Failed to Train the Beast Male Lead

Whoosh.

The harsh wind wrapped Carol’s coat tightly around her. She said she was less cold, but that was due to the physical changes that had occurred in her.

‘If I were buried in that soft fur, I definitely wouldn’t feel cold.’

Despite not having the right outdoor clothes and wearing indoor clothes, the Duke didn’t look cold at all.

Carol kept stealing glances at the Duke’s profile. The Duke, anxious if anyone was around him, pricked up his ears until he arrived at the garden.

“Now, even if someone sneaks into the Duke’s Mansion, they won’t be able to see here, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Since it’s the first day, shall we walk together?”

“Let me… walk alone.”

She knew she would be rejected. Carol cheerfully agreed.

‘It’s cold.’

Being in a high place, it was much colder than usual.

Thinking it was fortunate that she had wrapped a scarf around her neck, Carol walked in step with the Duke’s slow pace.

Normally, he would have quickly noticed Carol’s condition and suggested going inside, but the Duke now was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice Carol’s fleeting glances.

It had been several years since he had been out.

It was a move that was embarrassing to call an outing.

After all, he had only come out to the small garden behind the mansion. He would have liked to go to the vast birch forest behind the mansion, but he planned to gradually increase the range he could walk in order.

“How do you feel about coming out after a long time?”

“…I thought something big happened, but it didn’t.”

He paused for a moment to catch his breath. He seemed to have been tensing his body a lot due to nervousness.

The fact that he came outside itself had a very big meaning for him. It was a tremendous development just to realize that his narrowed world was not closed.

“Really…”

Instead of continuing his words, he started walking slowly.

Thud, thud.

It was awkward to move forward with the support of a cane. But he did not stop walking, and Carol did not speak, watching him enjoy this moment.

‘I hope he can get around well even when I’m not here later.’

Was it because it was too cold? The chest was sore. The tip of the nose stung.

The garden, filled with a deep flower scent that was dizzying in the deep night, was unrealistically beautiful.

The Duke had said he wanted to show this flower to a small bird.

The flowers shining faintly under the moonlight were dazzlingly beautiful. The answer was clear. Then the feeling of choking came.

“When the northern land was more barren…”

The Duke started speaking slowly. His voice was deeply sunken.

“If we can’t defend the border, the people of the territory need a place to evacuate, so I heard that they built a castle in the highest place of Cardiff.”

“Thus it’s also called the last fortress.”

“But I’ve never allowed them to step on the border line.”

“Yes.”

While listening to his words, Carol’s gaze was stolen elsewhere.

‘Tail.’

I always thought it was stuck to the thigh and couldn’t function, but it wasn’t.

It wasn’t because of the wind as well.

The tail was swaying. The desire to hug the fluffy tail tightly and stroke it rose, but Carol gave strength to her brain and resisted the desire.

“After that, the curse manifested and the castle lost its original purpose and became closed.”

“..…”

“Not all the dukes who were cursed lived miserably. One of the former duchess stayed by the duke’s side until the end.”

Carol listened silently, unable to understand why he suddenly started with such a kind of fortune event. Whether the Duke was expecting Carol’s answer or not, he reached out his hand towards the flower.

When the Duke’s hand, which had only grabbed a few leaves, barely touched the flower, the Duke continued his words.

“The Duke broke the oath to live only for the people of the territory and made a garden in a place where the people of the territory could never see for only one woman.”

“Did you hide it so that the people of the territory wouldn’t find out about the luxury?”

“I thought so until now. Maybe I thought it would be better to keep it than to get rid of it.”

“Have you changed your mind now?”

“Yes.”

The Duke, who said so, looked a little sad. She was curious how his thoughts had changed.

But the Duke stopped talking for a while and touched the petals for a long time.

Carol also carefully touched the petals next to him. The flower, which had the vitality of winter, was cold like ice crystals.

“The teacher was right again this time.”

“…Yes?”

“The book I read recently.”

“Are you talking about a fairy tale book?”

She had gifted a few fairy tale books for the Duke who couldn’t fully detach from Braille.

Since it was just a book for reading practice, she never talked about the content.

“Among those books, there’s a story about a child of the moon who loved the sun.”

“Yes.”

It’s a story about a child of the moon, trapped in the night, whose life changes completely when they accidentally see the light through the crack of an open door in the darkness.

The child who escaped through that gap meets the sun.

[My child of the moon, don’t be afraid. I am your god’s sibling.]

The child, who only knew darkness, meets the river where light shatters and pours out, the rainbow, and lively people.

The child of the moon is fascinated by such sights and wants to live under the sun, but as the child gets closer to the sun, the child melts.

[We are separated for a reason, you should not go under the sun.]

The moon locks up the child at home. The child wants to be by the sun even if it means death.

After a while, where the child was, a flower blooms instead of the child.

The moon, regretting that it should have placed the child under the sunlight that the child wanted, plants the flower under the sun.

It was the least appealing story among the fairy tales.

“At first, I didn’t understand.”

“Which part?”

“The child’s part. The moon’s efforts to save the child were not even considered.”

“…But?”

The phrase ‘I didn’t understand at first’ means ‘I understand now’. Carol swallowed her words that she couldn’t understand that useless child.

The Duke took his hand off the petal he had been touching for a moment, and smelled the flower scent left on his hand.

“If the child wanted to go to the sun even knowing their own death, isn’t that better?”

“…”

“You don’t seem to agree with me.”

“You have to live to think that way.”

At her somewhat sarcastic voice, the Duke looked surprised for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Carol pouted her lips at the Duke.

‘If you die once, your thoughts will change.’

If it was before the transmigration, she might have empathized more with the child.

But now it was different.

Just like the proverb that life is good even if one rolls in a dung heap. No matter how hard it is, she wanted to live.

(t/n: life is good even if one rolls in a dung heap-it is better to live than to die even if you live a lowly and difficult life)

“That might be true. But if I meet that sun…I would never want to let go.”

“…”

“I’d rather die under the sun.”

The Duke’s gaze had already moved with her breath and reached her.

Thinking that their eyes had met, she stepped back without realizing it.

“Is that so… Ah-choo!”

At Carol’s sneeze, the subtle air broke. The Duke’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh my. It seems quite some time has passed.”

At the Duke’s laughter-mixed voice, Carol’s face turned as red as if it was on fire. It was fortunate that he couldn’t see this face. After clearing her throat, Carol spoke in a calm voice.

“I’m fine to stay longer… Ah-choo!”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re okay.”

She tried to speak, but in the middle of it, another sneeze interrupted her.

“I’m really okay… Ah-choo!”

And so, their first outing ended with Carol’s sneezing.

****

Her hands were cold, perhaps because she had been outside longer than she thought. As soon as Carol arrived in the room, she rushed to the fireplace.

The Duke sat silently on the sofa, perhaps soaked in the afterglow of being outside.

Crackle.

The warmth of the fireplace was only temporary. When she peeled the perfectly roasted potato skin in the fireplace, the yellow flesh revealed itself, steaming.

Although it couldn’t be seen, a sweet scent wafted from the sharp sense of smell.

The Duke, who had been absorbed in thought, turned his head towards Carol as if enchanted and coughed.

He hadn’t eaten much because he wasn’t feeling well, but today he had expended a lot of energy going outside. Most of it was due to tension, but anyway, the point was that the Duke was also hungry.

He definitely didn’t want to taste it until it was put in the fireplace because it was food for livestock, but the smell was too good.

“Was it 20 silver?”

“What?”

“That, what the teacher brought.”

When the Duke started to complain, Carol glanced at him. She had brought it to share, but she wanted to respond to him because he discussed the price instead of asking for it.

“It’s gone up to 40 silver.”

“…The fluctuation is severe.”

“It’s up to the seller. If you had bought it earlier, you could have gotten it cheaper.”

At Carol’s regretful words, the Duke clicked his tongue.

“Even 20 silver is expensive.”

“The price also includes not calling other servants at dawn.”

“An unscrupulous merchant.”

In the meantime, Carol, who had peeled a new potato, took out an extra plate from the trolley next to her, put the potato on it, and handed it to the Duke.

“Here you go.”

“I haven’t paid yet.”

At the Duke’s blunt voice, Carol answered with a voice mixed with laughter.

“You’re more narrow-minded than I thought.”

At Carol’s nagging, the Duke also laughed lightly as if it was a joke and took the plate.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Strictly speaking, she got much more out of it. The Duke hesitated for a moment, but soon bit into the potato with a determined expression.