Chapter 120
“N-No— I mean, Edenber!”
“What?”
Edenber froze for a moment.
He had never once been called by his name by Asil until now.
When she was in her baby dragon form, she had called him husband; in human form, Duke.
That was why being called Edenber came as such a shock.
Did I do something wrong?
Is she disappointed in me for something?
Was it wrong to go out as the commander in that battle?
Is that why she’s not calling me husband anymore?
In that short time, all sorts of thoughts raced through his mind.
So he looked at Asil with eyes trembling like an earthquake and stammered in a shaking voice.
“Why…… why aren’t you calling me husband?”
“The word ‘husband’ is only for someone you’re married to.”
Asil, hands on her hips, said primly.
“We’re not married, and Edenber isn’t my husband. So from now on, I’m calling you by name!”
At those words, Edenber’s face went blank as if he had been hit with a hammer.
Unfortunately, because he had his back to the moonlight, Asil could not see his expression.
“Kkyuu.”
Only the rabbit, who understood his feelings well, patted his trouser leg to comfort him.
It even nodded as if to say it understood everything.
But at Edenber’s next words, it angrily smacked his ankle.
“T-The rabbit came along too, huh.”
“Kkyu!”
“……Why are you angry?”
Edenber, who had spoken carelessly in his confusion and gotten hit, looked down at the rabbit in bewilderment.
At that, Asil shouted firmly.
“The rabbit friend is a male! So you have to call him Todori!”
“Kkyu?”
At Asil’s words, the rabbit tilted its head. Since when has my name been Todori?
Until now she had always called him “Rabbit” or “Rabbit friend!”—yet overnight he had gained the name Todori.
Having confused two beings in a short time, Asil looked up at Edenber with a serious expression.
“But why are you here? Is something wrong?”
“No…… Nothing’s wrong, I just came to see you. We didn’t even greet properly earlier.”
Pushing aside his flustered feelings for the moment, Edenber stood straight in front of Asil.
He had sneaked here because he wanted to see her even from afar, never expecting to meet like this.
Asil stared up at him, then out of idle curiosity poked his head lightly.
“I see. Edenber, you’ve gotten really tall.”
How much milk did he drink to grow this much? No matter how much I eat, I don’t grow well.
At that touch, Edenber finally came to his senses and asked cautiously.
“Can I tug your cheek?”
On the surface he did not show it, but in truth he felt as if he were dreaming right now.
Ever since Asil left, he had always dreamed of meeting her.
In the dreams, Asil sometimes appeared as a black dragon, sometimes as a human, and they wandered together to the places they had been.
But when time passed, she would vanish like a mirage.
How much he had missed Asil, who always left behind only sweet afterimages.
So the present situation did not quite feel real to him.
If he could feel Asil’s warmth, perhaps it would sink in a little—he wanted to at least tug her cheek.
“Yes.”
At Asil’s ready consent, Edenber gently tugged her cheek.
The soft and warm sensation brought him a slight sense of relief.
After tugging her cheek as well, he finally spoke with a much more relaxed face.
“It really is you.”
“Is there a fake one?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Releasing her cheek and biting his lip, he suddenly pulled Asil into a tight embrace.
“I missed you.”
“Me too!”
Asil hugged her closest friend with all her strength.
Though the time they had spent together had not been long, because they had gone through so much in that short period, their bond was deeper than with anyone else.
“But what did you mean by coming back as a potato? No matter how much I reread the letter, I couldn’t understand it.”
“Uh…….”
“Are you a potato now?”
“……Yes, I’m a potato.”
Caught off guard by the sudden dark history resurfacing, Asil blurted out anything.
“Th-There’s a system called potato in the beastmen’s forest. Only beastmen who study really well can become one.”
“Ah, like a scholarship student.”
Fortunately, Edenber believed her right away without suspicion. Not only that, he even smiled kindly and stroked Asil’s head.
“Congratulations on becoming a potato.”
……There’s actually no such thing—should I have told the truth that it was a mistake?
While belatedly regretting it amid Edenber’s praise.
“Chirp!”
A bird call came from somewhere.
Startled, Asil looked around.
Then she spotted a white sparrow perched on the tree where Edenber had been.
It was glaring at them with a fierce look, clearly very angry.
Why is it glaring at Edenber like that? ……Ah, maybe it thinks he’s a thief?
He had come without saying anything, so that could be it.
(‘No, he’s a good human!’)
Asil quickly shook her head at the sparrow.
But the sparrow still looked angry.
Edenber, who had not seen Asil’s reaction, muttered to himself.
“What’s a sparrow doing at this hour? Is it one the count raises?”
“Grrrrrr.”
At that moment, following the white sparrow, a black lizard emerged from the grass.
It was none other than the one known as Count Arcian’s sacred beast.
“Grrrr…….”
Following that, a pure white snow leopard appeared as well, crouched low as if ready to attack at any moment.
No, why aren’t any of them sleeping—what are they doing!
(‘I told you he’s not a thief!’)
Asil hurriedly shook her head.
Edenber, who still had not noticed her gestures, simply thought, (The Count Erzébet sure raises a lot of animals in his garden.)
So he paid no more attention to the animals and asked Asil the question he had been curious about.
“I heard you came with your family this time—does that mean you’ll be staying longer than last time?”
“Yes, probably? I think so.”
“I see.”
Edenber’s face noticeably brightened.
“That’s a relief.”
Leaving behind those words, he fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly lowered his gaze and blushed slightly.
“Um…… Do you remember the contract we made back then? Though the situation has changed since then, the contract is still valid. If you’re okay with it, how about at least getting engaged fir—”
“Chirp! Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”
His words were cut off before he could finish.
The sparrow, with several angry marks on its head, tried to swoop down on him.
But it collided with the lizard, which had also been about to pounce on Edenber, and flopped onto the ground.
“Chirp chirp chirp!”
“Grrrrrrrr!”
The two animals glared at each other with eyes that said “Move!” and “You move!” before they tangled together and began fighting.
Meanwhile, the snow leopard, which had only poked its head out from the grass to glare at Edenber, picked up the sparrow with its feathers messily plucked and the lizard covered in wounds in its mouth and quietly backed away.
Then it hid behind the tree again and continued glaring at Edenber.
With the situation like this, even Edenber could not help but notice something was off.
He wondered if it could be.
Since Asil was a beastman, her family must also be beastmen, but still—surely not.
Their species were so different—surely not—?
Even while thinking that, just in case, he whispered to Asil in a trembling voice.
“Could they possibly…… be your family?”
“Yes, Mom, Dad, and oppa. They must think Edenber is a thief, but I’ll explain it well!”
“……I don’t think that’s it.”
“Hm? What?”
“No…… nothing.”
Somehow it felt like things had gone terribly wrong from the very start—not just his imagination.
Edenber’s eyes shook violently like a small boat caught in a fierce storm.
* * *
Meanwhile, at that same time.
Splash—!
“Ugh…….”
Ice-cold water with a thin layer of frost was dumped all over her body.
The attendant of Princess Sunrise—who had said sorry to Asil—opened her eyes with difficulty, covered in blood.
She was still wearing the necklace with the red bead.
Princess Sunrise, holding a whip, growled fiercely.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You did it? You’re the one who egged Young Lady Erzébet into betting with me, aren’t you?”
Crack! The whip lashed him.
“There’s someone who saw what you said to the young lady! What did you say to her back then!”
“I said I was sorry for taking her seat…….”
“Lies! Because of you, my mine is about to go to some mere Erzébet!”
Princess Sunrise stomped her feet.
“Are you really our family’s divine beast?! Not content with devouring my parents, now you’re trying to make me lose my fortune too?!”
That was right. He was not an ordinary attendant—he was Sol, the divine beast sent by the young Sunrise prince to his older sister.
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