Desina Payalka, Adjutant of the Royal Castle Guard, was in a state of confusion utterly unimaginable from her usual self.

  The serious situation of a suspicious Humanita suddenly appearing inside the royal castle had been swiftly contained, the "outrageous items" the culprit possessed had been properly concealed and dealt with, reports had been made to the appropriate parties, and now His Highness the King's Brother was even making an appearance.

  No, up to that point it was all "proper procedure," so that was fine. However, the first words from the King's Brother—praised as handsome and virtuous, the object of admiration among the ladies-in-waiting and court ladies—were rough words unimaginable from his usual refined manner...

  "Payalka."

  "Y-yes?"

  Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by her direct superior, who'd been expelled from the interrogation room with her and stood there equally dumbfounded.

  "Does the word 'dad' have any connotation of 'I will kill you'?"

  "Of course not. Are you stupid?"

  She was so confused that she inadvertently spat out such disrespectful words toward her superior.

  "Right. Yeah, thought so."

  "...My apologies. That was out of line..."

  "No, it's fine. I knew I was asking something stupid."

  She didn't notice her superior's tail faintly wagging as he answered.

  "Why are you / Why are you here?!"

  As soon as Garundel and the others reluctantly left the interrogation room at the King's Brother's request for privacy, the voices of the two remaining in the room harmonized perfectly.

  "Wait, you didn't meet big brother?"

  "Big brother? You mean Rashion, right?"

  "Who else would I mean?"

  "No no no no, way too much has suddenly happened on my end too, I can't keep up... Wait, earlier that person—can I even call him a person? Anyway, they called you His Highness the King's Brother... which means... could it be..."

  To Amashiro desperately trying to organize his thoughts, the Felinoid with a face identical to his second cat Norgaar—the King's Brother of this country—delivered the final blow.

  "Not 'could it be'—Big Brother Rashion is the king of this country."

  THUNK.

  Suddenly Amashiro slammed his head onto the tabletop, and a loud sound echoed through the room.

  "Your Highness!? Are you alright?!"

  At Amashiro's sudden action, the King's Brother—Norgaar—froze, and simultaneously Garundel, who'd been waiting outside, kicked the door open and burst in. A loud sound from a room where a member of the royal family was alone with a suspicious person—of course that would be the proper response, but...

  "Please, if this is a bad dream, just let me wake up...

  It's Rashion's first anniversary, and I thought he'd come back as a ghost but he claimed to be an alien and then suddenly disappeared again, and then I thought I'd wandered into some unknown place, and there's a guy with Norgaar's face who's actually alive, and Rashion is... what? A king? You're kidding, right? Right? This is a dream, isn't it? Yeah, that's it, won't you just wake me up already~"

  THUNK. THUNK. THUNK.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  "Stop it, Dad! You're really going to hurt yourself!"

  Watching the Humanita mutter outrageous things while repeatedly headbutting the table, and the King's Brother frantically grabbing his shoulders to stop him, Garundel moved reflexively without trying to understand what was happening. He firmly grabbed Amashiro's body and pulled him back to prevent more headbutts.

  "Urgh."

  After restraining Amashiro, who let out a pathetic sound, Garundel finally recalled what he'd just heard.

  "Your Highness, did this person just..."

  "I'm sorry, could you remain silent for now?"

  "Yes, sir."

  He'd said something stupid in front of his adjutant earlier, but he was by no means a foolish man.

  This Humanita was calling the King and King's Brother by name without honorifics, saying incomprehensible things like "first anniversary" and "alive" about the King and King's Brother who were very much alive—or rather, young and healthy—and asking for this to be a dream. And before him, the King's Brother, who also served as Commander of the Royal Guard, was demanding silence.

  Along with "that item," he understood that the person he was currently restraining was no ordinary individual, but—

  "Um, if you don't mind, could you let me go? I won't struggle..."

  Had he hit his head badly on the table? He'd calmed down since before, which was good, but his earlier panic seemed like a complete lie—he'd become quiet, docile, and expressionless.

  What on earth is going on? Garundel was bewildered, but thinking he couldn't let his guard down before the King's Brother, the King's Brother declared:

  "Release him. And remove his restraints."

  "Your Highness?!"

  "It's fine, I know him."

  "Yes, sir."

  For the Canisade, strict about hierarchy, orders from superiors—especially royalty—were absolute.

  "Thanks."

  Perhaps numb from being tightly bound, Amashiro rubbed his wrists and thanked him with a gentle smile that seemed somehow forced.

  Garundel thought him odd, but missed the brief flash of mischievous light in his eyes behind that forced smile.

  As Garundel was about to leave the room, Norgaar called out to him.

  "Captain Garundel, and Adjutant Payalka, you're out there?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Do you have that 'vile thing threatening the dignity of the royal family' mentioned in the report?"

  "Yes, Your Highness. Right here."

  Responding immediately to the King's Brother's question, Payalka entered the interrogation room and showed him the "SMARTPHONE" she'd secured in a wooden box.

  After all, the King's Brother had come all this way to verify it, but completely unexpected events had occurred and the situation had flowed in a strange direction.

  "This is... Hey, Dad, don't tell me..."

  "What's the problem with my smartphone, anyway?"

  "That's what I came to verify. Adjutant Payalka? Return it to him."

  "Your Highness?"

  "Isn't it dangerous?"

  "It's fine. As I said, he's an acquaintance of 'the royal family.' He won't do anything suspicious, nor could he. And it might be more dangerous if someone who doesn't know how to handle it fiddles with it."

  "...As you command."

  Though still uneasy, any further objection could be taken as defying the royal family.

  Reluctantly, Payalka held out the smartphone, and Amashiro accepted it unhurriedly and respectfully, first checking the password.

  "Payalka... -san, was it? It seems there were no incorrect password attempts. That's a relief."

  Amashiro thanked Payalka again with a gentle smile, but she showed no particular reaction.

  "Obviously someone from here couldn't handle such a thing. So, what's this 'vile content'?"

  "Yes. Each time that plate-like object was touched, disheveled images of members of the royal family appeared on its surface."

  "That would be..."

  "This, you mean?"

  Amashiro suddenly interjected into the conversation and held up the smartphone displaying a photo before everyone's eyes, in front of Norgaar who was furrowing his brow with a bad feeling.

  "Eek!"

  Payalka hastily covered her eyes with both hands.

  "Your Highness! This is what..."

  "No, look carefully, you two! That's not me... Well, I can't say it's completely unrelated, but anyway! That's not my naked body! Dad, what did you doooo!"

  On the smartphone Amashiro held out was a photo of a male cat with the King's Brother's—namely Norgaar's—face, doing a somersault with his belly out, lying on his back.

  ...Since he was an ordinary cat, he wasn't wearing clothes, and naturally his lower half was completely exposed...

  "No, I thought it would be easier to understand if I showed you what it actually was..."

  "Even so, of all photos, why mine?!"

  "'Mine'!?"

  The two guards involuntarily turned shocked gazes toward Norgaar.

  Between "Dad" and now this, words utterly unimaginable from his usual self kept coming.

  "Look, you said Rashion is the king, right? I obviously couldn't show his naked body to his subjects, could I?"

  "That's true."

  The two harmonized perfectly, affirming Amashiro's words.

  "You two there! Why are you agreeing?!"

  Watching Norgaar fall into complete panic, Amashiro smirked.

  It seemed he'd regained his usual composure.

  "Now, now, calm down, Your Highness the King's Brother.

  Getting this flustered over a cat's naked body—you must be the reincarnation of my Norgaar.

  Though it's a mystery why you're reincarnated here when my Norgaar is still alive and well back there."

  "That's my line! Big brother went to see you but hasn't returned to the castle yet, so why—"

  At that moment, a voice familiar to everyone in the interrogation room echoed through.

  "What's this about the dignity of the royal family... Father?!"

  The King had returned.