“Remus. From now on, your name is Remus.”

In her memory, the hero Remus lived quite long and enjoyed a full life.

Ariana hoped that the small pet that had just entered her life today would also live long, just like the name she had given it. Though they had just met less than a day ago, she was already becoming attached to this little creature faster than expected.

“I’m counting on you from now on, Remus.”

Ariana said, stroking the forehead of the furball that seemed to be barely listening.

The way it slightly opened its eyes to look at her before closing them again as if bothered made it seem like it understood human speech, causing Ariana to burst into laughter.

⁕⁕⁕

But that was the end of the laughter. For Ariana, who was raising an animal for the first time in her life, the monster—no, Remus—was a more challenging companion than she had expected.

‘Come to think of it, he didn’t tell me what it eats.’

The merchant had only warned her about the necklace several times, but hadn’t mentioned what Remus should eat.

Even if it was a monster, as a living creature, it would naturally need to eat something. The problem was that it was so weak that it vomited everything it ate.

Just enough to barely breathe. The amount allocated to Ariana by her stepmother was just that much. So she had no means to obtain animal feed beyond the food meant for humans.

Ariana felt bad seeing Remus vomit everything, making her sharing of her dinner pointless, but she was more concerned about the exhausted furball.

“Are you alright? You need to eat something to regain your strength, don’t you?”

The clear soup had already been vomited up, leaving only a chunk of coarse bread.

There was no way Remus, who couldn’t even digest soup, could eat bread. Nevertheless, Ariana soaked the bread in water without the slightest hesitation.

She tried to push the soggy bread that had absorbed water into Remus’s mouth, but Remus turned his head to the side. It was an instinctive rejection of food.

Ariana became frightened that Remus might not even survive the night.

The sound of Remus’s breathing, which she quickly brought her ear close to hear, seemed weaker than when they first met.

As she worried, a book she had read suddenly came to mind.

She thought there was something written about this.

“Wait a moment.”

Even without being told, waiting was all it could do.

Yet Ariana felt less lonely than usual with the presence of a living being with whom she could exchange words.

The bookshelf in her bedroom. If she remembered correctly, there was a dust-covered book at the very bottom.

It was a place she wouldn’t have touched if not for the thorough cleaning of this dusty annex a few days ago.

If there was anything abundant in her life at the annex, it was time.

So to kill time, and to commemorate her birthday that her father didn’t celebrate, she had started reading this book.

It was an encyclopedia of miscellaneous knowledge, neither particularly necessary nor interesting to read. But it definitely contained an explanation about monsters.

“Monster, monster, monster…… Here it is!”

The encyclopedia covered basic, superficial knowledge about monsters. It was clear that the author of this text didn’t know much about monsters either.

It was probably just a fragment of text included to fill out the content. But Ariana couldn’t take her eyes off the last line.

Ariana quickly scanned the text with her eyes.

“Monsters crave human vitality. Therefore, monsters are inherently beings that desire human blood.”

The content she read aloud was utterly chilling. However, in Ariana’s mind, this line was being interpreted differently.

‘If I feed it blood, could it recover its strength?’

If it could regain strength just by being fed blood, it would be worth it.

Ariana didn’t lack food, just blood.

It was actually good news. If she ate food and Remus drank her blood….

Ariana had been sorry she couldn’t provide good food to the already weak Remus.

It was obvious that giving human food to animals wasn’t good.

If she could give Remus what he wanted most….

There was no need to hesitate.

Hadn’t she already given up her mother’s jewelry to her stepmother to save Remus?

It was too late to be afraid of sharing a little blood.

Once her decision was made, Ariana quickly ran outside. In her haste, the encyclopedia tumbled from the table to the floor with a thud.

As it fell from the table, the encyclopedia flipped over messily, turning to a different page. The page that touched the floor read:

[Beastkin. Humanoid creatures that retain animal features. They are characterized by physical abilities and powers that exceed human limitations. Unlike humans, they take companions through imprinting. The method of imprinting varies by species, but the most widely known method is…]

[To share each other’s bodily fluids.]

⁕⁕⁕

Despite hearing the heavy book crash to the floor, Ariana paid no attention and rushed to Remus.

Even in the short time she had been away, Remus’s condition had worsened.

Ariana quickly examined Remus’s body. The furball on the old sofa wasn’t moving.

The labored breathing, the dried-up nose with no luster—anyone would see it as a baby animal on the verge of death.

“You can’t die. Okay? Just hang on a little longer.”

Ariana immediately ran to the desk and grabbed a paper knife.

No one would bring news to the scorned young lady of a rural baron’s family. The decorative paper knife had never been used since being placed there.

The sharp blade gleamed. Though it was a small knife, its effectiveness wouldn’t be diminished.

“Ugh.”

Without hesitation, Ariana scraped the knife against her left thumb.

With a chilling scraping sound, warm liquid began to pour from the opened wound.

The pungent smell of blood made Remus’s nose twitch slightly, though he hadn’t even been able to open his eyes until just now. He was reacting to it.

“That’s it! This was the answer!”

The hope of saving him rushed through Ariana’s body before the pain did. She pushed her finger directly into Remus’s mouth.

Sharp teeth caught on her finger. But she wasn’t scared. They were small teeth, not particularly threatening even if they bit down.

At first, Remus didn’t readily swallow Ariana’s blood. He seemed unwilling to eat.

But this wasn’t a situation where he could be picky about food. Ariana stubbornly pushed her finger deeper into Remus’s mouth.

She could feel his small tongue trying to push her finger away, but the one with the upper hand in strength wasn’t the small furball but Ariana.

“What’s wrong? Come on, eat, okay?”

It’s alright, it’s alright. Ariana whispered to Remus as if soothing a child.

Remus fought against his instincts, while Ariana desperately tried to save him—the struggle went on for quite some time.

How much time had passed?

Finally, with a gulp, the furball’s throat moved.

Having surrendered to instinct, Remus began sucking on Ariana’s finger as if he had never rejected her blood, like a baby suckling its mother’s milk.

He sucked with such strength that the blood flow actually stopped. However, with each gulp of blood passing down Remus’s throat, the change in his vitality was obvious even to Ariana’s eyes.

“That’s right. Good job. Okay?”

Ariana withdrew her finger, which had stopped bleeding, and cut her other hand to draw more blood.

Now forgetting to resist, Remus eagerly sucked the blood, and Ariana, forgetting the soreness in her finger, watched in a daze.

So much blood had been drawn that even though she was sitting on the floor, the room was spinning before her eyes. Ariana didn’t know this was a symptom of anemia.

By the time Remus, his belly now full, gently pushed her finger away with his tongue, Ariana’s vision was already blurring.

With the sudden dizziness, she had no strength left to return to her bedroom, let alone any appetite.

Ariana’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

“I’m glad. I’m so glad. But I’m feeling a bit sleepy. I’ll just sleep for a little, little while……”

Ariana smiled slightly as she watched Remus licking her finger on the sofa.

Shortly after, only Ariana’s regular breathing, now completely asleep, quietly echoed throughout the annex.

⁕⁕⁕

For Remus, who had been practically starving since being captured by humans, this was a truly satisfying meal after a long time.

This strange woman who had willingly shared her blood with him was now sound asleep, as if dead.

She was sitting on the floor without even changing her clothes, leaning against the sofa in a strange and uncomfortable position.

‘Not that it’s any of my business.’

Remus thought as he groomed his fur.

Having escaped the brink of starvation, anger about his situation finally welled up from deep within him.

Monster?

Me, a monster?

To compare him to such a low-grade creature—truly, the humans here must be fools.

What monster would lose all its power to a mere mana stone necklace?

This wasn’t a mana stone. It was a damned object that sealed a beastkin’s energy.

⟨Remus. From now on, your name is Remus.⟩

The woman’s gentle voice seemed to echo in his ears. Remus perked up his ears and shook them off, as if doing so would disperse the woman’s voice.

In fact, Remus was quite surprised.

How did that woman know his name?

Remus Hansen. This was the name of the heir to the noble wolf beastkin family.

There was no way a human woman from this rural area would know it. Though it must be coincidence, Remus’s surprised heart beat rapidly.

‘Foolish woman.’

Remus’s gaze softened slightly. To firmly believe he was a monster yet share her blood.

That was truly a stupid act worthy of being condemned as suicidal.

If he had been a real monster, he would have gone berserk immediately after eating her blood and killed all the humans in the vicinity. If that wasn’t what she wanted, such behavior was forbidden.

‘Well. The humans were irritating enough to make me want to do that.’