“I-Iska, you need to take that off. Quickly!”

Rudis shouted urgently, her face pale. Pet? It was an unexpected message. The explanations that appeared below were all equally unusual.

“Does it look that bad on me?”

Iska asked with a crestfallen expression. He seemed confused by Rudis’s sudden horror after she had been showering him with compliments about how great and perfect he looked just moments before.

Rudis began explaining to the bewildered Iska.

“That thing isn’t meant for people to wear.”

At Rudis’s explanation, Iska tilted his head in confusion.

“But I’m not human.”

That’s right. Iska was a beast-person. Rudis realized her explanation was flawed.

“I’m sorry. Um… what I mean is, it’s meant for pets.”

“Pets?”

Iska asked again with a puzzled face.

“Well… pets are animals that people raise and live with until death…”

It wasn’t easy to explain once she tried. Especially when trying to choose her words carefully for Iska, who was neither fully animal nor human.

“So like livestock? Like the chickens and cows you raise in the barn?”

“That’s technically correct, but usually it refers to animals that live in the house with you, like dogs or cats. Animals you have a special affection for and take responsibility for throughout their lives…”

Iska fell silent for a moment, then fingered the choker around his neck thoughtfully.

“Then how is this collar supposed to be used?”

“It marks an animal as having an owner. So other people don’t get confused.”

“Owner… So it indicates ownership.”

Iska repeated slowly, nodding. His blue eyes held complex emotions.

“Y-yes. So take it off quickly. No, let me take it off for you.”

Rudis stood on tiptoe and reached for the collar dangling from Iska’s neck. Though he still looked serious, Iska obediently lowered his head.

“I need to rest for a bit.”

After removing the ‘Lifelong Promise,’ Rudis wiped away her sweat. Perhaps because she had been so startled by the strange message, she felt completely drained.

“Iska, you can have anything from over there. Wear whatever you want. Everything suits you.”

In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him that the black scrap of fabric was too provocative.

* * *

Rudis woke from her sleep. She had no sense of what time it was. For days, the sky had remained pitch black with endless rain. There was no difference between day and night.

Perhaps because it was the final night of the typhoon, the rain was falling fiercely. The sound of raindrops hitting the window was louder and clearer than any rain she’d heard before. Almost like someone knocking right beside her.

Rudis rubbed her eyes and got up. At first, she thought the rain was just loud, but when she listened carefully, the sound was… knocking. Someone was knocking on her door.

“Iska?”

Rudis called toward the door. After a moment of silence, a familiar voice came through the crack.

“I’m sorry, but can I sleep with you?”

“What’s wrong?”

Iska’s face appeared through the cautiously opened door. He was wearing that provocative outfit she couldn’t bring herself to tell him not to wear, and he was trembling.

“The sound of rain is too loud. I’m scared.”

Iska added in a small voice, his body curled up.

What was this supposed to mean? Rudis gulped.

A man with perfect physique wearing such an obscene outfit—and not just any man, but Iska, a potential love interest—entering her bedroom with such a shy face. This was a crisis. One that might reveal her moral deficiencies.

“That’s a bit…”

Rudis trailed off awkwardly. Though it might be inevitable someday, taking advantage of someone trembling with fear wasn’t right.

“…You promised to protect me.”

Iska’s downcast blue eyes turned toward Rudis. They glistened, looking ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Right. I need to keep my word.

“…Come in.”

Rudis sighed deeply and opened the door, making an effort not to lower her gaze.

“You’re going to sleep there?”

Iska curled up on the cold wooden floor by the door. He intended to sleep on the bare, cold floor without anything underneath him. It was absurd.

“Yes. I’ll be quiet so I don’t disturb you.”

Iska answered in a hushed voice, but Rudis couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Him being there like that was far more uncomfortable.

What kind of life had Iska lived until now?

His every action was heartbreaking. Feeling complicated, Rudis pointed to one side of her bed.

“Iska, just come up here and sleep.”

Iska seemed surprised and couldn’t speak for a moment, then asked cautiously.

“…Is it really okay for me to do that?”

Rudis’s bed was very spacious.

It was clearly large enough to feel empty with just one person. This bed was the reward from one of the most notoriously difficult quests, “Kuku’s Masterpiece.” Though thinking about the quest still made her nauseous—spending a week chopping wood from morning till night while chugging potions—the bed itself truly deserved to be called a masterpiece.

It was made with 1,000 oak trees, after all. It was so wide and sturdy that there would be no discomfort even if someone as large as Iska joined her.

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Iska, who had been cautiously watching her reaction, carefully climbed onto the bed and settled at the very edge. He fell asleep almost immediately. Rudis covered him with the blanket, smiling contentedly.

Why had she worried unnecessarily? Looking at Iska sleeping soundly, all the concerns she’d had before letting him in seemed pointless.

What a relief. Her moral deficiencies wouldn’t be exposed after all.

The peace didn’t last long.

“Ugh…”

Soon Iska began to groan and toss. Sweat beaded at his eyes after running down from his forehead, and he started moaning.

What could be troubling him so much?

Rudis moved closer to Iska and patted his back.

“It’s okay, Iska. I’m here.”

Even while whispering to comfort Iska, Rudis’s mind was troubled.

There must be a hidden story…

Iska never talked about himself. He only curled up like an injured young beast. “Hideous,” “ugly,” “dangerous beast”—Rudis remembered the words Iska used habitually. They didn’t suit Iska at all, but he seemed to believe them. He likely heard such things consistently throughout his life. Iska was always shrinking into himself.

Yet he took great joy in the small gestures Rudis offered him. He appeared to experience such things for the first time.

Rudis vaguely guessed that Iska’s life hadn’t been easy. Like her own past.

If only he would tell me a little…

Rudis sighed. But she couldn’t ask directly. Forcing someone to reveal a story they were deliberately hiding would only deepen their wounds.

Haah…

Rudis let out a long sigh. At times like this, she wished there was a quest. Then she would naturally learn more.

Hmm? Come to think of it…

Rudis tilted her head. She realized that not once had a quest appeared involving Iska. While the system window would pop up with a “ding” when other villagers merely mentioned the word “favor,” it remained notably silent when it came to Iska. There wasn’t even an affinity indicator when giving him gifts.

Something’s strange…

The name “Tarkar” that Iska had mentioned came to mind. A survivor of the vanished beast-people. She had a feeling the answer lay there. At this point, she would have to ask Xenon for help. Though she worried about what he might demand in return, she needed information about the beast-people. Iska’s story seemed to contain something beyond just his personal past.

“I-Iska.”

But right now, Rudis had a more urgent problem.

Iska, who had been groaning and tossing, suddenly turned and began burrowing toward Rudis. His high bridge of nose touched near Rudis’s chest. Iska mumbled and exhaled low breaths.

No, this is too much…

Rudis’s face burned as she froze. Iska burrowed deeper into her embrace, seeking warmth. His large hand wrapped around Rudis’s waist. She tried to push him away, but Iska’s strength was greater than expected, and she couldn’t move easily.

What’s touching my foot right now?

To make matters worse, a thick bulge touched her toes. And because he was wearing that particular outfit, the texture and body heat were far too vivid.

“Hup.”

When she tried to move her foot away, Iska embraced Rudis even more tightly. As a result, it pressed against her sole. Rudis was on the verge of tears from the increasingly explicit sensation.

I’m a moral person. I’m a good person. I didn’t invite him to bed with this intention. If I move now, I’m trash.

Rudis squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. Because of this, she didn’t notice the drowsy blue gaze directed at her.

—

T/N: LMAO RUDIS I SO GET YOU GIRL