“Why do you look disappointed?”

“Me? Me?”

“Yes. You’ve had that expression since you opened the door.”

“No, no. It’s not disappointment. I was just a bit surprised because when we parted, you were in human form, so I naturally thought you would still be like that, but now you’ve returned to your beast form.”

And now it wasn’t disappointment but slight resentment? The event that had been so shocking to her that she couldn’t sleep might be nothing special to the Duke, causing no emotional disturbance—just this slight hurt feeling.

“I’ll return this to you now.”

She carefully extended the key to the Duke, which she had kept preciously close to her all this time for fear of losing it. The Duke, who had been quietly looking down at the white key embedded with small jewels, pushed away Olivia’s outstretched hand, closing it.

“You keep it. We never know when the mating season might come again.”

“Ah, are you sure that’s alright?”

“Something has been really bothering me.”

Olivia’s lips, which had started to curl into a slight smile at the thought of being entrusted with the key, slowly turned downward again at the cold tone that followed. Why, why? With a puzzled expression, she slightly raised her head to meet his eyes, and the beast’s cold gaze curved for the first time, forming a slight arc. Though even that eye-smile seemed to contain irritation rather than warmth.

“Why do you keep asking me if I’m alright?”

“What?”

“That day, when you entered my room on your own, and even now, shouldn’t I be the one asking if you’re alright, not the other way around?”

“I don’t quite understand what you……”

“Are you too stupid to know what might have happened to you if I hadn’t regained my senses midway that day, or are you pretending not to know?”

Unlike her, who couldn’t even meet his eyes out of embarrassment, the Duke seemed so composed that she thought he might be trying to pretend nothing had happened, but unexpectedly, though he showed some signs of irritation, he didn’t pretend not to know. So he remembers everything? Olivia could only feel bewildered by the Duke’s reaction, as if he were angry at her.

She had so many questions—about what had happened, about the curse, about the Duke’s name—but the atmosphere made it difficult to bring up any of them, adding another layer to Olivia’s upset feelings.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding. I asked if you were alright because you were in a lot of pain due to your mating season, which led to that unfortunate incident, and I wanted to know if you’re better now. You also had many injuries on your body at the time.”

“Ah, so you’re asking because you’re worried about me?”

“Yes.”

The Duke snorted at Olivia’s response, nodding her head with an innocent expression.

‘Hmm, it’s somewhat fortunate not to have a human face at times like this.’

If he had made such an expression with a human face, she might have really wanted to smack him on the face. Perhaps because they had experienced various trials together, the psychological distance between them had unconsciously decreased. In the past, she would have been afraid or felt awkward, but now she strangely felt a slight annoyance rising at the Duke’s attitude.

“I don’t like hypocritical humans like you.”

“……”

“You were almost r*ped by me at that time. Regardless of your will. Yet you say you’re worried about me? You, who must have been terrified? Do you think I would believe such a ridiculous wordplay?”

“……”

“At least humans who resent and curse while trying to extract what they want are honest. People like you, who hide their true feelings and wear a smiling face in front while putting on a different mask behind, are so transparent that they’re always disgusting.”

“……”

Though still cynical in his response, Olivia’s eyes narrowed as she watched the Duke, who was unusually talkative compared to usual. After puffing up her cheeks and then letting out a deep sigh, Olivia casually brushed back her flowing hair with her fingertips and once again showed that smile the Duke claimed to hate.

“So what you’re trying to say is that you don’t like how I, who was almost r*ped because of you, am only pretending to be nice and worrying about you without showing any resentment, is that right?”

The beast’s fur bristled. That smile seems a bit different from usual, but what is it? Feeling a strange sense of pressure from the smile, the beast was slightly taken aback. But out of pride, he maintained an arrogant expression on the surface and slowly nodded.

Olivia approached the Duke with a smile. She cupped the cheeks of the beast, who was blinking his large eyes while lying comfortably in place, as if handling a cute puppy, and lifted his head. When the startled beast growled slightly, Olivia subdued him with a “tsk!” like scolding a puppy.

“If you know that you almost r*ped me, the first thing you should have done was apologize to me, not spill your irritation in detail.”

“What?”

“Instead of projecting your self-loathing onto me, you should have reflected on it yourself. You’re acting like this because your conscience is doubly pricked by my concern for you, right? This isn’t even a child’s tantrum.”

“Take your hands off my face right now……”

“I’m not done speaking yet! And after I treated your wounds and everything, you didn’t even thank me? Who’s calling who dishonest, seriously.”

“You……”

“And! It’s not that I don’t care about what happened that day! What human gets angry when their pet in heat mounts them a bit? You just understand and move on!”

Whew. Only after spilling out everything she wanted to say did Olivia release the beast’s cheeks with a refreshed expression. The Duke’s expression, blank with astonishment and incredulity as he stared at her, looked somewhat foolish, making her feel twice as satisfied. Olivia stepped back one step, politely folded her hands, and bowed.

“Well, you seem fine, so if you properly organize what you need to say to me, please find me again. Don’t worry about me running away because I have no intention of doing so, and I’ll keep this key for the time being.”

With a bright, friendly smile, Olivia turned without hesitation and left the room. On her way to the door, she made sure to grumble to herself loudly enough for him to hear, “Am I his tantrum doll or what?” Left behind, the beast remained alone with a dumbfounded face at the completely unexpected behavior. Words lingered, circling above his head. Conscience, pride, and even the mounting of a pet in heat.

“Lastly, I’m not being hypocritical—I’m genuinely a nice person!”

Poking her head through the gap of the door just before it closed completely, Olivia landed her final words squarely on the beast before quickly running down the corridor, preciously tucking the key into her bosom. Though she felt relieved after pouring out everything she wanted to say, Olivia wasn’t completely free from the sting at the back of her head. With slightly quickened steps, she ran to the first-floor entrance, bit her lip slightly, and glanced back.

“If you’re sorry, just say you’re sorry.”

Thinking that he was truly an unfathomable person, Olivia glared at the upper floor room where the Duke was and boldly headed outside the mansion.

* * *

The weather is nice. The breeze is cool too. Picking up a fallen flower branch from the ground, Olivia leisurely moved along the path. Since entering this forest, this was the first time she had strolled through it so comfortably, and she noticed various details of the forest anew. Not only in the garden inside the mansion but also throughout the forest, flowers and herbs with various uses were scattered abundantly. For a healer, it was a natural treasure trove, lifting Olivia’s mood, which had been dampened and gloomy.

Hop. An elderly rabbit that jumped out from the bushes didn’t expect to meet Olivia here and stopped with a squeak, barely avoiding her feet.

“Oh my, be careful. We almost collided. Have you been well?”

— Why are you out here? Did you come with the Duke?

“No. I’m taking a walk by myself.”

— What about prison?

“I don’t know. If he has a problem with it, he’ll come to lock me up. I’m an escaped prisoner right now. Hehe.”

She had secretly hoped he would follow her, but despite her wanting to hear “sorry” or “thank you,” the Duke was still silent. Though she wasn’t really running away and planned to just take a moderate walk before returning, Olivia playfully answered the rabbit looking at her with concern.

— Thanks to you, I got to see something interesting.

Goodness! Olivia held her breath with a “huah!” as a squirrel suddenly jumped down from a tree and landed on her shoulder. How can the animals here have so little wariness? Though she looked worried, Olivia gently played with the plump tail of the cute squirrel.

“You saw?”

— Of course. The sound could be heard even from outside the window. You really gave it to the Duke, firing away at him.

“I didn’t fire away, I just tried to have an honest conversation.”