Formo came out from the balcony with Serdin and returned to the banquet hall. Since he was moving while holding Serdin’s hand, even though his head was bowed, he could feel other beast-people looking at him with interested eyes. The gazes were so intense that his skin stung, so it would be stranger not to notice them.
Regardless, Serdin’s stride holding Formo’s hand was unhesitating. By the time Formo raised his head, they had already arrived in front of the banquet hall doors in an instant. The guards who confirmed their faces threw open the doors.
As soon as the doors opened, Serdin left the banquet hall with Formo. It was quick to where the carriage was waiting.
“Pipi, go ahead and sleep. You can sleep alone, right?”
“O, of course?”
“If you’re scared without me…”
“I won’t be scared, so hurry up and go!”
Formo, who hastily boarded the carriage, yelled and turned his head. Just bringing him to the carriage took this long, so he couldn’t even imagine how long it would have taken if he’d agreed to be brought all the way to the palace. Formo pretended not to see Serdin’s regret-dripping gaze and only looked out the opposite window.
“I’ll be there soon, Pipi.”
With those final words, Serdin closed the door and started the carriage. When Williot, the cheetah beast-person with excellent driving skills, smoothly drove the carriage, only then could Formo lean against the backrest and relax. The banquet was truly hectic and a place where he couldn’t let his guard down in many ways. Moreover, it was boring and tedious, making it nothing but torturous.
Formo trembled finely recalling the gazes of the beast-people that had been directed at him and Serdin. Though he hated to admit it, there was no beast-person who felt as comfortable as Serdin. Of course, not having met them before played a part in this sentiment, but that wasn’t all. Even Kert, whom he frequently saw, was similarly uncomfortable, though to a subtle degree.
In contrast, Serdin was.
“An irritating, nasty-tempered, bothersome, and strange jaguar, but…”
Still, being with him wasn’t bad. Sometimes it even felt fun. Well, occasionally he made annoying and absurd remarks that made him angry, but he didn’t feel fear from that. Rather, didn’t he feel comfortable?
“…Hup, what? Com, comfortable?”
Whether he’d already gotten used to that wretched jaguar’s presence, the sentiment that a beast was comfortable was absurd even to himself. Formo sucked in an empty breath and shook his head from side to side. He felt like he’d fallen for the jaguar’s scheme. Even when he said no, he kept pestering, and finally made him feel comfort and familiarity.
But outside, they were nothing more or less than predator and prey. Formo looked outside with slightly sunken eyes.
The slowly moving carriage stopped in front of Sotes Palace. Williot, who got down from the driver’s seat, opened the door. Formo, who got off the large carriage, moved his steps into Sotes Palace while receiving Williot’s greeting. Since it was a dim night, the palace was busy with servants who had started cleaning.
“Ah, you’ve returned.”
It was the maid Cellia, who was on friendly terms with Formo. She looked at Formo, who had returned alone at an earlier time than expected, with slightly surprised eyes, then greeted him welcomingly.
“But His Highness…”
“He’ll come later.”
“I see. Ah, instead of doing this, I’ll heat up water.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Cellia, who knew that Formo quite enjoyed bathing alone, hurried toward the great bath. In the meantime, Formo went up to his room. The bedroom he entered past the drawing room was bright thanks to the dim moonlight pouring in. Formo walked slowly and sat on the edge of the bed.
The wide bed received Formo without a single ripple. Formo, who sat in front of the window where bright moonlight was visible, stared blankly outside then got up from his seat. Formo let out a small exclamation while looking up at the sky with his hands on the windowsill.
“Wow…”
He saw a sky so fascinating that he wanted to animalize and fly around right now. Formo watched it for a while, then opened the window and sat on the windowsill. Formo’s bangs swayed gently in the cool breeze. While gazing outside in that state, Formo’s eyes widened.
“…Huh?”
A bewildering scene entered his eyes. Formo unconsciously stuck his head forward. Two beast-people passed in front of Sotes Palace, stopped, then suddenly kissed. What was most surprising was that those two were men.
To Formo, who as a prince of a kingdom and as a guardian had heard ad nauseam about the importance and duty of reproduction, it was a truly shocking and bewildering scene. That alone was sufficiently shocking, but the following scene left his head completely blank.
“Spa, sparrow?”
The beast-person who had kissed with a beast-person at least a head taller than him suddenly animalized and turned into a sparrow. A sparrow. Not only was a sparrow a beast-person, but kissing a man… Formo’s mouth gaped open at witnessing that. Formo, who gaped his mouth while staring outside for a long time, stepped back and sat on the bed.
“Pipi-nim, I’ve heated the bath water.”
“Y, yeah.”
Formo, who came to his senses with a start at Cellia’s words, gathered his robe and underwear and headed to the great bath.
Formo, who finished bathing in the great bath with complicated feelings, returned to the bedroom and sat blankly in front of the table. The scenes he’d seen just before still circled in his head. Come to think of it, the face of the beast-person who kissed the sparrow was familiar somewhere. But he couldn’t remember where he’d seen him at all.
Formo, who was reflecting on his memories with a serious face, turned his head at the presence heard from the door.
“Pipi, you’re not asleep yet?”
“You’re here already?”
“You didn’t sleep because you were waiting for me?”
Serdin was approaching with a bright smile. Had the banquet that seemed like it would be long already ended? Formo side-glanced at Serdin, who had already approached his side and was stroking his moisture-laden hair.
“Pipi, you washed alone?”
“Yeah.”
“What about me?”
“…Why are you asking me that?”
“Because I was going to wash with Pipi.”
“You can wash by yourself too!”
He wasn’t even a young jaguar, and he couldn’t even wash alone? Anyway, it was utterly absurd. Formo stuck out his lips and grumbled, then made eye contact with Serdin.
“Pipi, what were you doing while I was gone?”
“Just…”
“Just?”
“I was looking outside. But outside, I saw something a little… strange.”
“Something strange?”
When Serdin asked back in a curious voice, Formo, who had been reading the mood for a moment, opened his mouth.
“I saw two beast-people ki, kissing.”
“So?”
Serdin retorted curtly. Beast-people expressing affection while walking were common. It was a sight frequently seen even within the castle. Arancha where Formo had lived seemed a little different, but was it that strange to see?
“Bo, both of them were men…”
“Men?”
“Yeah! And one of them was a sparrow, you know?”
Formo quickly added that he was really shocked and couldn’t think straight throughout his bath.
“A sparrow.”
There was only one reason why a sparrow beast-person would be included in the delegation from Chaimb, the empire of canine beasts. It meant that the sparrow brought by their Crown Prince Kaien Cromwell was actually a beast-person. Serdin raised his eyebrows at the unexpectedly interesting news Formo had conveyed.
“Men and men can’t even reproduce. How could they…”
Formo shook his head from side to side with a face showing the shock hadn’t worn off. Then Serdin burst into laughter and asked.
“Is reproduction the most important thing to Pipi?”
“What? You’re the Crown Prince too, why are you asking something so obvious?”
“But Pipi has to live with me forever.”
“Th, that’s a different matter!”
Formo furrowed his brow and continued speaking.
“And when the time comes, I’ll also find a mate…”
“A mate?”
Serdin’s eyes, which had been filled with laughter, instantly sank. Serdin gazed quietly at Formo, who had uttered the word “mate,” and said.
“There’s something Pipi doesn’t know.”
“…What?”
“The Spring of Blessing doesn’t only make you humanize.”
“What does that mean?”
Formo asked with surprised eyes, but Serdin didn’t give an answer to the question. He only added one remark.
“The beast-people Pipi saw can reproduce. So you don’t need to find it strange, Pipi.”
In beast-person society, same-sex relationships were rare, but it wasn’t unheard of either. Though there were those who viewed it negatively, they were rather the minority. Serdin thought while picking up a cloth placed on the table and wiping the moisture from Formo’s hair.
If Formo’s negative perception of same-sex romance or marriage was only based on “reproduction,” things would be resolved more easily than expected. After all, wouldn’t it be fine as long as the reproduction problem was solved?
Serdin decided to speak to Kert to provide a good opportunity to change Formo’s perception.
“Um, but.”
“Yeah.”
“The face of the beast-person who ki… kissed the sparrow beast-person was familiar.”
At Formo’s words spoken in a small voice, Serdin nodded.
“Because he’s Chaimb’s Crown Prince.”
“Ch, Chaimb’s Crown Prince?”
Formo’s eyes widened in shock. Wasn’t Chaimb’s Crown Prince someone who must fulfill the duty of reproduction for the sake of the empire! For such a person to not only associate with a gossipy and rude sparrow but even kiss him. Formo became even more dumbfounded.
