I Raised the Beast Well

Translator/editor: ruby

It was pretty. She had to admit it. The snow leopard was pretty. Not as much as Aymon, but the smooth lines of its body and ears were all cute and pretty.

Aymon was a Shinsu, but wasn’t he closer to being a leopard than a human? He might take a fancy to a new, pretty leopard.

Belinda was filled with anxiety and jealousy. What she couldn’t quite express was that she, as a human, couldn’t expect to contend with a leopard over a Shinsu.

She had to swallow her nerves.

When she stepped out, Aymon’s apathetic expression shifted. He smiled at her tenderly as she crept out of the house.

“I’m back from hunting. I’ll prepare it for you, so wait inside.”

However, Belinda had no intention of nicely waiting inside as he’d suggested.

She wrapped the blanket tighter around her and stomped up to Aymon. After a few steps, leaving footprints behind her, the snow leopard popped out from behind Aymon.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t threatening her. The leopard began to purr, rubbing its face on Belinda’s thighs.

Aymon dropped the piece of meat he was preparing.

His once smiling face stiffened up, and he approached without hesitation.

“How dare you.”

Aymon murmured faintly in a scratchy voice.

Then, he picked up the squirming snow leopard and tossed it away mercilessly. The beast that had been cast off like a burden rolled away in the snow, crying in pain.

Flustered, Belinda grabbed his hand.

“What’s wrong?”

She didn’t know what had happened to Aymon, but he didn’t seem interested in the snow leopard. That was a relief.

Instead of answering, Aymon turned around and shot a look at the leopard as it struggled on the ground.

Go away. You won’t leave?

A beast-like growl sounded from his chest. The small snow leopard couldn’t bring itself to go near them.

Aymon turned to Belinda, looking down at her seriously, and asked through his grinding teeth.

“Is it prettier than me?”

“What?”

What was that question all of sudden? Belinda only looked back at him with a puzzled face.

“You’ve said I was cute and pretty every day. That I’m the most beautiful creature in the world.”

“Huh?”

“Are you more interested in that animal now?”

Aymon had apparently misunderstood her flushed cheeks caused by the alcohol.

Belinda laughed, halfway because of the drinks, halfway because she felt for Aymon.

What was he on about?

She thought she was just going to smile, but hearing her laughter, she really seemed to be drunk.

How could such a cute beast exist? His body was as cute as the kitten she used to hold in her arms, no, even cuter.

Belinda grabbed his collar as he nervously looked down at her and took a breath, still laughing.

Belinda straightened her back and replied with a big smile.

“I prefer the black night to the white snow.”

“…….”

“These eyes that shine like stars are the prettiest in the world. Just my style.”

When she raised her hands to feel around Aymon’s eyes, his cold expression softened.

“….Really?”

“Yes, you’re the best.”

Aymon leaned down slightly. He placed his hands behind his back to make it easier for her to reach up.

He lowered his eyes, pretending to look at the ground, and the corners of his mouth twitched down. He looked awkward because he couldn’t handle his rising emotions.

Belinda couldn’t stop smiling. How could he still be cute with such broad shoulders, a big body, and bloody hands?

As a ticklish feeling rose from her stomach, Aymon leaned down and kissed her cheek, smelling her.

“Have you drunk?”

“Yeah, a little.”

So that’s why she was red. Aymon straightened back up and smiled.

Aymon, standing in the white snow, smiled with sparkling eyes, yet somehow seemed dim. The reality of standing with him in the cold forest, rather than the palace, was new.

For some reason, Belinda felt overwhelmed. She stared up at Aymon, who didn’t even know how she felt. He looked down at her ankle and picked her up to move inside.

“It’s cold. Stay inside. Your ankle must be burning.”

“But I want to be next to you.”

“Later.”

The leopard, who had been whining until recently, was now pretending to be mature again and soothed her.

Belinda was holding onto his neck when he pushed her into the cabin.

“I’ll be right back. Wait a bit.”

With Aymon’s tender words, the door closed.

The room, blocked from the cold outside, was full of heavy warmth. Mazetto flew in from the windowsill.

“I’m bored, Belinda, spend some time with me! Why do you keep going outside when you say your ankle hurts?”

Belinda rubbed the sparrow against her cold cheeks.

How could she phrase it… Waiting for Aymon with Mazetto, she felt like she was in a harmonious home.

It was a strange feeling that warmed her heart.

Aymon quickly finished with the grilled meat. Perhaps because she was so hungry, even the simple grilled meat seemed more delicious than her meals at the palace.

After setting the table, she washed up with lukewarm water.

She would’ve had to use ice-cold water, but thanks to Aymon, she avoided the shivering.

Aymon suddenly started to insist that he would wash her because she’d have trouble with her ankle, and he was very hard to stop.

What did a sore ankle have to do with washing up?

After finishing her wash alone, Belinda sat down by the window, bathing drowsily in the sun.

There was a small doll on the table, perhaps belonging to the cabin’s owner. Looking at it quietly, Aymon kneeled down in front of Belinda.

Without saying a word, he began to massage her ankle.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s so you get better quickly.”

Belinda wriggled her toes out but remained still.

Well, you really are strong.

Belinda looked down at Aymon, rubbing her ankle, then started staring at the doll again. She decided to ignore it.

Mazetto, who was eating some fruits that Aymon picked, flew up.

“Belinda! That pretty leopard is here again!”

Mazetto tapped the window with his beak.

Belinda put the doll down and inched towards the window. Somehow Aymon’s grip on her seemed to be getting stronger.

“You know, Aymon.”

“Hm?”

Aymon answered bluntly without taking a single look out the window.

“Isn’t that leopard coming here because it likes you?”

“……”

He dropped his gaze and went back to massaging her ankles.

He burst into laughter.

It’s a male. It’s a male, Breedee. It came because it likes your smell.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that and instead grabbed her ankle.

Looking at the pale skin, he carefully lifted it and kissed it.

“Huh? What are you doing?”

Surprised, Belinda grabbed his hair, but Aymon kept kissing her, moving up her calf.

He recalled what Shanti had told him.

“Why does that human smell so good?”

It wasn’t just Shanti – when he first brought Belinda into the woods, her smell became even more attractive. He had no idea why.

Aymon wasn’t the only one that was crazy about Breedee’s smell.

Her delicate skin looked like it would seep blood with a light bite. A strange impulse that tickled his heart hit him whenever he smelled that scent.

Sometimes, when he got this violent urge, he wanted to sink his teeth in and chew on the white flesh…

He kissed Belinda’s knee. Her white legs were revealed under the hem of her dress, which easily slid up.

He could never hurt this gentle human.

Belinda only wiggled her toes, her face flushed.

“You said you were going to give me a massage. What kind of massage is this?”

His teasing kisses made her feel extremely strange.

“Leave me be. I’m just doing it because you smell good.”

Aymon replied calmly as if he was talking about something else.

He put his face on her thigh and bit the soft flesh, her body trembling whenever his breath brushed against it.

“You’re so pretty, soft, and fragrant. No wonder anyone would like it.”

The words fell with a light kiss – he wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or to himself.

Thinking of the snow leopard outside the window, Aymon bit her thighs and pulled on the skin painfully. He chuckled.

Belinda’s legs flinched with a pricklish sensation.

“That stings, Aymon.”

“But I can’t give it to anyone.”

As he slowly removed his lips, a red mark was left on Belinda’s thigh. Aymon began to creep along and leave them further upwards.

He didn’t want a human or a leopard. He couldn’t even tolerate a bug showing interest in Belinda. His jealousy was unbiased and encompassed all genders and species.

Aymon’s hair was scattered over her thigh, dust glistening on it.

Mazetto flew in from somewhere onto the table and tilted his head.

“What are you doing?”

Aymon immediately reached out and clenched the bird in his fist. He smoothed Belinda’s dress back down.

“Don’t look.”

“Don’t look at what? What?”

Flapping in Aymon’s grasp, Mazetto rebelled.

“Don’t look at Breedee’s legs.”

“I’m going to look! I’m going to look! I’m going to lo– ack! Aigoooo! The leopard is attacking the sparrow!”

Mazetto, teasingly rebellious, giggled and struggled. Aymon had to straighten his grip. Of course, he didn’t mean to hurt the bird, but Mazetto kept twisting around in frustration.

Aymon was patting down Belinda’s dress with one hand and holding Mazetto in the other.

Through his loose grip, Mazetto flew away.

“You thug! You Shinsu thug!”

Sitting down on the taxidermied deer’s horns, Mazetto shouted down at him. Of course, Aymon didn’t bother to listen. It had been a long time since someone called him a thug, but it rolled right off of him.

Belinda rubbed her thighs. Aymon’s bite marks stung, and she felt strange whenever she touched them.

Earlier, she hadn’t been able to push him away because there was a strange feeling in her other than the pain.

He was hurting her, but she felt good. Was she a pervert too?