‘Ah, what should I do? This time, I’m caught by the scruff of my neck, making it even harder to escape.’

I trembled as I stared blankly at the man who had lifted me up.

He was a man with curly black hair and eyes that were a deep crimson, almost burgundy. The sharp line of his jaw leading to a solid neck was particularly striking.

‘He’s handsome…’

Having spent my time sleeping, eating, and swinging swords on the battlefield, I was usually insensitive to others’ appearances, but even to my eyes, his face shone brilliantly, beautiful.

And just as I was examining his face, he too scrutinized me carefully. He frowned and muttered.

“A white ferret? But why are its tail and ears pink?”

“Kyuu…”

How should I know? I just found out myself that my ears and tail were pink.

As I pouted my lips, I suddenly blinked at the energy I felt from the nape of my neck where he was holding me.

‘Huh? But this man seems to have the same fire mana as me?’

People who can cultivate mana from their hearts are extremely rare, and those with the flame attribute, which has the most powerful destructive power, are even rarer.

The reason I had to stand on the battlefield despite being a princess of a country was because of my flame attribute mana.

‘But this man also has the flame attribute.’

Is this man also a strong knight? Perhaps because I felt a sense of kinship, I was curious about many things. It was then, as I was looking at him with curious eyes.

The man who had been turning me this way and that, examining me thoroughly, stroked his chin and muttered.

“Hmm, anyway, since it’s a ferret, if I catch it and make it into jerky…”

Flinch.

‘J-jerky? Is he serious? There’d be nothing left after stripping the bones.’

I hunched my shoulders as much as possible to look smaller. That trick seemed to work, as the man shook his head.

“…Too small.”

Relieved, I drooped my head. But it was too early to feel relieved. This time, tilting his head to the other side, he muttered.

“If I skin it…”

Again with the skin.

‘Surely he’s not thinking of skinning me alive or something? What does he want to do with my skin in the first place? It wouldn’t even cover his palm. So just let me go.’

Terrified, I trembled and looked at him with pleading eyes.

‘Are you going to kill someone as cute as me?’

Take that, my gaze attack!

Fortunately, the gaze attack seemed to work, as he shook his head again this time.

“…Well, I don’t feel the cold, so I don’t need it.”

‘Phew.’

Relieved, I let out a deep sigh of relief. Then suddenly, I glared at him, feeling annoyed.

‘This guy! Is he playing with me or what?!’

He’s really toying with me, going back and forth like this!

‘Hmph, but I’ll let it slide since he’s the bread owner.’

I decided to endure it since this all started because I ate his bread.

I focused again on the bread in my hands. Even though I had eaten half of it, it was still deliciously fragrant.

The man, who had been looking down at me curiously as I crunched and chewed the bread, tilted his head.

“…But why aren’t you feeling hot?”

“Kyuu?”

‘What is he talking about?’

What should be hot? The bread has already cooled down.

I was busily tearing into the bread, feeling bewildered, when I belatedly understood what he meant and my eyes widened.

‘Ah.’

The heat he was referring to was from his own palm holding the nape of my neck.

‘No wonder, I thought his palm was radiating heat.’

This man, it seems he can’t control his mana well yet.

The remaining half of the bread had also gone into my stomach. As I neatly licked up the bread crumbs around my mouth, I looked into the man’s red eyes, which somehow seemed gloomy.

‘I was always welcomed the more powerful my flames were, but it seems it wasn’t the same for this person.’

For me, we were at war, so no matter how terrifying the flames I raised, everyone was delighted. After all, those flames were protecting the kingdom.

But outside of war, the flame attribute is terrifyingly powerful. It can burn anything to ashes in an instant.

‘Did he not learn how to handle flames? If he had met my comrades, they were used to flames and could have taught him well, even with different attributes. How much time has passed, I wonder?’

Surely I haven’t woken up after all my acquaintances have grown old and died?

Perhaps because I needed a lot of energy for such serious thoughts, a loud sound echoed from my stomach again.

Grumble!

The man’s eyes widened as he looked at me, startled by the loud noise.

“…!”

My face flushed automatically under his gaze. I got unnecessarily irritated.

‘What? Why? Is it the first time you’ve heard a stomach growl?’

My flushed face melted at his next words.

“…Eat more.”

“Kyuu!”

He had taken out a new piece of bread!

‘Oh well, never mind. They say even ghosts who die from overeating have a good complexion.’

I hugged the bread with both hands and feet. Although it was the same bread I had devoured earlier, it tasted new again.

‘Ah, it’s really delicious. I’ll never have bread this delicious again in my life.’

I ate the bread frantically, making crunching sounds. Perhaps I looked pitiful, or maybe he thought I wouldn’t run away, the man gently put me down on the ground. But he didn’t just leave me alone. He touched my ears, head, and various other parts as if checking if I was really a ferret.

Even in my bread-induced trance, I kept glancing back, bothered by his touch.

‘But why is this person fiddling with me so much?’

Is it his first time seeing an animal?

‘Well, it could be his first time.’

It’s my first time being a ferret too. Who would have known that my first time would be in my own body?

Yes, are you fascinated? Go ahead and be as fascinated as you want. Meanwhile, I’ll focus on eating the bread…

“Kyup!”

“…?!”

Just as I had decided to ignore it, his finger stroked down my back from the nape of my neck to my tail. Startled, I bristled my fur and growled.

“Kyuuung.”

When I bared my teeth and glared at him fiercely, a look of bewilderment spread across the man’s face, which had been consistently calm and expressionless. He muttered as if making an excuse in a small voice.

“It’s the first time I’ve encountered an animal that doesn’t react to my touch…”

‘Ah.’

I was just startled because some man suddenly stroked down my spine, but from his perspective, he was just touching out of curiosity about the ferret.

‘Well, what would he know? I’m just a mere ferret right now.’

Still, uncomfortable is uncomfortable. As I stared at his handsome face that had become gloomy, I finally sighed and turned my body around.

‘Here, pet my tail instead.’

My tail slapped his hand. His gloomy face brightened a little. He asked with a furrowed brow, as if unsure.

“Does this mean I can touch it?”

“Kyuu.”

I nodded. Then I buried my face back into the bread I was holding with both hands.

Perhaps my earlier snarl had quite shocked him, as his touch on my tail was much more cautious than before.

‘He’s touching so gently. It tickles.’

Anyway, it seemed he wouldn’t startle me like before. Reassured, I focused on the bread.

‘Ah, delicious.’

Maybe because I had been starving for so long, the bread went down smoothly. In no time, I had finished a piece of bread as big as my body and flopped down on the ground.

“Kyuu…”

I’m full.

I must have been too greedy after starving for so long and then finding bread. I couldn’t move at all, so I just lay there panting heavily. My thin body had a protruding round belly.

The man, who had been staring at me curiously, pressed his index finger on my belly.

“To think all that bread fit into this belly. No, was it two pieces?”

Caught off guard, I covered my mouth at his sudden attack.

‘Urk! Don’t press! It feels like it’s going to spill out!’

I had stuffed the bread all the way to my throat, and now he was pressing on my belly. Surprised by the unexpected attack, I flailed my arms and legs.

It was then. I’m not sure what he was thinking, but the man suddenly infused mana into his fingertip.

‘Ah, it’s warm.’

In an instant, a clear fire mana flowed into me. It felt like warm water being poured into an empty vessel.

Feeling the familiar fire mana after a long time, I felt as deeply satisfied as when I first bit into the bread.

‘Ahung.’

With my cheeks flushed red, I went limp with a very satisfied smile. The man, startled, picked me up.

“Don’t tell me it melted?!”

Who’s melting?

Thinking he seemed too worried, I just made a sound while remaining limp.

“Kyuu!”

“Phew…”

He must have really been worried about me. Finding his reaction unexpected, I narrowed my eyes and looked at him. With his back to the sun, dark shadows fell across his face, obscuring his expression.

“…For a moment, it looked like cheese melting and spreading out.”

Only his voice, seemingly concerned about me, reached my ears.

I stuck out my tongue and laughed, hehe.

‘I just felt good because I got warm.’

Even though only a small amount of fire mana had flowed in, my whole body was full of vigor. It felt as if I had come back to life after dying.

And finally, I realized.

‘Ah, my heart had been frozen.’

I can no longer produce explosive fire mana like before on my own. Because it had already been extinguished once.

‘But I can absorb mana from others.’

And right within reach, there was someone who could give me the flame I needed.

And a very, very powerful flame at that.

“Kyuu.”

“Huh?”

Realizing this fact, his handsome face now looked even more beautifully radiant.

I approached first and rubbed my face against the back of his hand. His pupils trembled slightly.

“Are you really okay?”

“Kyuu kyuu.”

Why wouldn’t I be okay? I’m in the best condition since I woke up.

Hey, handsome person over there. Would you like to keep a ferret?