#8

It had been about a week since I became Zerakiel’s plaything, trapped in this castle.

It was still at a cute level, but his skills in feeding and rolling me around were like those of a mischievous villain.

Contrary to the original work, he seemed to enjoy tormenting me more than being tormented by him, which was puzzling.

‘Is it because he’s still young?’

Even though I was not in my right mind, it was similar to the original work…

There was something oddly captivating about him now. Come to think of it, even in the original work, Zerakiel played with Ella.

He was good to her, hurt her, acted indifferent, and suddenly tried to win her favor, making it confusing for Ella to figure out his true nature.

Thinking about Zerakiel becoming physical and tormenting me like in the original work made me shudder. It wouldn’t be as mild as it is now!

‘Indeed, my life is closer to survival than healing water. Pull yourself together. This is the lair of evil’

I reaffirmed my neglected escape plan and fell from the window. My toes were freezing cold.

As I considered returning to the warm blanket, a sweet pheromone scent suddenly touched my nose.

Startled, I turned around, and there was Zerakiel just entering.

I hadn’t seen him coming back, probably entering the castle through a door I didn’t know.

He approached nonchalantly and asked, “What are you doing there? Were you waiting for me?”

His cheerful smile seemed oddly chilly today. Maybe it was because I was thinking about the original work.

He seemed to overlap with the Zerakiel from the original.

“Chu.”

Just waiting.

I scratched my cheek, avoiding eye contact.

No way. It’s just awkward after a long time; that’s all.

It was a moment of rationalization. I belatedly noticed a faint, tangy scent of blood in Zerakiel’s pheromones.

‘Huh? Come to think of it, the pheromone concentration seems stronger than usual.’

Ivan had mentioned that Zerakiel’s pheromones were highly dangerous.

The lethality of his pheromones exceeded that of ordinary beings by several levels. He warned that one should suppress and live much more cautiously than ordinary beings.

‘A non-beastkin who wakes up within an hour of being exposed to Zerakiel’s pheromones is probably a first. Normally…’

At that time, Ivan had covered his mouth with his hand and tightly closed his eyes. It was disgustingly shivering down to his shoulders.

Just from that reaction, I could tell how dangerous the pheromones were.

Zerakiel, emitting such pheromones, is indeed frightening, but I feel remarkable for waking up lucky. Maybe I’m a genius?

Of course, Ivan, who looked at me disdainfully, thought Zerakiel had spared me. After all, it was the pheromones of the enchanting being known as the strongest. If he had truly wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t have survived.

‘But why is he emitting pheromones again! It’s intimidating!’

I took a step back stealthily. Even if the intensity was very weak, anything threatening was not to be taken lightly.

Seeing me, Zerakiel raised an eyebrow and then quickly closed the distance.

‘Oh, don’t come!’

As I reached a dead end, I agilely dodged Zerakiel. Despite looking neat on the surface, there was an oddly disturbing scent of blood around him. As he approached, it became even more pronounced.

‘Could he be injured?’

No matter how strong I was, I was still a water deer who hadn’t become a full-fledged being. It seemed possible that I could get hurt, especially since I was young. Perhaps he didn’t even realize that he was emitting pheromones to conceal the scent of blood.

I approached him without thinking, forgetting my cautious retreat, and sniffed the scent. When I sniffed around, misunderstanding my intentions, he crouched down and reached out to me.

“Chuu.”

It smells like you.

I pretended to cover my nose with my front paw and made a grimace. Then Zerakiel, misunderstanding, opened his eyes wide and said strangely.

“Oh, I wiped it away.”

Is he really hurt?

“Don’t worry; it’s not my blood.”

“…”

I discreetly moved away from him. Big cats don’t worry about others. I keep forgetting that my nose is sensitive!

Zerakiel, catching my retreating figure, grabbed me and brought me in front of his face.

“Tell me. Were you worried about me?”

As if. I was just curious because I smelled blood. I shook my head to block his misconception.

However, with his next words, I had no choice but to change my stance immediately.

“Well, no one in this castle would worry about me. Usually, people worry about the other person.”

Zerakiel mumbled with lowered eyes. His eyes, appearing innocent, poked at my conscience.

Especially after meeting Zachary, the words sounded even more significant. Considering Zachary’s evaluation of Zerakiel, it seemed like there was a strained relationship between them.

“Is there really no good relationship between us?”

I pricked up my ears, and as I did, Zerakiel, with a faint smile, said sadly,

“It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

It seemed as if he was trying to hide his sadness. Unconsciously, I reached out my foreleg towards his eyes, which looked sadder than usual.

But, unfortunately, it was precisely at that moment that Zerakiel unexpectedly extended his head, and in failing to control the distance, I ended up poking his eyes.

Very accurately.

“Ugh.”
“!!”
Zerakiel let out a muffled groan with his eyes tightly shut. Both the surprised me, who accidentally poked him, and the bewildered Zerakiel were taken aback.

It felt as if I had thrown a punch, taking advantage of an unguarded moment! Startled, I quickly withdrew my hand, and cold sweat broke out. Zerakiel, with his head bowed deeply, kept his eyes closed.

After a moment, Zerakiel murmured in a raspy voice, “This is a somewhat different attack.”

No, no! I didn’t mean to do that!

I nervously moved my front paw in the air, my eyes already shaking as if an earthquake had occurred.

I had knocked an antagonist’s eyes out. I might face retaliation!

Trembling, I looked at Zerakiel. Then, I saw it.

A clear teardrop falling from his eyes.

“Ugh!”

No one had a good ending when they made the antagonist cry.

I hurriedly clung to him.

“Chu, Chu!”

No, no! I did something wrong!

It was a moment when I was licking his face and feeling flat. When he raised his head, he stared at me intently.

Fortunately, there was no sign of anger in his eyes.

Having shed tears once, her eyes became watery. I was helplessly sticking close to him.

“Maybe you missed me a lot? The welcome is quite intense.”

Who pokes eyes as a way of greeting?

I widened my eyes at the bizarre reaction. It was amusing to interpret it his way, but considering the crazy things this guy might do, I chose to stay quiet for now.

He contemplated my front paw with a puzzled expression, as if wondering how to deal with it.

Somehow, the trapped front paw looked dangerous.

Instinctively, I crouched down my front paw, and he, avoiding the unjabbed part, took my front paw by the eye.

“Try it again.”

…I don’t want to!

As expected, this crazy guy was different from the rest. I felt a twinge of regret for a brief moment.

I tried to wriggle my front paw out of his grip. However, it was in vain.

When I instinctively crouched my front paw, he, who hadn’t been poked, brought my front paw to his eye.

“Try it one more time.”

No, you crazy one!

The feeble standoff continued, and finally, after awkwardly poking his eye with my exhausted front paw, I managed to escape from his strange pressure.

Following that, Zerakiel moved me onto the bed and lay down, staring at me.

Staring intently, I wondered what weird comment he would make about my appearance. As I stared back, he spoke.

“Met my father, huh?”

It seemed like Ayla had reported it. Nodding my head, he continued, “You managed to survive?”

“…”

Indeed, I almost died.