By Zephyria 
Aska’s eyes twitched, as if he was slowly regaining consciousness. Even while sleeping, he was still wearing the same black clothes, top and bottom.
His sleeves were rolled up to below his elbows, revealing his pale forearms. Were there scars here originally too? Are there still scars above there?
I slowly reached out, intending to roll up his sleeve just a bit more to check. At that moment, I made eye contact with the wolf that was still watching me from beside Aska.
“……”
The wolf simply looked at me with its black eyes, without any particular reaction. It was clearly a wild animal, not a beast tamed by human hands.
Just in case, I moved my hand. The wolf’s gaze followed my hand.
A little closer. Even closer. And just as I was about to touch him completely, the area above the wolf’s brow suddenly split open in a straight line, and a blood-red eyeball appeared.
“……”
Just like a third eye, the pupil moved and its gaze turned towards me. So that was a monster too…
I had a feeling that if I touched Aska, my wrist would be bitten off.
—Chirp, chirp.
But after the bird chirped a few times softly, the wolf’s brow closed. It was still staring, but the tension from a moment ago had disappeared.
In the meantime, Aska seemed to have fallen asleep again, his face peaceful as he closed his eyes. I neatly arranged the white hair that was spread out like a blanket on the bed and got up from my seat.
“Ugh, the fur…”
Black and white fur scattered as soon as I stood up. I waved my hands and coughed a few times, then rotated my neck in a circle. My body felt light and my condition wasn’t bad.
I was always cold when I woke up, but today my body was warm. Was it because the furry beasts were next to me, providing insulation? The fur flying around was a drawback, but if it was warm, this was okay too.
I had fallen asleep in the bathtub, so I didn’t know when I had been taken out, but I was in pretty good condition. It was just a gown, but they had washed me, wiped me dry, and put something on me, so it seemed like they had made an effort.
But how did I not wake up even once? Did I wake up but not remember?
Thinking that, I pulled back the curtains covering the window. The sky was still dim, as it was still early morning. Outside, a few people were moving busily even before the sun rose.
Among them were Abyss and Sakira. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but judging from their expressions, they seemed to be bickering again. The two of them hardly spent any time together, and they didn’t have much private conversation.
I had rarely seen them being affectionate with each other, so I had wondered if they had really married because they liked each other. But now, although they were bickering, the atmosphere seemed slightly different from usual, so maybe they were different when they were alone.
Aska was also different when he was with other people and when he was alone with me.
At that moment, Abyss, sensing my gaze, turned his head towards me. The two of them bowed to me, so I waved back.
How did he know? Seeing this, Abyss seemed to have good intuition and wasn’t weak, but how strong was Aska? Seeing him turn the mansion into that state with his bare hands, he didn’t seem ordinary…
I was about to pull the curtains wide open, but since Aska was still sleeping, I quietly closed them again. On the bed, the cat was lying on its back in the spot where I had been lying, with its four legs spread wide. The three tails were moving slowly, each in its own way, so it didn’t seem to be sleeping.
Having nothing to do, I went back to the bed and sat down. It was my bed, but the furry beasts had taken it over, so I only put my butt slightly on the edge.
“Let’s sleep for another hour…”
At that moment, Aska mumbled with his eyes closed.
I wasn’t even thinking of waking him up in the first place. Did he sleep late yesterday?
I was just looking at Aska and thinking that when something caught my eye in the corner of my vision. A glass bottle was placed on the head of the bed, where there was definitely nothing until yesterday.
The problem was that it looked exactly like what I had seen in my dream. Wide and long leaves, pebbles, flowers, tree fruits… The contents inside were so unique and random that it was hard to call it a coincidence.
I recalled the scenery I had seen in my dream.
It was an indoor space with plenty of sunlight, and there was also a swimming pool. There were many plants, trees, and flowers, so it seemed like a Greenhouse. So, a Greenhouse where you could live and eat…
“Was he a gardener?”
I muttered, picked up the glass bottle, and examined it closely. I tried to open the stopper blocking the entrance, but it wouldn’t budge. Were they real fruits or flowers? Why do they look so fresh?
When I shook it up and down, left and right, the stretched-out cat suddenly jumped up. It only took a few seconds for the bird to burrow into the blanket and the cat to hide under the bed.
The largest wolf suddenly became transparent, like a dispersing fog, and disappeared. I sighed at the pile of fur left alone on the bed.
Knock, knock.
It must be Sakira or Abyss. They would be surprised to see the messy bed, so I moved before the door opened.
“Lots of meat.”
Aska, who I thought was sleeping, said without even opening his eyes.
I opened the door just a crack and peeked out, and Sakira was startled.
“You woke up early.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Is there anything that’s bothering you?”
“No.”
“Shall I prepare breakfast right away? Or would you like to change first and eat later?”
At the word “breakfast,” I finally understood what Aska meant.
“Changing is fine, prepare breakfast right away. I’ll eat in the room, so bring it here. And lots of meat.”
“Excuse me? Meat?”
“Just prepare a lot of everything. First, bring a comb and hair ties too.”
“Understood.”
Despite the strange request, Sakira didn’t ask any particular questions, bowed, and turned away.
In the meantime, Aska had woken up and was sitting on the bed. His expression was blank and he couldn’t even open his eyes properly, as if he was still half asleep.
“Did you sleep late yesterday?”
Aska yawned and shook his head at my question. When I got closer, I could see tears welling up in his eyes.
The cat that crawled out from under the bed sat on Aska’s lap and cried like a baby, and the wolf that reappeared shook its body, scattering fur everywhere. Seeing the fur flying in all directions, I unconsciously took a step back.
Come to think of it, Aska’s black clothes were not only covered in fur, but it was also clumped together in round balls and stuck all over him. Ah, that wasn’t fur, it was a bird. It was so small that I thought it was a fur ball.
“Are they your friends?”
“Friends?”
Aska asked back with slurred pronunciation. He should be awake by now, but why is he so out of it? I wondered if he was sick, so I tried to touch his forehead, but there was a knock.
I opened the door just a little and poked my head out again. Sakira brought several types of combs and colorful hair ties. Some of them even had flower decorations.
I was momentarily flustered, but I didn’t know what to say, so I quietly received them and closed the door.
“……”
What is this? Of course, I asked her to bring a comb and hair ties, but isn’t this a bit much? Now that I think about it, I made a strange request that was different from usual, and I was bothered that she didn’t ask any questions.
I made a sullen expression and approached Aska, who was sitting and dozing off.
His hair was a bit puffy and disheveled, but the soft and cool feeling was the same. Aska didn’t react even when I slowly started combing his long hair with a comb.
“Do you usually have trouble waking up in the morning? You said you didn’t sleep late, so why are you like this?”
While touching his hair, I also touched his nape, cheeks, and forehead, but he didn’t have a fever. Aska completely entrusted himself to my touch and mumbled.
“It’s been a while since I slept…”
What does it mean that it’s been a while since he slept? Does it mean he stayed up for several nights? Besides this, I was also curious about the beasts and the glass bottle, but I decided to ask him later when he was more awake.
I loosely tied Aska’s hair down, then tied it up high. I rolled it up and also braided it clumsily, and finally tied it up high in pigtails.
Then I went to the front and admired the work I had created. I was just trying to make him laugh, but I was embarrassed because it wasn’t funny. But if you asked if it was ridiculous, it wasn’t that either…
Aska, who had been sitting and sleeping with his mouth slightly open, slowly opened his eyes. He still looked dazed, but his focus was clearer than before.
Just in time, the food was prepared. Since I kept not opening the door and preventing her from entering, she brought the food on a mobile serving tray.
Aska got out of bed as she pulled the tray inside. The moment his feet touched the floor, flames blazed up from his toes to his head in an instant and then subsided.
Before I could be surprised, Aska came to me and did the same thing to me. A hot wind blew, and by the time I closed and opened my eyes, all the fur that had been stuck to me had disappeared.
He said he wasn’t human, but he really had a lot of strange talents. It wasn’t just that the fur disappeared, but I felt strangely refreshed.
“What was that?”
“Just Cleansing magic.”
Aska, who was looking at the food in the tray, reached for a long, round, green fruit. I tilted my head.
If there was such a thing as Cleansing magic, why did he go through all that trouble to wash me yesterday? He was clumsy and couldn’t wash me well.
My eyes met Aska’s, who was chewing on the fruit with a crunching sound. With his hair in pigtails, holding a fruit in one hand and moving his mouth, he looked like a white rabbit.
Not because he was small or cute, but just because of his hair tied up high.
Aska moved his mouth while looking blankly at me, then put the fruit he had taken a bite of into my mouth. I wasn’t planning on eating anything yet, but I had no choice but to move my jaw.
“Is it good?”
“I don’t really know the taste.”
“I know.”
“The texture is okay. And the crunching sound is good.”
I definitely didn’t want to eat anything, but my mouth felt bored. I took another green fruit about two finger joints long and took a bite.
Aska put a plate with a thick steak on the floor. Then the little bird and cat started eating it together. He threw an apple to the wolf, so I was surprised and asked.
“Isn’t the wolf a carnivore?”
“It’s not a wolf, it’s a Magical creature, and originally it only needs clean water and moonlight. It sometimes eats tree fruits too.”
Clean water is one thing, but moonlight? I was amazed that such a creature existed.
“Are they all the ones you raise?”
“I don’t raise them… It’s just a relationship where we help each other?”
For some reason, I had a feeling that I would have to live in a pile of fur in the future.
“What are their names?”
I couldn’t keep calling them bird or cat. Aska ate a thick sandwich and pointed to the bird, wolf, and cat in turn.
“Pipi, Popo, Chichi.”
“……”
What kind of names did he give them? I was momentarily flustered, but I didn’t say what was on my mind. Then, suddenly curious, I asked.
“Do you want to give me a name too?”
“A fake name?”
“Yeah.”
Aska gave me a yellow soup and made a troubled expression. I thought he would immediately come up with meaningless words like Hoho or Titi, but it seemed like he was thinking hard about my name.
I waited with anticipation and started eating the soup with a spoon. Aska also gave me bread, so when I dipped it in the soup, I felt all kinds of warm, thick, and soft textures.
“Theodore?”
I was slightly surprised at the words he mumbled, as if he had finally thought of something. It was a relief that it wasn’t a name like Pupu, but I asked just in case.
“What does it mean?”
“I just said whatever came to mind. If you don’t like it, we can do something else.”
He had been thinking for quite a while for something he just said randomly. Maybe he had put a lot of thought into it and made a decision after careful consideration? Whatever the other person said, I thought as I pleased.
“I don’t dislike it. Then I’ll just go with Theodore.”
Aska was about to say something, but then closed his mouth. It might have been my imagination, but his eyes seemed redder than before. I sighed as I watched him eat a large sandwich and already start eating something else.
Everything about him was pitch black and snow white, his naming sense was terrible, he couldn’t wake up properly in the morning, his hair was tied up in pigtails like a rabbit, and his eyes were too red, so I suddenly had the thought that I had to have him.