Contrary to his languid appearance and past conduct, Serdin carried out what he had said with an incredibly diligent attitude. He tried to look after Formo so devotedly that it got to the point where Formo seriously considered animalizing in the empire full of beasts.
Formo sat in front of the table placed in the greenhouse and reflected on the past few days.
First, checking whether any injuries had appeared on Formo’s body overnight as soon as they woke up—once. Calling Sara, his attending physician, for a thorough examination—once. Of course, when Sara examined him, Serdin made sure he was properly dressed. Then once before Serdin left to handle his work, once to check for any injuries that might have occurred during the meal. Coming back before lunch to check—once. Checking after lunch was finished—once… It was the same after that too.
For the past three days, Formo and Serdin’s daily routine had been roughly like this. Serdin was a truly strange jaguar who was tenaciously diligent in odd areas. Even today, only after Serdin left for a state council meeting did Formo, who finally gained a moment of freedom, wrinkle his nose and sigh.
“…I can’t spend my whole life like this.”
He couldn’t spend his whole life showing his bare skin to Serdin. Showing his naked body to Serdin was not only incredibly troublesome but also humiliating. Not only that, but when the time came, he too would have to meet a good mate, so he couldn’t do this forever. The problem was his promise with Serdin… If he told Serdin to entrust the task of checking for injuries to the long-tailed tit who would become his mate in the future, would Serdin accept it?
‘Still, I should try talking to him just in case.’
Formo thought he should bring it up seriously soon. Because Serdin too, just like him, would have to find a mate, wouldn’t he? If he kept Formo by his side, it would be inconvenient and bothersome in many ways. Wanting to keep him by his side for life was back when he was a long-tailed tit who could only chirp “pipit,” but now that he had become a beastman, the situation was completely different.
Right. If he insisted strongly, Serdin would understand to some degree. It absolutely had to be that way. Formo glared at the plants planted in the greenhouse with blazing eyes, then abruptly stood up from his seat. Soon it would be time for that annoying jaguar to return. He should go to the bedroom ahead of time and let him check his body, then bring up the conversation while having a meal with him.
Formo, clenching his fists tightly, strode forward.
* * *
Clatter clatter—. Only the sound of tableware moving filled the dining room. Formo moved his spoon mechanically, not even knowing whether the food was going into his mouth or his nose, as he worried about how to bring up the conversation.
He was still clumsy at using a spoon, so while agonizing over it, he even spilled a bit of soup beside his bowl. Unlike the beastman who had been carefully moving his spoon to minimize the amount of soup he spilled. Formo’s strange behavior didn’t stop there. With a blank expression on his face, Formo tried to bring the salad toward his plate but ended up dropping it all.
As such incidents repeated, Serdin put down his utensils and gazed intently at Formo. Even though he was sending quite a heated gaze, Formo didn’t notice at all. In the end, Serdin even rested his chin on his hand and watched Formo’s actions.
Even after watching for a while, Formo didn’t seem to notice Serdin’s gaze at all.
“Pipi.”
“Hee, heeek…!”
Serdin looked with bewildered eyes at Formo, who was so excessively startled at his call that he even dropped his spoon. For a moment, he wondered if he had made some mistake.
“…Why are you suddenly calling me like that!”
“Why are you so surprised, Pipi?”
At Serdin’s question, Formo pressed his lips tightly shut. Because he had been so absorbed in worrying about how to bring up the topic, he had been startled by Serdin’s call and ended up getting irritated first.
Feeling a bit sorry toward him, Formo roughly wiped his mouth with the napkin placed on his lap, then raised his head to meet Serdin’s eyes.
“…You know.”
“Yeah.”
As Formo struggled to open his mouth, Serdin responded quietly. Formo’s dark blue eyes took on a resolute light as if steeling his will.
“You know, checking my body for injuries every time must be troublesome and annoying for you too.”
“That can’t be.”
At the firm answer that came out immediately, contrary to his expectations, Formo flinched slightly, but clenched his fists and spoke.
“You say it’s not now, but when a lot of time passes, it’ll definitely become annoying. Anyway, so what I’m saying is…”
Formo watched Serdin’s reaction and continued.
“Even if we live together for life, we’ll both have mates, right? Won’t we?”
He asked cautiously while checking Serdin’s expression.
“What’s your point, Pipi?”
When Serdin asked back in a cold voice, Formo, who had been speaking indirectly, scratched his cheek. He had been going around in circles because it was embarrassing to bring it up directly—was Serdin frustrated? Or was he feeling burdened because he brought up the topic of mates? Given his position as Crown Prince, that was understandable. Since Formo too had been a prince of Arancha, he could fully understand the pressure that the duty of marriage and reproduction brought.
Somehow feeling as if the temperature of the dining room had dropped a bit, Formo tilted his head. He crossed his hands and rubbed his forearms up and down against the chill that penetrated his clothes and seeped into his skin, then continued speaking.
“Later, how about entrusting the task of checking for injuries to the long-tailed tit who will become my mate—that’s what I was going to ask… And living together for life seems like it’ll be impossible once we both have mates. Because we’ll have to live apart someday.”
Formo, who spoke clearly what he had to say while being mindful of Serdin’s reaction, looked both admirable and foolish. Serdin was in such a state of bewilderment that he couldn’t even let out a hollow laugh at what Formo had brought up. The long-tailed tit who would become his mate? Each other’s mates? Living apart someday? Was that even a reasonable thing to say?
Moreover, Serdin hadn’t even been thinking of keeping something like a mate by his side. Since Formo would be by his side for life, why would he need such a restrictive and cumbersome existence as a mate? But Formo’s thoughts seemed to be very different from Serdin’s.
Instead of frowning and resenting Formo, Serdin pressured him gently with a smiling face. Knowing full well that Formo was very weak to his smiling face, he was confident enough that he could persuade him without much effort.
“Pipi, do you really think that?”
“U-um…”
As expected. He could see Formo, who had faced his smiling face, hesitating and fidgeting with his fingers. Not stopping there, Serdin pulled up the corners of his mouth to create quite a gentle expression.
“Think again, Pipi. Thoughts are fickle things that can change at any time.”
“Again, um. Now that I think about it again…”
Formo continued stammering without being able to take his eyes off Serdin’s face.
“It seems like that might not be it… I’m thinking maybe you’re right…”
The words Formo muttered were nothing less than giving Serdin the upper hand. Serdin nodded with a thoroughly satisfied smile spread across his face.
“Pipi, the truth is you were anxious, weren’t you?”
“U-uh.”
“You were worried I might find you annoying?”
When Serdin asked, unable to hide his pleased mood, Formo’s eyelashes trembled.
“Wh-why does it turn into that? That’s not it! I just…”
Formo desperately tried to deny Serdin’s words, but Serdin had no intention of just listening quietly. He drove the point home while watching Formo, whose lips were twitching as he tried to choose his words.
“Pipi, not being able to feel pain is truly a huge price to pay. It’s serious enough that you need to be carefully watched every minute and every second. Besides, just because you can’t feel pain doesn’t mean injuries or illnesses won’t occur. Rather, they could occur and you might not know and overlook them. Right?”
“…Yeah.”
“So Pipi, let me continue checking your body like I am now from now on too. I’m worried about you. Okay?”
“Mm-hmm. Alright…”
The more he listened to the conversation, the more he felt like he was being drawn into Serdin. He had definitely intended to persuade Serdin, but when he came to his senses, he was being persuaded by him instead. Formo gave Serdin, who was looking at him with warm eyes, an awkward smile and bowed his head deeply.
Frustratingly, he couldn’t win against Serdin with words. He was just so sly. Formo was grumbling inwardly with his lips pursed when his eyes widened. Just when he was thinking of giving up like this, a very good idea occurred to him.
‘Instead of doing this, I should just animalize!’
Since he had failed to persuade him, he would have to show his body to Serdin from now on too, but if he animalized, showing his body to Serdin would become easier, and he would surely reduce showing that sly Serdin all sorts of emotional ups and downs and changes in expression after falling for his tricks. If things got really difficult, he could just quickly escape to the top of a tree.
After thinking for a moment, Formo nodded. Right. The only way to counter that annoying Serdin was to animalize.
Of course, this was Tersium, which was full of feline beasts everywhere, but Sotes Palace was relatively safe, and since the nocturnal servants only moved at night, it seemed like it would be okay. The corners of Formo’s mouth twitched. Then, right in front of Serdin who was watching him, he began animalizing as if to show off.
His head churned familiarly, and just as his vision became slightly blurred, the characteristic chirping sound of a long-tailed tit flowed out.
“Pipit!”
[I did it!]
