I Raised the Beast Well

Aymon didn’t want to admit these strange feelings, so he just bared his fangs.

Grrr…..

Belinda’s hand flinched at the face of threat. She wondered whether it was a sign to stop and slowly withdraw her fingers.

If she treats him carelessly like she did in the past, he might really bite her nape.

But Aymon went after Belinda’s retreating hand, shoved his head to it and rubbed his cheek on her palm. Even so, he didn’t forget to growl for the sake of the little pride he had left.

At last, Belinda burst out laughing.

“You’re really adorable. Why are you rubbing your cheeks while baring your teeth?”

Such a mismatched attitude where he growled but bluntly followed her was something that resembled his old self, and it brought her joy.

“You’re really the same. You’re really the same as before.”

Her shoulders trembled as she giggled. But that cheerful gesture soon came to a stop. Tears welled up in her eyes following the laughter.

She tried to swallow the tears from spilling over, but tears streamed down her face.

Belinda sniffled back some tears and rubbed her wet cheeks with sleeve. Her eyes quickly turned red.

My sweetheart is right in front of me, but he’s not who he used to be.

She could only remember the warm arms that embraced her and the languid whispers to her ears.

He was right in front of her, but he was not here at the same time, and she wondered if she could touch him, but her spirit crumbled like grains of sand.

Aymon could only blink as he was stunned by the sudden twist.

“You fool!”

Mazetto, who had been watching quietly, flew at Aymon as he couldn’t hold back his anger anymore.

“Fool! Fool!”

He let fly at Aymon with his wings and trampled on Aymon’s shoulder. The small sparrow’s feet wouldn’t make a scratch on Aymon’s hard muscle, but it was the best attack Mazeto could make.

“You like to act smart, but you forgot everything! You don’t even know that Belinda cried everyday!”

He trampled and even jabbed his beak on Aymon.

Aymon could only stare blankly at Belinda without caring whether Mazetto hit him or not.

He couldn’t tell why it was so suffocating to watch this gentle golden woman shaking her shoulders and dropping water from her eyes.

“Fool! You foolish idiot! Now that you’ve forgotten everything, are you going to eat me too, huh! Why?!”

Since then, Mazetto’s angry scream did not stop.

Despite that, Aymon didn’t even think of chasing the little bird away. All he did was staring and staring at the tears falling through her fingers.

***

Aymon looked at the brown-haired man fiercely. His eyes looked like he’d pounce on that man 10 times or more if he could, but he endured it because of Belinda.

“T,Then I’ll be on my way, Princess!”

After examining Belinda, the man ran in a cold sweat and disappeared into the forest.

“Don’t do that. He’s a doctor. That means he’s a good person.”

When Belinda whispered as she came close, Aymon let out a growl instead of answering.

It hadn’t been long since they were together, but he became a pretty obedient cat. Even if a stranger came in and out, he only threatened and watched them closely.

Perhaps he disliked the lingering smell around the mansion, Aymon paced around the area and clawed the tree. It was his way to vent his anger.

Belinda also hummed as she followed Aymon around, and only stopped when his anger seemed to have subsided a little.

“Aymon. You don’t have to give me your preys anymore. I can’t eat those.”

Belinda said, sitting with her legs stretched near Aymon, who crouched next to a flower bushes.

Aymon, who first brought a boar, later brought a smaller animal. He seemed to have misunderstood that her scream at the sight of a wild boar signifies something else. For example, ‘It was too big to eat!’

She wanted to accept Aymon’s gift no matter what it was, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the small animal.

Aymon closed his eyes languidly, perhaps because he couldn’t understand a word she said.

Belinda shook her head again because Aymon seemed to be seriously thinking, ‘What kind of delicious meal I can get you next time?’

“I’m serious. You don’t have to bring those anymore. You’ve been doing it before….but I really should refrain from getting surprised now. Because I get surprised every morning when I see the animal you bring, you see.”

She lifted Aymon’s front paw ever so carefully. His fur pricked up due to the shock, but he made no threatening gesture. Perhaps he was already accustomed to her touch to some degree.

“Do you want to touch it?”

Belinda placed Aymon’s front paws carefully on her stomach.

“How is it? Do you feel anything? The doctor said there should be some movement by now.”

「…….」

“You’ll be able to feel it more than I do. You’re more sensitive than a human, after all.”

Aymon, who couldn’t even understand a simple word like ‘Hello’, just stared blankly at his paw while she was talking.

Something feels strange. Something’s very strange, but…..

“That’s enough. Your paw is too heavy.”

Belinda then removed the paw that moved awkwardly around her belly and began to stroke his beautiful and shiny fur gently.

“You are going to stay next to me like this, right?”

Grrr. A growl rising in his throat as if responding to her positively.

The corner of Belinda’s mouth rose up.

How could you act like you were answering me when you don’t even understand what I said?

“Yes, thanks. You don’t have to remember me. You just need to stay by my side like this. Please watch over me like that. Then I, I mean we could ….”

Belinda swallowed the words that were rising in her throat. An overwhelming emotion made her unable to finish the sentence.

She couldn’t bear to face Aymon when he only looked at his front paw with a clueless expression and gently touching her lower belly. She wanted to hide the eyes that started getting moist.

That night. The time when the moonlight began to fuse into halo. The beast stepped through the enveloping darkness.

Shadow as black as his fur was covering the forest. Only the beautiful shining eyes of the beast emerge to pierce the night.

Aymon walked through the tall trees that seemed to towering into the sky, then proceeded to enter the mansion.

As soon as he got in, someone’s fragrant smell welcomed him. It was a ticklish smell that incited a strange urge every time he smelled it.

He cast a long shadow as he stood quietly beside her. He always hovered around her, but he never actually came in here.

Belinda’s golden hair scattered messily on the bed. It was so dark that outside the window looked like a bottomless pit, but the human who was bathed in the moonlight sparkled brightly.

Since the mansion was a closed space, only her smell lingered everywhere. It was calm and still, undisturbed by the winds.

Aymon bowed to rub his nose against her nape. A fragrant smell rose as their warmth mingled. He could feel a sweet quiver running through his body.

Perhaps it was ticklish, she lightly pushed him back in her sleep and chuckled.

“It tickles, Aymon….”

It was a voice which blended vaguely between reality and dream. Just like before, she thought that her cat was tickling her like a dream.

Aymon pretended to mull over something for a moment, and then lowered his head again. Unlike before, her stomach was bulging a little. It gives off a strange feeling, so he just scratches his paws on the floor for no reason.

Aymon looked down at her messy nightgown and put his face closer on that thin cloth.

He put his cheek on her stomach as if he was possessed. The warmth felt under the thin silk, a sweet smell of flesh, and…..

Aymon backed off in surprise. Even the crickets slept in silence, and only a beating heart was heard.

But what struck him like a thunderbolt was the heartbeat of an unknown creature.

It’s not his or that blonde woman’s, but it was a very small and delicate sound. Just hearing it makes every strand of his fur stand on end.

「…….」

Aymon couldn’t even move for a while. Standing silently under the moonlight, he stared at Belinda in daze as if facing an unknown creature.

He stood there like a lost child, listening to her breathing.

“Aymon?”

Belinda, who slowly opened her eyes, called him while rubbing her eyes. She glimpsed the black beast standing by the window when she was tossing and turning in her sleep.

“How did you get inside? Thank you for coming.”

Mumbling softly, she reached out toward Aymon.

Come here.

At her low whisper, Aymon approached quietly as if pulled by a leash. Then he stared at her stomach, bowed his nose to sniff it. As if he did it involuntarily.

Belinda held the beast’s head over her thin cloth. Although he was currently a beast that lost its intelligence, she had a faith that he wouldn’t attack her.

And her faith was right. Before, he would have shown his fangs and threatened her, but the huge beast did not rebel and allowed her touch.

Did he feel something instinctively? The stiff and stern beast was obedient to her.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

Belinda pushed him closer to her belly and began to whisper quietly.

“I feel a bubble coming up from my stomach earlier, but the doctor said, oh my-”

Belinda, who was speaking cherfully, shook her shoulders in surprise.

She felt a slight movement in her stomach as if it was reacting to her words. A tiny movement that she would never have felt if she didn’t pay attention.

Aymon froze in bewilderment. He lifted up his face stiffly and twitched his ears.

In the darkness, among her breathing sounds, the ‘thud’ sound that he heard earlier resonated again.

The hot blood rushed up his body, and the strange feelings seemed to stir and poke each cell in his body, as if dug into the divinity that hidden deep within him.

“Aymon?”

Aymon froze in place with a shaky eyes, but he turned his back in surprise as soon as his name was called. The bewildered beast ended up running away.

“Aymon….”

Belinda, who was left behind, stared blankly at the empty room. Then she bowed her head and gently stroked her stomach. It seemed that Aymon’s warmth still lingered on her skin.

A bitter smile descended over her gloomy face.

She decided to get used to it. She was supposed to wait. Keep living by embracing the longing and feelings alone, so getting a cold response shouldn’t be a big deal.

“Daddy must have been very surprised. Right, baby?”

What a foolish cat….

She murmured to herself along with a sigh.