The pride of being a sacred beast still resisted, but he made a practical decision today as well.
“Kyu…wu.”
With almond-shaped eyes folded into a crescent and a bashful smile on his face.
“Kyua-!”
“So cute!”
Christina touched his cheek and petted his head with joy.
‘Huff. Whatever… as long as she’s satisfied.’
Even though he knew it was necessary, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of shame rising from within.
Feeling his throat heat up, unable to look Christina directly in the eye, he covered his face with his front paw and rolled over in embarrassment.
“Look at him being shy. How adorable.”
‘Damn it. I can’t be disrespectful to my benefactor.’
He turned away, hiding his trembling lips and curling his tail inwards, his body shrinking.
Christina couldn’t stop cooing over his baby-like shyness.
“For such a smart and cute you. Always be happy. I hope you live a wonderful life.”
Her kind words conveyed warmth.
‘It’s amazing that someone can sincerely say things like that.’
Hearing those touches of sunshine, he had to acknowledge it.
That Christina’s nature was gentle and warm.
He couldn’t put a name to it because it was something he hadn’t felt in his past life.
Even after Christina left, he was deep in thought.
‘Grudges must be paid back twice, and kindness must certainly be repaid.’
He smacked the cradle with his tail.
‘I don’t know how to handle these feelings.’
The Imoogi tried to recall something from his memories that might help in this situation.
‘Come to think of it, the Gumiho said something similar.’
The capricious, egotistical, beautiful yet vulgar, pure though cruel Gumiho would approach him without any prejudice.
Though it was a bit bothersome, as long as he didn’t cross the line, he thought it was okay, and ended up seeing the Gumiho longer than he expected.
Some ridiculed the idea of a divine beast mingling with a yokai, but he preferred the Gumiho over those who mocked and compared him, lowering their standards.
‘He was an incomprehensible fellow, but back then too…’
One day, the Gumiho came to his place uninvited, played around, and suddenly asked.
-Do you enjoy training?
-What?
The Gumiho’s tail swayed gently.
-You live here because you want to ascend. Does it make you happy to do what you want?
For some reason, he couldn’t answer immediately.
Noticing his momentary hesitation, the Gumiho pouted and muttered, ‘Idiot.’
‘What’s with him, really?’
The Imoogi frowned, displeased with the implication of the Gumiho’s lip movements, and retorted.
-It’s just that we aim for different things.
The Gumiho burst into laughter, spinning in midair.
-So you’re just an idiot.
-What?
Just as he was about to ask the basis for such a thought, the Gumiho asked first.
-Have you ever been happy?
He couldn’t answer right away.
He had never lived thinking he was particularly unhappy. Nor did he remember when he thought he was happy.
The Gumiho, seeing this, laughed and crossed his front paws into an X, placing his snout on top.
-Do you even know what it feels like to be adored? You probably don’t know what it’s like to be genuinely loved either.
Back then, the Imoogi didn’t understand those words.
To be more precise, it all sounded like irrelevant stories to his training for ascension.
-Do I need such things? I am destined to ascend and become a dragon. I have no leisure to attach my heart to trivial matters.
-So cold~ It’s stupid and charming in that way, though~
His blatant remark about being stupid ambiguously piqued his nerves, so the Imoogi inserted a slight warning.
-Like I said before, I don’t like carelessly speaking. It’s better to keep quiet than to give such impressions.
As his eyes narrowed, predicting another “Too much! Stupid! I’m hurt!” tantrum, the Gumiho surprisingly just looked at him for a moment.
Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, the Imoogi also looked at the Gumiho.
-I fell in love with someone. So, I’m going to become human.
-What…?
The thought of it being a joke briefly crossed his mind.
Next, came the thought of whether the Gumiho had lost his mind.
A Gumiho living off the livers of humans and beasts had fallen in love with a human.
He couldn’t fathom how that was possible.
-You’re giving up everything, even though you could finish your fox bead and become a thousand-year-old Gumiho?
The Gumiho chuckled softly.
-It doesn’t make sense, right? You’ll understand if someone adores and loves you genuinely.
‘No way.’
He felt like he could never understand it his entire life.
The Gumiho straightened and stretched, powering his tail to the tip.
-I’m leaving now.
The Imoogi wanted to ask more but decided not to, thinking they were personal stories after all.
Sensing it was their final farewell, he chose his words carefully.
-If you become human, you won’t be able to come here. I wish you happiness, being loved as you desire.
-… Thanks.
The Gumiho hesitated, seemingly wanting to say more.
-Thank you. Hehe.
-? How insipid.
The Gumiho gazed at the Imoogi with intense eyes as if trying to take him in deeply.
For some reason, he couldn’t avoid that gaze, and as they stared at each other, the Gumiho closed his eyes and turned away.
-You just…
-Hmph! Live well, you idiot!
After letting out a bark, the Gumiho scampered away, leaving the Imoogi rubbing his chin.
‘It felt like he was crying… was it just my imagination?’
He couldn’t understand it regardless. While he knew the Gumiho would strangely feel companionable towards him, he thought it wasn’t enough to cry over.
‘An unknowable character till the end.’
Though slightly curious, he couldn’t ask since the Gumiho already left.
Since he had gone, he could only hope for him to feel ‘happiness’ and ‘being adored’ in abundance.
But one day he heard that the Gumiho met a tragic end at the hands of a human craving the fox bead.
Though he accepted another wife, his dying parents were the only ones in the world, so he couldn’t let them go.
‘Even now, that husband was a detestable man.’
Persisting in foolishness, he ended up killing his child and wife too.
Though he avenged the wrong, he regretted not killing him on the spot.
‘It’s useless to think of it now.’
With that settled, he pondered how to shake off the white spirit assigned as his guardian.
‘They wouldn’t leave a young being alone… hmm.’
In his contemplation, he shifted his thoughts.
‘The point is, it shouldn’t look strange even if I undergo training, right?’
As he devised potential methods within his realm of capability, he fell into a deep sleep.
Several days passed.
Accustomed to drinking milk at every meal, he finished his personal training unnoticed by the spirit and lay naturally in the cradle, waiting.
Recently, Christina seemed to take interest in experimenting with other recipes using milk.
Thanks to that, a cooking facility was about to be completed on one side of the lair.
‘Well. Since milk can be so delicious and even restore magic, it’s not odd to research it sooner.’
As he thought of this potential addiction, he savored the taste in his mouth.
Picturing the creaminess and smoothness of milk in his mind, he sensed Christina’s teleportation magic disturb the air.
‘She’s here.’
Feeling as familiar as hearing footsteps, he clenched and unclenched his fist in preparation.
‘This better work.’
Today, he planned to give Christina a surprise.
“I’m back. Have you been well?”
“Kyu-u-!”
Standing on wobbly hind legs, the Imoogi grabbed the cradle rail with his front paws and began to rise.
“Kyu-uuu. Kyu…”
‘You can do it. You’ve been secretly training your strength.’
The gift the Imoogi prepared was standing by himself on his two legs.
He thought that Christina would feel his growth seeing this.
‘If she feels my growth, she might attach fewer of those clingy white spirit orbs.’
Even if she didn’t remove them immediately, he aimed to show Christina that he was at a ‘safe to be left alone’ level.
Standing by himself was the groundwork.
“Kyu!”
‘Come on!’
Standing proudly on two legs, he spread his tiny wing membranes on his back for further effect.
“Kyu-uk!”
“Oh my.”
With pride in his eyes, he observed the astonished Christina’s widening eyes.
‘I did it.’
He felt proud of suppressing his child instincts and accomplishing this.
‘Though still insufficient, showing I can walk is crucial.’
He hoped this achievement would lead Christina to take him to more varied places.
‘With this done, being a bit more active in front of that sticky white spirit should be okay.’
With one hand covering her mouth, Christina exclaimed.
“Really… it’s moving.”
‘Huh?’
Caught off guard by an unexpectedly different level of reaction, the Imoogi felt flustered.
‘I thought she’d just be slightly impressed. Did I go too soon?’
Worried she might realize he wasn’t an ordinary child, he glanced around and chuckled, raising an arm.
“Kyu-u. Kyak.”
‘As embarrassing as it is, I have to act as childlike as possible here.’
Christina suddenly scooped the Imoogi into her arms, rubbing cheeks with him.
