“You want me to believe that you came to me because you heard my voice? Does that even make sense? No, if you can hear thoughts so well, why couldn’t you hear me telling you to draw a heart earlier……”

“……Heart?”

Oops. Spica shut her mouth and turned her head away sharply.

Her expression, scrunched up in embarrassment, was cute.

The moment he thought that, Alkaid realized something.

‘I can never keep Spica locked up forever.’

He wanted to walk alongside her. No matter how anxious he felt.

Her joyful face, sad moments, happy expressions, angry looks. He wanted to see everything and be by her side through all of it.

This was a different emotion from the blind submission created by imprinting.

“I! I can’t like someone who doesn’t trust me as much as I trust them. Even if people call me foolish for trusting again after being betrayed like that……”

“You’re not foolish.”

“……”

“Never foolish.”

New tears poured from Spica’s eyes. Why did she feel comforted by him at this very moment?

Alkaid cupped her small, soft face with both hands. When he moved his thumbs to wipe the wet corners of her eyes, Spica scrunched up her face. Even that looked pretty to him.

“Let go of me.”

“I’m sorry for tormenting you. I absolutely couldn’t say it. That I imprinted.”

“What……”

What did he do?

Spica’s eyes widened. The tears that had pooled in her large eyes disappeared.

“Just now, what, what did you say?”

“I imprinted…… on you.”

“Again.”

Spica kept asking him to repeat it like she couldn’t believe it.

Of course she would react that way. Alkaid swallowed his bitterness. A beast-human imprinting on an ordinary person — such an absurd thing had happened for generations.

But on the other hand, there was also relief that he had finally said it.

Alkaid’s voice became a bit firmer.

“I imprinted on you. Spica Atrain.”

Spica’s eyes facing him shook like an earthquake had occurred.

What was she thinking? What answer would come? While Alkaid watched anxiously, she sank down right there.

“Ah, really……”

A muttering voice flowed out between her fingers covering her face.

“How could you imprint on me? I’m not a beast-human.”

“It’s a very rare case, but it’s true. I was also born that way.”

I see.

……So that’s what it was!

These words solved all the questions she had held until now at once.

‘So…… the misunderstanding started because he couldn’t say those words.’

Really, that fool.

Had he been anxious even after saying he liked her so much?

She suddenly felt deeply embarrassed about getting angry at Alkaid and misunderstanding him until now.

But at the same time, her mood that had hit rock bottom floated up like eating a hundred chocolates at once.

She wanted to hide her twitching lips, but she also wanted to properly let Alkaid know this feeling.

‘What should I do?’

Meanwhile, Alkaid had his own complicated feelings.

‘Is this what I expected?’

Her face turning pale the moment she heard the word imprinting, her hands trembling while covering her face. By any measure, these weren’t positive signs.

‘If Spica refuses…… there’s nothing I can do now.’

Anyway, Alkaid had just realized he couldn’t keep Spica locked up. So he would watch her from a distance for life and kill all the males who approached her.

So everything was fine. It would be fine.

When he knelt on one knee in front of her to reassure Spica one last time,

She suddenly lifted her head without warning.

A bright smile was drawn on her flushed face.

“I love it so much.”

At the unexpected expression and even more unexpected words, Alkaid forgot everything he was going to say. What flowed out in response was only a dumbfounded question.

“……What?”

“I said I really love it so much! That you imprinted on me!”

Alkaid couldn’t believe his ears. But no matter how many times he recalled what he had just heard, there were no words about hating it or finding it disgusting.

Good. She said it was good. Spica did.

Now she was scolding him with a pouty expression.

“You should have told me quickly.”

“……”

“If you imprinted, it’s what I’m thinking, right? Looking only at me until death, and also……”

“I love only you.”

Alkaid naturally interrupted Spica’s words. That was the answer to the emotion that had risen when he thought about wanting to be with her forever just moments ago.

He loved Spica.

Caressing her cheek that seemed to gather all the soft textures in the world, Alkaid smiled. It was a relieved smile.

“I love you.”

Instead of answering, Spica jumped into his arms and hugged his neck. His posture collapsed as he sat back to catch her, but Alkaid didn’t mind. What mattered was that Spica was now in his arms.

That was true until his shoulder got wet.

“……Spica?”

“I’m sorry for getting angry. But Alkaid, you’re really a fool.”

Her sobbing voice scolded him, but it wasn’t cold like before.

Alkaid stroked Spica’s back in relief.

“Everyone won’t know. That you are such a fool, Commander.”

“Yes. I was foolish. I’m sorry.”

“But I love it so much.”

She loved that he acted like a fool only for her.

Every time he said he liked her, she could feel his heart beating fast, so she could trust him without any anxiety and love him completely.

Spica wriggled and lifted her head from Alkaid’s embrace. Then she whispered close to his ear like kissing it.

“Alkaid…… I really like you. I love you too.”

Heat spread like red water coloring Alkaid’s ear and neck.

He asked like he couldn’t believe it.

“Are you…… sincere?”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Me too.”

Spica smiled brightly and gave Alkaid’s cheek a peck.

Still, Alkaid’s expression didn’t relax. Spica’s anxiety had now disappeared, but he seemed to be the one feeling anxious instead.

Wondering about this, Spica soon recalled what Alkaid had said earlier.

‘I was also born that way’ must mean only one of his parents was a beast-human. Yet he had been reluctant to reveal the fact after imprinting on Spica, which meant……

“Are our mother and father not getting along well?”

“……Our?”

“Yes. Our mother, our father. When we marry, we become family, right?”

Strike while the iron is hot — now that they both knew each other’s hearts, Spica wanted to quickly get through to marriage.

She loved that he imprinted and would love only her. It was reassuring.

But separately from that, she wanted to announce to the world that this man was her husband. She had to bind him completely — body, heart, and legally.

“……Family.”

Alkaid repeated that word like savoring it.

Spica’s greed reached him like a promise more solid than any words.

Finally, Alkaid’s face began to relax little by little. Like icicles meeting spring, something inside him was melting away.

Spica also witnessed that change. She contentedly stroked Alkaid’s head. His short silver hair tickled between her fingers.

‘I’ll be able to hear it soon. What happened to his parents too.’

Until then, she wanted to focus only on Alkaid.

Spica lifted her head and kissed him. She enjoyed the soft press of his lips, so she gently rubbed them before pulling away. The separation was brief. When their lips met again, she softly bit his lips, ensuring it wouldn’t hurt. After separating and reconnecting once more, instead of her lips, she extended her tongue and licked his.

“Haa.”

Alkaid, who had been letting her do what she wanted, sucked her tongue that was teasingly trying to move away like swallowing it. The hand supporting her head was sticky to prevent separation again.

After briefly sucking her tongue like candy, he began exploring the inside of Spica’s mouth while inhaling. It felt as though he was trying to claim every corner as his territory.

The sound of wet mucous membranes rubbing, separating, and joining again was lewd.

“Alkaid…… Hmm…… Mm.”

Spica no longer shrank back either. Every time his thick tongue rubbed and scraped against hers, sparks seemed to fly inside her body. She somehow felt thirsty.

Spica hugged Alkaid’s neck tightly and entered past his lips. The inside of his mouth was hotter than his tongue. The temperature wasn’t unfamiliar. When he sucked her br*asts last time…….

“Haa……”

When the moment of panting while hugging Alkaid in intoxication with pleasure came to mind, the heat that had been sparking spread throughout her entire body in a rush. Suddenly her chest felt ticklish.

Her body moved without her knowing. When her chest rubbed against Alkaid’s and she let out an excited breath, he groaned. Large hands gripped her b*ttocks tightly and their lower bodies pressed together under the long hem of her clothes.

“Ah, ugh. Hot.”

But she knew that if she discarded these cumbersome clothes, it would feel even hotter. Alkaid’s warmth was something only Spica herself was aware of. With that thought, her waist moved instinctively above the hard pillar.

“Ha…… Spica.”

Just that alone made Alkaid feel like he might lose himself. He pressed his forehead against Spica’s and calmed his impulses for a moment. Then he lifted her and headed somewhere.

It turned out the reception room they had been in was attached to some bedroom. Even when four people had been in the reception room there was no discomfort, but the bedroom was even larger.