“…Well, I understand the situation now.”

“What?”

Haniel, rolling her eyes in confusion, realized at that moment.

‘Hot.’

…Somehow she had ended up explaining the situation first!

You fool!

“……”

D*mn it.

Haniel lost her fighting spirit and sat back down.

“So you were trying to heal me.”

“…Yes… That’s right…”

Had she lost her language ability after being isolated from society for two years?

But she had continued practicing speaking like in that castaway movie with the volleyball with a handprint. Of course, she had been talking to the status window and plants and animals.

Haniel wanted to inflict violence on her own mouth that had babbled without using her brain.

Meanwhile, Regan seemed to be reviewing her words, lost in thought as he handled the teacup in front of him.

‘Just goodwill… she says.’

Clack.

The beautiful ceramic cup in his hand, made in an unfamiliar style, felt like a toy.

It was a vessel he had never encountered, either where he came from or anywhere else.

The high-quality tea inside was so fragrant that it felt quite nice even to Regan, who had a keen sense of smell even among Humes. Rarely so.

Not only that.

The clothes the woman was wearing now… which seemed to be woven by a skilled craftsman in a style he had never seen before, as well as the living standard of the house he had glimpsed, were things that even those with high discernment would not commonly encounter.

Items not likely to be seen in an ordinary household.

Even considering other possibilities, they were not the kind that would be found in this dangerous forest, in a remote place.

From any perspective, there were suspicious and somewhat inconsistent aspects.

But…

‘That doesn’t mean it’s impossible.’

Why did he think that?

Regan, tapping his fingers on the table, raised his blue eyes to look at Haniel.

…A strangely attractive and curious woman.

Thinking about it now, even when he had misunderstood that she was making advances toward him earlier, he might have felt antipathy toward the potentially hostile forces behind her, but he had never felt genuine hostility toward this woman herself.

Of course, since his mating season was still ongoing, and his entire body was shouting that Haniel was his ‘female,’ that might be the reason… but somehow Regan didn’t want to think that way.

‘I don’t want to consider her an enemy.’

Yes. That’s right.

Looking at the woman, he instinctively felt that way.

That this being was not someone that he, Regan, should be hostile toward.

She had no malice, she was harmless.

A curious being whose mere sight, sound, and feeling strangely soothed his heart…

The tension in Regan’s arms relaxed.

He couldn’t believe that all these feelings were simply because of the mating season.

After gazing into Haniel’s golden eyes one last time, Regan decided to believe her words.

At least the truth was that she had no intention of harming him.

“Then once again, I apologize for my rudeness.”

Regan slightly bowed his head again.

It was an even more courteous movement than before.

Sensing dignity in his gesture, Haniel also slightly bowed her head in response.

After hesitating a little, Regan parted his lips.

“As you may have guessed, I am… a ‘Hume.’ I was chased to near your land due to certain circumstances.”

“Hume?”

Haniel tilted her head sideways.

Hume… that was…

“You don’t look like a Hume or another species…”

Wasn’t that what the man who had tried to pounce on her earlier had muttered while touching her ears?

Haniel suddenly felt her ears burning and fidgeted, needlessly touching her earlobes.

And completely unaware that Regan was following her touching ears and fingertips with his eyes, she searched her memory.

Hume. Clearly not human, but a race name she had never encountered, even through the status window.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it…”

But Regan raised his thick eyebrows as if her response was even more surprising.

“You’ve never… heard of it?”

“No.”

So that’s how it was.

Regan finally understood as he watched Haniel innocently nodding her head, completely different from her earlier fiery demeanor.

Anyone familiar with his race would be able to distinguish between Humes and ordinary giant beasts.

Once one became familiar with their appearance, one could immediately notice the characteristic fur texture of Humes, their imposing bodies, and the intelligence in their eyes.

But for someone who wasn’t… it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see Regan collapsed and injured in the forest and consider him just a wounded animal.

So she must have brought him in without knowing anything, innocently treated him, and kept a beast boiling with mating heat close by.

Without any caution.

Regan furrowed his brow, momentarily concerned about Haniel’s defenselessness.

‘What am I thinking…’

“Have you been living alone in this forest all this time?”

He couldn’t help but ask that question.

Not because he was worried, but to add credibility to her words. That’s what Regan thought.

He thought she couldn’t possibly have created all this by herself… but somehow, if the woman in front of him said she had, he felt he would believe it just like that.

And to such a Regan, Haniel nodded her head greatly and affirmed.

“Yes. I’ve been alone, all along.”

“Your clan… family? All this by yourself…”

“I don’t have any. I’m a-alone. Really.”

Haniel answered with a slightly husky voice. The inside of her eyeballs felt hot… and no wonder, considering how terribly lonely and painful these two years had been, thinking she was alone in this world.

But that wasn’t actually the case. Seeing that Regan could understand her even though she was speaking Korean, she should be able to talk with his kin or others outside as well.

‘I’m not alone anymore!’

Her heart swelled with hope. Even the threat of beasts could no longer stop her.

Ah. As the man’s penetrating gaze turned toward her increasingly moist eyes, Haniel belatedly cleared her throat in embarrassment.

“Ahem. Regan. You said Hume, right? You probably haven’t… heard of it, but I am a race called ‘human.'”

“Human?”

Indeed. The status window’s statement that Haniel was the only human in this world wasn’t wrong.

Regan seemed as if he had never heard the name ‘human’ before.

“Yes. And as I said, I’ve been living here alone.”

“Without interacting with others? Without living with others like yourself, if not family or clan.”

“I couldn’t.”

Haniel answered quietly in a somewhat bitter voice.

“Because I’m the only human left in this world…”

While there are 8 billion people in the solar system where Earth is, she’s the only one in this world, so it’s not a lie.

But Haniel’s self-deprecating words seemed to be received somewhat differently by the man.

“……”

Regan’s eyes rippled with an even more blue light.

‘What happened?’

Haniel was trying hard to smile, but he was not one to miss the pain behind it.

The shadow of loss and loneliness deeply permeated behind that innocent smile.

Seeing that, Regan realized.

Haniel’s family, relatives, and clan. Many individual ‘humans’ must have disappeared from this world due to unfortunate events.

For example…

‘They must have been… hunted. The entire human race.’

That was clear.

Hunting.

Humes were ugly creatures who would try to possess and take anything rare, whether it was an object or an intelligent being.

And for a being like this…

“……”

Despite having just met, she strangely drew his heart… a woman who evoked curious feelings. It was fortunate that Regan was the only Hume in this territory; if there had been others, they might have tried to make her their own, disregarding all hierarchy.

They would have sunk their teeth into her and established a mate’s imprint.

But what if there had been many beings like Haniel?

‘Perhaps the human race is the substance of those rumors.’

Regan, recalling whether there had been anyone similar to Haniel in his memory, briefly thought this.

Until she introduced herself as human, he had half-suspected she might be a fairy.

Wasn’t there an ancient legend about fairies living in forests?