The Only One For Each Other (3)
We were entangled for a while.
My shirt was haphazardly unbuttoned.
Only the disastrous traces remained on the exposed front of my undershirt.
A heavy silence fell.
“…”
The girl looked down at me.
My body was completely covered in scars.
It was difficult to find an unscarred area.
The marks of cuts, burns, tears, and stitches still shimmered, as if proving a terrible past.
I parted my lips.
“…You saw it, then.”
A short question escaped me.
The girl quietly nodded.
“Yes… I found them while I was changing your wet clothes.”
“It was a precious secret.”
“So this was it. The reason you always insisted on wearing stuffy suits, even in summer. Because they could hide all the scars on your body.”
“I’ve been found out.”
I admitted it readily.
As a bitter smile spread across my face, Irene’s hand suddenly moved and touched my chest.
Her lukewarm body heat caressed the scars.
Her dark eyes trembled faintly.
Unable to tear her gaze away from my body, the girl asked,
“Just… what happened?”
“…”
“Is this a secret too?”
“…”
I didn’t open my mouth.
I just lay there, enveloped in silence.
We faced each other for a moment.
Close enough to feel each other's breath.
Perhaps because my shirt was half-off, our bare skin touched, staining the air with a soft sensation.
We lay there, our body heat mingling stickily.
We remained like that for several minutes.
It was Irene who pulled away first.
“…Sorry. I wasn’t trying to scold you.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
The girl slowly pulls away.
Dropping her drooping beast ears, she reveals her complicated inner thoughts.
"It's just... I feel a little stifled."
"······."
"You know so much about me. Enough to understand things I've never even said. But I feel like I don't really know anything about you."
Her expression was complex in many ways.
"I feel like I forced that. Forget it."
Irene mutters to herself.
She fidgets under the covers, then rests her head on my arm, which happened to be lying beside her.
The distance closes once more.
The sweet scent of her skin reaches me.
Leaning against me, she says, "Come to think of it… I haven't really told you my story. Would you be interested in hearing it?"
"What kind of story?"
"About my hidden past."
"I already know most of it."
"Hearing it directly from the source is different. Both in content and meaning."
"I suppose that's true. I'd be happy to listen."
I silently lend an ear.
One might wonder what the point is if I already know, but hearing a story directly from the person involved carries a much deeper meaning.
The inner scars she's been hiding.
It meant she trusted me enough to reveal such vulnerabilities.
The girl seemed to be opening up more and more.
"It's not a particularly fun story, though."
Her eyes looked reminiscent.
After a moment of silence, the girl carefully parted her lips.
"My village, where I lived as a child, was a quiet, rural place. Our kind are easily targeted by humans, so we lived hidden away in tranquil locations."
The story didn't deviate much from what I already knew.
A humble, yet happy village.
People overflowing with warmth.
A girl who grew up honest and upright amongst them.
Daily life seemed to flow peacefully, but misfortune always strikes when least expected.
It happened when the fox girl was about three years younger than she is now.
-It's a pleasure to meet you all.
-I'm a businessman from the capital.
A man visited the village.
He offered gifts and greeted everyone individually, asking for their favor.
-My work has brought me near your village, and since I'm here, I'd like to get to know you all.
-I want to be your friend.
The simple villagers.
At first, they were wary, but they eventually succumbed to his persistent kindness over several months. The man seamlessly integrated himself into the village community.
And from that moment on.
The tragedy began.
-Seize them all! Don't let a single one escape! Capture them!
-Erase every trace of this place! Drag out anyone hiding, and burn everything that remains!
I should have known.
Humans.
A cunning race.
The shared smiles vanished, and only greed shimmered in their clouded eyes.
Treacherous malice devoured the young fox, leaving none spared.
It was a truly pathetic end.
The village burned, the adults died, and the children were taken as slaves.
The girl stood amidst all this carnage.
The corners of her mouth, stinging with pain, twisted into a bitter arc.
“…My master stayed behind in the burning village, so that I could escape with my younger siblings.”
A quiet, deadened voice.
The girl wasn’t trembling.
She simply spoke with calm eyes.
“But I failed. We didn’t get far before the hounds caught us.”
Was this her most painful memory?
Her delicate brow furrowed. Perhaps the fox was recalling the moment she was forced to her knees, wretchedly, in front of her crying siblings.
Irene bit her lip for a moment before finishing her story.
“After that, it was just cages. Then I met you at the auction house.”
“I see.”
“That was a bit long-winded, wasn’t it?”
“Not at all. I’m just worried. Are you alright, Irene?”
“There’s no reason for me not to be.”
A quiet reply returned.
“Still, I sometimes get lost in thought.”
“Lost in thought?”
“I wonder what would have happened if I had been different. If I had been cunning enough not to trust humans, strong enough not to be so helplessly defeated… Could I have protected the people I cherished?”
“…”
The girl was alone.
She was burdened with the full responsibility for that day, tormented by a terrible guilt.
Simply because she had survived.
“Sometimes it feels like it was all my fault.”
“…”
It was a foolish thought.
Yet, I understood.
Even when you know it’s not your fault, in the end, people blame themselves and crumble.
I understood the girl’s guilt.
Because I had already experienced it.
In my past life, until a few years ago, perhaps even now…
-Oppa! Play with me!
The phantom voice of the past brushed past my ears.
I shake off the futile thoughts.
Turning my head to the side, I see black eyes gazing at me.
We lay facing each other.
I quietly raise my hand and caress the pale cheek submerged in darkness.
“Miss Irene.”
The nightmares that have plagued my life for so long.
Even though I can’t heal you, there was one thing I wanted to tell you.
“It’s not your fault.”
No one ever said those words to me.
Because I was alone in my past life.
Therefore.
I thought all the tragedies that happened back then were because of me.
Only after time passed did I gradually realize.
“While you should grieve misfortune, you shouldn’t turn that grief into self-hatred.”
What a suffering person needed so desperately.
It wasn’t a pile of medicine bags, but warm words of comfort.
“Because you can’t live your life going forward like that.”
“…”
Irene had a dazed expression.
Her black eyes wavered.
As if she was contemplating how to react, she soon smiled faintly.
Her body subtly drew closer and nestled into my arms.
“…You’re thoughtful in strange ways.”
“Was it unnecessary meddling?”
“No… It’s just… surprising. You’re the first person to tell me it’s not my fault.”
“More accurately, there was no one to tell you that.”
“That’s also true.”
We remained still.
As if time had stopped.
Our lips were close.
As if they would touch at any moment.
Unspoken breaths mingled in the precarious space between us.
Her clear pupils reflected only my image.
The Fox spoke, breaking the silence.
"I've been thinking."
"Hmm?"
"I want to join your organization."
"Organization... Are you talking about Astro?"
"Yes."
What brought this on so suddenly?
Irene, who usually acted indifferent, suddenly expressed her desire to join.
She added an explanation.
"I've stayed by your side as a servant. If I'm going to continue assisting you, I think it would be better to have a more official reason."
"It seems your loyalty has suddenly sprung up."
"You could say that."
"It's not a bad proposal. We'll be together for the next three years, whether we like it or not. I was thinking of suggesting it to you sometime anyway."
"So you're accepting?"
"Gladly."
I replied with a slight smile.
I held out my pinky finger.
Since space was limited, I intended to conduct the initiation in a simplified manner.
The Fox offered hers without hesitation.
Immediately after.
Mana sparkled.
A long, single thread. It shone blue, intertwining our fingers.
With a softly spreading hue, I spoke.
"A lot of things will change from now on."
Taming is about forming a relationship.
It's the process of becoming special to each other.
From now on, you will become the only one in the world to me, and I will become the only one in the world to you.
I murmured, as if defining the future.
"The only one for each other."
The tangled threads of mana soon formed a distinct knot.
I lowered my head.
The Fox, slightly below me.
Our foreheads touch.
Feeling the warmth transmitted between us, I smile.
“I look forward to continuing to work with you.”
“Yes.”
Irene replies quietly.
A soft-colored mana.
A scene that shines enchantingly even in the dark dawn.
Waiting for the night to pass like this, we fell asleep holding hands.
It was a quiet day.
***
Meanwhile.
The Empire's underworld.
“... …”
An unknown figure hung their head low.
A young man, kneeling on one knee, bowed towards a throne cloaked in pitch black.
The air was thick with the smell of blood.
As he silently kept silent, a voice suddenly came.
“So… you're saying you broke off the alliance and returned?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The unknown figure answers, facing the throne. The shadowy figure seated upon it lets out a low, resonant chuckle.
“That alliance was rather important… This will greatly strain our relationship with the merchants.”
“The sin of taking your command lightly. I will gladly accept any punishment you deem fit.”
“Even if that punishment is death?”
“If that is Your Majesty’s will, gladly.”
The unknown figure answers without a moment's hesitation. The observing shadow bursts into laughter, seemingly satisfied.
“I was just joking, don’t mind me.”
“I am grateful for your mercy.”
“I couldn’t abandon such a loyal subject. From the beginning, wasn't it unnecessary to rely on such an alliance anyway?”
The shadowy figure strokes their chin.
“By the way, I never thought the snake would actually move. It's been missing for the past year.”
“As overwhelming as ever.”
“Of course. It’s the being that brought down a kingdom, after all. I would have been disappointed if he had regressed in just one year.”
“The contract that bound our hearts… Because of that, I missed the chance to deal with him.”
“It was likely calculated from the moment you boarded the ship. He took advantage of the fact that you couldn't attack. A truly cunning villain.”
“What do you plan to do now?”
“Well…”
An unclear question.
The corners of the mouth, hidden in darkness, form a sinister smile.
“Yes… I’d like to see his face again after all this time.”
The shadow mutters ominously.
Within the deeply settled shade, only an ominous atmosphere undulated.
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