If it had been a larger animal, I could have clung to Hadel’s arm or leg and hugged him, but all I could hug were his fingers.

Hadel looked down at me with an unreadable expression and muttered.

“But it’s strange that you seem completely unaffected.”

An intense flame flowed through Hadel’s hand. I clung to his hand, swaying like a drunk person.

“Kyuu.”

Ah, so warm.

‘It’s nice to have a full stomach, but the feeling of flames filling my heart is even better.’

I wanted to get a little warmer. Perhaps it’s more tantalizing because I know the feeling of flames filling my heart.

‘I know an even more pleasant feeling.’

As if the flames were traveling up my veins, I sniffed and climbed up his hand, unconsciously sticking out my tongue to lick the back of his hand. At that moment, an even more intense flame filled my body than what was transmitted through mere contact.

‘Whoa!’

My eyes opened wide involuntarily. With the feeling of my whole body heating up, if I had been melting like cheese before, now my entire body stiffened and trembled.

‘W-what is this pleasure?’

This man is like 10-year-old fruit wine! Why is such a dangerous flame flowing from his body?

The funny thing is, Hadel felt the same tingle. Hadel’s red eyes stared at me intently.

“You…”

‘Gasp!’

His eyes were fixed on my pointed snout. I buried my snout in my short front paws.

‘I was enjoying it so much that I wanted to keep sucking in mana, and my tongue slipped out without me realizing.’

Bad mouth! Bad mouth!

Who could alleviate my embarrassment? As I was trembling and blaming myself, Hadel frowned and asked in a tone of disbelief.

“…Don’t tell me you weren’t trying to bite earlier, but to suck on my finger?”

No, that was actually an attempt to bite.

‘But affirming that fact would mean confessing to my pettiness.’

The narrow-mindedness of envying another’s flame because one’s own has disappeared. This time, a different kind of embarrassment shook me. As I was making kyuu-kyuu sounds and twisting my body,

Hadel, completely misinterpreting my response, nodded while resting his chin on his hand.

“I see. So you’re a much younger weasel than I expected. That’s why your strength control is poor, and you don’t even know what you eat, so you like snacks…”

That’s not it.

‘If I had to guess, you and I are probably about the same age.’

But there was no way to convey that fact to him. In the end, I shook my head and curled up my body.

‘Sigh, let him misunderstand if he wants.’

At least my stomach was full and my body was warm.

‘This must be heaven.’

As I flopped over onto my back, Hadel stared at me for a moment before carefully picking me up.

“We should brush off the crumbs before you sleep.”

I didn’t think you’d care about that. How unexpected.

Hadel carefully brushed off the crumbs stuck to my fur here and there. Even as he did so, the warmth he transmitted fluctuated between strong and weak. It was like the sun’s light coming and going.

‘But this guy really can’t control his flame, can he?’

It shouldn’t be that difficult to maintain a constant temperature, right?

‘How much mana must be flowing out for it to be like this?’

If I were in a human body instead of a weasel’s, I could place my hand on his chest and scan his condition, but in this body, all I could do was absorb the warmth he gave off.

‘If I stay by his side, a way might present itself.’

If a way presents itself, I might be able to make Hadel a little more comfortable.

‘Let’s think about it leisurely.’

In any case, I was full and warm right now. As I stretched out again, purring, Hadel placed me on a cushion that was on the floor.

“Now sleep. It’s still a long time until morning.”

“Kyuu?”

Then what about you?

After putting me down on the cushion, Hadel didn’t go to the bed but walked to a corner of the room. There was a standing coat rack there.

As he stood in front of it and suddenly took off his shirt, I quickly turned my head away.

‘Oh my, what a surprise! Why is he stripping like that?’

But it would also be silly to say “I’m going to undress” to a weasel every time.

Because I turned my head away, I ended up examining Hadel’s room. Actually, there wasn’t much to examine; it was quite simple. I made a disgusted expression.

‘What is this? Obsessive-compulsive disorder?’

Hadel’s room was all dark gray. I don’t mean it was actually decorated in that color.

There were very few objects in his room, and even those few things gave off a cold feeling. It seemed he had removed as many flammable things as possible.

‘Usually, bed frames are made of wood, but this one’s made of metal. No curtains either.’

There was a fireplace, but no firewood. It seemed he had replaced everything with non-flammable materials except for the blanket and mattress, which he couldn’t help but keep.

‘Shouldn’t there at least be a mirror, sofa, and table?’

There wasn’t even a wardrobe, and the only clothes were those hanging on the standing coat rack where he was changing.

‘The room is so spacious, why is it so desolate?’

There should be at least one book, right? I want to read too. A history book, preferably.

‘What era is it now anyway? It seems the war has ended, but how much time has passed since then?’

Bored because there was nothing more to look at, I buried my head in the cushion.

‘If I just knew Hadel’s full name, I could figure out where this is. I guess I’ll have to ask him after all.’

What’s your full name! Tell me your name.

Just then, Hadel, who had finished changing his clothes, walked towards me. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, as if loosening my jaw.

‘It’s difficult to pronounce with my oral structure, but let’s try. It’s only seven syllables, I should be able to do it.’

First, let’s take it easy.

“Kyuu kyukyuu kyukyukyukyu.”

…Damn, I failed.

Naturally, but disappointingly, only weasel sounds came out of my mouth. I gave a rotten smile.

‘Hehehe, right. What era or place name could a mere weasel hope to know?’

And even if I knew, what good would it do? I’m just a weasel anyway.

‘I’m depressed.’

Feeling miserable about my neither-here-nor-there situation, I buried my head again. Hadel pressed down on my head.

“You were looking around excitedly earlier, why are you suddenly deflated now? Are you finally sleepy?”

“Kyukyu.”

Leave me alone.

‘I’m a weasel with bipolar disorder. Don’t bother me.’

As I was self-deprecating and making kyukyu sounds, Hadel tilted his head.

“I really can’t tell what you’re thinking.”

“Kyu!”

I said don’t bother me!

As I turned my head irritably, I met Hadel’s gaze and my eyes widened.

‘Huh?’

In the darker room, the face illuminated by the faint light was…

‘Smiling?’

He was wearing a bright smile.

But like an illusion, the smile disappeared in the blink of an eye. I rubbed my eyes with my front paws.

‘Did I see wrong?’

I wanted to ask him to smile again, but as Hadel stood up, it became impossible to look up at his face anymore. He was much taller than me.

The sound of footsteps echoed across the floor. As he went out, he said,

“Don’t think about trying to escape from here, just sleep well.”

Where is he going at this late hour?

‘Go quickly. Then I can move around freely too.’

Since I also preferred to be alone, I obediently replied.

“Kyu.”

“The bathroom is over there, use it if you need to.”

“Kyu.”

Looking where his finger pointed, there really was a door in the middle of the wall.

‘If I go through there, it’s the bathroom?’

A bathroom with a hole in the fortress wall?

‘Is this older than our palace?’

The palace where I lived had been expanded and rebuilt over decades, so even the original buildings remained intact. Most of those buildings were designed with a hole in one part of the fortress wall for defecation, so that waste would fall below the wall. The newly built palace had all the bathrooms outside.

‘Then I won’t open that door.’

Even though I’ve become an animal, I don’t want to use such a bathroom. I should go outside this room to find a bathroom.

As I was strengthening my resolve to escape,

“If you ignore my words and wander around the castle freely…”

Hadel stopped walking and turned to look at me, as if reading my mind. I snorted.

‘Heh. You think any threat you make will work?’

“I won’t give you any more snacks.”

“Kyu?!”

It worked, very well.

As soon as his words fell, my eyes experienced pupil earthquakes. I bit my front paws and agonized.

‘Sob sob, snacks. Snacks are too precious.’

If I didn’t know the taste, it might be different, but having tasted them once, I couldn’t give them up. As I was agonizing, I glared at him with triangle eyes.

‘This guy! He purposely fed me snacks to manipulate me like this!’

But.

‘Huh? He’s smiling again.’

This time I could see it clearly. Hadel’s usually stiff lips were softly relaxed.

“Then sleep well.”

His voice was as stiff as ever, but it didn’t sound as cold as before. Even after he closed the door and left, I could only blink blankly for a while.

‘What’s with that man? Why does he smile so sweetly like that?’

It’s almost as if he likes me?

‘Ugh, making me feel unnecessarily unsettled.’

Right, let’s just sleep. I curled up into a ball on the cushion. Even though I knew it was the weasel me that Hadel liked, it was a night when my heart fluttered for no reason.