Episode 42
Episode 42
As soon as I wake up in the morning, I naturally pull Aron into an embrace and take a deep breath.
Hiss.
"Huh? This is..."
Mixed with the scent that usually makes me feel good right away is another scent.
To accurately identify the scent, I climb on top of Aron who's still lying down, press myself completely against him, and twitch my nose as I sniff.
Huuuuh...
Taking a deep breath, I can now clearly sense it.
There's another person's scent mixed on Aron's body. And not a man, but a woman. And not just any woman! A female!
Mia furrowed her brow and took another deep sniff.
"...Is it that bitch?"
Differences in social status or power between them.
That didn't matter.
What mattered now was the unpleasant feeling itself. The fact that there was another scent on Aron's body, which was practically her possession.
Her small hands tightened with force, gripping Aron's clothes as if she might tear them.
Fortunately, since she wasn't using aura, the clothes didn't tear.
"Mia? What are you doing?"
While it was true that she had become accustomed to skin-ship, Mia didn't just cling to him randomly.
She had her own standards, so to speak.
She always maintained that distance - less than lovers, but a bit closer than friends.
Aron had been enjoying that subtle distance too.
But this sudden close contact was bewildering.
"What am I doing? That's what I should be asking you. What did you do yesterday?"
Her voice was tinged with irritation, and her expression openly showed discomfort.
"Not going to answer? Don't tell me you were with that Duchess? Or was it another woman? Did you grab one of the maids in the ducal castle and have your way with her?"
She glared at Aron while gripping his clothes with the determination not to let go until he answered.
Aron looked at Mia for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I had a little talk with the Duchess."
"Talk? The kind you do with your body?"
While glaring at Aron with her brow deeply furrowed, Mia's fingertips were trembling slightly.
Her voice wasn't just angry either.
Anger, sadness, fear, worry.
Too many emotions were mixed together, making it difficult to define simply.
"...No. Whatever."
The emotions that had been exploding in all directions like a volcano extinguished in an instant.
Her expression returned to blank, as if there had never been any emotion from the start.
"Do whatever you want. It's not like I'm your real girlfriend anyway."
I was originally a man.
Why should I care if Aron sees other women?
"Let's go get breakfast. I'm hungry."
Slowly climbing off Aron's body, she planted both feet on the floor.
The floor, which couldn't be warmed by just one stove, felt like it pierced through her body with a biting chill.
'Why should I be feeling like this? Is it that time of the month again?'
Even if she gently touched her lower abdomen, she couldn't find the answer.
There was just an uncomfortable sensation weighing heavily on her chest and an inexplicable bitterness in her mouth.
*
Whether some conversation had taken place between the Duchess and Aron, the Dwarf Merchant Group began moving around lunchtime.
She saw them coming out after talking alone, but deliberately paid no attention.
She just quietly crouched in a corner of the cargo compartment and waited.
"Will it take about a month to travel this time too? That's going to take a while."
She decided to erase memories of Aron as much as possible and focus only on her goal.
After all, the reason she was following Aron around like this was because of the hope that she might be able to return to Earth.
Since there were records of dimensional travel at the ruins, the reverse should be possible too.
Maybe she might even know some dragons among the dragonkin.
As if convinced, she nodded her head lightly to herself.
"Once I go back, it'll all be over."
Looking back at her recent behavior, Mia realized she had been acting like a girlfriend.
Even though she knew it wasn't like her, Mia had acted that way.
It made her feel at ease.
It was a way to temporarily escape from the repeated losses and dangers.
'There's no way someone who lived in the 21st century could get used to this kind of life.'
Mia's thoughts weren't wrong either.
In her original world, people around her rarely died, and she didn't need to risk her life every day. It was a place where she could make a living just by doing things moderately.
Here, to do that, she needed something more than moderate.
"Mia, are you okay? You don't look well."
The depressed emotions that had sunk in her gloomy mood instantly rose to the surface.
She forcibly suppressed those emotions that even she could hardly control.
"Yeah. I'm just a little tired... I was resting."
She didn't approach him like she usually did.
She just nodded quietly and continued the conversation with Aron.
"Did you hear how long the journey will take?"
"No, how long will it take?"
"They said about a month. I got some snacks to eat during that time."
She looked at the basket that had been plopped down in front of her.
Her sense of smell, which had become sensitive as she grew as a beastkin, identified the contents of the basket.
Sweet, stimulating foods.
Exactly the kind of foods she always liked and sought out. Yet she quietly averted her gaze and replied.
"...I'll eat it later."
Aron was quite taken aback by Mia's noticeably changed attitude.
He had thought she would cheer up if he approached her and offered something delicious, as always. Her appetite was one of her biggest characteristics.
'Is she really not feeling well this time?'
Since she always got angry and irritated easily but also cheered up easily, he wasn't too worried.
He thought what happened in the morning would resolve itself quickly.
But this time was different.
"I'm going out for a bit."
"Okay."
With that short reply, Mia buried her face between her knees again.
After watching her for a moment, Aron quickly got off the carriage. And he ran at full speed straight to the Frost Duchess.
Thump!
The door opened and the Duchess, who had been doing a final check on the Dwarf Merchant Group, looked at him.
"Was last night not enough? You come looking for me like this first thing in the morning."
Seeing Shavel smiling as if pleased, Aron shook his head.
He urgently approached her and explained the situation.
"Hmm... Could it be because she's a wolf? Wolves only make one mate, after all."
As soon as she heard the explanation, Shavel said that.
"Plus, she's young. The feeling of liking someone is still awkward for her, so anyone would get angry if that person kept playing around with other women."
"But why did she become so quiet like that? This is the first time she's acted like this."
"That's because the fox and Gwijaeng-i... and that crazy bitch have different personalities from her. They're proud and have strong dislikes to begin with."
"That's... true."
Seoryeong, Eri, and his childhood friend all had strong personalities.
If Aron met other women, those three would crush and break the other party with force rather than yield themselves.
Mia, on the other hand, has a slightly different personality.
While she similarly hates to lose, she doesn't have as high self-esteem as those three.
She says she's pretty, cute, and has a good figure. But that was closer to a defense mechanism.
Mia actually showed a strange rejection and awkwardness toward feminine things.
Aron nodded, convinced by his experiences so far.
"Then what should I do? What can I do to make her return to how she was before?"
"Make her feel assured that she's loved for a while. Or just abandoning her like this is also an answer. That kind of personality suffers for life if they receive ambiguous love."
"...Hmm."
At Shavel's decisive answer, Aron let out a deep sigh and nodded.
"Then I'll have to try a bit harder."
As the convinced Aron was about to leave the room.
"Hero-nim."
Shavel stopped him.
Hearing the title "Hero" after so long, Aron turned around awkwardly.
"That name brings back memories. Why?"
"But why are you so sincere with that girl? Watching from the side, it seems like you're more sincere with her than with the other three."
Aron thought for a moment before answering.
"...At first, I took her along because of someone else's request and a certain deal. But now I don't know. I feel like those things don't matter anymore."
"So you're just being good to her without even knowing why?"
The Aron that Shavel had seen by chance when she was very young had been closer to a more savage feeling.
He was strong, had strong sexual desires, and had a strong personality.
Maybe it was because he was in the prime of his youth.
Shavel had seen Aron twice - the first time he came with two women, and the next time the number had increased to three.
'When he came with two... I just thought he was a pervert bastard.'
Back then, he would take any woman straight to bed except old women and children.
Since he was handsome, had a good body, and was the Hero, no one refused.
After he had just become a Saint, he came with three women.
He was still fond of women back then too.
'Even with those three beautiful women, he wasn't satisfied and slept with several maids from ducal houses.'
Shavel had also slept with Aron back then.
After that, her standards for men became very high, which is why she remained an old maid until now.
Aron, who had been thinking for a moment, nodded.
"Anyway, I don't know the reason, but I want to be good to her. I want Mia to always be smiling. The sight of her just panting in pleasure wasn't as great as I thought."
At Aron's words, Shavel looked at him with wide eyes before forming a faint smile.
"It seems the Hero-nim is finally growing up. I'm happy for you in many ways."
"Me? I'm probably over a hundred years old already."
"Not just simple age. Mentally, I mean. I'll give you this from my heart of supporting Hero-nim."
Shavel walked to the desk in her office for a moment and opened a drawer.
She took out a small box from the deepest part of the drawer and handed it to Aron.
"Take this and give it to her."
Aron opened what Shavel had given him to check, then looked at her and asked.
"Are you sure I can really take this?"
"Yes, it's something you saved for us anyway. So please use it for yourself."