Showing this to the knight, Hadal responded in his blunt tone.

“If it were a magical beast, it wouldn’t be so calm under fire. They are inherently opposed to flames.”

“But still…….”

The two’s conversation left me puzzled.

‘Huh? Aren’t magical beasts opposed to flames? That’s not true.’

In fact, during the war, magical beasts didn’t have a specific attribute. That’s why I, with fire attributes, and Espen, with ice attributes, and Yulnisia, who didn’t have much mana but could enchant weapons with magic, fought together.

‘Could it be that the magical beasts in this territory are mostly of ice attributes? It’s possible, considering the climate.’

The towering birch forest alone suggested a colder climate, which could naturally lead to an abundance of ice-attributed magical beasts.

‘And he’s a duke.’

I relaxed completely and entrusted my body to Hadal’s firm hand. My mind was still spinning from the bread I had eaten earlier.

‘There must be lots of delicious food at the castle, right? I’m looking forward to a feast.’

He said he’d fatten me up, so he must give me lots of tasty food, right?

‘But why am I getting so sleepy… is it because it’s warm…?’

Exhausted from the continuous tension, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and soon fell asleep.

Hadal looked down at the white stoat sprawled in his palm.

“Vwiio…….”

Dreaming sweetly, the little creature giggled and buried its head in Hadal’s hand. Shaking his hand gently, the tiny head rolled around as if boneless.

The sight startled the knight.

“Gasp! Isn’t it dead?”

I too was initially shocked, thinking I had accidentally infused it with too much flame, causing its death.

Hadal slightly twisted his lips and responded calmly,

“No, it’s sleeping. It’s breathing.”
“But, why is it so limp? I mean, do stoats normally stretch out like cheese?”

“I don’t know.”

I’d have to have observed animals this closely before to know.

No matter how much I shook it, the stoat didn’t wake up. Hadal, watching its round pink ear tips, picked up the stoat with both hands. The stoat, limply stretched out like slime, filled Hadal’s palms.

‘It’s as if it has no bones. How can it be so flexible and bend like this?’

Hadal slightly moved his palms, creating uneven surfaces, and changed angles, but the stoat, half liquid-like, sloshed around in his palms, still sound asleep.

‘And does it look comfortable, or are my eyes deceiving me?’

It should be suffering from the heat and avoiding me.

“Vwiio, vwiio…….”

Twitch.

Hadal, who had been looking at the stoat with a serious expression, twitched his shoulders unknowingly as he heard the stoat’s faint, groaning sounds.

An old memory echoed sharply in his ears.

“Don’t come near me!”

Back when Hadal lived not in this desolate north, but in a large palace with his family.

“My favorite puppy died because of you!”

At that time, Hadal was even less able to control his flames. It was a complete accident when he inflicted severe burns on his sibling’s puppy, eventually leading to its death.

Even though it was cute and wagged its tail, coming closer, he shouldn’t have carelessly touched it.

“You’re no different from a monster! It’s creepy! Keep him away from us!”

After that incident, his sibling would chase Hadal away in a fit, screaming, leading to his eventual isolation as a Duke in the far north.

Even after moving to the north, nothing changed. He still couldn’t ride horses, nor could he make physical contact with people.

But this stoat, instead of being in pain, seemed comfortable, clinging lazily to Hadal and sleeping soundly.

“……Truly an odd creature.”

Hadal murmured in a soft voice.

Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me

One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.

Synopsis:

Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.

But this is still far from enough.

He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.

_____

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