‘When did you get this close again?’

Just when I thought I was safe after moving away, he had somehow gotten close enough to hug me tightly again. I pushed his face away with my palm and said:

“I’m not turning into a ferret right now, you know? So could you stop interrupting me?”

Let me speak too!

At that protest, Hadel frowned. His expression was dripping with displeasure.

“I didn’t kiss you because I thought you’d turn into a ferret.”

Hadel let out a small sigh. Then he grabbed my wrist that was pushing his face away. His lips suddenly brushed the inside of my wrist, making me flinch. Noticing this, Hadel mischievously bit the inside of my wrist lightly.

“Hadel.”

Until just recently, he wouldn’t even let me watch him shower, so why is he suddenly being so touchy-feely? When I puffed up my cheeks like a goldfish and made a displeased expression, Hadel whispered in a low voice:

“I want to kiss you.”

I frowned.

“Do it.”

“You’re telling me to?”

“With someone else, not me.”

“Marian.”

This time it was Hadel’s turn to look angry. I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.

“Why do you want to kiss me?”

“Do you really not know?”

“You’re the one who doesn’t know. Did you forget I said my true form is the ferret? What kind of human kisses a ferret?”

“…”

Hadel, not knowing my true identity, seemed at a loss for words and pressed his lips tightly together. His burning gaze clearly showed he couldn’t understand what I was saying.

I was honestly perplexed.

‘Wait, when did he become this serious?’

There was no sign… was there, really? Truly?

‘I did think maybe he liked me.’

Looking back, it wasn’t Hadel who had been brushing things off with “I’m a ferret anyway,” but me. Wasn’t I the one who stole Hadel’s lips first?

‘Ugh, at that time I really was just trying to help Hadel! It was a rescue operation!’

But after that?

As I reflected on my feelings that I had never seriously considered before, my face turned red on its own. What was even more embarrassing was that Hadel was staring intently at my change.

Belatedly, I fanned my hot face and tried to change the subject.

“Well. I knew I was a cute and lovable ferret, but I didn’t expect to melt even the heart of the stoic Hadel like this.”

“That’s right. I was surprised too.”

I had said it to try to dispel the awkwardness, but Hadel’s ready agreement only made things more awkward.

I turned to look at Hadel with my shoulders tensed. His unwavering red eyes were focused entirely on me.

I wasn’t so dull as to not understand the meaning of that gaze.

“Um, Hadel.”

“I like you, Marian.”

Perhaps sensing that I was trying to change the subject, Hadel immediately cut to the chase. It was such a direct statement that I couldn’t even pretend to misunderstand.

‘A confession!’

How was I supposed to handle this confession? My mouth went dry, and sweat pooled in my palms. Afraid that the sound of my pounding heart might escape my lips, I bit them tightly.

Standing next to me, Hadel annoyingly continued his confession without a change in expression.

“You’re cute with your white fur and perked-up ears, but I’d like it if you, as a human, stayed by my side.”

“Th-that’s…”

It felt like my mind was in complete disarray. As I stumbled over my words, I suddenly lifted my head and asked Hadel again.

“You like me? Me?”

“Yes.”

“You mean, in a romantic way?”

“I’ve already answered that.”

Despite my persistent questioning, Hadel replied without wavering. In the end, it was me who let out a yelp.

“That’s impossible!”

“Why?”

It’s more ridiculous to think this makes sense. If it were some other frivolous guy, I might have just snorted and thought he was joking, but I knew better than anyone that Hadel wasn’t the type to make such jokes.

I slapped my chest with my palm and said loudly:

“I could turn into a ferret at any moment, you know? Besides, you don’t know anything about me. I don’t have a family or a home anymore.”

“I’ll become your family.”

“Hadel.”

This guy doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I’m not saying I’m lonely because I have no home or family. I mean I’m not qualified to be by his side.

‘Ugh, why do I have to say even this with my own mouth?’

While I felt self-loathing, it was also something I had to say for Hadel’s sake. I made a pitiful face and struggled to persuade him.

“What I mean is, you should meet someone more suitable than a ferret lady. You can be family even when I’m in ferret form, you know.”

He could take a lady who likes ferrets as his duchess, just as his subordinates said.

As I said those words, a corner of my heart stung as if pricked by a needle, but I deliberately ignored the pain. I thought this was the sincere advice I could give for Hadel’s sake.

Hadel’s brows furrowed. He tilted his face slightly and replied:

“These days, I feel like I’ve been staying alone in the North for a long time just to meet you.”

His tone, which was gradually slowing down, sounded as soothing as a lullaby. That meant my heart was also moving in sync with it. But I shook my head vigorously. I shouldn’t waver too.

“No! Because you’ve been through lonely and hard times, you should meet someone who can restore your position and help you build a warm family. That’s the right answer, Hadel.”

Wasn’t the North struggling with a tight budget? Didn’t he miss his family in the capital?

Marriage to a high-ranking lady could be the answer to all those worries.

“…”

Perhaps my words had struck a chord, as Hadel was silent for a moment. I faced Hadel with my fists clenched tightly on my knees.

‘Listen to me, Hadel. The only thing I can do for you is to relieve your mana.’

And that was something I could do sufficiently while staying by his side as a companion ferret.

Just as I was putting strength into my eyes to convey that meaning, it happened.

“Mmph.”

Thick fingers naturally rubbed my earlobe. Even when I was a ferret, Hadel often touched me like this.

But of course, now that I was human, even touches that used to be natural couldn’t be the same. Ticklish, I hunched my shoulders.

Seeing me like this, Hadel’s stiff lips curved into a faint smile.

“…See? You’re different too.”

When you’re a ferret, and when you’re human. The unspoken words of Hadel echoed in my ears like an auditory hallucination. Before I could refute those words, Hadel met my gaze and whispered.

“Don’t change the subject, and don’t look away. I like you, Marian. I don’t need any other woman but you.”

I should tell him to come to his senses.

“…Mmph.”

Why are my eyes burning so hot as if they’re about to catch fire, and why is my heart pounding so fiercely?

‘Hadel keeps reminding me of the things I’ve lost.’

My broken heart, the human life I thought I could never return to, and.

‘You can just accept it. Why does it have to be me?’

Even my place, which I thought had completely disappeared.

Instead of answering, I lowered my head. I didn’t want to show him me crying.

In the North, there were many eyes and ears that conveyed news to the birds. The ice monster released into the castle was one of those spies.

‘It’s amazing that even ordinary animals can become ice monsters by feeding them just a small piece like this.’

He looked at the small powder handed to him by the birds, then quickly tightened the mouth of the pouch.

Inside the pouch was a fine powder that looked like ground snow. Though it looked pretty on the outside, he knew better than anyone how terrifying a weapon it was.

‘This time they said I could use the powder freely, so I fed it to many animals. I didn’t expect it to end so anticlimactically.’

Sometimes he wondered what would happen if a person ate this powder, but he deliberately suppressed his curiosity. It would lead to an irreversible situation.

‘I hope they’ll order me to feed it to people later.’

If he were to dissolve this powder in the river that crosses the entire North, or in the well that all the people of the Northern castle rely on, something terrible would probably happen.

But he couldn’t rejoice at imagining that, because the content of the report he had to submit to the birds now wasn’t very bright. He wrote the situation in the letter he was sending, trying to minimize the exposure of his own fault.

If he wrote just this much, he would surely receive a stern rebuke, so he mixed in other events appropriately. Fortunately, something that would interest the birds had happened in the North recently.

“Phew, I’ve written it well even by my own standards.”

Although it had become lengthy in an attempt to deflect his own responsibility, the connected events made it read as intriguingly as a novel.

“I hope the Bird Prince doesn’t get too angry.”

Not knowing how his letter would affect the Bird Prince when delivered to the capital, the spy just prayed and prayed that he wouldn’t get scolded.

After all, there weren’t many jobs that paid you to harm others.