Chapter 75: The Claws of Guilt and Growth

Ever since my body changed, I had only been receiving help from others.

Now, I finally had the chance to help someone else.

My chest swelled with excitement, and I couldn’t contain myself.

“Just trust me!”

Tap-tap!

I patted my chest twice and then tapped Delphine’s head as well.

Her fear of tigers could easily be overcome since a real tiger like me was here to help.

‘What should I start with first?’

As I folded my arms and pondered, the sound of a door creaking open came from behind.

“What are you two up to?”

Delphine and I turned around to see Jinhyang standing there, holding a ball that looked bigger than my head.

“We’re working on overcoming fear.”

“Fear?”

Jinhyang frowned as if she couldn’t understand. It seemed I needed to explain further.

“Delphine has a fear of tigers.”

“A fear of tigers…?”

“Yes.”

Jinhyang’s gaze shifted to Delphine, then moved to Silver.

“Isn’t it normal for people to be afraid of tigers, even if they don’t have a phobia?”

“Huh?”

Was it?

Confused, I tilted my head.

Tap-tap.

Jinhyang bounced the ball on the floor twice.

“Here.”

Whoosh!

She tossed the ball, and it rolled outside the villa.

Instinctively, I ran toward it.

After about three steps, I stopped in my tracks.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to play?”

Jinhyang looked at me with genuine surprise.

She probably hadn’t expected me to resist the temptation of the ball.

“I want to play with it, but I have something I promised to do first.”

“You mean the tiger phobia thing?”

“Yes.”

I nodded toward Jinhyang and then turned to look at Delphine.

Helping her overcome her fear of tigers came first.

‘But how?’

I was still trying to figure out how to help when I heard Silver growl softly behind me.

“Grr.”

It was the same howl as usual, but for some reason, I could sense that Silver was enjoying himself.

Curious, I turned around and saw Silver rolling the ball around with his paw.

‘That… that’s my ball…’

I wanted to play with it so badly. Rolling it around, throwing it, or playing fetch anything would be fun with a ball.

But now wasn’t the time.

Helping Delphine came first.

“Ugh.”

Why did Jinhyang give me the ball at this moment?

Feeling impatient, I started tapping my foot. That’s when Jinhyang spoke up.

“If you want to play, why don’t you just go ahead?”

“I can’t. I need to keep my promise.”

“Don’t you think playing with a tiger might help her overcome her fear?”

Jinhyang glanced at Silver, who was still happily playing with the ball in the distance.

‘Oh.’

She was right.

I’d been overthinking it.

No matter how fierce and wild a creature was, spending time playing together would naturally build familiarity.

With that, her fear would fade away.

“So, I just need to play with Delphine?”

“No. Not you Silver Tiger should play with her.”

“Why?”

Why was it okay for Silver but not for me?

I couldn’t understand, so I looked up at Jinhyang.

“She’s afraid of tigers, so she has to play with one.”

“Yes, I’m a tiger.”

“…”

Jinhyang started to say something but stopped, closing her mouth.

For a while, she simply stared at me in silence. Then, letting out a deep sigh, she finally spoke.

“…Fine. Since you’re a tiger, you should play with her.”

Nodding, Jinhyang pulled out a chair and sat at the table.

It seemed she planned to watch my “special training” to help Delphine overcome her phobia.

Jinhyang rested her chin on her hand, her gaze fixed on me.

“Harang, I’m going to throw it, okay?”

“Yes! Hurry up and throw it! Quick!”

Unable to contain my excitement, I stomped my feet impatiently.

Delphine picked up the ball and threw it far into the distance.

Whoosh—

As soon as the ball flew through the air, Silver and I sprinted after it.

The sight was so striking that even Jinhyang couldn’t hide her surprise.

Silver Tiger was deliberately matching my speed.

‘This is definitely…’

There were two reasons why Silver Tiger would deliberately “lose” during play.

One was to entertain his cub.

The other was for “hunting” practice disguised as a game.

“Grrr.”

Silver grabbed the ball halfway with his massive jaws, but I reached out and grabbed it at almost the same time.

It was a situation where you could say we caught it simultaneously.

However, one prey couldn’t be shared between two hunters.

One of us had to give up.

‘A lesson.’

Silver was teaching me how to hunt.

How not to let my prey be taken away.

How to never lose my grip on something I had caught.

The standoff between Silver and me lasted a while.

“Argh.”

I opened my mouth wide and bit down on the ball with all my might.

I even let out a pitifully strained whine.

Of course, my small mouth couldn’t actually bite into the ball, but it was enough to satisfy Silver.

I had demonstrated my determination and ability as a hunter.

“Grrr.”

With a small growl, Silver let go of the ball he was holding.

He had conceded the victory to me.

“Raaawr!”

Holding the ball high above my head, I let out a triumphant cry.

Behind me, Silver sat down with a satisfied expression.

“Delphine!”

Thump-thump-thump—

I ran to Delphine with the ball in my hands.

Excited to show off my victory, I jumped up and down.

“Harang won, huh?”

“Yes! I won! Did you see me bite the ball and growl?”

“…”

Delphine lowered her head, unable to meet my gaze.

‘But I’m sure I heard you whining…’

She thought so but kept the thought to herself.

The simple game of fetching the ball made her feel as if she had become Harang’s “master.”

To keep playing, she couldn’t risk ruining Harang’s mood.

“Yes, Harang was amazing. Shall we keep playing?”

“Okay!”

I crouched down on all fours.

By now, I’d realized that running on all fours was faster than on two legs.

“Harang, I’m going to throw it!”

“Okay.”

When Delphine raised the ball, my tail wagged eagerly.

As she drew the ball back to gather momentum, my ears also pulled back slightly.

Whoosh!

The moment Delphine threw the ball, I took off.

Harang and Delphine repeated this simple game for hours.

All the way until morning had passed.

“Huff, huff.”

Running around all morning had left me completely exhausted.

Lying on the couch and panting, I felt Delphine’s hand gently rub my belly.

“Harang, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m tired, but I’m okay.”

Though exhausted, I had so much fun playing for hours.

Now, with my belly being gently rubbed, I couldn’t be happier.

“Delphine, you’re amazing.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You’ve been playing all morning, but you don’t look tired at all.”

“Well, I only threw the ball.”

Ah.

I was the only one running around.

That’s why I was the only one worn out.

Feeling awkward, I stuck out my tongue slightly.

Still, I had enjoyed myself, so there was no reason to complain.

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t resist how nice it felt as Delphine’s hand continued to rub my belly.

When I reached out to grab her hand and playfully lick it with my tongue—

“Ouch!”

“Huh?”

Delphine let out a small cry and quickly pulled her hand away.

“It’s bleeding.”

“What? Really?”

Startled, I jumped up from the sofa to check on her.

‘It really is.’

A small cut had formed on the back of her hand, and blood was seeping out.

The wound wasn’t deep, but blood was blood.

‘Ah.’

I realized what had happened.

When I grabbed her hand earlier, my nails must have grazed her skin.

Not my hand, but my nails.

‘I did feel like they were getting a bit sharp recently…’

Because of my carelessness, Delphine had gotten hurt.

Guilt weighed heavily on me, and my ears drooped until they hung over my eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, Delphine. I really didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay. There’s a first-aid kit upstairs. I’ll go treat it. You stay here and rest.”

“Alright… I’m really sorry.”

With my shoulders slumped, I watched her retreating figure.

It was the first time in my life I had injured someone, and it didn’t sit well with me.

‘What should I do?’

To prevent this from happening again, I had to trim my nails immediately.

However, the idea terrified me.

Even just looking at a nail clipper sent shivers down my spine.

‘Am I afraid of nail clippers?’

How was I supposed to overcome my fear of something inanimate?

While I was lost in thought, I noticed a thick rope wrapped around a pillar supporting the cabin.

‘That’s…’

It was a decorative piece for the cabin and served no real purpose.

But my instincts told me exactly what to do with it.

“Hmm…”

I approached the pillar.

The rope was slightly out of reach, so I had to lean back and stretch my arm upward.

Scratch, scratch—

Using my claws, I began to scrape the rope repeatedly.

‘Wow…’

Even though my claws didn’t have nerve endings, the sensation was oddly satisfying.

The feeling was so indescribable that my mouth hung open.

I wasn’t scared of my nails grinding down at all.

In fact, it was as fun as playing with a ball.

To an onlooker, it might have seemed like a simple game.

But controlling all ten fingers at once required intense focus, like playing a rhythm game.

Scratch, scratch—

“Haa.”

Lost in the joy of scraping the rope, I didn’t even realize how much time had passed.

“Harang?”

Yoon Bora approached and called my name.

But I didn’t stop my rope “play.”

It was just too enjoyable and useful to quit.