“Luria , I’m going to help wash the prairie dog.”
“Yes, that sounds good.”
I chased after the maid, who was holding the prairie dog, with Daru.
The maid headed towards the servant’s bathroom.
Peeking inside from the changing room, the maid was preparing a larger tub.
Inside the tub, the prairie dog was sitting.
“I’m going to add water, so please stay still.”
“Kyuuui.”
The prairie dog was standing on its hind legs, looking around.
“Really, it’s so calm… For some reason, the animals around Lady Luria are always calm.”
As the maid said this, she prepared the water.
While Daru and I watched, my mother came from behind.
“Luria , aren’t you going in?”
“I thought it would be better not to interrupt.”
“Yes, but you’re going to wash it, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to wash it.”
“Sorry, it seems like Luria wants to help wash it.”
My mother spoke to the maid, and it was decided that I would wash the prairie dog.
“Stay calm now.”
“Kyuuui~”
I wet its whole body with warm water and started lathering it with soap.
“Be careful with the face, don’t get soap in its eyes or ears.”
My mother told me from behind as I worked.
“Got it! Oh, there’s a lot of dirt on its paws!”
“Prairie dogs dig holes.”
“I see~”
After washing it clean, I wrapped it in a towel and held it.
“Kyuuikyyui.”
The prairie dog made a sweet sound and snuggled up to me.
“So cute!”
“Kyui.”
“Luria , aren’t you going to give it a name?”
“A name, huh… Hmm…”
“You can go with your intuition, like Leonardo. How about that?”
“Leonardo, huh…”
My mother seemed to recommend Leonardo, but personally, I didn’t like it much.
“What name would be good?”
“Kyuuui.”
“Hm? Do you want it to be Kyuuui?”
“It’s just a sound it makes. It doesn’t mean it wants to be named ‘Kyuuui.’ I think ‘Leonardo’ or something like that would be better.”
“But I think Kyuuui sounds better.”
I placed the prairie dog a little further away.
“Mom, call it. Luria will also call it.”
“Should I call it Leonardo?”
“Yes, let’s see who wins.”
I decided to let the prairie dog choose.
“Leonardo, come here~”
But, sneakily, my mother was holding a nut in her hand.
“Mm! Kyuuui, come here.”
The prairie dog was looking between my mother holding the nut and me, confused.
“It’s undecided. Maybe both are good names?”
“It’s just attracted to the nut!”
In the next moment, the prairie dog rushed over as if it was charging and jumped into my arms.
“Hm? It came all of a sudden?”
“Kyuuui~ Kyuu~”
“………”
As the prairie dog snuggled up to me, I thought for a moment.
“Kyuuui… It came even though I didn’t call it. Maybe Leonardo and Kyuuui are both equally good?”
“That’s not true. Leonardo is the best.”
The prairie dog, even though it saw the nut, didn’t go to my mother. So, Leonardo was rejected.
“Hm? Do you want the nut?”
“Kyuuikyuui.”
“I won’t give you the nut. Do you want to be named Nut?”
“………?”
The prairie dog looked up at me with sad eyes, as if asking, “Why would you say such a cruel thing?”
“Do you want the nut?”
“Kyui, kyuuuiii!”
“Looks like you just want to eat it.”
I almost named it Nut… that was close.
Anyway, while feeding the prairie dog a nut, I asked again.
“How about Kyuuui? Kyui?”
“Kyui?”
The prairie dog grabbed the nut skillfully with both paws, eating it while tilting its head.
“Or how about Kyau?”
“Kyuuui~”
I called it in different ways, watching for its reaction.
“Luria really wants to put ‘Kyu’ and ‘Kya’ in the name. I think Leonardo would be better.”
My mother said this, but I ignored it.
Leonardo is a good name, but it’s too hard for me, a three-year-old, to say.
So, it was rejected.
After calling it in different ways, “Carro ” got the best reaction.
“Okay, its name will be Carro !”
“Kyui, kyui!”
It seems like Carro also liked the name, so that’s good.
Saying this, Mother spoke as if resigned.
“Well, since the owner is Luria , if Luria is happy with it, that’s fine.”
“Yep! Carro, nice to meet you!”
“Kyui, kyui.”
Carro chirped happily and looked at the nuts in Mother’s hand while snuggling up to me.
After playing with Carro for a while, Mother spoke.
“By now, Carro’s toilet should have been set up in your room.”
“A toilet, huh?”
“Luria will have to teach Carro how to use it properly, okay?”
“Leave it to me. Carro, follow me.”
“Kyui!”
I got on Daru’s back and headed to my room. Behind me, Mother, the maid, and Carro followed.
When we got to my room, I saw the newly installed toilet. It had sand in it, making it easy to handle waste.
“Carro! This is your toilet!”
“Kyui kyui?”
“When you need to go, you do it here.”
“Kyui~?”
I could feel that Carro didn’t quite understand yet.
“Let me show you how it’s done.”
“Don’t!”
I tried to show Carro how to use the toilet, but Mother stopped me.
I was confused.
“Kyuu~”
It seemed like Carro was interested in Daru’s toilet. Daru’s toilet was bigger than Carro’s, but it also had sand in it, just like Carro’s.
“This is Daru’s toilet.”
“Woof!”
“Carro~?”
“Hm, is it your toilet, Luria ? It’s over here.”
In my room, the toilet is next to the bed.
“This is it!”
“Kyuu~”
“It’s nothing to brag about, but Luria hardly ever has accidents.”
“Ky?”
“It’s true. Since I stopped wearing diapers, I’ve only had a few accidents… I can count them on one hand.”
“Kyuu~”
Carro looked at me with admiration. As a three-year-old, I felt proud.
“And this is Carro’s toilet. I hope Carro can use it properly, just like Luria .”
“Kyuu~”
It seemed like Carro understood the toilet situation.
At least, that’s what I thought at the time.
The next day, when I woke up, Daru was already in my bed as usual.
“Good morning.”
“Woof woof!” “Kyui~”
Carro stood on the headboard on her hind legs, seemingly keeping watch.
“Thank you, Carro.”
“Kyui~”
When I thanked Carro, she puffed out her chest proudly, as if she had done her job as a lookout.
“Alright.”
I picked up Carro and got out of bed, only to find a black, round object on the floor.
“Hm? Carro, did you do this?”
“Kyuu?”
Carro seemed to ask, “What do you mean?”
It seemed like she didn’t fully understand the toilet concept yet.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Using a poop scoop, I cleaned up the mess and put it in Carro’s toilet.
I also sniffed the smell.
“Hmm, it’s round and doesn’t smell too bad.”
I was glad it seemed healthy. When an animal has a stomach issue, it gets all messy, which is troublesome.
“Kyuru?”
Carro tilted her head at me. Cute.
But I needed to teach her how to use the toilet properly.
“Carro, you do your business here.”
“Kyuu~?”
“You do it in the toilet.”
“Kyuu.”
“Look at Daru.”
“Kyuru?”
I pointed to Daru, who was struggling in his toilet.
“Look, Daru uses the toilet, and he’s doing a great job! Just like Luria .”
When I petted Daru while he was using the toilet, he looked a little troubled but kept pushing.
“Woof woof~”
Daru usually goes to the bathroom outside when we take him for walks. But today, it seemed he was doing it to show Carro how it’s done.
“I hope Carro can use the toilet like Daru.”
“Kyuru~”
Carro watched Daru intently as he pushed through, and I watched closely too.
“Ahh~”
Daru, looking a bit embarrassed, finally finished.
“Once you’re done, it’s Luria ’s job.”
Daru scooped his poop and the sand into the covered box. After that, the maid would come to take it away.
I also put Carro’s poop in the box for demonstration.
“Alright, Daru, Carro! Let’s go eat!”
“Woof woof!” “Kyui kyui”
“After that, let’s take a walk inside the house and show Mom the encyclopedia!”
For some reason, Mom has a lot of encyclopedias.
I’ll look up things like the prairie dog’s habits and what they eat, just to make sure I’m well-informed. After all, I’m the one taking care of Carro.
“Woof.”
“Hm, Carro, do you want to join Daru’s walk?”
Daru is big, so he goes for two walks a day.
“Luria can’t go outside, but Carro can come with me.”
Carro jumped onto my shoulder and chirped.
“I see, you want to be with Luria . That’s fine.”
Saying that, Carro chirped happily.
