I Raised the Beast Well

Translator/editor: ruby

If he’d made a mistake then, Belinda would have sunk deep into the cold water, trapped under the ice, never to be seen again.

She would have left him alone in this world.

His heart tightened just imagining it. The pain, like a shard of ice piercing his chest, spread out.

Belinda smiled with a loving face as if she wasn’t considering the accident at all.

“Thank you, Aymon.”

Now that he was facing her, all Aymon’s fear and nervousness melted away.

He stretched out his arms and pulled Belinda to him. He hugged her small body tightly and buried his face in her neck.

If you’re gone, I will be too. If you die, I’ll follow you to death.

He repeated it mentally so she wouldn’t hear, and he closed his eyes.

His nervous heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

Then, Mazetto, who had been lying on the floor, got up.

“Aymon saved my life, so I’ll be sure to return the favor!”

The heavy air lightened up again. Belinda’s laughter rang from Aymon’s chest.

Belinda pushed Aymon away with her palm and smiled at Mazetto.

“Come to think of it, Mazetto tried to save me. Thank you.”

“I thought I was going to die, Belinda…! I was so scared!”

Belinda fully turned around and scratched Mazetto’s stomach.

He chirped again and then laid back onto the floor, looking at the ceiling. He was very comfortable with his back on the floor.

I don’t think that’s how sparrows normally behave.

His chubby belly was too cute.

A hot body touched against hers from behind. Aymon hugged her. Their bodies overlapped again, and his breath came down onto her neck.

He stuck to her when she fell and pulled her back when she went away. Like a baby bird chasing its mother, Aymon could never stray too far away from Belinda.

She wondered how surprised he must have been. If it had been Aymon that fell into the water and lost consciousness, the world would have collapsed onto her.

She wouldn’t let go of him the instant he barely opened his eyes, afraid of losing him. She’d be nervous. Scared.

A large hand crept under the oversized tunic that she’d pulled out of the drawer.

The hot hand slowly rubbed Belinda’s lower abdomen, climbed up her waist, and carefully crawled farther up.

“Stop!”

She slapped Aymon on the arm, and he quietly pulled away.

Earlier, she’d been rolling around naked because she wasn’t at her senses, but on second thought, she was very shy.

Even telling Aymon to stop touching her now was embarrassing, after he’d already touched all those places.

Even if Mazetto hadn’t interrupted them, she eventually would’ve had to stop him

Anyway, the past was the past, and the present was the present.

Belinda had no choice but to keep pushing him off because leaving her strangely clingy Aymon alone would lead to an uncontrollable situation.

She looked around.

There was a burning fireplace, deer heads mounted on the thick wooden walls, exotic rugs, and old lamps.

When she asked where they were, Aymon just said that he didn’t know. He’d dragged her out of the water and looked for a place to lie down. It was probably a forest keeper’s cabin, but he said it was empty when he found it. If he hadn’t, he would’ve been left to wander through the snow hopelessly.

Belinda wriggled into a comfortable position. The chest behind her back was hard, and it was strangely cozy in Aymon’s arms. She almost sighed at the deep satisfaction and stability.

Even though she was lying down fearlessly in a strange place, she felt very comfortable with two animals next to her.

Her eyes closed drowsily. Aymon kissed her ears.

“You must be tired, Breedee. Get some more sleep.”

His heavy, low tone was like a lullaby, making her body relax more and more.

She felt relaxed as she leaned back. Aymon embraced her with more strength in his arms.

It was like she’d fallen into a coma.

It was very comfortable and sweet, unlike when she lost her consciousness in the icy water.

***

Belinda searched the wooden cupboard.

“Nothing.”

After a long night, it was morning again. Sunlight filled the house through the wood-framed windows.

Aymon, Mazetto, and Belinda had decided to stay for a few days – Belinda had sprained her ankle when she fell off the sled, and the cold wind hurt her. No matter how many blankets they wrapped around her, the pain wouldn’t go away, so they had to settle for this accommodation.

As soon as she woke up in Aymon’s arms, she emptied the jewelry in her pockets onto the table and began to search the house. First and foremost, she was hungry.

Perhaps because of the accident, she was more hungry than usual.

As she busily searched the house, Aymon went outside, telling her to trust him.

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten to leave warning marks on the house and nearby trees.

“Anything?”

Belinda stood on her tiptoes and opened the drawers one by one. All she could see was a bottle of alcohol.

The cabin’s owner would probably be away all winter, so he’d have had no reason to leave food behind. Belinda had no choice but to wait for Aymon to come back.

She sat down in front of the fireplace and hugged her knees to her body. After a long while looking at the crackling wood, she eventually stood up because she was thirsty.

“I need to drink, even if it’s just alcohol.”

She’d seen a bottle of pink alcohol with cherries in it in the cupboard earlier. Even that would do – she couldn’t stand her thirst anymore.

She took another jeweled button off her clothes, put it on the table, and carefully lowered the bottle.

“What’s that, Belinda? Something delicious?”

Mazetto flew in.

Belinda filled a wooden glass about halfway and drank it in one gulp. The fragrant, sweet drink passed down nicely.

She’d get drunk because she was drinking on an empty stomach, but it tasted good. Her chest seemed to be burning, so she rubbed it and held out the glass.

“Do you want to try?”

Mazetto took a drop of the drink and flew back to the window.

“It’s not good! Mazetto doesn’t like alcohol!”

The drink had left an aftertaste in Belinda’s mouth, which seemed strangely attractive again.

She filled the glass again, this time savoring the alcohol carefully. It left behind a sweet, fruity taste on her tongue.

Mazetto, who was sitting by the window, squeaked.

“Huh? Belinda, come here, here!”

“What is it?”

Belinda replied, slightly slurring her words, and slowly approached the window.

A leopard was standing on the snow behind a tree.

Of course, it wasn’t Aymon. It wasn’t even like the brown, spotted ones Belinda had met. It was a snow leopard with black dots on its white body.

“I’ve never seen a leopard like that before.”

Its fur glittered in the sun. It must have been a predator, but its beauty hit them before its danger did.

The bleak sunlight shone on its fur through the branches.

The leopard, who looked at Belinda with shining eyes, kept its ears open for any sign of Aymon approaching.

Its figure was somehow cute, making Belinda smile. The relatively small size made it seem cute to her, who was used to the Shinsu.

Now that she thought about it, it was a perfectly normal size for the leopard – it was the Shinsu that were so big that one could barely believe they were real. And Aymon was the scariest of them all.

Was it possible for an animal to be so big?

Belinda grinned as she rubbed her flushed cheeks.

Then, the leopard’s fur stood up. It raised its tail and winced as if surprised by something.

Was my smile that strange?

She tilted her head.

However, it wasn’t because of her that the white leopard was surprised. Behind it, a giant leopard, several times larger, crept up. Its body was as black as the night sky, contrasting to the white snow. The black beast glittered beautifully, a reflection of darkness.

It was Aymon.

He walked up slowly, with a piece of game in his mouth, stared at the snow leopard, and moved on, ignoring it. It seemed like he had already noticed it from a distance by the smell.

The snow leopard quickly hid behind a tree, its urgent footsteps throwing up snow.

Aymon perked up his ears as he moved as if he was nervous.

After it observed him for a while, Aymon turned into a human and began to separate the meat from his prey, lowering his body and approaching carefully.

Belinda only observed the scene with a strange expression.

Sniffing around, the snow leopard approached Aymon. Then, as if worshipping him, it fell flat and slowly wagged its tail, dragging on the ground.

Of course, Aymon didn’t care about it.

It sneaked closer to him, sniffing.

Only then did Aymon raise his head. He murmured something with an expressionless face and pushed it away.

Belinda didn’t hear what it was through the window, but it looked like a “Get out of the way”.

It tried to hold out, but Aymon’s strength pushed it back.

However, the snow leopard didn’t give up. It fell down and crept up again, lying flat and wagging its tail.

Belinda, looking on blankly, filled her glass. She felt like her insides were burning – she needed a drink.

She exhaled and strode towards the door, then threw it open, shouting at Aymon.

“What are you doing?”

There was a tinge of feeble jealousy in her eyes.

There was only a black-haired Shinsu in its human form and a snow leopard outside, but somehow she felt like she was witnessing her lover having an affair.

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