Because of the way he spoke, it almost sounded as though he knew the Nuctein tribe well. With bright curiosity, she asked in a confident tone.

“Cassion, you’ve met the Nuctein tribe before, haven’t you?”

“…I saw them once when I was young.”

“Oh? They didn’t hurt you?”

Her voice was laced with genuine concern. Cassion quietly lifted the corner of his mouth and shook his head.

“Of course not.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. You’re tall and incredibly strong now, but when you were little—even if it was you—you must have been fragile. I’m really glad you were safe.”

At that moment, a mischievous expression suddenly crossed his face.

“How do you know I’m strong?”

His voice dropped at once, losing its formal cadence. The shorter phrasing caused Lunaria to swallow dryly, unconsciously. A sharp shiver ran down her spine, causing her to straighten up instinctively.

“…I just know.”

“Is it because you’re a beastkin? Can you sense it?”

It wasn’t that.

She had been thinking about how he had lasted far longer than her when she was in heat. She also thought about how easily he had lifted her and turned her as though she weighed nothing.

They had already spent four nights together. It was only natural that such memories would come to mind.

“N-not like that…”

“Not like that?”

“Mm… it’s just…”

She could feel the heat rising from her throat. Unaccustomed as she was to this teasing side of his, she felt even more embarrassed.

“…You lift me like I’m a child.”

“I told you not to say that anymore. That’s why I haven’t carried you recently.”

“….”

His deliberate teasing left her speechless. The way his eyes crinkled with mischief was unbearably endearing. In public, Cassion was always courteous yet imposing, commanding respect with his presence.

She wished he would always show her this side of himself.

A sudden desire rose in her.

Although she had never asked him for anything before, Lunaria found herself blurting out her true feelings before she could stop herself.

“Could you… keep speaking to me informally from now on?”

“Mm?”

“Why do you only speak informally to me when I’m in heat?”

Cassion was taken aback by her unexpected request. Nothing like this had ever happened before, and since what she wanted was intangible, he didn’t know how to respond.

When he merely stared at her, frozen to the spot, Lunaria averted her gaze and hastily changed the subject.

“Never mind. Please pretend you didn’t hear that.’

Flustered, she quickly resumed walking. However, just as she tried to move ahead, she realised with a start that her hand was still firmly clasped in his. There was no escaping.

“Um… if you could let go of my hand for a moment…”

Her face flushed, and she felt the heat spreading down her neck. She was overwhelmed with embarrassment. She had believed that she was special to him and that he would grant her request without hesitation.

But perhaps she had been mistaken.

Maybe he had only ever pitied her.

No, they had opened up to each other. It couldn’t have been pity, could it?

A sharp sense of injustice swelled in her chest. Lunaria wanted to slap herself.

‘You mustn’t think that way about the man who saved your life.’

She scolded herself, beginning to pull her hand free.

Slowly, she loosened their tightly interlaced fingers, one by one.

Just then, Cassion, who had been silent until now, spoke in a low voice, stopping her.

“That’s enough, Luna.”

“…I just want to be alone for a moment.”

If there had been a mouse hole nearby, she would have crawled into it without hesitation. But her wish went unfulfilled. The fingers that she had almost pulled apart were firmly intertwined once more.

Cassion stepped closer, closing the distance she had tried to create. Not only did he take her hand again, but he also pulled her towards him, putting their joined hands inside his jacket.

“C-Cassion?”

He didn’t even look at her when she called his name. He simply continued walking in silence. She was forced to keep up with him as he hurried along.

Usually, keeping up with him was not difficult. But today, for some reason, his steps were faster.

For someone accustomed to running, this pace would not have been exhausting. Yet the unfamiliar tension in the air made it impossible for her to look up. Lost in thought, she tripped on the hem of her skirt.

“Ah—”

She gasped and stumbled, causing him to stop abruptly. Only then did he realize how quickly he had been walking.

Cassion felt strange. A new emotion tapped weakly against his heart.

“…Let’s suspend that for today.”

“Pardon?”

After uttering those cryptic words, he released her hand. And then, without warning, he lifted her into his arms.

“Cassion!”

“I’ll allow it just for today.”

With that brief declaration, he resumed walking. It could hardly be called a leisurely stroll anymore — his pace was far too fast for that.

Lunaria, cradled in his arms, caught fleeting glimpses of the scenery whizzing by before looking up at him.

His expression had hardened, and she found herself tensing in response. Had she spoken out of turn? Had she offended him without realizing it?

Or was there some deeper reason why he insisted on speaking formally to everyone?

If not, was it because she was a beastkin?

She wasn’t doubting him — or so she told herself. And yet, the people of the Lumentis Empire despised beastkin. There were insults that compared others to them. It seemed that humanity had never truly forgotten.

So even if he — an imperial of Lumentis and the Emperor’s own nephew — loved her, surely there must be limits?

For the first time, Lunaria felt close to defeat. Cassion was the most important presence in her world. The thought that she might have misunderstood him unsettled her deeply, as though the ground beneath her feet had shifted.

Just then, Cassion came to an abrupt stop.

“Luna, look over there.”

He gestured ahead. When she turned her head, she caught sight of a flowerbed brimming with yellow daffodils, which prompted a soft exclamation from her lips.

“Wow… From the balcony, it looked so small…”

“I planted a few more at the beginning of the year. Not quite as many as the evening primroses, but these remind me of your eyes.”

He added this explanation casually.

Her heart trembled. Could such steady, thoughtful attention truly be nothing more than pity?

“…They’re beautiful.”

“Yes, they are.”

He answered without taking his eyes off the fully bloomed daffodils. The two of them admired the flowers in silence for a while. Then Cassion spoke up.

“Was it that surprising, the way I spoke?”

“…You don’t speak that way to anyone else.”

“So you’d like me to do it only for you?”

He met her gaze.

Lunaria looked straight into his blue eyes—clearer than the spring sky—and answered.

“…Yes. Only to me.”

A sharp swell of possessiveness rose from deep within her. Despite knowing that she might not be enough for him, she could not let go. It was already too late — she had recognized him as her mate a long time ago.

“And with other women, please continue to speak formally. Words like that… I want to be the only one who hears them.”

She tightened her arms around his neck and pleaded softly. His hand came to rest on her back, patting her gently.

After a long moment, he repeated her words to himself before finally speaking.

“…You, too, think of me as your only one.”

His sentence lacked an object, so she did not know what he meant by ‘only’. But Lunaria nodded without hesitation.

If he had said it, then whatever came before that word had to be true.

***

Spring slipped away in the blink of an eye, and before she knew it, it was early summer.

During that time, a fragile new hope had begun to take root in Lunaria’s heart.

From that day forward, Cassion’s manner towards her changed. He no longer reserved informal speech for the days of her heat alone; he now spoke to her with a natural ease in ordinary moments, too.

If they continued to grow closer little by little, might he one day see her not as a child, but as a woman?

The man who had burned so intensely during her heat was now gentle at all times. This contrast unsettled her. It wasn’t that she disliked his tenderness; it just felt too similar to the warmth he had once shown her when she was a child.

And that troubled her.

Two concerns began to weigh on her mind because of this.

The first was that her heat now came every month, leaving her in constant discomfort.

The second…

“…We’ve never even kissed.”

She had only realized that fact yesterday.