episode_0008

* * *

“Eww! Surprise! What the heck, you’re a kid?”

I took a step back, reacting as if I had no idea who was standing behind me.

Fortunately, Remy didn’t move and stood there with a stiff expression, either because he didn’t intend to attack right away or because he didn’t know that I would suddenly turn around.

‘….This child is Remy.’

He quickly glanced at Remy, showing a look of confusion.

The child, wearing a luxurious black lace one-piece dress, had dark black hair flowing down to her shoulders and red eyes like a peacock.

She was glaring at me with a sharp gaze.

I’ve seen the adult version of the villainess in webtoons, but this is the first time I’ve seen her in such a young form, so I found her cute for some reason.

I guess you could say it feels like a fresh cat.

Of course, the object hidden behind his back wasn’t cute at all.

“What, what is it? I was surprised for no reason. You’re a child. How did you get in here, kid?”

I smiled awkwardly and scratched my head, pretending to be as clueless and stupid as I could, and asked kindly.

When I asked him with pure curiosity, as if I knew absolutely nothing, Remy kept his mouth shut and remained silent. His face looked as if he was deep in thought.

….Isn’t that the face of someone contemplating whether or not they should kill me?

Unlike the silent mouth, I could feel the increase and decrease in life in real time.

I was worried that I might need to go through another training session to control my thirst as the coldness that was pressing down on my whole body was making me feel sick.

But contrary to my true feelings, I looked around as if I didn’t feel anything and pretended to be worried about Remy.

“This is a dangerous place. Do you want to go out with me? This guy, no, my brother, will take you home. Even though this place looks like an ordinary cave, there are a lot of scary animals inside, so it’s dangerous to go out alone. So, do you want to go out with me? Okay?”

If we compare by age, I was only 15 years old, so I wasn’t an old man. I naturally referred to myself as oppa.

I felt a little guilty, but I didn’t lie.

Fortunately, my desperate feigned ignorance worked and Remy’s killing intent gradually subsided.

Remy’s gaze turned from me to Aru.

“That tiger….”

“Huh? Are you talking about this tiger cub?”

“…..That’s right. That’s my friend.”

“….Ah, this kid’s name was Aru. Your tiger. Here he is. Take him.”

“Bam, squeak. Bam bam.”

As I was about to pick her up and send her to Remi, Aru, who had been sleeping against me, whined and clung to me as if she didn’t want to be separated from me.

Remy froze in shock at the sight.

‘This is not it… Aru, your master is over there! Hurry up and open your eyes and go find your master!’

I’m starting to feel anxious about the life that’s starting to grow darker and darker again.

But Aru was still half asleep and clung to me without trying to get off.

The young one was strong, like a beast.

“How…..”

“Huh?”

“How, how does Aru follow you like that?”

“Ah, that’s….”

I was embarrassed by Remi, who was questioning me with his face distorted.

If I were to honestly say that it’s all thanks to the skill’s effects, I’d feel like my throat would be cut by a dagger hidden behind my back, asking if I was kidding myself. What should I say?

Eventually, I shrugged my shoulders and responded calmly, as if this was a natural thing.

“I’ve been popular with animals since I was little. All the animals have always followed me.”

“Kkiing? Kkurung, kururung!”

Fortunately, Aru must have woken up while Remi and I were talking, and as soon as she saw Remi in front of her, she broke free of my arms and ran to him.

“Aru!”

Remy lifted Aru up and held him in his arms.

Her eyes were not the ones that sparkled with life like when she had seen me earlier, but rather warm and affectionate.

The young Remi still had a look in her eyes that you would never see in the adult Remi, who grew up to be a villainess in the webtoon.

As I was looking at that sight with a strange emotion, Remy suddenly turned his head and glared at me.

“….What’s your name?”

“You, I’m Jodell. My name is Jodell.”

“Jodel. You haven’t been working here for long, have you?”

“Well, today is the first day.”

“So…you…don’t…know…me…..”

Remy, who had been muttering to himself for a while, seemed to have made up his mind and came closer to me, holding out his hand to me.

I looked at Remy, wondering what he was trying to do, and Remy looked at Aru with eyes dripping with longing and said.

“Aru, my friend. Something came up and I can’t take care of Aru. So. You take care of her.”

“….Me?”

“Oh. I’ll come by to see you from time to time. If you harass or starve Aru, I’ll do the same to you, so be prepared!”

“Uh, uh…yeah.”

Remi, whose eyes were watering, really didn’t seem to want to send Aru to me.

It seems that even though he is young, he has already realized it.

That coming into this cave could be more dangerous for Aru.

With those words, Remy turned around and ran away like a tragic heroine.

“Krung, krung, krung!”

Aru cried as she watched Remi’s back, but Remi never looked back.

* * *

Yeah. I thought my meeting with Remy would end up as a minor incident.

Remi, who ran away after filming a melodrama that wasn’t melodrama, acted like he would never come back, but he came back the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that…

Even today, a week later, I have been visiting the cave every day without fail.

I think it was to monitor whether I was taking good care of Aru… but from my perspective, it was extremely burdensome.

It was to the point where I wondered if it was okay for the princess of the family to be this carefree.

‘…..Aren’t you going to train, training?’

When Remy was watching, I couldn’t just slack off, so I had to faithfully play the role of a hard-working, kind-hearted boy, and my spirits were sucked out of me.

I didn’t intend to work this hard….

‘Please stop coming here to see me. You’re not coming here to see me for the rest of your life, are you?’

I felt uneasy for no reason.

The work was easy.

The problem is that gaze.

‘Ah, I’m going to lose my shit. If it’s going to be like this, I should just raise it myself….’

Even though I cursed inside, I faithfully finished my work for the day.

‘…Well, I guess that’s a good thing….’

But thanks to Remi giving up on Aru, Remi didn’t turn evil and Aru didn’t die. The original story was messed up.

No matter what, I didn’t like the idea of him being subjected to such a terrible thing when he was still a child, but it turned out well.

Taking that as comfort, I came out of the cave.

Fortunately, Remy’s gaze had already fallen.

It seems that he went to see Aru secretly while I was out of the cave.

When Remy’s gaze fell away, it was now my own free time.

I went to the storage room to organize the food I was holding, then lay down on the mattress on the floor of the storage room.

‘Ah, good. Good. There is no heaven.’

This warehouse was my personal treasure trove.

You can rest assured because the door is locked tightly to prevent Remy from entering.

I closed my eyes slowly.

Life wasn’t as bad as I thought.

You can go to work in the morning and leave work in the evening on your own… No one really notices and they even provide you with a buffet for lunch every day.

…..It would really be heaven if that little kid didn’t come.

I’ve been coming for about a week, so I think I’ll be coming less often starting next week.

You’re being so nice to Aru that you can trust me.

When will you trust me and leave it to me?

As I was lost in thought and about to fall asleep, my eyes suddenly opened.

‘This noise… why now!’

All sleep disappeared.

I quickly got up from my seat, tidied up my clothes, and went outside.

I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds.

As expected, it wasn’t an illusion. There was a presence inside the cave.

I hurriedly ran into the cave. The direction where I felt the presence of people was where Aru was staying in the cave.

By now, Aru and Remi, who is watching Aru, should be together in the cave….

If he had come looking for me, he would not have gone into the cave. He would have stopped by the warehouse first.

But what about searching the cave first?

‘….There is a high possibility that he came to find Remy.’

It meant that Remi was the target, not me.

“No! Aru is my friend! Give him back!”

“…..I was wondering where you’ve been sneaking around lately, and it was because of this animal.”

“Give it back!”

Ah, as expected….

When I arrived, the situation was already over.

Aru, who was hanging on to Luan’s hand and baring her teeth and swinging her fingernails and toenails, and Remi, who rushed at Luan to get Aru back but was already badly beaten, crashed into the wall and vomited blood.

“Friend… You are really unnecessary to Miss Remia. I will handle this within my own line.”

Luan coldly shot Remy a look and then walked out of the cave with Aru.

“Give it back! Give it to me! ”

Remy staggered to his feet with his injured body and followed Luan, trying to catch up with him somehow. However, he was so badly injured that he couldn’t close the distance.

I frowned at the miserable sight.

Things… started to go as planned.

If things continue like this…