Chapter 125
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Beastkin Luna
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It was a story from the past.
Back when I had just left the guild and was holed up in a corner of the study room, preparing for my counselor certification exam.
Late at night, under the fluorescent lights, I was turning the last page of a thick professional textbook.
I think I was probably the last person left there at that hour.
Thanks to that, I could enjoy the study room all to myself, like my own private room.
"Counselors must exercise extreme caution and vigilance against developing romantic feelings toward clients, or entering into any relationship beyond that..."
I drew a long underline beneath that sentence with a red pen.
Mindset was key.
A counselor faces the most vulnerable parts of their clients.
Using that trust to form a personal relationship is a betrayal.
"I see."
That's what I thought back then.
I closed the book and made a vow to myself.
That I would never, ever cross that taboo.
Those were the days when I naively believed that.
And now.
"No, Teacher."
Today,
"You definitely like me."
I had lost one client.
Or more precisely, I was in the process of losing them.
How on earth was I supposed to respond?
This was exactly the territory where I had no answers at all.
But at the same time, one thing was crystal clear.
Luna's object of those personal feelings was me.
Only then did the memories of the past days flash through my mind.
That non-face-to-face session Luna had with me.
She had consulted about how she thought she was starting to like... a coworker at work.
I wasn't originally supposed to know it was Luna, but somehow I found out.
Still, I had viewed her changes as a sign of rising self-esteem and was happy about it.
But.
In other words, the person Luna liked wasn't a coworker.
It was me.
I had been counseling her... stupidly assuming her worries about me were about some other guy.
I had even praised her for her courageous decision.
'Go for it.'
I had essentially pushed her to confess.
And so now, Luna had come to me—a lot, a whole lot—closer.
On top of that... Luna had shared several shocking stories with me during that session.
'I want to bury my head in your chest and smell your scent.'
'I want to nibble on the back of your neck—not hard, just enough to leave a mark.'
From the perspective of a beastkin like her, those were probably normal expressions of affection.
But even then, I could feel how far her feelings had progressed.
Did she sense the inner turmoil behind my frozen expression?
Luna slowly looked at my face and smiled brightly.
"Teacher, do you remember that non-face-to-face session we had a while ago?"
Sure enough, Luna brought it up herself.
"...Yes. I remember."
"Heehee, good. Then... do you also remember how one of your clients said they had started liking their workplace senior?"
"That too, I remember."
At that, Luna beamed.
"That was me."
"......"
"I agonized over it a ton too. At first... I thought it might just be respect for you, Teacher. But..."
Yeah.
I remembered.
Every single word I had said.
"You told me this wasn't just respect."
I had said that.
"That it was... love."
I had defined Luna's feelings as love.
"And you advised me to... slowly draw closer."
Luna quietly rose from her seat.
It seemed like she was faithfully following my advice.
"Because it's not a wrong feeling."
Luna's smile deepened.
She circled around the table and stood right in front of me.
"Because you called it a blessing."
How could liking someone ever be wrong?
I still stood by that view.
"You gave me permission, Teacher."
However.
Luna's position... and mine were different.
Now it was my turn to speak.
"Luna."
"Yes."
I looked into her eyes and opened my mouth.
"First of all, I'm truly grateful for your feelings."
An attractive woman liking me, or at least seeing me in a good light—no man would feel bad about that.
I was happy too.
But I had to say what needed saying, and reject her clearly...
"However..."
"Heehee."
The moment I tried to voice that rejection,
Luna extended her finger and lightly pressed it to my lips. A 'shh' gesture.
Her hot, soft finger completely sealed my mouth.
I froze once more at her bold action.
"I know, Teacher."
She slowly removed the finger from my lips and whispered into my ear.
Her hot body heat radiated from the close distance.
"That you can't accept my feelings right now."
Luna's voice in my ear was hot and sticky.
"So it's okay."
Her eyes glistened moistly.
"Slowly... slowly... once our relationship as counselor and client gradually fades..."
Once that outdated counselor-client bond disappeared.
"We can start over then."
A now-familiar smile played on Luna's lips.
"As man and woman. Ah... no, not woman."
Luna tilted her head as if realizing her words were wrong.
And then, as if finding the precise term, she added innocently with a pure face.
"I'm a female."
[Luna][Main Stance]
Bury my head in Teacher's chest and smell his scent. Nibble on the back of Teacher's neck a little. Lock the counseling room door...
Only then did it all sink in.
With those final words, Luna smiled radiantly.
The hot air that had bound me moments ago vanished in an instant.
Luna took a step back and bowed deeply to me.
"Thank you so much for everything up until now, Teacher."
When she lifted her head, Luna proudly showed me her pristine white rabbit ears.
- Perk.
"Oh, right. Do you remember that too?"
I stared blankly at her ears and silently listened to what came next.
"Stroking the right ear."
Luna pointed to her right ear and grinned playfully.
"Elise probably told you, huh?"
"...Yes. She did."
"Actually, that's... both a compliment and a pleasant greeting."
With her cheeks flushed, Luna looked straight into my eyes.
"But really..."
She paused for a moment before continuing in a small voice.
"Among beastkin, it's a sexual compliment... only done between lovers."
With that, Luna, perhaps embarrassed, stuck out her tongue just a bit.
And then she hurriedly gathered her things.
"Well then, Teacher, I'll head out now! Have a great day!"
Luna bowed in greeting and left the counseling room.
As I watched her retreating figure,
- Peek.
Just before the door closed, Luna's face popped out from the crack again.
She looked at me with a fresh smile.
"Teacher..."
Luna spoke softly, but clearly enough for me to hear.
"I like you a lot!"
- Slam!
After saying that, Luna shut the door and disappeared.
I could only watch her vanishing back.
Nothing else.
'I did it, I did it...!'
Luna clutched her pounding heart—the hardest it had ever beaten in her life—as she headed home.
Even as the elevator from the counseling building reached the first floor and opened, her heart thumped wildly.
She had confessed to Teacher.
She had thrown her entire heart at him with all her might, holding nothing back.
From start to finish, everything.
- Thump thump.
Of course it was her first time. She had no idea what to do.
So she just followed her heart, her instincts.
"He must have been... really shocked..."
Luna murmured as she cooled her flushed cheeks.
She knew.
How startled Teacher would be.
She hadn't been without worries about that.
Probably...
What Teacher had been about to say then was definitely a rejection.
'However...'
The cold words that would follow, pushing her away.
Luna clenched her fists.
So she had struck first.
She didn't give Teacher a chance to reject her.
She just kept pouring out her feelings unilaterally.
'I'm a female.'
She recalled the words she had let slip earlier, following her instincts.
How could he refute that?
Luna had laid herself bare, just as she was.
The outside was the city center.
Luna hadn't reapplied her camouflage yet.
This was right in the heart of the hunters' district.
In other words, stepping out here would reveal her ears to the whole world.
'Luna is a beastkin.'
'She's an animal.' Rumors like that would spread.
So what?
What did it matter?
Teacher had said they were pretty.
And.
'He decided to accept me.'
Luna took a step outward.
'I am...'
a female.
Luna had no intention of denying it anymore.
She opened the building's door.
Dazzling sunlight poured down, illuminating her.
Over her white dress, and atop her perked-up rabbit ears.
- Huh...? Isn't that... Luna the hunter over there?
- Wait, ears... she has ears...?
Passersby's gazes locked onto her. Murmurs began filling the city.
Now.
It was time for the world to welcome the new Luna.