Aila was an orphan girl living alone in a cabin. She lost her father early, had no relatives to care for her, and even the villagers refused to help because they saw her as a child abandoned in the forest.

Occasionally, hunters who entered the forest would exchange a few words with her, but most encounters were one-time affairs. Without a single adult to rely on, without a single friend to open her heart to, she was always alone.

For Aila, making a friend named Valentin was pure coincidence.

That day, continuous disturbances had been disrupting the normally peaceful forest. From somewhere far to the west, the vibrations of something massive crashing down—thud, thud—mixed with sharp metallic sounds and occasional beast cries that echoed through the forest.

The cabin was located quite far from the source of the commotion, so it wasn’t directly affected, but she felt anxious thinking something terrible had happened. If something went wrong here, Aila had nowhere to go.

Fortunately, the forest quieted down after three days.

Aila calmed her trembling heart and went outside to gather various herbs to sell in the village, just like any other day. She walked along the familiar path, picking herbs one by one, when she heard whimpering sounds nearby.

Walking toward the sound, she found a deer caught in a snare, screaming. It seemed trapped in a hunter’s trap.

Aila threw down her herb basket and immediately ran to the deer. Its long, slender leg was injured, with bl＊＊d staining the surrounding weeds.

Tears dripped from its large eyes. The deer thrashed about like it had met its savior, sending signals begging for help.

Aila carefully touched the snare to avoid worsening the wound. The wire was tightly constricting the thin leg, making it difficult to remove.

“Wait just a moment.”

Thinking she was abandoning it, the deer cried out and rubbed its face against Aila’s foot.

“I’ll bring an axe.”

To ease the deer’s suffering even a little, Aila ran at full speed to the cabin. When she grabbed the axe next to the firewood and returned to the deer, it was flailing its front legs.

She lifted the axe high, aimed precisely at one point on the snare, and brought it down with all her strength. Though small in stature, her strength honed from chopping firewood quickly severed the snare.

The deer with its freed hind leg stood up. However, because of its severe injury, it limped a few times before sitting back down.

“Stay still.”

Aila picked up the axe and put it in the herb basket she’d thrown down, then slung it over her shoulder. Then she carefully lifted the baby deer that fit snugly in her arms and carried it to the cabin.

“Don’t worry. I’ll treat you right away.”

Aila cared for the deer with utmost devotion and healed its wounds. Though she sold most of the herbs she painstakingly gathered to the village for her livelihood, the small amount she kept for emergencies proved immensely helpful.

She carefully applied herb powder to the wound area and wrapped the deer’s leg with the cleanest cloth she had.

The young deer must have lost a lot of bl＊＊d because it mostly slept while recovering its health. 

There wasn’t much waking time to have conversations, but her heart fluttered at the thought of having made a friend.

She loved stroking its back and belly, and feeling its warm body temperature. Even having to wash the bandage cloth daily because there wasn’t enough didn’t bother her at all. Perhaps her devotion worked, because the deer’s leg recovered more each day.

A week passed like that.

From early morning, Aila went back and forth throughout the forest to gather herbs. She needed to work as much as possible in spring to save money, and fortunately her luck had been good lately—she’d harvested quite a few quality herbs.

Each time she placed an herb in the basket, her arm carrying the basket and her feet in yellow shoes moved excitedly. She’d also obtained quite a few rare mushrooms and wild berries from the rocks, doubling her elation.

Thinking of the money she’d soon earn, she listed the necessary items one by one in her head, and a smile naturally formed.

Though it was still daylight, Aila retraced her path a little earlier than usual. She wanted to see the deer at the cabin. Even though it would just be sleeping anyway.

Entering the cabin with a flushed expression, Aila froze in place. The deer that should have been lying quietly had vanished without a trace, and a strange boy occupied the bed instead.

There shouldn’t be anyone coming here, so who was this boy?

Aila quietly set down the herb basket in her right hand and tiptoed toward the bed where the boy lay.

The boy sleeping soundly with even breaths had very pale skin and long eyelashes. His neck, slightly visible above the blanket, was also flour-white like it had never seen sunlight.

Though his eyes were closed, she had a feeling they would be very pretty. His hair was so fluffy that the area near his head puffed up.

She thought he might be a thief, but that couldn’t be. There was nothing worth taking, and it made no sense for a thief to sleep so carelessly. Moreover, human footsteps never reached Aila’s cabin.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, the boy wrapped tightly in the blanket gently opened his eyes. Bright green eyes like freshly sprouted buds slowly moved up and down.

So pretty!

That was the first word that came to mind upon seeing the boy’s eyes. To think human eyes could be so fresh and beautiful.

Living in the forest, the color she saw most was green. Grass and trees were mostly green. But the boy’s eyes were the prettiest shade of green among them all.

They were even fresher than leaves that had absorbed nutrients from the soil, completed photosynthesis, and just sprouted, boasting healthy vitality.

Just looking at them felt like phytoncides were emanating from them.

Aila, who had been staring in a daze, shook her head left and right and came to her senses, realizing this wasn’t the time to admire.

A boy of unknown identity was occupying her cabin, and here she was stupidly exclaiming over his appearance.

Just as Aila composed her expression and was about to ask the boy’s identity, his mouth opened first.

“Aila!”

Huh? Aila’s face crumbled again, making her composed expression meaningless. Her round eyes and mouth opened wide.

“Who, who are you?”

“Me?”

“Yes! Who are you, and how do you know my name? How did you get in here? This is a cabin where I live alone.”

“You brought me here.”

The boy, who had blinked several times, answered strangely. His soft, gentle voice, neither low nor high, suited his face perfectly.

“I did?”

“Mm-hmm. You treated my leg too.”

Aila looked shocked. She remembered bringing home and treating a baby deer, but never a boy. What was this boy talking about? He looked fine, but was his head a bit off?

Then something flashed in Aila’s mind.

“Don’t tell me… you, you’re a beastman?”

The boy sat up completely and nodded lightly. The blanket that slipped slightly from his body revealed his pale bare skin.

“Oh my! Really? Are you really a beastman?”

Even after hearing the answer, Aila couldn’t believe it and asked again. The boy smiled brightly in affirmation.

She’d heard that beastfolk existed, but never thought one would appear before her eyes. And this close too.

From what she’d vaguely heard from the hunter uncles, they were simultaneously animals and people, but beings that couldn’t become complete humans.

They added that their true form was an animal’s appearance, but they could take on human appearance whenever they wanted and transform freely.

However, they also said their habits and behaviors were closer to animals, and they were an uncivilized race completely different from ordinary people who lived in groups among themselves in specific regions.

When she first heard that, her head felt puzzled.

People who aren’t people.

That sounded like saying Aila was Aila but not Aila.

She didn’t understand what it meant, but she understood this much.

Their habitat was deep to the west from where Aila’s cabin was located, and since humans and beastfolk didn’t step into each other’s territories, they’d never encounter each other in life.

Living in the forest meant repeating similar daily routines, so when she first heard that, Aila’s heart was completely captivated.

Captivated by the existence of beastfolk, she’d spent days and days letting her imagination soar. She freely drew their appearances in her mind and imagined their lives.

For Aila, who lived in a cabin without a single friend, this was very entertaining play and an imaginary friend. Whenever she felt lonely, she’d summon that friend to talk, confide her sorrows, and share her heart.

However, since she’d never seen them with her own eyes, she couldn’t completely believe in their existence.

Was the boy before her eyes really a beastman?

Was the commotion from the west a while ago related to this child’s injury?

Aila sat on the edge of the bed and carefully examined the boy. Two ears, two eyes, one nose, one mouth.

Except for his skin being whiter than snow falling in winter and his features being pretty like a doll’s, he was no different from an ordinary human.