“STAY AWAY FROM ME!“

Ivan ran to the well and grabbed an empty bucket and threw it after the male deer that ran away.

“Are you also scared of deer?“ Dimi looked at Ivan with disbelief.

“No! Wild animals just make me uncomfortable. And YOU should feel uncomfortable around them as well.“

“So you are scared of all animals?“

“I’M NOT SCARED OF THEM!“ Ivan’s head turned red. “Look, I have to go check my ledger. You should work out with the skipping rope till-“

Ivan did not get to finish that sentence as he opened the door to his house and saw mice and squirrels run out of it. Ivan stood by the door frozen as Dimi asked if he was okay.

“We gotta get us some squirrel traps.“ Ivan almost whispered as he said that.

“I don’t think those exist.“ Dimi pointed out as she thought how fortunate it was that there wasn’t.

“Well, then I will INVENT some! We will make a fortune!“ Ivan sat at the kitchen table as he opened his ledger book. But he could not focus as he kept looking over his shoulder, fearing that more animals were around the house.

***

Dimi chopped wood the next morning. She sweated and hammered the piece of log that was stuck on her ax as hard as she could against the stump.

“Don’t get impatient, girl.“ Ivan came to collect the chopped wood. “It requires both muscles, timing and precision. Same as a punch.“

“Yeah, yeah. I know.“ Dimi took another log.

“Then why do I have to keep reminding you?“ He chuckled as he patted Dimi on the head while holding a basket with wood under the other arm. He went toward the house… and then saw the open door. This time, he knew he had closed it in order to try and prevent animals from entering. Someone had opened it, and it couldn’t be Dimi since she was busy.

He went inside… and he saw that the mice had returned. They were on the table. And there were even birds there now!

He slammed the door shut and took a nearby broom he intended to use as a weapon. He went for the birds first, swinging his broom around, hoping to hit them.

He paused as he heard the front door getting opened. He looked and saw that it was a deer who used its mouth to grab the door-handle.

“I’m in hell.” Ivan mumbled for himself. Then he yelled for Dimi. “DIMI! GET OVER HERE! AND BRING THE AX!“

Dimi came with the ax in her hand. She saw the deer at the door and couldn’t help but pat it. “Ivan, I’m not gonna attack them with an ax. They are just animals.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU DO! JUST DO SOMETHING!“

Dimi looked at the deer, then shrugged. “Okay… ah…” She pointed in a direction away from the house. “Shoo. Go away.”

The deer did as it was told to both Ivan and Dimi’s surprise.

Ivan returned his focus on the birds and mice that now ran up the stairs.

Ivan ran to his bedroom armed with his broom simply because it was the one room he hoped they wouldn’t go to. They unfortunately did and he was horrified when he saw that his bed-sheets had been cut up as well as his curtains. The damn animals had for some reason cut parts of both sheets and curtains.

Ivan then heard the steps of a hundred small feet and ran out to the corridor and began to swing the broom as if it was a sword in an attempt to either scare or hit the mice. They ran down the stairs and out of the front door that a deer had managed to open. Ivan made a mix of a roar and a groan as he went into the kitchen…

… and was met by a surprise.

Dimi looked as baffled as he was as a couple of birds were flying in front of her. They worked together to hold up a dress in Dimi’s size. Ivan could see that it was made out of fabric from his curtains and bed sheets.

“Um…” Dimi took the dress from the animals, not sure what else to do. “Thanks?“

“OUT! Shoo, shoo!“ Ivan yelled at the birds as they flew out of the windows he then slammed shut. “God damn stinking animals!“

“This dress is… actually kinda pretty.“ Dimi smiled awkwardly.

“It’s my curtains, it is what it is.“ Ivan clenched his fists. “What is going on? Are we cursed? Is this a curse thing?“

“Ivan… are the animals really that bad?“ Dimi held the dress close to her body, imagining what she would look like dressed in it. “They seem nice enough. And they just brought us lunch.“

“Dimi, they are animals. They have rabies, they pee on the floor and…“ Ivan paused himself. “Wait, lunch? What?“

Dimi pointed toward the kitchen table. Ivan dropped his jaw as he saw some of the most delicious-looking fruits he had ever laid eyes on being on it, just waiting to get eaten.

Ivan looked at the fruit. Then he looked at Dimi’s dress. Then he looked around and realized the house was surprisingly clean despite a bunch of filthy animals invading it. In fact, it looked cleaner than before.

And then he looked at Dimi again as he was finally connecting the dots.

***

“Nora. I need your help.”

“Sure thing, casual acquaintance.” Nora attached her bow to her quiver. “Follow me and I shall sell you fish of the finest caliber.“

Ivan had gone to the lake where he knew that Nora used to fish. He followed her to the cabin that was her new home. It was a small and humble home.

“You know that you could live in my house, right?“ Ivan sat on a modest chair at an equally not-impressive table. “I have space enough, I don’t mind.“

“No, absolutely not.“ Nora took off her hat. Her elf ears were visible now. “It is risky enough as it is that I live this close to you and Dimi. Besides, the townspeople would talk if I did.“ Nora made a smirk. “What would Aura think?“

Ivan rolled his eyes as he blushed. “As I said, I need your help. My house is being attacked by animals, and for some reason, they are friendly toward Dimi. I’m pretty sure it is some sort of human magic thing.”

“OHO!” Nora placed a bowl with vegetables on the table. “Her body is about to develop the magic abilities that are unique to members of the royal human family. The process is popularly known as princess puberty.”

“Princess… puberty?” Ivan raised an eyebrow and he took a bite of a carrot.

“I know, it is a silly name. But quite accurate when you think about it. And as usual, the first magical power a princess gets is zoopathy, the ability to attract and communicate with animals. Since the ability is new to her, she automatically just attracts the animals who then act friendly toward her.”

“What do I do about it?“

“Not sure, really. It’s kinda weird that she is attracting animals since that ability activates itself unconsciously when a princess feels lonely or isolated.“

“… Lonely?“

Ivan and Nora stared at each other for a moment. Nora noticed how embarrassed Ivan looked and narrowed her eyes as she had put two and two together. “Ivan… why would Dimi have any reason to feel lonely?”

“Ah…” Ivan coughed awkwardly. “Look… I’m not a social creature, you know that. I spend most of my time at home. you can’t really blame me for not considering… you… ah…“

Nora groaned. “Oh my god, you suck.”

Ivan felt as if he would sink through the floor. “I’m sorry.”

“You suck BIG TIME!“

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!“

“She spends all day in your house?! YOU SUCK!“

“I’m sorry forever!“

“Ivan, she is a young girl! She needs a social life of some sort. Or she will go crazy like a lion in a small cage.“ Nora slapped her forehead. “In the unknown Architects’ names, this is parenting 101! STOP SUCKING!“

***

Ivan went home. He saw Dimi in front of the house. She was about to do push-ups while being surrounded by animals. She giggled as a squirrel climbed up on her back.

Ivan felt like an idiot. How did he not realize before that the child had felt isolated?

“Ivan!“ Dimi noticed that the bullman had returned. “Do we really have to chase these cute guys away?“

Ivan looked at the deer, the squirrels, the birds and mice. He felt uncomfortable just by looking at them from a distance..

“No, I guess they can stay… If they don’t enter the house.“

Dimi sat up on the ground and held a finger up so one of the birds could land on it. “Heard that, little guy? You can stick around.“

***

Dimi used the bellows to keep life in the flames while Ivan worked. But the minotaur couldn’t seem to focus on his task of making horseshoes.

“Something wrong?“ Dimi dried her forehead for sweat.

“Dimi… I have been thinking… And I think it would be for the best if we worked an extra hour before dinner from now on.“

“What?! That’s not-“

“That way, you can get a day off.“

Dimi paused. “A… a day off?”

“Yes, I think it would be for the best. You are a kid, you probably want to meet other creatures and spend time with them. And you work hard and train hard, you need a timeout now and then. And I think one day a week should do it.“

“But what about work?“

“I did just fine before you came to the house, I can do fine without you for one day a week.”

“But what about training? I have about six years and ten months before Mayari is gonna get crowned.“

“Dimi, You are gonna get a day off, like it or not. You get to decide what to spend it on. But it won’t be with me.“

“Oh. Okay.” Dimi hesitated. “Would it… would it be okay if I got Friday as my day off?“

“Sure, why not?”

“Ivan, I will be back in ten minutes, promise, just have to go to Agate’s house real quick.“ Dimi ran out of the forge. Then she ran back and hugged the bull-man. “Thanks, Ivan!“

As Ivan returned to his work, he wondered if it made him a bad person to hope that making Dimi more social would make the dang animals go away.