A Fleeting Peace and Lingering Doubts

I glanced at the nearly empty hourglass.
The participants of the hunting competition were arriving one by one.

The time given for the competition was only one hour.
I thought it was a bit tight, but everyone had managed to catch incredibly high-grade monsters.

“Shinbi-nim! Look at this!”

‘…Could it be bigger than that?’
I was amazed, looking at the rock bear with rock crumbs falling from it that Tegen had caught, but Karvan was nowhere to be seen.

‘Isn’t he going to be disqualified?’
Just as I was thinking that, something flew from the sky and fell with a thud.

“Ooh, Valta! You made it just in time!”

The bright yellow eyes that appeared from the thick mist came straight towards me without even blinking.

“…Why are you out here.”

Then, he took shape and stopped in front of me.

“It’s cold, why didn’t you wait inside.”

The golden eyes, which I had always thought were eerie, seemed like a warm spring sun.
He naturally reached out his hand and touched my cheek, then pulled my waist and held me in his embrace.

“Your face is cold.”

“…It’s okay. But aren’t you cutting it a bit close? You were almost late.”

Feeling a bit shy, I gently pushed the man away and pointed to the nearly empty hourglass.
At that, he looked at me intently and then held out what he was holding.

[Special Nemea’s Heart (SL): The heart of a Nemea chief. It seems to still be beating.]

Inside the square ice that I had seen before, was the heart of a Nemea.

Following that, the misty tail that had suddenly appeared from behind the man threw something down with a thud.
The fire of the mane, which had always been blazing, was extinguished.

‘…I was wondering why he was so late.’
‘No, this isn’t long at all. He found and caught him in just an hour?’
I looked at Karvan with astonished eyes.

“Waaaah!”

A roar erupted a beat late.

The heart of the chief of the allied tribe who had committed the atrocity of poisoning the well.
Karvan was undoubtedly the winner.

“I knew Valta would win!”

Everyone was happy, but I couldn’t laugh alone.

That Nemea was definitely the one I had let get away by mistake.
I could tell just by looking at the mark of my Leviathan pierced in his thigh.

‘…But, to find and catch him in just an hour.’
‘Could it be that he could have caught him at any time and was just playing along with me?’
‘Was my help not really needed?’
As I was clapping with a dejected expression, my eyes met the man’s.

‘Ah, right. I’m supposed to put the crown on the winner.’

I picked up the crown made of mistletoe that was hanging on the pole and approached him, holding it up high.

“Ugh, just a little…”

Just as I was about to ask him to bend down a bit because of his ridiculously tall height, the man snatched the crown woven from leaves.

“No, I have to put it on you myself.”

But the crown was silently placed on my head.
I looked at him in bewilderment, but he looked down at me with indifferent eyes and said.

“It suits you well. On you.”

“…That’s not it, the winner of the hunting competition is supposed to wear it.”

“You be the winner. Then.”

‘This, bastard.’
‘What is he saying.’
‘There are so many people watching, I can’t even get angry like I usually do.’
As I was trying to take off the crown with a strained smile, he snatched my hand and placed it on his cheek.

“Ugh, stop playing around…!”

“The bastard was limping.”

“…What?”

“The Nemea tribe chief. You wounded his leg yesterday, so he couldn’t run far. Thanks to that, I found him quickly.”

In the quiet surroundings, Karvan’s voice echoed clearly, as if he wanted everyone to hear.

“If it weren’t for the wound you left on that bastard, I wouldn’t have been able to return in time.”

He finished his words slowly and then fiddled with the lush, dark green wreath on my head.

“So.”

Rustle, rustle.
He brushed aside the covering mistletoe leaves and then gently kissed my forehead.
Mwah.
The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed in the silence.

“I think this crown is yours.”

“…Wow, as expected of Shinbi-nim! You’re amazing!”

“Shinbi-nim, congratulations.”

The quick-witted Tegen and Mashak quickly shouted, and following them, the Varg with impressed faces also cheered.

“Long live the Valtael!”

Karvan’s strange behavior didn’t end there.

He kept me by his side like a favorite doll and tried to listen to whatever I said.

“What do you want to do today.”

“Hmm, walk in the snow? I like the crunching sound.”

…I had just said it without much thought.

When I came to my senses, I was walking in the snow with thirty escorting Sura.
Held in the man’s arms, I listened to the crunching footsteps of the Sura surrounding me in front and behind, to my heart’s content.

“This is overprotective and a waste of manpower! How many people did you bring for just one walk…!”

“They volunteered.”

“…Haa. Then can you let me walk? There’s no point in coming for a walk like this.”

“When we reach a safe place.”

I wanted to struggle and be let down, but if I did and fell off this towering ice cliff, my loss would be immense.

I silently wrapped my arms around the man’s neck.

“Valta! We’ve found a good place to walk!”

Only when the reconnaissance Sura who had gone ahead had perfectly confirmed that there were no abnormalities, and we had reached a pure white snowy field, did he put me down.

“Slowly.”

“…Do you think I can’t even take my first steps? Go away.”

“You’ll fall in the snow, if you do that.”

The snowy field was so deep that it wouldn’t even hurt if I fell, but he was clutching my hand as if it were a bag containing all his assets.
As if he were being generous and waiting for me like that, and then, when I said it was time to go, I was on the verge of going crazy as he scooped me up again.

Lunch the next day was a steaming abalone porridge.

The table was full of grilled abalone, soy-marinated abalone, and thinly sliced fried abalone.

“I want to eat abalone.”

That day, it was something I had said to buy time, as I was planning to run away, but he had managed to get it.
Where in the world did he get abalone, which can only be found in temperate seas.

Thinking of the Sura who must have gone through a lot, I was dizzy, but I thought it was polite to eat well, so I diligently moved my spoon.

To show my sincerity, I even scraped the bottom of the bowl, and the man, who was watching me, pushed his own bowl of abalone porridge in front of me.

“No, you eat it.”

As I shook my head, saying it was fine, he silently shelled a grilled abalone and placed it on my plate.
As I was looking at the palm-sized abalone with a disgusted expression, knock, knock, knock!
A vigorous knock was heard.

“I’ve brought dessert!”

With a cheerful voice, Tegen entered, holding a tray.

With a deft touch unfitting of his size, he placed a porcelain cup filled with sherbet in front of me.
He must have frozen cherries today, as a refreshing scent wafted up.

“Shinbi-nim, does it suit your taste? I selected the sweetest ones and froze them.”

“Yeah, it’s really delicious.”

Tegen, who was diligently kneeling by my side, politely handing me a teaspoon with both hands, and even plucking the stem of the decorative cherry, finally grinned.

“I want to eat ice cream…”

When I was suffering from a fever due to the imprint sickness, I had unconsciously looked for ice cream.
Because I usually ate cold things when I had a fever.

Of course, the wolf beast-kin who lived in the middle of a snowy mountain wouldn’t know of ice cream.
But they had listened carefully to what I had said in a daze, and had hurriedly ground up fruit and frozen it for me.

“Sob, thank you, it’s like a really expensive sorbet.”

Moved by their sincerity, I shed a tear as I ate.
Perhaps that sight was impressive, as the Sura started to bring out frozen fruit sherbet for dessert after every meal.

“Is it like that ice… thing today too?”

“Of course. It’s better than store-bought ice cream.”

“Haha! That’s a relief!”

Happy to see Tegen after a long time, I forgot that the man was in front of me and had a various conversation with him.

“By the way, Tegen. Where did you get the abalone?”

“Ah! There are some scaly guys who come and go from the seaside beyond that snowy mountain. They can go to the sea in front of that distant desert in the blink of an eye, so if you give them a few pieces of meat, you can get anything!”

Even as Tegen was talking, his hands were busy clearing the table.
Perhaps because I had run away once, or for security reasons, he was in charge of the odd jobs.
Actually, I heard that Tegen wasn’t of a rank to do such things.

“Tegen, I won’t be looking for you until dinner, so go and rest. It’s fine to have a drink. Got it?”

Remembering the last time, and feeling sorry for him doing the menial work alone, I spoke subtly as I helped him with the dishes.

“It’s suffocating to be stuck by my side all the time, isn’t it?”

“Oh, no, sir! I’m happiest when I’m by Shinbi-nim’s side…”

As Tegen was about to grin as if he were overwhelmed with emotion, he suddenly looked as if he had seen a ghost.

He finished clearing the table with incredible speed, then shot up, bowed his head, and left.

“W-well then, have a good time!”

‘What’s with that waiter-like line.’

“…You can’t seem to stop smiling when you see that guy.”

As I was looking at the closed door with a teaspoon in my mouth, wondering why he was acting like that all of a sudden, a cool voice flew at me.
The posture of him propping his chin crookedly must mean he was displeased about something again.

“Are you that happy just by looking at him?”

“Tegen? I like him. He’s kind and sociable.”

I answered without thinking, but the gaze that landed on me was murderous.
He looked ready to break my ankle if I said I liked him twice.

‘…He really cherishes his subordinates.’
I pouted my lips and made an excuse.

“I’m not trying to do anything to him.”

“Then.”

“I mean, I like him like a puppy. He’s big but gentle, and he has ears and a tail.”

“…You said you liked cats last time.”

‘How did he know.’
‘I like both, but if I had to choose one, I’m a cat person, but did I say something so trivial to this man?’
Puzzled, I nodded my head.

“Actually, I like anything with fluffy ears and a tail.”

“……”

“They’re cute.”

The man’s eyebrows twitched, and he started to glare at the door crookedly.
His eyes, filled with a displeasure about something, were emitting a blueish coldness.

‘Alright, alright. I don’t have to have my eyes on Tegen.’
‘Tsk. Did I say I was going to steal him or something.’
I shut my mouth and focused on eating the sherbet quietly.

“…Because it has, ears and a tail.”

In the middle of my focused spooning in the silence, he opened his mouth again after a long while.

“Huh?”

“You find it cute.”

‘Are you still talking about that?’
I looked at the man with a strange expression, but Karvan said nothing for a long time.