‘Before I ended up like this, I thought she was a cold and unkind person.’

Kailas never had the opportunity to meet Cioranne properly, but he had glimpsed her in passing. She always stood behind the Pope at official events.

With her tightly sealed lips, Cioranne appeared icy and aloof. Her silver hair that bordered on white, her complexion as pale as her hair, and those blue eyes whose thoughts remained unreadable all contributed to that impression.

But now Kailas knew better. He knew how that seemingly frosty face could form such gentle smiles, how those lake-blue eyes could overflow with affection.

[Kyle.]

Through her, Kailas discovered how his name could sound sweet as sugar.

As Kailas recalled Cioranne calling his name with a bright smile, his ears fluttered lightly like grass swaying in the wind. Seeing this, the deity mocked him.

[‘The Dragon Trampler clicks his tongue.’]

[He says, ‘You’re imprinted, totally imprinted.’]

[He teases you about denying your infatuation.]

Stop it already!

Denying infatuation? That seemed like excessively casual language for someone who called himself a deity.

‘To think people worship this character as a god. The whole world is being deceived.’

Wrinkling his nose irritably, Kailas growled and challenged the deity.

‘Aren’t you frustrated too? Your precious child whom you dote on is being misunderstood as a bad person. I also thought she was a heartless beast-folk slaughterer.’

If you truly love your child, shouldn’t you clear up these misunderstandings?

To Kailas’s sarcasm, the deity responded by bouncing around.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says even he can’t help that.’]

‘Aren’t you a god? Why can’t you do anything?’

Shouldn’t a deity be freer than anyone else to do whatever they want?

[‘The Dragon Trampler sulks.’]

[‘The Dragon Trampler says there are divine principles you wouldn’t understand.’]

Hearing the same repetitive answers, Kailas scratched the floor with his claws in frustration.

‘If you don’t want to talk, then don’t start conversations. Do you know how annoying this is?’

[‘The Dragon Trampler says the feeling is mutual.’]

Argh!

Trying to provoke the deity but ending up more frustrated himself, Kailas flopped down and buried his head in his front paws.

‘Really, and they call that a god!’

He can’t even protect the human he cherishes, can’t clearly instruct what to do or not do—what exactly can he do?

To Kailas’s grumbling, the deity boasted.

[‘The Dragon Trampler asks why you think he can’t do anything.’]

[He brags that he created the lovely Cioranne.]

‘What nonsense.’

Kailas squeezed his eyes shut, signaling he wanted no more conversation. But the deity, completely absorbed in praising his “child,” either didn’t hear or deliberately ignored him.

There were few in this world who could hear the deity’s voice, and most were too devout to listen to such boasting.

[‘The Dragon Trampler asks if you want to hear how adorable his baby was from birth.’]

[Her tiny wiggling fingers were cuter than any creature I’ve ever made, and she was such a gentle baby who rarely cried…]

Stop it!

Kailas squeezed his eyes tighter.

‘I’ll just go to sleep.’

Surely the deity wouldn’t continue boasting to someone who was sleeping.

But contrary to Kailas’s expectations, the deity’s praise was endless. The boasting that started with fingers seemed likely to end only after describing how cute her tiny toenails were.

Eventually, Kailas, who had closed his eyes to avoid the endless praise, genuinely fell asleep.

When Kailas opened his eyes again, darkness had already fallen. The sun had set.

“Nyaaawn.”

After making a sound that was somewhere between a yawn and a meow, Kailas blinked his eyes slowly. The room was dark, but the person who should naturally be lying on the bed was nowhere to be seen.

‘Ran?’

Looking around, Kailas tilted his head.

‘She’s still not back?’

Realizing Cioranne wasn’t in the room, Kailas buried his head in his front paws with a somewhat indifferent expression. But soon after, he jerked his head up. A frightening thought had occurred to him.

‘What if she’s been locked in the basement again?’

That man had previously confined Cioranne in the basement for a week just for being involved with beast-folk.

‘Ran definitely went to talk to him about beast-folk this time too.’

Recalling the final conversation between Noel and Cioranne before she went to see the Pope, her intentions were obvious.

‘That snake of a Pope must have…’

Just as Kailas had come to this conclusion and risen with his fur standing on end, ready to burst through the door—

Creeak. The door opened with the sound of old hinges. Seeing the slender silhouette entering, Kailas involuntarily cried out like a puppy.

“Meow!”

“Kyle?”

Cioranne opened her eyes wide and picked up the small black cat running toward her. The soft fur intertwining with her fingers felt like touching a cloud.

The cat that was usually so aloof was today nuzzling her fingers affectionately. Cioranne asked in a surprised voice.

“Did you wait for me?”

At that question, Kyle, who had been so happy to see Cioranne, pouted.

‘Of course I did, you silly woman.’

After having such a conversation before leaving, and then returning hours later—how could he not worry?

Though he only thought this without making even a small meow, Cioranne kissed Kyle’s forehead, seemingly reading his mind.

“I’m happy. Thank you.”

“…”

About to push away the approaching lips with his paw, Kyle instead accepted the kiss docilely. It seemed silly to feel embarrassed by such skinship every time.

‘She thinks I’m just a cat anyway.’

‘Isn’t it my loss to be the only one feeling embarrassed? Better to just be shameless about it.’

Having reached this conclusion, Kyle held his head high proudly. The deity laughed breathlessly, but Kyle gracefully ignored it.

After kissing Kyle’s head once more, Cioranne knelt and set him down on the floor. But her face, illuminated by the moonlight through the window, looked unusually pale today.

‘Why does she look like this again?’

Her face was always ghost-white, but now it was noticeably pallid. Given her abilities, she shouldn’t be sick.

“Meow, meow!”

He tapped her knee repeatedly, asking what was wrong, and a faint smile spread across Cioranne’s face.

“Ah, Kyle.”

The woman who should have reassured him instead slowly collapsed onto the cold floor. Having apparently used her last remaining strength to greet Kyle, her voice flowed out slowly, barely audible.

“I’m so sleepy… Let me just close my eyes for a moment…”

“Meow!”

Alarmed, Kyle pressed his nose against Cioranne’s nose bridge. At first he thought she was dying, but fortunately, her breathing was steady.

‘Seriously, what’s wrong with her?’

How could a woman who should never get sick be swaying so weakly? Just in case, he touched her forehead with his front paw and found it burning hot, almost matching his own temperature, which was higher than a human’s.

‘She seems feverish too.’

Being a beast-folk, Kailas had never caught even a common cold, so he didn’t know when fevers typically occurred. As Kyle circled anxiously around Cioranne, the deity clicked his tongue and answered.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says it’s because she used up all her holy power.’]

Dumbfounded by this explanation, Kyle could only gape.

‘Holy power? You mean she went to heal someone?’

[…]

The silence was confirmation. Now understanding the situation, Kyle looked at the collapsed woman with blank eyes.

Whether it was his imagination or because she was lying on the cold floor, her face seemed to be growing paler by the moment. Kyle bristled with irritation, his tail and fur standing on end.

“Argh!”

At that moment, his body stretched out and the black fur covering his body disappeared. In its place stood a cute boy with round, delicate features—Kailas.

With a face that didn’t match his harsh tone and childish lisp, he shouted:

“Are you really this stupid? What’s the point of healing others if you collapse yourself!”

Yet despite his words, his touch was gentle as he supported Cioranne. Though much smaller than her, his natural strength made it easy to lift Cioranne onto the bed.

“Idiot. Fool. You need to take care of yourself. What are you thinking?”

Even while grumbling, Kailas’s eyes were deeply concerned as he looked down at Cioranne’s pale face. Pouting, he soon messed up his own hair in frustration.

“What are you supposed to do when humans have fevers? I’d have to have been sick myself to know.”

[‘The Dragon Trampler suggests trying a wet cloth.’]

“A wet cloth?”

Kailas blinked.