There wasn't even a moment to vent my frustration. Hot lips covered my mouth and took away my breath. As he alternately held my upper and lower lips as if savoring the moment, the strength in my eyes began to drain. Our lower bodies pressed tightly against each other, our upper bodies brushing precariously, and we grew closer as my chest swelled with gasping breaths.
Thinking this wouldn't work, I released the hand wrapped around his neck, placed my hand on his chest, and pushed him away.
However, even that soon lost its strength as he whispered inside my mouth like a whiner while our lips were pressed together.
“Just a little, okay?”
I was planning to start with a walk on the beach with Rood when we arrived... Ah. This isn't going to work...
He slid out the string that was precariously tightening the front of my shirt with one hand. With the sound of the string dropping, he swung the shirt off in one go and hurriedly kissed me, as if to fill the gap where our lips had parted.
His muscles twitched against my palm. Losing strength in that instant, I flinched, and my hand slid downward. Then, I could clearly feel the bumpy wound, distinct from the fissure. The surge of emotion in my chest turned into a suffocating tightness, as if it were about to burst.
Even though he was strong, Thierry was also human, and it was a scar from his childhood days of enduring to survive.
My heart crumbled in an instant. As he softly buried his face in the nape of my neck, I emptied my mind.
As it came from afar, the sound of the sea faded into the distance, and the view grew dim.
...Wouldn't it be okay just for today?
***
"Rood! We went all the way to the seaside to play, so why do you keep trying to go to the forest?"
I let out a hollow laugh as I watched the dignified figure of Rood walking ahead. To think my plan to take a walk on the beach with Rood—after barely managing to escape Thierry's clutches, who had been trying to hold me back since morning—would fall apart so absurdly.
Yesterday, I was so focused on the sea that I didn't even think to look around the back of the villa, and I didn't know there would be outdoor tables set up in such a well-maintained back garden where you could have tea. Also, if you pass through that space and go out through the back gate, you immediately see a wide forest, so looking only at the back, it felt like a villa built in the middle of a forest.
To think there was the sea in front and a forest behind. It was a romantic scene, but the admiration was short-lived.
Still, having seen the forest so much at the Imperial Palace, I tried to spend as much time as possible at the sea, which I wanted to see the most...
"Ha."
A faint sigh escaped.
I gave a not-so-annoying glare at Rood's rear end as he firmly headed toward the back of the villa, as if to say he wouldn't give me a single chance for my fantasy of a leisurely stroll along the seaside to come true. I had called out to him repeatedly, telling him not to come that way, but he turned around as if asking why I wasn't coming; I was so taken aback that I was completely speechless.
I had no choice but to follow closely behind Rood, lamenting the strong scent of the sea wafting in from afar.
"Are you tired? Shall we go back?"
Thierry, who had been silently following by my side, blew. He might just be genuinely worried about me, but considering how I had been tormented all night, I couldn't trust him at all.
In particular, the ulterior motive revealed in Thierry's touch as he subtly fiddled with my hand was so blatant that I squeezed his hand tightly once as if to scold him, then released my grip.
"How long has it been since you left, and you're already going back? And just in case, I'm telling you, I absolutely won't let it slide today like yesterday."
I glared at him in disbelief and pouted. Then, huffing, I turned my head and looked at Rood's rear end as he hurried ahead. He looked quite pleased, wagging his tail back and forth.
Just as my eyes were about to curve into a pleased smile at the cute sight, the corners of my eyes sharpened again at the sound of Thierry's wronged voice.
"Why?!"
"Why? Is that something you should be saying, you who said just a little and didn't let go all night until dawn?"
"...It's because time flies so fast when I'm with you."
The voice that had been choking back quickly subsided.
I gave him a coy look and saw him watching my reaction with a sullen face. It was a day so desolate that it was hard to believe he was the kind of person who habitually wore a cold and heartless expression.
'Ah. That look again. You're making me soft-hearted...'
I couldn't help but smile at his attitude of acting so brazenly yet immediately backing down at a single word from me.
"If this happens again today, I don't think I'll be able to get up at all tomorrow."
Eventually, I whined and lightly nudged my shoulder against his arm. As my body naturally swelled, he let go of the hand he was holding and reached out his hand to my shoulder.
But then, Rood suddenly started running forward furiously.
"Huh? Rood! Where are you suddenly going!"
He ran off so fast that I didn't even have time to catch him. I stared blankly at the empty space, and just as I belatedly tried to run after him, I felt Thierry grab my hand and stop me.
"Looks like they're excited because it's a new place. Let them enjoy it."
"What if he meets another animal?"
" Then that animal is pitiful."
"Ah...?"
Unlike me, who was worried, Thierry muttered dryly as he adjusted my hat.
Hmm, even though Rood is a wolf, I was worried it might be dangerous if he ran wild in an unfamiliar place, but seeing his reaction, which was calmer than I expected, it didn't seem to be that bad. Still, he is a beast, so I was being too pushy.
Thinking that I might have reacted a bit too dramatically, I nodded and took his hand again.
"You won't go if I suggest going back, right? Then let's walk slowly."
He answered his own question as if he knew without hearing it, and slowly resumed walking.
Sunlight filtering through the leaves filled the forest path as if scattering light, and although the trees were dense, the path was narrow like a walking trail, making it easy to walk.
After walking for some time, Thierry suddenly came to a halt.
“Thierry?”
"Let's turn back from here."
"Why? What about Rood?"
"I'll take you there, so wait at the villa. I'll take Rood separately."
"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"
I couldn't understand why he was suddenly acting like this, so I held his hand tightly with both hands and looked around through the dense trees.
"I smell blood. It looks like a fight between beasts, and I don't want to let you go anywhere even slightly dangerous."
"What danger would I have?"
He tilted his head slightly, as if asking what I meant.
"I won't leave Your Majesty's side for even a moment."
"You're going to protect me, aren't you?" It was a confident promise.
In the past, I would have immediately agreed to his words, telling me to go ahead because it was dangerous, but now there was no reason to do so, nor did I want to. I was worried that something dangerous might happen to Rood while I was going back and forth, and I also felt a strong desire not to send Thierry away alone again.
I pulled his hands, which I was holding with both hands, toward me and gave a quick kiss to his thumb.
"Let's go together. Okay?"
Thierry's red eyes trembled as if boiling with fever.
"...Ha."
"..."
With a short sigh, his long eyelashes fanned out and then rose again. A conquered face, practically giving his consent, was revealed. I didn't miss the opportunity and quickly blurted out a greeting.
"Thank you!"
"Never let go of my hand."
Thierry paused for a moment, then replied in a reluctant voice. I nodded briskly and pulled his hand as if to say, "Let's go quickly."
Thierry moved his fingers one by one to interlock our fingers firmly, yet gently. After that, there was no hesitation. Like someone who knew exactly where he was going, he walked forward without restraint while constantly looking after me.
"Kiiing..."
"Uh?"
The sound of a beast howling pierced through the rustling of the forest path and the wind shaking the leaves.
I straightened my back like someone struck by lightning.
“It’s not Rood.”
“Oh. No?”
At his firm words, I blinked and looked at Thierry. He stared into the distance, clicked his tongue briefly, and glanced at me.
"Yeah. I think there's one more besides Rood."
"...Could it be that Rood tormented him?"
“It’s cute.”
"What? You're saying teasing is cute?"
"No, I mean, your way of expressing it as 'tormenting' is cute."
No, what are you talking about all of a sudden?
I was just about to resume walking after pausing for a moment, but I was so flustered that I almost came to a complete halt.
I needlessly pressed the back of my hand against my cheek and cleared my throat. As I glanced at his handsome profile, the sound of a clearly wary beast suddenly diverted my attention.
"Oh!"
Where my gaze was drawn, a brown wolf, its body torn apart here and there, was baring its teeth.
I was staring with astonished eyes at the wolf, which was trembling all over but not letting its guard down, when I looked to the side at another presence and saw Rood leisurely approaching me.
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