Chapter 84

Translator/ Proofreader : Nesta/ Yoru No Tsuki

Belinda rubbed his back to soothe him.

“Why would I disappear? I’m hugging you right here.”

His robust back became a little stiff as he couldn’t overcome his anxiety.

A voice mixed with anxiety rang out.

“Humans are too small and fragile. I’m scared.”

Belinda smiled in his embrace.

Look at this scaredy-cat.

She rubbed her cheek on his chest, smelling his nice scent.

“You can just protect me. You’re the world’s greatest Shinsu, after all.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Aymon smiled and replied as if it was a given. He breathed deeply at last and smoothed her hair. His anxiety seemed to lower a bit.

“Breedee. I’ll protect you. That’s why….you should always be next to me so that I don’t feel anxious. Okay?”

 

“Yeah.”

“Promise me.”

“Yeah, I promise.”

Belinda was patting him. She was about to take her hand back, because it was quite embarrassing to hug for a long time in a narrow alley. It was time to end this shameful confession.

However, Aymon wrapped her body in his embrace with trembling hands. They firmly hugged each other for a long time, not wanting to let go.

***

Bathing into a distant moonlight, Belinda was falling into unconsciousness, wandering in a space that she couldn’t tell whether it was a dream or a flashback.

Stepping back into a very distant past that she didn’t know about, Belinda’s vision blurred as she dived further into the darkness.

A secret box in her mind seemed to gradually open the more she was connected with Aymon.

In her vision, she was lying on the cold dirt floor. In a dense forest, a faint moonlight was shining through the branches just above her head.

And a leopard filled her line of sight. A big black leopard that completed her life.

The beast’s tears dripped down over her face. Strength left her body slowly before fading away into nothingness. The light scattered like grainy sand and swarmed around her body.

A clear voice rang from the leopard, clearing away the complete darkness.

[You said you would always be by my side. You said you would always protect me.]

Even in her strange vision, Belinda felt a strange sense of déjà-vu all of sudden.

 

“Breedee. I’ll protect you. That’s why… You should always be next to me so that I don’t feel anxious.”

Because Aymon’s voice who vowed to protect her, and the voice of the leopard she just heard, overlapped.

Who is the leopard in front of me? Who is the person he is facing that made him look this sad?

Belinda wasn’t sure whether the woman’s hand she was suddenly raising was hers or not. She stroked the leopard’s chin with a bloody hand.

[We will meet again. So, don’t cry. Be a good boy, okay?]

Whispering to the leopard in a soothing tone, she soon closed her eyes.

She wanted to stroke this leopard forever, but she just used the last bit of strength she had.

Plop.

Her hand fell helplessly. In her distant consciousness, the leopard‘s cry full of anguish seemed to resonate endlessly.

You must stay alive. Live and meet me again, pretty cat.

Everything was over.

After Belinda’s vision disappeared without a trace, her view was only covered by darkness.

Wandering through the dark abyss, she was suddenly brought back to reality as if she had been grabbed by the collar.

“Gasp!”

She opened her eyes wide as she gasped for breath.

Thump. Thump.

The sound of her chaotic heartbeat rang loudly in her ears. She was wetting her lips as she struggled to breathe, but soon, a large and warm hand touched her forehead.

“Breedee?”

Aymon called her name worriedly, sweeping up her sweaty hair.

Belinda stared at Aymon with her eyes shaking and slowly raised her hand.

She carefully stroked his smooth cheeks as if possessed. The warmth she felt on her trembling fingertips felt real. It was really Aymon.

At last, she returned back to reality.

On this quiet night, she was sleeping with Aymon on the bed.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

His gentle voice resounded in the bedroom.

Belinda tightly pressed her lips together.

Yes, Aymon. I had a nightmare.

Words similar to a child’s whine couldn’t come out and got stuck in her throat.

It was a very sad dream, and she felt like she was going to cry just by thinking about it, but after waking up, she couldn’t remember any of it.

Aymon cuddled her tightly in his arms. Inside the warm blanket, their bodies were enveloping each other completely. As his warm body touched hers, he whispered.

“You must be tired. Go back to sleep, Breedee.”

His low voice relieved her anxiety. Belinda curled up and leaned more against the warmth that enveloped her.

Thump.Thump.

Her anxious heart slowly subsided.

Why am I so anxious….

Belinda wriggled toward his arms, burrowing herself deeper into his embrace.

Hard chest, a familiar scent, hot body temperature. Whenever her soft skin touched him, her anxiety subdued.

A small sigh and a voice mixed with laughter came out.

“Stop moving like that.”

“Why……oh….”

Belinda, who grasped the meaning shortly after, blurred the end of her words. She hurriedly let go of her embrace and pushed him away, but he pulled her back into his arms.

“Aymon. It’s going up again ….”

“Yeah. It’s going up again.”

Aymon, who replied honestly, spread her body gently and came up to her passionately. He sucked her lips and gently inserted his tongue in.

Belinda’s body reeled back on the bed. The tender flesh covering her was extremely warm. As if giving her comfort, his kiss was able to distract her from her anxiety.

Upon feeling the sensation of his tongue passionately searching her mouth, Belinda loosened up her body again.

As soon as Aymon filled her up, she brushed off her previous feelings. She pushed away the remains of the depressing dream, that she couldn’t even remember, from her mind.

In the quiet silence, the rustling of the blankets sounded louder. Listening to the creaking of the bed, Belinda suddenly moaned embarrassingly.

“Aaaah, ahh…!”

As her body was jerking wildly, she urgently stretched her arms to cling to his neck. Aymon hugged her even more at her enticing gesture.

They warmed up each other’s bodies. It was a long, passionate night in the company of one another.

***

[Speaking of which, I didn’t see the elder, chief.]

Shanti said as he rolled around below the window. Aymon was lying sluggishly on Belinda’s thigh. At those words, he slowly got up.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t see O’Malley before too?”

There was a slight doubt on his face.

Leopards were very private and secretive in the first place. But the Elder was different. The times they went out of the forest could be counted by fingers.

“Something seems off.”

Aymon murmured, frowning. His instinct gave him this ominous feeling. It wasn’t that surprising for O’Malley to do that, but something was suspicious because the elder was nowhere to be seen.

Shanti, the one who first brought it up, yawned and stretched his front paws.

[What’s weird about it? It would be weirder if they did tell you where they were going.]

“…….”

[It’s nothing important. I talked about it because I thought the chief should know that information. You should not worry too much.]

Meanwhile, Lart was quietly listening to Shanti and Aymon’s conversation. His face was extremely stiff as he was absorbed into a deep thought alone. He didn’t even hear Lucy speaking in front of him.

Mazetto, who glanced at Shanti, approached him and asked.

“By the way, Shanti-nim. What brings you here?”

It was natural for Aymon to go in and out of the Guest Palace like his own home, but not for Shanti. He was a beast who had never come near where humans lived since he was a kitten.

[Me? I’m here to watch Aymon.]

“Watch?”

[Yeah. I’m going to bother him since the chief is bothering me every day.]

“What are you talking about?”

[There’s something like that.]

“I don’t understand why the Shinsu speaks so vaguely.”

Ignoring the sparrow who grumbled fearlessly, Shanti rubbed his snout with his front paw.

Aymon used to visit him only at important moments. For example, when he was playing with Halla, rolling around with Halla, or being affectionate with Halla. Only during those times.

It was such perfect timing that Shanti thought Aymon was doing it on purpose.

Each time that happened, he always vowed to himself.

I will also keep an eye on that bastard and watch him carefully. I will disturb that bastard’s happy time, too.

He came here with that intention, but it turned out very boring. All Aymon did was lie next to Belinda and play all day.

‘The expression he makes each time Belinda tells him to go away was kinda funny, though.’

It was the first time he became aware that Aymon could make such a pitiful expression like a puppy.

Anyway, it was boring and he had no more business here. It’d be much better to go home than bothering the chief.

[I’m leaving, chief.]

Shanti slowly turned around. Following his words, Belinda’s voice rang quietly.

“You go too, Aymon.”

Aymon replied right away.

“Why should I? No.”

Shanti’s ears perked up. He thought he was about to hear something interesting. It was quite difficult to turn around and just listen openly, so he quietly slowed down his step toward the door.

Their quarrel continued.

“You used to come only once a week, but why do you stay so long these days?”

“Why can’t I stay?”

“You can’t.”

“Why.”

Aymon asked back as if he felt it was unfair. Belinda closed the book and sighed with a troubled face.

“Then stay during the day and leave at night.”

“Why? I don’t want to.”

Just like a stubborn child, Aymon only replied with ‘why’ and ‘no’.

Her lips quivered. She fiddled with her reddening ears then with her hair. After pondering for a while, she whispered low.

“I’m having a hard time.”

“Hmm?”

“Anyway, leave. Hurry up.”

Belinda, who stuttered for no apparent reason, pushed him away.

However, Aymon only knelt down and cupped her face to examine her.

“Why? Why are you having a hard time? Are you feeling unwell, Breedee….”

He looked into Belinda’s eyes with a face full of worries and checked her complexion. In the midst of Aymon’s sincere worries, Belinda couldn’t bring herself to speak.

I want to say that I’m tired because of your lack of self-control!

———\n