Of course, since Haniel’s territory was located in the middle of the Nightmare Forest and she had lived in this area for years, he expected she might be more familiar with the forest than he thought.

But there was a difference between what the mind rationally understood and what one actually accepted.

Though his memories were fragmented, hadn’t Regan himself experienced that treacherous forest while being chased here?

Bizarrely twisted flora and fauna. Traps that deceived the sight of living creatures.

How could he know in what manner and how horribly this small… “human” would die if she entered such a dangerous environment?

And there were ordeals where death might be preferable.

Yes, for instance…

‘The Rifts.’

Wasn’t it precisely because of the Rifts that the Nightmare Forest was notorious for its cruelty?

The Nightmare Forest, riddled with minor Rifts.

Any living being, no matter who they were or what magic or exceptional skills they possessed, had little hope of escaping once they entered a Rift.

Even if by some miracle they managed to escape, there was no guarantee they would emerge intact—such was the nature of Rifts.

This, too, was something Regan had directly experienced in the past… which was why he was so anxious now.

The Rifts, which indiscriminately sucked in living beings like a hungry demon, regardless of friend or foe. He feared Haniel might fall into such a hellish place as he had experienced.

Yes, and yet how could she speak of entering such a place without hesitation…

How could… no…

What… is this?

Regan gritted his teeth.

“…What are you doing right now?”

“Huh?”

Regan squeezed his eyes shut.

The Nightmare Forest. Imprinting. Rifts… It felt like his head would explode from the complexity.

And in this serious moment, Haniel was…

Rub, rub.

“…Ah, they moved again.”

A small voice whispering in admiration as she approached slightly closer. When that sound reached his ears, Regan shuddered momentarily.

At this moment, Haniel had reached out to Regan Fenril’s pointed ears and was fiddling with them.

The gentle touch on Regan’s blazing red ears.

Whoosh. If this entire situation were a large loaf of bread, all the hot steam filling his insides would have escaped at this moment, leaving him shriveled up.

Regan slightly raised his eyebrows and looked down at Haniel’s round head filling his vision.

“…This is absurd.”

‘What exactly is this woman?’

Such thoughts filled Regan’s mind.

Unaware of the turbulent thoughts swirling in Regan’s mind, Haniel was curiously playing with his ears.

Perhaps all humans as a species were this innocently naive and captivating, yet possessed a death wish.

If she had any proper fear of death and that dark forest, she wouldn’t be showing such a reckless response.

“…”

What was so special about these ears? But what was even more absurd was that Haniel’s actions had completely dissolved the tension and anger that had filled Regan just moments ago.

It was almost deflating.

‘At least I can be certain that my mate doesn’t take the Nightmare Forest very seriously.’

Rub. With the gentle kneading sensation, strangely, a different emotion now raised its head instead of anger.

The small fingers caressing his ear flaps where nerves were concentrated.

A flash of pleasure swept through him as she rubbed the thin edges of skin, making the back of his neck stiff.

Ugh. The neck muscles in Regan’s thick throat stood out as he swallowed a groan.

Blood rushing to his lower body was the natural progression.

‘D*mn it.’

Haah, with a deep sigh, Regan raised his pot-lid-sized hand and cupped the back of Haniel’s head.

“What are you doing?”

“……I’m sorry. But your ears move so well that I couldn’t help it……”

Haniel gave Regan an awkward smile as he raised one eyebrow at her.

Touching his ears in the middle of a conversation—she could be criticized for lacking situational awareness, but she couldn’t help it.

She inwardly marveled again at Regan’s reddened ears.

‘But it’s fascinating! How can a person’s ears move like that!’

Regan’s ears were much tougher and stiffer than Haniel’s. Like his tough body, designed as solidly as steel, qualitatively different from Haniel’s reed-like human bones.

But still, among the Hume’s body parts, weren’t these ears among the softest?

Unlike humans, Regan’s ears would tilt backward or stand up stiffly according to his emotional changes.

Of course, they would tilt slightly toward the direction of distant sounds like an animal’s would, and when touched like this…

Flutter!

“Ugh……”

“Wow.”

Regan’s hot earlobes trembled and quivered. Haniel drew in a breath at the pulse she felt at her fingertips.

He truly is a “different species.” This realization struck her anew.

When had they become so red? The Hume’s pointed ears, covering more than half of her palm, were now flushed pink with blood, just like Regan’s *rect member.

They were warm to the touch, just like dumplings.

Lost in thought, Haniel froze like a stone when she met Regan’s intense gaze, his eyes heated.

“Sorry. I’ll really focus now.”

“It seems our earlier coupling wasn’t enough.”

“W-wait. I’m sorry. I’ve taken my hands off, Regan. I’ve taken them off now!”

“No, touch them all you want. I’ll thr*st into you as you desire. I’ll pound you so thoroughly that you won’t be able to walk properly on those two feet for a while.”

At those words, Haniel’s concentration returned completely. Like magic.

Haniel immediately straightened her posture and adopted an attentive attitude.

‘Scary.’

Meeting the man’s gaze made her insides ache slightly and her legs tremble a bit, but she was able to focus nonetheless.

Regan’s fierce gaze fixed on Haniel.

Feeling somewhat intimidated, as if his eyes alone could strip her bare, she shrank back a little. Regan rubbed his temple.

“Right, ‘Golden Oak.’ How absurd. Let’s say such a thing exists.”

“What? Golden Oak is a real tree. The entire framework of this house was built by me using that material!”

“Yes. Well done. But setting that aside……”

“Setting it aside? That part is quite important……”

Haniel crossed her arms sulkily.

Regan tilted his head sideways, looking down at her and muttering under his breath.

“I should have known from the moment you said you’d take responsibility for a beast of unknown origin.”

A crooked smile slowly spread across his red lips.

“Entering the forest is madness, Haniel.”

Regan leaned down.

His long hair fell smoothly. As his tree-like body drew close to her small female form, Haniel’s vision instantly darkened.

“……”

In such a situation, animal instinct would dictate feeling a threat to one’s life and quickly backing away with tail tucked.

Blinking her round eyes, Haniel, this woman of the human species, must have thoroughly sold off her instinct for sensing danger.

Either that, or she had something she trusted.