Olivia unfastened the necklace she always wore. It was the necklace on which she had hung the key to his bedroom that Alois had given her, in case she might lose it. After removing the necklace, Olivia threw it forcefully into the burning fireplace without hesitation.

“You said if all the heat fever is released, the heat cycle ends right there, right? And then you can spend time until the next heat cycle as a human, not a beast.”

“Are you crazy?”

“You said precursor symptoms have appeared, so the heat cycle will start at least within this week, and if it’s not just enduring but resolving through a relationship, we can end it within days, right?”

As if it was a good thing. Unlike Olivia, who spoke as if she had found a clean solution and smiled with relief, Alois contorted his face.

“Do you know what nonsense you’re spouting right now? No, you probably don’t. If you did, you couldn’t say such things so easily.”

“No, it’s you who doesn’t understand, Alois. Listen carefully. Our goal is to release the heat cycle to calm it, go outside the thorny bushes, rescue the little ones, and return to this forest. All of us, safely.”

“Do you think resolving the heat cycle is like having a few nights together like normal people? Once it starts, I can’t stop no matter what I do until I regain my reason. Even if you die during it, I won’t be able to stop myself, and you still want to do this?”

“I might not die. Why do you always think negatively? And if I die during it, I’ll become a ghost, rescue the little ones, and float around you every day, so don’t worry about that either.”

“What kind of mind do you have, human?”

“I just live with the belief that the world is much kinder than I know, and I can always reach a happy ending.”

Alois, who had been pinning Olivia down, slowly released her. Rather than being persuaded by her, his strength had drained from the absurdity of her unrealistic proposal. But Olivia ran to Alois as he was staggering away and this time embraced him, rolling on the floor. His arms, covered in soft fur, reflexively embraced her protectively.

“Now you can’t escape from me, Alois.”

“Please stop talking nonsense.”

“Such weak talk is also forbidden. We’re definitely going to proceed as I said, so don’t you think otherwise.”

The situation had reversed. If neither could yield an inch, the only option left was Olivia’s proposed method, so she was confident in her choice.

Before the new feeling of betrayal could leave a scar, Olivia’s tide, pushing in with absurd recklessness, completely washed away all the wounds remaining in Alois’s heart. If he really thought it made no sense, he could release his arms and leave the room right now, but Alois ultimately couldn’t let go of the arms embracing her.

Whether it was because of an obsession that couldn’t forgive a betrayer trying to escape from him, or because of a new emotion sprouting in a form he couldn’t yet identify. Either way, the option of letting her go didn’t exist for Alois either.

* * *

Since Alois would lock himself in his room when the heat cycle approached, this was the first time Olivia was seeing his transformation up close. During the previous heat cycle, he was already in his half-human, half-beast form, but it seemed that reaching that state required going through many subtle stages. As his skeleton and muscles changed and his body twisted, he gradually shed his beast form and took on a human shape.

After finishing her bath and returning, Olivia opened the notebook she had prepared.

“I asked the animals outside. From watching the administrator’s movements, it seems he’ll move the animals around this time next week. Since it’s an illegal event being held secretly, they’re planning to move the animals slowly at night, which works well for us.”

Olivia, who was sitting on the bed chattering away, looked up from her notebook where she had meticulously written out plans when there was no response. Though his hands, claws, tail, and ears still retained their form, the overall base now completely showed the bipedal form of a human.

“Oh, interesting.”

So when the tail and ears disappear completely, the heat cycle begins. Alois, disoriented from the fluctuating fever, couldn’t resist her actions as she fiddled with his ears. He only rumbled from deep in his throat, giving a gentle warning.

“So we need to end your heat cycle within this week at the latest. We have at least four days of leeway, so that should be possible, right?”

Well. Alois couldn’t be certain if that was possible. He couldn’t guarantee how intensely or how long the heat cycle would last. The more intense it was, naturally the more heat fever would need to be released, so the frequency and duration of their relations would also increase. Finding it absurd that he was seriously considering this, Alois placed his heavy arm over his eyes.

“You seem, rather, enjoying yourself?”

“How could I enjoy myself when you’re in pain, Alois?”

“Then why is your, voice, so energetic……”

Olivia looked at Alois anew as he whined like a child while she wiped away the beads of sweat with a wet towel she had placed on the nightstand.

He’s like a child at times like this. Since the heat cycle hasn’t fully started yet, we can still have this time to lie down and talk calmly.

“It’s not that I’m not scared or worried.”

“Hmm……”

“I trust Alois, and I trust myself.”

The tips of the ears she had been fiddling with began to turn transparent. As the ear shape disappeared and the tail that had been sticking out from under the blanket also vanished, Alois, now in the half-human, half-beast form Olivia had met that day, fully entering his heat cycle, immediately snatched the fragrant prey waiting beside him onto the bed.

Alois’s eyes, moist from the fever, now began to slowly emit a strange light. Olivia, caught by Alois and laid down on the bed, lightly licked her lower lip at the tingling gaze that swept over various parts of her body.

Though she wasn’t free from tension.

“I’m telling you this because you probably won’t remember it anyway.”

Since he had always endured alone in his room when the heat cycle began, this was the first time he had prey already prepared so close at hand. Olivia’s voice repeatedly grew muffled and distant in Alois’s ears. Drooling like an excited male dog, Alois nibbled at her chin and nape with his itchy teeth. He imprinted his mark on the place where blood vessels flowed, where life could most easily be taken.

Olivia’s hand, which had hesitated slightly at the last moment, gently wrapped around Alois’s head as he sucked on her neck, leaving red marks.

“That day, I didn’t completely hate it.”

Hiss. A red flower bloomed between the teeth marks Alois had left, and Olivia’s lips parted. Short exclamations began to burst through her lips as her hot breath intensified.

Olivia, who had never experienced normal human s*xual relations, couldn’t tell if the waves of pleasure now pouring over her frighteningly were at the level of ordinary humans. The burning sensation that made her skin feel painful didn’t disappear no matter how much she rubbed her body against the cold sheets.

Her white skin had long been mottled with teeth marks and handprints. If a stranger saw it, they might mistake it for signs of assault rather than lovemaking, as her entire body was covered with marks left by Alois.

“Hmm, mmm, too, don’t bite, hah, it hurts……”

Olivia whimpered and gently rubbed Alois’s hair that she was holding. Like calming an excited beast, her gentle touch massaged his hot scalp, causing the duke’s clenched jaw to soften slightly as he bit her n*pple with his teeth.

Sensitive areas that she had never recognized as erogenous zones bloomed sensitively like flowers whenever Alois transmitted his heat. The same was true for her n*pples, which he had been biting and sucking on like a teething child with a toy. It was a place that had no meaning to Olivia, something she would sometimes forget even existed, but now her chest swelled greatly and her waist curved upward every time Alois’s tongue gently rubbed her ar*ola.

His widely opened mouth bit down on one side of Olivia’s br*ast. He chewed and nibbled on the soft, squishy flesh, licking the swollen ar*ola thoroughly with his broad tongue. The cherry-like protrusion was crushed under the bumpy tongue, gradually standing more er*ect.

“Ah, hah, mmm. Ah.”

She kept pushing forward the br*ast that was being sucked without her realizing it. Hesitating, clutching and releasing the blanket, Olivia finally couldn’t resist and took Alois’s hand, which was feeling her waist, and placed it on her other br*ast that was only feeling itchy.

Pfft, Alois raised his gaze to meet her eyes and let out a laugh. Like a child seeking praise, he deliberately met her eyes and kneaded the other bored br*ast as Olivia directed. The sensation of it wrapping softly around his fingers, firm inside and soft outside like bread dough, quite satisfied the hungry beast.

The fairly firm and protruding red nub was suitable for rolling around in his mouth and sucking. Though obviously nothing would come out, Alois kneaded her br*asts as if squeezing milk and tormented her n*pples, which were plumper and firmer than usual, until he was satisfied.