Chapter 8

Near the villa’s lake, Letina took off the shoes she had put on Liri’s feet.  

When she tossed Liri toward the lake, he naturally flew and landed on the water. As Liri touched down, ripples spread across the previously calm lake.  

Letina settled herself by the lakeside, closed her eyes, then opened them again.  

Chirp chirp.  

Birdsong echoed from afar, and gentle sunlight filtered through the greenery.  

“Coming here reminds me of the day I first met you, Liri.”  

Winkel, a southern resort and the domain of the Gatiel Marquisate. Letina had first met Liri at the great lake there—Lake Winkel.  

“I thought you’d collapsed, so I quickly picked you up and cared for you.”  

At Letina’s words, Kiaros also recalled the past.  

It had been the first day he arrived at the resort.  

‘Of course she hated me, idiot. Who would like someone who acted like that?’  

Lost in self-loathing and Letina’s thoughts, Kiaros just wanted to rest without anyone bothering him.  

So he’d transformed into a duck and sprawled out alone by the lakeside.  

“Oh, a duck is dead!”  

When Letina appeared before him, he was so flustered.  

Moreover, she’d thought he was just an ordinary duck—which was natural from her perspective—and took him to her lodging.  

While Letina cared for him so tenderly, Kiaros was too dazed to think of running away, and gradually, he found himself not wanting to leave.  

Those were dreamlike days.  

Letina believed Kiaros disliked her. Eventually, she herself came to dislike him. In that situation, Letina’s kindness tasted so sweet.  

…Except for the bugs she tried to feed him, which he absolutely refused.  

After that, she gave him the ticklish name Liri and declared she would take him to the capital.  

The night before leaving, Kiaros snuck out of the lodging, left a note for his family saying he’d return to the capital first, and traveled up with her.  

After graduating from the academy, Letina had become hard to see, but as a duck, Kiaros could be with her all day.  

He didn’t want to lose Letina’s gentle gaze and those moments.  

So he pretended to be a regular duck and stayed by Letina’s side for three years.  

His relationship with Letina as Kiaros was ruined anyway. So he resolved to remain by her side, at least as her pet duck.  

With that decision, he thoroughly hid that he was a beastman.  

“Come to think of it, I wonder why you’d collapsed that time. Ah, but don’t change into a human. It’s Liri time right now.”  

He had no intention of doing so.  

‘Does she want me to say I collapsed because I was upset over her?’  

It was so pathetic and miserable, he absolutely didn’t want to say it out loud.  

She already saw him as a curt, unpleasant person, but he didn’t want to show her an even worse side.  

“Is it nice, Liri?”  

Nod.  

Liri dipped his head in the water, flapped his wings, and enjoyed the lake.  

“It’s been ages since I’ve been to a lake. Maybe I’ll dip my feet in too.”  

Letina took off her shoes and socks, then put her legs in the lake.  

“Wow, it’s cold.”  

Her skirt rose up above her knees.  

Her bare calves shimmered before Kiaros’s eyes.  

He submerged his head in the water. But even beneath the surface, he could see Letina’s legs and feet, so he lifted his head again.  

‘If this keeps up, I’m going to turn human….’  

Sensing danger, he spread his wings.  

Flap.  

“Hey, where are you going?”  

Letina’s startled voice reached him, but Kiaros pretended not to hear and flew away.  

“Liri!”  

He left the lakeside. Then, suddenly, he stopped.  

‘This is just like the old days.’  

Leaving Letina alone again.  

‘What if she thinks I hate her again?’  

His excitement instantly cooled, and he came to his senses. Kiaros hurriedly turned and returned to his original spot.  

Splash.  

Cutting through the water, he landed on the lake and approached Letina.  

Glance, glance.  

“…….”  

Letina had her head lowered, so he couldn’t read her expression.  

He left the lake and came close.  

Quack…?  

He tried to see her hidden face, but Letina suddenly grabbed Kiaros’s duck body.  

‘Ack!’  

“Liri….”  

Letina’s voice trembled with tears, and Kiaros flinched.  

“I thought you’d disappeared again.”  

As her pet duck, Kiaros had occasionally left the Feymun mansion.  

Every time he vanished, Letina worried he might not return, or that he’d been attacked by some animal somewhere and gotten hurt. He knew she’d been anxious, but—  

As Kiaros Gatiel, he had duties to attend and needed to visit home, so he couldn’t help it.  

“…I worried that Liri might disappear….”  

Letina raised her head.  

Her eyes were red, as if she’d held back tears.  

“Kiaros Gatiel.”  

Kiaros’s heart skipped a beat.  

It was the first time Letina had called him by that name while he was in duck form.  

“I remembered how you used to ignore everything I said, and it annoyed me.”  

“…….”  

“I was scared you’d try to avoid me again!”  

Of course. She’d thought that way.  

Good thing he’d returned quickly. If he’d been any later, Kiaros didn’t even want to imagine how much worse things might have gotten between them.  

“You just wanted to fly around for a bit, I know. I get it…. I’m just saying.”  

Letina stroked his beak.  

“From now on, tell me before you go. No—when it’s just the two of us, don’t leave me alone.”  

“…….”  

He felt sorry for scaring her enough to nearly cry.  

‘Sorry….’  

But she was so lovable.  

‘It’s almost like she likes me so much, she’s anxious and upset.’  

If she knew he thought it was just a cute tantrum, she’d surely hate it, but that’s how it sounded to him.  

“You know, Kiaros. I want to get along well with you.”  

Letina dried him off with a towel as she spoke.  

“What about you?”  

She stopped her hands, picked him up, and looked him straight in the eyes.  

It was exactly what he’d always wished for. But he was greedy, wanting more than his station allowed.  

Letina’s wish to get along well sounded to him like she only wanted to be friendly, like friends, and he forgot his original position, feeling dissatisfied.  

‘I can’t settle for just that.’  

They weren’t just friends—they were already married.  

So they should grow closer, as befits that.  

Even so, Kiaros nodded so as not to upset Letina.  

Letina smiled as brilliantly as the sunlight.  

“Wow!”  

She lifted Kiaros up and spun him around and around, until he was dizzy from her smile.