earlier but never used.
For now, I’d use this to cover things up, and once Sen was reassured, I’d cancel Reload and switch it back.
“Cashew Nut! He’s with me!”
“……With you? When did you take him? Didn’t you go with His Highness Belial?”
“I did, but after our conversation ended, I picked him up for a bit. Played with him, gave him some snacks. He seemed like he wanted to get some fresh air.”
I answered cheerfully while slipping my hand into my pants pocket. Then, subtly turning my body to block Sen’s view, I pulled out the replica hamster.
‘System, squeak! Right now!’
—Squeak.
The replica hamster let out its first cry of emotion. It sounded exactly like my usual voice.
Grinning brightly, I held up the hamster with both hands and turned to Sen.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t know anyone would be looking for him.”
“Ah… Thank goodness. I was really scared for a second. I thought he had actually disappeared…”
She let out a deep sigh of relief, placing a hand over her chest.
‘…Was she that startled?’
Now that I looked at her, she was deathly pale.
Feeling a pang of guilt, I showed her the hamster more closely. Look. Doesn’t he look exactly like Cashew Nut? Completely identical, right?
“You called for me.”
“Oh, Mage.”
Mage?
I instinctively frowned. It was that person—the one who previously wanted to use me for their research or whatever nonsense.
It was natural for an imperial mage to be in the palace, but he was someone I wanted to avoid at all costs. It was a gut feeling—a kind of instinctive aversion. His eyes had this unsettling way of seeing straight through people, which made him unbearably uncomfortable to be around.
“Everything’s fine now. I was about to ask for help since Kyle’s sinister influence had disappeared. I know Cashew Nut couldn’t be tracked through magical flow, but… I thought there might be another way.”
“His Highness Kyle’s sinister influence?”
“Yes. It’s this little guy. Isn’t he adorable?”
Sen smiled as she stroked the hamster in my palm. The soft squeak it let out sounded exactly like the one I usually made as Cashew Nut.
Yeah, this should be foolproof. Even to my own eyes, there wasn’t a single difference. Kyle was just weird. Kyle was the problem.
“Hmm.”
However, it seemed like there was one more strange person present.
The mage narrowed his brows, staring at the hamster in silence. Sensing something off, I quickly shielded the hamster with my palm.
But before I could react, the mage spoke.
“This is not real.”
“……What do you mean?”
“I’m saying it’s a replica.”
His sharp gaze landed on me. My heart dropped instantly. Did he realize I was trying to deceive them?
“There exists a forbidden magic that allows one to create a duplicate of a living being and make it move as if it were alive. This seems to have been created in such a manner.”
“……What? Then…”
“Where is the real one?”
Both Sen and the mage turned to look at me. One word echoed clearly in my mind.
‘I’m screwed.’
Yeah. I was absolutely, utterly screwed.
***
After what felt like an indisputable death sentence, I asked Sen to set up a private meeting—just the two of us, excluding that mage.
To cut to the chase, there was no way out of this. No matter how hard I racked my brain, the only option left was to tell the truth and beg her to keep it a secret.
If I tried to cover it up any further, it would only make her more suspicious. And if Kyle got dragged into this, then things would truly spiral beyond repair.
That was the one thing I had to prevent.
Kyle finding out the truth was something I absolutely had to prevent.
I ran a hand over my face, exhaling deeply. This was like swallowing a bitter pill while crying.
This was exactly why people shouldn’t live with secrets. Strictly speaking, I hadn’t done anything wrong, but the sheer absurdity and shock of what I was about to say made me unbearably tense.
“What’s wrong, Shu? This isn’t the time for that! We need to find Cashew Nut right away! I don’t know who brought in that fake, but we need to find the person who made it too—!”
Worry flickered across Sen’s face in countless shades.
Her gaze darted toward the door like she was ready to bolt at any moment. I raised my head with a determined expression.
“…It was me.”
“What?”
“I’m the one who used the replica. And Cashew Nut… is me.”
“…What are you even saying?”
Sen looked at me like I was completely insane.
Yeah. I would have reacted the same way. If our roles were reversed, I would’ve called a doctor immediately, begging them to check if my friend had lost their mind.
In that sense, the fact that Sen—despite her wide, shaken eyes—was still willing to listen meant… I really had found a true friend.
Holding back imaginary tears, I delivered my explanation as briefly and clearly as possible. Of course, I left out the part about this world being inside a book and my real body lying in a coma after getting hit by a car.
“So… you’re saying you were cursed and turned into a hamster?”
“That’s right.”
“And you can only be human for four hours a day, the rest of the time you’re Cashew Nut?”
“Exactly.”
“And you can become fully human again if you save the world…?”
“I haven’t committed any crimes, but yeah, that’s more or less the situation.”
“…….”
A heavy silence hung between us.
Sen stood there, mouth slightly open, staring at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“H-How am I supposed to believe that?”
“Well…”
Right then, a system message popped up in front of me.
[Reload will be canceled in 1 minute.]
‘System, cancel Reload. Set my location to where I’m currently standing.’
[٩( ᐛ )و]
I let out a deep sigh and pleaded with her.
“When I turn back into a magic beast, cover for me. I’ll… tell His Highness myself.”
“…….”
“Please.”
Sen didn’t answer right away.
She just looked at me with a complicated expression for the remaining minute.
Then, as the set time expired and Reload was canceled, my body was enveloped in white light—
—Squeak. (See? I told you it’s real.)
I popped out from beneath my clothes, casually placing my paws on my waist.
“Wow…”
Sen stretched out her cheek, pulling at it like mochi. Once she let go, her skin bounced right back.
“That hurt… So it’s real.”
—Squeak! (Of course it hurts! Why wouldn’t it?)
“Can’t you talk like a person?”
—Squeak. (Obviously not.)
Sen blinked at me before bursting into quiet laughter.
“If you talk like that, how am I supposed to understand you?”
—Squeak. (Figure it out yourself.)
“Fine. Just answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ then.”
I nodded.
—Squeak. (Yes.)
Then I shook my head.
—Squeak. (No.)
Sen kept chuckling at the absurdity of the situation and held out her palm.
“Are you really Shu?”
—Squeak. (Yes.)
“You climbed onto my hand back then too. Did you come looking for me on purpose?”
—Squeak. (Yes.)
“I seriously thought you were just a regular hamster and almost fed you mealworms…”
Ugh, those cursed mealworms!
I shot Sen a sharp glare, making her burst into laughter.
“Sorry, sorry. But come on, who would look at a hamster and think it might be a person? I won’t give you those ever again.”
—…Squeak. (Good.)
Still giggling, Sen carefully cradled me in both hands and started walking toward Kyle’s room.
“His Highness Kyle had a conversation with me earlier and then stepped outside the palace for a bit. He should be returning soon, but don’t worry—I’ll cover for you. I’ll just say we went for a walk together.”
As she carried me along, she suddenly let out a quiet gasp.
“Oh, I didn’t even get the chance to ask earlier. You got hurt, right? Was it bad?”
—Squeak. (No.)
That kind of injury would heal quickly with some ointment. It might ache for a few days, but since I got plenty of rest as a hamster, it wasn’t a big deal.
“His Highness was really worried about you. He told me to keep an eye on you.”
At those words, I blinked up at Sen in surprise.
Kyle? Worried about me? Well, I guess it made sense since we spent a lot of time together.
“Hey… what exactly is your relationship with His Highness?”
—Squeak? (What?)
“You know what I mean. I’ve spent my life wandering the streets, so I’m pretty sharp when it comes to reading people. Sometimes, just by looking at someone’s eyes, I can tell how they feel about someone else.”
—……
“But you two… sometimes, you look at each other so intensely. Like you physically can’t look any longer, like the whole world disappears except for the two of you.”
By the time she finished speaking, we had reached Kyle’s room. Sen gently placed me inside the hamster house before asking,
“So, Shu? Do you like His Highness Kyle?”
A squeak meant yes.
A chizik meant no.
Sen propped her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on her palm, watching me carefully.
—……
I didn’t answer.
I could answer. I had the means to do so. But I simply stayed silent, unable to choose between the two options.
Still, Sen smiled as if she had heard my answer anyway.
“Think about it carefully.”
With that, she walked out of the room, her footsteps light and unhurried.
Left alone, I sat on my exercise wheel and placed a paw over my chest.
‘Me? Like Kyle? That’s ridiculous.’
But before I could dismiss the thought completely, his smile flashed in my mind.
That effortlessly cool, slightly reserved smile. The warmth of his hand on my shoulder. The way his voice dipped lower every time he called my name—Shu.
Every little thing he had ever done for me—
‘No way…’
My heart began to race, making a complete mockery of my earlier denial.
…Do I actually like Kyle?