That’s why she always talked to an imaginary friend. Even if no answer came back. That made it bearable.

Valentin, who had been quietly listening to Aila, opened his mouth.

“Then should we live together?”

“Huh?”

Aila’s blue eyes widened. What did he just say?

“You’re alone and I’m alone too. Let’s live together.”

“…”

“Aila, if you’re okay with it.”

Aila couldn’t answer right away. First, because she had suddenly heard what she had so desperately wanted to hear from someone, and second, because she couldn’t believe this situation.

An indescribable emotion swept over Aila. Her chest felt tight, like tears would burst out at any moment—that kind of feeling.

She hadn’t known this boy named Valentin for long, and she didn’t know what kind of person he was at all.

When Aila lifted her eyes and looked at him quietly, he didn’t press for an answer and waited silently. With a gentle, somewhat mature expression.

Then he raised his hand and touched Aila’s hair. He seemed fascinated by the wavy hair that was a different color from his own. The red hair curled within his white hand.

“Your hair is really soft.”

“People said my red hair was ominous.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s true though.”

“I’ve never seen such pretty red hair. I like how it clings to my hand too.”

That was the first compliment she had ever heard in her life. Aila didn’t know what to do with the strange warmth digging into her chest. What was this unfamiliar yet ticklish feeling?

She wanted to hear it again. Every single day, if possible.

“If you say you don’t want me here, Aila, I’ll leave as soon as my leg heals.”

“No!”

She shouted without realizing it at the mention of leaving. She didn’t want that.

Just from the fact that Valentin liked Aila’s red hair that people hated, he must be a warm-hearted beastman.

“You can stay here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s live together like you said.”

She didn’t want to hesitate. Hadn’t she wished so desperately for a friend? If Valentin wanted to stay here, she gladly wanted to make room for him.

“Okay, thank you.”

Valentin smiled, his eyes crinkling. Aila smiled back.

* * *

After another week passed, Valentin’s leg was completely healed.

The path she had always taken alone to gather herbs, this time Valentin accompanied her. She told him to stay put in case his wound got worse, but he insisted on following along, saying he was bored.

The deer beastfolk’s habitat was in the western forest, quite far from Aila’s cabin, so Valentin didn’t know the surrounding area well.

Thinking she should teach him the way while she had the chance, Aila held a basket and Valentin held a bucket as they walked side by side along the mountain path.

Valentin was similar in height to Aila, but perhaps because he was a boy, his feet were a bit larger. When she gave him the shabby spare shoes she had, his heels stuck out and touched the ground with every step.

Even when she heard complaints about the clothes being stuffy here and there, Aila lightly ignored them. If he was going to live in human form, he needed to have the basics. 

What else could be done?

She didn’t know how it was in the beastfolk’s world, but this was a place where people occasionally came and went, so walking around n*ked was out of the question.

She wanted to tell him to transform into deer form and run around n*ked to his heart’s content, but if he got hit by a hunter’s arrow, it would be terrible. His injured leg had only just healed.

Walking along the mountain path overgrown with bushes and shrubs, they came to a clear lakeside. Aila raised her small, slender hand and pointed in a direction.

“See? That’s the lake over there.”

Following the downhill path where the passage narrowed, a clear lake appeared. It was a place rarely reached by human footsteps, so only small animal tracks were occasionally imprinted around the perimeter.

Valentin, who had confirmed the lake’s location following the direction of Aila’s hand, asked.

“Do you drink water there?”

“No. Only when washing. There’s a separate well. I’ll show you that in a bit.”

“Do I have to wash? Isn’t water just for drinking?”

He asked with a face that couldn’t understand at all, making it somewhat difficult to know where to start explaining. What was natural to Aila wasn’t natural to him, so beastfolk and humans really were different beings.

Valentin’s way of thinking itself was closer to animals. Though he looked more beautiful than anyone. Even having lived in the forest for a long time, Aila strictly maintained basic hygiene. 

When you got dirty, you smelled and got sick easily too.

“Of course you have to wash.”

Beastfolk were half human too, so if they got sick, it was troublesome in many ways. The physician living in the village wouldn’t come all the way to the forest cabin, and she didn’t have money to call one either.

So she had to solve most illnesses with herbs she gathered herself. Moreover, when summer came, the temperature rose, making you sweat more and attracting flying insects around your body. So bathing was essential.

When she explained the reasons step by step, Valentin nodded in understanding.

She wondered if she needed to teach him how to wash too, but since it wasn’t urgent right now, she decided to finish showing him the surrounding area first.

Passing the place where the lake was and walking along the winding path, a relatively wide plain stretching out below appeared.

This place was the closest road connected to the village, so hunters and poachers easily came and went, and it was also the path Aila took when selling herbs.

“If you go straight down this road, you’ll reach the village.”

“Village?”

“Yeah. Just like beastfolk live in groups in the western forest, people live gathered together in villages.”

“What kind of place is it?”

“There are lots of houses, lots of people, lots of things. Lots of fun stuff too.”

“Do you go down often?”

“Only when I sell herbs or need to buy necessary things.”

Valentin blinked slowly. He seemed slightly curious about why Aila, who was also a regular human, didn’t live with them in the village. After debating whether to explain or not, she opened her mouth.

“People all have families. You need family to live together with others, but I was abandoned in the forest. Since there’s no one to take me in, there’s no place for me in the village either.”

“They’re bad people.”

“But the village is still a fun place. Let’s go together later.”

The village people disliked Aila, but there were still many things to see. He wouldn’t have seen the fascinating marketplace, so she wanted to show it to him later. She planned to take him once Valentin adapted a bit more to wearing human clothes.

Aila, forcing a bright smile, continued leading the way ahead.

Whenever she found edible food along the way, she put it in the basket. Mushrooms, various herb leaves and young shoots, tree sap, acorns, and such.

Aila mainly judged whether the ingredients were edible or not, and Valentin watched from the side, then picked up things that looked exactly like what Aila had gathered.

When they found plump wild berries, they ate them together. The food ingredients obtainable from the forest weren’t diverse, but there were relatively many wild berries in spring and summer.

When she plucked red berries growing between green leaves and held them out, Valentin received and ate them eagerly. She thought herbivorous beastfolk only ate grass well, but sweet fruit seemed to suit his palate too.

Valentin followed behind Aila like an animal following its mother. Aila didn’t dislike it. Walking the path she always walked alone while conversing together felt new, and it wasn’t tiring at all.

When they arrived at the well, both of them hastily quenched their thirst. Having wandered here and there all morning, it was already noon.

“Let’s draw water and go back for now.”

Valentin watched with fascination as Aila skillfully drew water from the well. She hooked the bucket on the iron ring, lowered it down, then lifted it up, and it was full of fresh water.

Beastfolk went to streams to drink water directly rather than storing it separately. In the forest, water was everywhere.

“Do you have to draw water once every few days?”

“About every three days.”

“You have to go back and forth more often than I thought.”

“We need it for drinking and for making things like soup.”

“I’ll be in charge of this from now on. I’m stronger than you, Aila.”

Even though their builds weren’t very different, Valentin still showed off his strength, saying he was a boy.

“Give it here.”

When Valentin reached toward the bucket, Aila pretended not to notice and handed it over. Receiving someone’s help felt unfamiliar yet strangely pleasant.

Aila, who picked up the basket she had set on the ground, retraced the path they had come with Valentin.

Arriving at the cabin, Aila organized the food in the basket on the wooden shelf. 

She put the berries that spoiled quickly on the very top, mushrooms below that, and acorns that could be stored relatively longer at the very bottom.

She set aside the herb leaves to dry and use as spices, spreading them out in a sunny spot, and moved the tree sap she had carefully collected in a glass bottle near the hearth.

“Do you just drink tree sap?”

“No, I’ll use it to make syrup.”

“Syrup?”

“Well, if you slowly simmer this over a hot fire, it becomes sticky and turns brown—that’s syrup. It’s really sweet, so you can dip bread in it or mix it with water to drink.”