WBRS 14

Chapter 14

I had thought I wouldn’t see him for a while, after all the strange behavior he had shown—vanishing from the carriage without a trace, and even leaving behind a suspiciously precious handkerchief with traces on it.

So I never imagined we would reunite this quickly…

I quickly pulled back the blanket and hurried to the window. I opened the locked window, and through the gap, Mangdeok slipped inside.

Then, as if it were his own place, he climbed onto the bed and disappeared under the blanket.

Hey, what are you doing there?! Weren’t you here to see me?

“You left only that teasing handkerchief behind and ran off, and now—!”

He had only just returned and already intended to sleep! Worse, he had naturally taken over my bed!

With a dumbfounded expression, I yanked the blanket away. Mangdeok blinked his bright yellow eyes up at me.

His gaze was pure confusion, as if asking what was wrong.

“Why did you come back?”

At my question, Mangdeok only stared at me without any response. Well… he really does seem like an animal at times.

I hadn’t expected an answer anyway, so I quietly climbed back onto the bed.

I sat there without lying down, and Mangdeok slowly crept toward me.

Hiss—

With drowsy eyes, he flicked his tongue, then climbed onto my lap and settled in comfortably. He leaned against me and closed his eyes.

…He really came here just to sleep? He broke through the mansion’s security just to sleep on my lap?

I didn’t know whether to be happy or upset.

Not caring about my confusion, his soft breathing soon filled the room.

Feeling the warmth through his smooth snake-like skin, and watching his shallow breaths scatter softly in the air, a thought suddenly came to me.

“Is this… my chance?”

An unexpected opportunity had arrived in the early dawn. Perhaps my last chance to erase the bond.

Even though I didn’t have the necklace Din had given me, Mangdeok was still full of openings.

He was in my arms, and for some reason, he also looked quite tired…

“This might actually work. If I fail… my neck might end up in those sharp fangs. But would he really kill his mate? …Well, maybe he’d swallow me whole like soft snail meat.”

Either way, I had never agreed to become this snake’s partner.

So I couldn’t hesitate anymore. I had already failed once, so I couldn’t afford to waver.

“This time… I must succeed.”

Before I softened again at Mangdeok’s cuteness, I forced my resolve.

I narrowed my eyes at him sleeping peacefully on my lap and slowly reached my hand under the pillow.

In the heavy silence, my trembling fingers touched Din’s dagger.

I carefully pulled it out.

Under the faint moonlight filtering through the window, the wolf-blood gem on the hilt glimmered like the sun.

“…Sorry.”

I muttered an apology toward Mangdeok and lowered the blade.

The weight in my hand felt real.

I closed my eyes.

…This is fine. I’ve done what I needed to do. At least it’s better that it’s me than Din—

Whoosh—

“…?”

My eyes flew open.

That sound just now… I shouldn’t have heard that.

I looked down quickly.

The blade had pierced not Mangdeok—but the soft, thick blanket.

Ah… so that heavy feeling was just the bedding…

…Wait, what? I stabbed the blanket?

“No way I failed… right?”

My voice slipped out before I could stop it.

I had never failed a hunt before. Not once.

Even in my school days among beast races, I had always ranked first in hunting classes. I even graduated top of my class!

Even if my opponent was a natural predator, this was impossible…

Wait—then where was Mangdeok?

The snake who should have been unconscious was gone. That meant he had escaped.

But that was strange. I wasn’t the kind of rabbit who made such beginner mistakes.

When I looked around urgently, I saw Mangdeok at the edge of the bed, quietly watching me.

He didn’t seem surprised at all. Nor panicked.

He looked exactly the same as before—calm, only slightly sleepy.

“This is… ridiculous.”

No way. Even after seeing the knife and being attacked, he didn’t run?

I cautiously raised the dagger again. Mangdeok simply stared at me without moving.

As if he had no intention of leaving unless I attacked again.

“You’re really strange. Why aren’t you running?”

If it were me, I would have smashed through the window and escaped immediately.

Survival instinct should be stronger in beasts, not weaker.

Mangdeok tilted his pure white head slightly, almost mimicking my gesture.

Even now, he had time to play around?

I reached out toward him again, but his slender body slipped away effortlessly.

Still, he didn’t go far—he remained on the bed.

I tried again, but he only moved more skillfully around me.

As if refusing to leave my side.

“Where did he go…? It’s too dark.”

The room was dark, lit only by moonlight. It was hard to see anything clearly.

His body was so white it blended into the blanket.

I could feel him moving, but I couldn’t see him properly.

Then my fingers brushed something thin—his tail.

“I’ve got you!”

I grabbed it tightly and pulled.

But then—

The thing in my hand slowly became hard.

Startled, I let go immediately. At the same time, a flash of blinding white light filled my vision.

“Ugh!”

When the light faded, I pressed myself against the bedhead, breathing hard.

And then I saw it.

A human figure.

“…A person?”

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

It was unmistakably a human.

“Ah, I’ve been discovered.”

The figure spoke in a lazy voice.

“What…? Wait… you can talk?!”

“As you can see, I’m human.”

The man spoke calmly, unbothered by my shock.

The moonlight revealed his face.

“…You!”

I had seen him before. In my dreams.

“So it was you… from that dream!”

“How romantic. To remember me like that.”

He smiled faintly.

It was the same man I had seen in my dream.

A mysterious being who had once visited my room in a surreal night under blue moonlight.

Back then, I thought it was all a dream.

But it wasn’t.

The only difference now was his hair—once long and flowing like moonlight, now short like an ordinary man’s.

But the same remained: his snow-white hair and golden eyes shining down at me.

Eyes filled with something dangerously intense.

“Hello, Luceline.”

His voice was soft, intoxicating.

A face too striking to ignore—and a voice even more alluring.