🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 13
Dust that had once been a door filled the washroom, and Yehokin, who had been standing where the washroom door used to exist, walked toward us with a stiffened face.
“Hyung.”
Alik and I froze in the middle of our scuffle and stared blankly at Yehokin as he approached us.
Alik muttered,
“W-What. What the hell did that defective bastard just do?”
Exactly.
Dust covered the washroom, and both Alik and I, standing beside each other, were a mess from it. Strangely, though, Yehokin was spotless. It was as if the dust parted to make way for him.
Yehokin grabbed Alik’s wrist.
“Let go.”
“Are you crazy? How dare someone like you grab my wrist?”
“I said let go. She’s my fiancée.”
“You’d better let go and get out while I’m still speaking nicely. A defective like you is interfering.”
“Interfering?”
“Siscia said she was interested in me, so I was just greeting her and suggesting we get along.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah! You showed up later, so you don’t know, but Siscia clearly said she and I—”
At that moment, Yehokin slightly curled up the corner of his lips.
Since we met, Yehokin had only shown a smiling face, but the smile he showed now was completely different from the one he had shown me earlier.
A cold, arrogant predator’s smile.
It was obvious mockery.
“You know, Hyung.”
“W-What.”
“You can do whatever you want to me, but you can’t do that to Siscia.”
“What?”
“Don’t bully Siscia. Let go of her hand. Before I kill you.”
Alik, who had been blinking blankly in confusion, bristled at Yehokin’s added words.
“K-Kill…! You insolent defective! How dare someone like you threaten me? I— Aaaagh!”
Growling, Alik suddenly screamed.
I was startled once by Alik’s sudden scream, and then again by the killing intent pouring out of Yehokin.
The force was so immense that even my legs, standing beside him, trembled.
Alik, who was directly in contact with Yehokin, must have felt even greater fear than I did.
Alik’s killing intent, which he was so confident in, had never been frightening at all. But Yehokin’s killing intent—Yehokin, who had been ostracized by his family and mocked as a defective—was strong enough to scare even me.
Was something like this possible?
He was this strong, and yet he had lived while being bullied by his family?
Alik’s face turned deathly pale as he shouted,
“Ugh! Damn it, fine, fine! If I let go—ugh—that’s enough, right?!”
“Ah!”
Alik roughly released my wrist, and I staggered before collapsing onto the washroom floor.
Yehokin frowned, gripped Alik’s arm tightly, then threw him aside.
The large-built Alik rolled on the ground with a strange scream.
“Urgh! Y-Yehokin, you bastard…!”
“Siscia, are you okay?”
Ignoring Alik’s curses completely, Yehokin approached me.
Whether out of humiliation or resentment, Alik ground his teeth before suddenly getting up and leaving the washroom.
Once his pounding footsteps faded away, the washroom became quiet.
Kneeling on the floor to meet my eye level, Yehokin gently brushed the dust off my hair.
“I’m sorry. You were really surprised because of Hyung, right?”
“No. I wasn’t that surprised. He seemed like he was trying to bully me, but he wasn’t strong.”
“Alik Hyung is a bit weak.”
There was ease in Yehokin’s bitter smile.
For beastmen, killing intent was a measure of strength. The fact that he had released such powerful killing intent meant that Yehokin was far stronger than I had imagined.
Looking at my fiancée, who was pretty and even strong, I thought:
It seemed my plan to return to my Great Tiger form would be much easier than expected.
When Siscia lightly shook the dust off her headband with tiger-ear decorations, Yehokin flinched and reached out his hand.
“Ah, Siscia. If you shake it that way, the dust will—”
“Achoo!”
As expected, pale dust settled onto Siscia’s small nose, and she sneezed several times without changing the posture she had been in while shaking the headband.
“Achoo! Achoo! Sniff! Ugh. My nose is itchy.”
“Are you okay? Should I shake it off for you?”
“No. I think I’ll shake the headband next time.”
“…Oh.”
At her voice of refusal, Yehokin’s face darkened.
To Yehokin, who wanted to marry Siscia, her refusal was more terrifying than any threat or torture in the world.
Worry swept over him.
Why did she refuse? Was she disappointed because he arrived too late? Or was she angry because he broke the door?
What if, because of this, she said she didn’t want to maintain the engagement anymore?
His heart burned anxiously.
Please.
Please don’t do that.
Please, at least don’t break off the engagement.
He tried to hide his nervous and anxious feelings, afraid they might become a flaw, but he couldn’t stop his hands from trembling.
Siscia, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffled and grabbed the hem of Yehokin’s clothes.
At that moment, Yehokin felt as if his heart thudded and plunged straight to the ground.
“Sniff. Let’s go out now.”
“…Where are we going?”
“To the garden. There… Haa, haaa… Achoo!”
The garden?
Why the garden?
Was she telling him to go back now because she was breaking off the engagement?
The brief moment while Siscia sneezed felt like eternity.
Her eyes red from consecutive sneezes, Siscia tugged at Yehokin’s clothes.
Even though Siscia was so small that her head barely reached his waist, and her strength shouldn’t have been that great, Yehokin was helplessly pulled along by her.
Please don’t break off the engagement.
Swallowing the plea that rose to his throat, Yehokin asked as calmly as possible,
“Siscia. Is something wrong? Why are we suddenly going to the garden?”
“We got covered in dust.”
Ah, so breaking the door really was the problem.
Sighing deeply in regret that rushed in like a tide, he heard Siscia add lightly,
“After you swallow dust, you’re supposed to eat samgyeopsal. Right? You’ll eat with me too, Yehokin?”
“…Huh?”
At Siscia’s completely unexpected suggestion, Yehokin was momentarily speechless.
Walking half a step ahead with her short legs moving quickly, Siscia turned back to look at him with wide eyes.
“Ah, have you never heard of samgyeopsal? Samgyeopsal is meat from a pig’s belly. You cut it like this and grill it over fire. It’s super delicious!”
“……”
When Yehokin said nothing, Siscia suddenly jumped in place as if she had thought of something.
“Ah! You’re not debating whether to eat it or not, right? No way! No refusing! You have to eat with me! I said it first, so you have to do as I say! It’s decided!”
At her clear voice, the worries and anxiety piled up in Yehokin’s chest melted away.
Every time Siscia walked, the tiger-ear decorations on her headband jingled.
He couldn’t tell whether the sparkling things fluttering in the air were dust reflecting sunlight or Siscia’s laughter.
It was dazzling.
After washing up and brushing off the dust, Yehokin and I met again in the garden.
Sitting across from me, Yehokin fidgeted awkwardly.
“No, Siscia. Let’s stop eating now. Okay?”
“How much have you even eaten? Hurry and eat more. More, more. You still have to eat six more plates.”
“S-Six more plates?”
Yehokin stammered in surprise, and just then the servants grilling the meat beside us placed a perfectly cooked plate of samgyeopsal on our table.
The sizzling sound and the clean, savory smell were incredible.
“You have to finish everything without leaving any. Got it?”
“Mm.”
Yehokin carefully picked up a piece of samgyeopsal, and his black eyes sparkled in bliss.
“It’s delicious… Even eating it again, it’s truly fantastic…”
His fresh reaction—different from when he had showered me with compliments about being pretty, and different from when he subdued Alik—made me extremely happy.
This must be what it means to feel full just by watching someone eat.
Resting my chin on my palm and swinging my legs back and forth, I watched Yehokin eat with satisfaction.
He must not have been able to eat proper food while being bullied by those wicked Imugi, so at least while he stayed in Gladwin, I wanted him to eat plenty of delicious food.
I also had just a tiny bit of desire to win Yehokin’s favor.
As he busily stuffed meat into his mouth, his cheeks puffed up like a hamster’s.
So cute.
Feeling my staring gaze, Yehokin blushed and smiled shyly.
“Sorry. I ate too much, right?”
“No. It looks nice because you eat well.”
“Eat with me. Let’s eat together. Okay? It feels uncomfortable when I’m the only one eating.”
When someone pretty begs like that, how can you refuse?
Yehokin placed a piece of meat in front of me and looked at me with sparkling eyes as if urging me to eat, and I picked it up and chewed it thoroughly.
Outside the window, the sun was setting.
It was the time when, in the original story, Yehokin died at the hands of Tigris Oppa.
Oppa, who had gone mad after losing me, couldn’t endure the Imugis’ mockery and rampaged, and the Imugis calmly left after offering Yehokin as a sacrifice.
Yehokin lost his life to Tigris Oppa without resisting even once.
Why did he die so helplessly?
Why, despite having such strong power, did Yehokin not stand against the Imugis and Tigris Oppa?
I was curious about Yehokin’s circumstances.
At the same time, I felt a sense of kinship with Yehokin, who had died before the story even began in the original work.
After swallowing the last piece of meat, Yehokin tilted his head at me.
“Why? Is there something on my face?”
“There’s nothing. It’s just, you’re pretty.”
“Hahaha. Are you copying me?”
“Yeah.”
I wanted Yehokin to be happy.
If Yehokin, who didn’t exist in the original story, survived safely and became happy, then maybe I too could survive safely and become happy, unlike in the original.
“Yehokin. If you’re done eating, shall we go back now?”
Yehokin’s face, which had been flushed, darkened instantly.
Alik would surely have told the other Imugis of Ebanoyle what happened, and Yehokin, who had always endured bullying without resistance, would not resist today either.
Knowing that pain awaited him, of course he wouldn’t want to return.
Staring blankly at the empty plates, Yehokin moved his lips.
“…If we’re done eating, we should go back, right?”
“Yeah! I’ll take you.”
I spoke in a clear voice and held out my hand toward Yehokin.
Don’t worry, Yehokin.
Today, the Imugis of Ebanoyle won’t be able to bully you.
