NOVPUB"Huh, that took longer than I thought," she muttered to herself before turning toward the direction of the hut.
'He should be looking for me by now,' she thought as she started walking.
After a few moments, she spotted Renan sitting outside the hut on a stone.
"Oh, Rena—" she started to greet him, but her words caught in her throat as her gaze fell on the scene before her.
Just a few feet away from Renan, sticks had been arranged in a makeshift barbecue style. And skewered onto them was a rabbit, roasting over an open flame.
"Huh," Elaris muttered, momentarily at a loss for words.
"Ohh, Elaris, you are back," Renan said as he slightly turned his head back to look at Elaris.
Elaris, who had been momentarily stunned, was brought back to reality by Renan's voice.
'Did he just roast the rabbit to eat? But it was my favorite one—my Yuna, who had been with me for so long,' Elaris thought as she recalled the rabbit she had picked up from outside there. She had found it alone, just a baby, and had taken it in. Now, after all these years of caring for it, it was being roasted in front of her.
Unknowingly, a few drops of tears started to fall from her eyes.
Renan, who had been sitting on the stone roasting the rabbit, saw Elaris suddenly starting to cry. At the same time, there began to shake slightly, making Renan bothnfused and worried. His brows furrowed, and he hurriedly stood up, turning and walking toward Elaris inncern.
"Elaris, are you okay?" he asked, approaching her quickly. His face was filled with genuine worry as there shook even more.
Elaris, hearing his voice, suddenly stiffened. 'I should have known… Although his bloodline has changed, he's still a dragon. He would feel hungry after waking up. I should have given him something to eat—it was my fault. Butuldn't he have just waited a while for me tome back?' she thought her head down, her emotions swirling with sadness and regret.
Her heart grew heavier. 'I'm so sorry, Yuna. It was my fault that I didn't think of this. But forgive me… I can't hurt him. He is someone who…' Her thoughts trailed off as sadness and guilt weighed on her more and more, her emotions bming chaotic.
On one side stood Renan—the man she was planning to make her future partner, the one she intended to spend her life with. And on the other side was Yuna—the rabbit who had been by her side for ten years, through some of the loneliest times of her life.
There shook again, this time even more violently, reflecting the storm inside Elaris's heart. But before sheuld bensumed by her emotions any further, Renan's voice rang out once more.
"Elaris," he called, standing right in front of her now, his towering presence noticeable as his height of six foot two dwarfed her five foot eleven frame.
Elaris, once again brought back to reality by his voice—though this time much closer—looked up at him. Her tear-filled eyes met his, but instead of focusing on his face, she noticed something small in his hand. A patch of white fur, moving ever so slightly.
Her breath hitched.
"Yuna," she whispered, her voice almost breaking as she stared at the rabbit in his hand. Her mind reeled innfusion. How was Yuna here when she had just seen a rabbit roasting on the fire? "How?" she asked, her gaze shifting back and forth between the rabbit in his arms and the one on the barbecue stick.
'There was supposed to be only one rabbit in the hut… Yuna was the only one here,' she thought, struggling to make sense of the situation.
But before sheuld think too much, she found herself launching at Renan and the rabbit unknowingly.
Renan, surprised by her sudden movement, instinctively opened one arm to catch her while still holding Yuna in the other. He took a few steps back as he absorbed the impact of her forceful embrace.
*THUD*
The rabbit, caught between their two bodies, squirmed in slight dimfort. Noticing this, Renan quickly adjusted his grip and moved Yuna to the side. Meanwhile, Elarisntinued to cling to him tightly.
The moment she embraced him, the shaking of there stoppedmpletely, as if her emotions had finally been calmed by the hug.
For five long minutes, they remained like that inmplete silence.
Renan, however, was beginning to feel a different kind of dimfort—one born not out ofncern, but from the warmth of Elaris's body pressing against his own. Heuld feel the soft yet firmntours of her figure as if she were practically molded to him. His heartbeat quickened slightly, and a heat rose in him that he had to suppress.
In an effort to distract himself, he finally spoke.
"Are you okay now?" he asked, his voice calm despite his internal struggle.
Elaris, who had buried her face in his chest, nodded her head sheepishly. Her cheeks and even the tips of her ears turned red—not just from embarrassment but from something else she wasn't ready to acknowledge yet.
Renan, seeing this reaction,uldn't help but wonder, 'She's behaving like a high school girl in love… But isn't she the Will of the World? She should be a few thousand years old… Maybe she's like dragons, who are stillnsidered teenagers even after hundreds of years. If that's the case, then her emotional maturity might be similar—just on a much larger timescale.'
As he pondered this, heuldn't help but admire her in a new way. 'She's really cute,' he thought inwardly.
Unable to resist the urge, he gently wrapped his arms around her in return, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder.
Elaris momentarily stiffened, her body going rigid like a startled cat. But after a few snds, she relaxed again, melting slightly into his embrace.
After a while, Renan broke the silence once more.
"What happened? Why did you act like that?" he asked, his voice softer this time.
Elaris had expected this question, yet she still hesitated. She remained silent for a moment longer, still hugging him as though she didn't want to let go.
Renan, sensing her hesitation, didn't push her for an answer. He simply waited, his patience unshaken.
Finally, after a long pause, she spoke.
"Sorry," she muttered quietly.
Renan tilted his head slightly innfusion but chose not to say anything. Instead, he gave her the space tontinue at her own pace.
"I… The moment I saw youoking that rabbit, I thought you hadoked Yuna," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Renan blinked, processing her words.
"Huh?" he muttered, then quickly realized what she meant. He glanced down at the rabbit in his arms—the real Yuna—and then back at the one roasting over the fire.
"What? Ofurse not! Why would Iok a rabbit I found inside someone else's home? Ituld've been a pet, so obviously, I wouldn't do something like that. The rabbit you saw on the stick is one I caught when I was outside and stored it in my storage ring. After not finding you anywhere, I got hungry, so Ioked that one," Renan explained.
Elaris's body stiffened for a snd, "Sorry," she apologized again.
Inside, she was screaming. 'Ahhh! Why did I jump tonclusions so quickly?! I should've asked before assuming things!'
She felt her face heat up with sheer embarrassment.
Butuld anyone really blame her? Yuna wasn't just a pet. Yuna was a friend—one she had spent ten years with during the loneliest times of her life.
Renan, seeing her reaction, simply smiled and said, "It's okay," as he gently rubbed her back inmfort.
Elaris, feeling the warmth of his touch, let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She felt at ease in his arms, her earlier turmoilmpletely vanishing.
After a while, Renan asked,
"Hmm, so… how long do you plan to stay like this? I mean, I don't really mind, but after this, you'll have to take responsibility, you know," Renan teased with a smirk.
Elaris, who had almost drifted off into sleep from the sheermfort of his embrace, immediately snapped back to reality. Her face turned an even deeper shade of red, and she quickly let go of him, stepping back—though reluctantly.
"Sorry… It was just reallymfortable," she mumbled, looking to the side in embarrassment.
"I see no problem with that," Renan replied casually.
To change the subject, he gestured toward the fire.
"Want to eat?" he asked.
Elaris, hearing Renan's offer, nodded her head. After all, though she was the will of the world and didn't really need to eat, sometimes she did— not to fill her stomach, but simply to enjoy the taste.
And so, they both walked toward the rabbit that was beingoked, with Yuna still restingmfortably in Renan's hand.
And just like that, two months went by.
