/
10. Treating like a Human
“Wow, this place is so big!”
“I know! Who lives here?”
Suddenly, a loud voice poured out from outside the window.
They seemed to be the people carrying the new ingredients Ruben sent. They must have been warned to keep quiet, but since apparently there was no one watching they were quite lax.
To be careful of Ceres’ sensitive hearing didn’t just mean staying quiet inside the house. Even passing birds have to close their beaks and fly low without flapping their wings to survive!
Ceres rose to the point of almost bouncing out of the window.
“Huk!”
By the time Dialin got up in a hurry, Ceres had already put his foot on the window frame. He was ready to jump right out and rip off their necks with his bare hands.
“Ahh! No!”
Dialin rushed back and forth.
There was no time to think about what would be dangerous or not if she aimed at his back.
Civilian! Civilian damage!
Even though Ruben would somehow deal with it, if you consider responsibility, Dialin will also be affected.
She hugged Ceres’ waist and tightened her strength.
“No, no, no!”
He wouldn’t have been on the window frame in the first place if simply telling him ‘no’ could work, and despite Dialin’s desperate pleas, Ceres did not stop.
He was about to jump off with Dialin hanging from him.
Now, in addition to dying at the hands of Ceres, there was a danger of falling to death. She took the whistle from her sleeve but she didn’t have time to blow.
And the tactless food deliverers kept chatting.
“No, what kind of godsend it this, right?”
“We only have to deliver once a week, and we get paid the same as if we worked for a week.”
Shut up! Shut up! Please shut up!
“Shall we have a drink on our way?”
“Good!”
Mister! That one cup could be your burial wine!
(Note: on Asian countries, they offer a cup of sake or wine to the departed at their funeral)
Dialin let out a beast-like wailing and howled in her heart as she clung to Ceres, whose eyes had been long turned upside down.
Crying to run away now is like killing both sides.
He’ll go crazy with the sound of screaming right next to him, kill her first, and follow those people who run away and kill those people after.
Then what’s the best thing?
The more urgent something is, the faster the head rolls.
‘One. Let’s just get one hit.’
I hope I don’t die in one hit. Let’s turn his attention this way to stop the murder of civilians, take one hit, take out the whistle and blow it.
Having made up her mind, Dialin immediately put into action.
“Ahhhhh!”
“……!”
It was such a loud scream that everyone would stop even if it wasn’t Ceres.
“Wh-what?”
“Scream…?”
The people downstairs seemed to have sensed the unusual atmosphere, so the chatter died down and they became quiet.
And Ceres looked back at Dialin with an insanely frozen gaze. She looked up at him and timed to pull the whistle from her sleeve.
“……?”
But at that moment, she felt something in the palm of her hand.
Her hand was a little higher from when she tightly hugged his waist. It was right above Ceres’s heart.
And the place where her palm touched was thumping like crazy.
Is this the sound of Ceres’ heart…?
His face is cold but his heart is beating like it’s going to explode. It was an uneasy beat.
Ceres was anxious.
If you are sensitive, you will end up feeling anxious. Dialin suddenly realized what she had been overlooking.
“……it’s okay.”
There was plenty of time to take out the whistle and blow it because, for some reason, Ceres didn’t blow her body away.
But Dialin chose to talk instead of using the whistle.
Even if he didn’t act like a human, even if his physical abilities surpassed that of a human being, Ceres was a human being. No, even if it was a real dog, you shouldn’t blame it for barking out of anxiety.
“……”
Ceres didn’t move.
Dialin also felt her heart anxiously beating. The sound of two anxious heartbeats echoed at the same time.
“it’s okay. They’re just people on errands.”
The thought of when to take out the whistle and blow it was gone. If it’s just anxiety, it can be comforted.
Soothing can calm him down and that way, was the right one. She should have done so.
Because he’s a human, not a dog.
Dialin realized that at some point she had been treating Ceres as a dog without knowing it. Even if he’s not a young master, he should be treated like a human being.
Dialin gently stroked Ceres’ chest.
To not surprise him, as slowly as possible, gently.
“Shh…”
The harsh heartbeat that seemed to pierce the palm of her hand subsided a little. It was proof that comfort could be accepted.
“Shall we get off the window first?”
It was dangerous to keep doing this by the window.
Dialin quietly led him into the center of the room.
Ceres, who had been stiff for a while soon quietly followed Dialin.
Dialin had an invisibly burdened smile.
Yes, it might be a crazy dog, but it’s not a bad dog. There are no bad dogs in the world.
“Come on, let’s sit down.”
Dialin, who succeeded in bringing Ceres, a crazy but not bad dog, to bed, challenged the next step. So far, he’s been able to hear well, she only hoped to be able to use words like this in the future.
A ray of hope was about to appear in this relationship.
“……”
But for Ceres, her only hope might not be enough.
Dialin gently grabbed his arm and guided him. She first sat on the bed and pulled Ceres down, making him sit.
“Whoa….”
The risk of him jumping out of the window and shredding someone to bits is gone.
A long sigh blew out by itself.
Ceres couldn’t take his eyes off the window even when he sat on the bed. Her scream from earlier stopped people from chatting, but it was unknown what kind of sound they would hear again.
It’s not enough just to sit down, she thought it would be safer to make him a little more relaxed.
“Lie down, first. Even if it is uncomfortable, lie down.”
With the words, Dialin gently pushed Ceres’s shoulder. He could resist her touch with force, but his body slid backward.
‘Is this working?’
Even if it was a coincidence that she managed to have him sit on the bed, it was a great feat to succeed in laying him down.
I think I’ve learned a bit about how to handle Ceres.
Move gently with words.
Ceres, who was lying in bed, had a slightly softened gaze.
He said that it was uncomfortable, but when his back touched the soft bed, he seemed to loosen up.
Dialin walked over to his side and began to mutter in a low voice as she patted his chest.
“This is not a battlefield. You don’t have to stand on your wits end like that.”
At the same time, she infused a little bit of soothing divine power. Very slowly and weakly.
A soothing divine power could also be a stimulus. She did not know how he would react to it, because the divine force was also ‘power’.
“The bed isn’t bad to lie down, right? This soft and cozy thing is not uncomfortable, but comfortable. Body and mind. You’re usually most comfortable when lying in bed.”
It was accompanied by a bit of nonsense with the intention to prevent Ceres from focusing his nerves elsewhere.
Dialin continued the useless chat with a voice as low as a prayer.
“Now this should be the normal state. That’s how most normal people live.”
Ceres responded for the first time.
His head tilted slightly and moved.
He did not respond to other words but only to commands like ‘Do’, ‘Should’ or ‘Must’.
‘I need to fix this too……’
It doesn’t matter if he has enough military discipline, as long as it is just enough to adapt to daily life. However, what the temple and Ruben asked for was a ‘Young Master’.
To be honest, Dialin doesn’t even know what a real young master is. Poor aristocrats were no different from commoners, besides Dialin herself was nothing like an aristocratic lady.
The Young Masters that Dialin saw were all idiots or bullies. Cowardly, disrespectful, and arrogant people.
I don’t think it’s an order to make a Young Master like that.
It must be the kind and friendly Young Master that girls dream of before debuting in the social world.
First of all, there is no young master in the world who moves quickly only by command. In that sense, the road that Ceres had to take was very, very, very long.
“For now, close your eyes and rest. Let’s learn slowly, starting with sleeping in bed.”
Dialin poured out soothing divine power until Ceres fell asleep.
But it wasn’t easy to do it. No matter what she does, Dialin’s supreme and overflowing divinity usually doesn’t give feedback of being spent at all. However, she had the feeling that she was definitely spending it now, to such an extent, that it was proof that Ceres was in a very sensitive state it made him beyond nervous.
By the time she was thinking about whether she should just blow the whistle and knock him out, Ceres’ heartbeat subsided.
‘Are you sleeping?’
Dialin didn’t make the mistake of asking if he was sleeping. Even if he was put to sleep by her divine power, he was not knocked out. Albeit not members of Division 8, a soldier who has become sensitive on the battlefield can hear all kinds of sounds even while sleeping.
Evenly breathing sounds, a slow heartbeat, and a slow chest rising and falling.
Just checking this was enough.
Dialin barely let out a long breath.
The day had just started and she already wanted to get off work.
She wanted to go to her room and lie down, but she had to stay by Cere’s side once he woke up because she didn’t know what he would do.
If she leaves the bed, he may wake up at that time.
Dialin squatted down next to Ceres, and at that moment, his eyes twitched and frowned.
“!”
Dialin stiffened her body in surprise.