It seemed my fur had instinctively bristled up, making my body puff out in alertness. The problem was, no matter how much it puffed up, it wasn’t noticeable at all.
I took a step back, turning my head from side to side as I looked around.
As I got up and scanned my surroundings, neither Celestine nor her maids were anywhere to be seen.
The garden, which had been decorated with winter-blooming flowers to suit Celestine’s taste, was now stained a vivid red, the flowers snapped and scattered in all directions.
Bodies of servants lay strewn across the garden. And faint screams could be heard.
The sight before me instantly drained all the color from my face.
“…A fluffball?”
At that moment, a pleasant voice drifted lazily from above.
At the words that seemed to refer to me, I cautiously raised my head and looked up.
‘No way…’
And then, my eyes met his.
‘…The male lead?’
Damn it.
Whooooosh.
A cold winter wind, carrying snow, blew fiercely between us as if to divide us.
His hair fluttered softly in the wind.
Unlike his neatly swaying, handsome hair, my fur was blown every which way, completely out of control—like a tangled ball of fluff.
It mirrored my chaotic thoughts perfectly.
Facing the biting winter wind head-on, I stared at the tiger in front of me without blinking.
My eyes stung from the cold air hitting them directly, but I felt like if I blinked even once, I’d be killed in that instant by that terrifying silver blade.
“Ah!”
At that moment, a scream rang out behind me, followed by the dull thud of something falling.
Thud. Roll…
Yeah. I’d probably die just like that.
I glanced once at what had rolled to a stop right in front of my feet, then immediately looked away. I didn’t have the courage to face a severed head staring at me with its eyes still open. It belonged to the watcher who had been chasing me.
I froze in place, unable to move.
Looking ahead, the male lead—his expression unchanged—frowned slightly as he examined his bloodstained sword, as if something filthy had gotten on it.
Was today the day that that utterly broken man slaughtered the Simond family? Damn it. Ah… my life. I shouldn’t have come down from the mountain.
‘Is Celestine dead… or did she escape? What happened?’
Right now, there was no sign of Celestine anywhere—only a breathtakingly handsome man holding a sword dripping with crimson blood.
Silvery hair that seemed to cascade like fine threads, and icy blue eyes as cold as glaciers. A sharp jawline, a high nose bridge that seemed to reach the heavens, and overwhelmingly long legs with perfect proportions.
On top of that, his black uniform and well-fitted trousers made those long legs look even longer.
Seeing him in person felt completely different from reading about him. It was as if a god had painstakingly sculpted him with a soul. He was so handsome it left one speechless.
As expected of Kadelion, famed for beauty.
Even if his personality was trash.
Even just standing still, he exuded an overwhelming pressure—like a top predator that had cornered its prey countless times.
‘Wow… insanely handsome…’
His appearance made me momentarily forget the head rolling at my feet.
No—if anything, it made him shine even more in comparison.
They say all tiger beastmen are handsome. Maybe it’s true.
I recalled what the maids had said.
“Hey, the lady said beast-type shapeshifters are ridiculously handsome.”
“They look divine, apparently.”
“Ugh, I want to see them. Especially the Kadelion family—they say they’re unbelievably good-looking.”
“They say you might go blind if you see them.”
“Hey, haven’t you heard that rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“That the Kadelions charm beastmen and then devour them alive.”
“Ah… honestly, I’d be fine getting eaten if I could just see that face once…”
Back then, I’d thought, ‘What are they, nine-tailed foxes… charming people just to eat them?’
But now that I saw him in person, I understood what that meant.
That face… you couldn’t help but get eaten.
‘Wow… how can someone’s eyes look like that?’
If this were my past life, he would’ve swept up every glasses and contact lens advertisement out there.
Momentarily entranced by his dazzling beauty, I let my guard down and stared blankly at him—until a sudden chill ran through me.
I shuddered and slapped my cheek with my front paw.
Get it together. You’re standing at the brink of life and death.
The person in front of you is Ian Kadelion. That Kadelion who charms beastmen with that handsome face and devours them.
Even as I tried to stay alert, I couldn’t help but sneak glances at his striking face. Beauty had far more impact than I’d imagined.
It seemed the maids’ words were true—people really did get charmed and eaten by faces like his. With that face, there were probably plenty who would willingly line up to be eaten.
Since our eyes had already met, I stared at him openly. More precisely, I admired his face.
After all, they say even a dead cat looks better after seeing a handsome face.
Judging by that face—and that bloodstained sword—the chances of him sparing me were slim.
Still… it would be such a waste to die after everything I’d gone through.
‘Should I run for it?’
The male lead in front of me wasn’t even looking at me—he was just fiddling with his black gloves.
‘Maybe I can run.’
I glanced downward to step back—and met the gaze of the severed head rolling nearby.
If I ran, I’d end up like that.
‘What do I do to survive?’
A new dilemma arose.
‘…Should I lie down?’
After thinking it over, I cautiously lay flat on the ground, signaling submission.
‘Since I can’t harm you anyway… could you just pretend you didn’t see me and walk away, male lead?’
I pressed myself as flat as possible, my nose nearly touching the ground.
But aside from the sound of the wind, there was silence.
When I peeked up, the man was just staring at me coldly.
Why isn’t he reacting? Is this not it…?
My eyes trembled as I shifted positions and thought again.
‘Right. In my past life, raising both hands meant surrender.’
A scene of waving a white flag flashed through my mind.
‘I don’t have a white flag… should I wave my paws?’
I slowly raised both front paws as a sign of surrender.
But the man didn’t react. He just stood there, staring at me.
‘…Higher?’
I lifted my paws even higher—like when my mom used to say, “Hands up!” after I’d done something wrong.
Then I slowly waved them side to side.
After doing that for quite a while, my legs started to feel like they’d fall off.
‘Alright, that should do it, right?’
I looked at him with a somewhat proud expression.
But the result—
Total failure.
And a miserable one at that.
For some reason, those blue eyes felt colder than ever. Was it just my imagination that he looked like he could kill me at any moment with that terrifying blade?
‘What, not this either? Then what do you want me to do?!’
What on earth did this man want from me?
Then again, the fact that my head was still attached to my body was already a miracle.
‘Sigh…’
Feeling frustrated, I cautiously let out a deep sigh.
And then, suddenly, I realized something.
‘Right. I was holding a flower.’
‘If you’re begging for your life… you need a bribe.’
I hadn’t planned for this situation, but I had spent hours climbing the mountain and picking flowers today.
‘Wait… I waved my paws like that while holding a flower?’
The realization made me feel like my whole body was melting from embarrassment. But that didn’t matter right now.
‘Here.’
This was truly my last resort.
‘Please take it.’
A flower specially picked from a snowy mountain.
I gave you a flower, so please spare me.
I’m begging you.
As my final move, I gently placed the red flower I had been holding onto his shoe and sat in front of him.
“A bribe?”
At last, his voice came from above. It was much softer than before—almost… satisfied.
‘Yes, yes!’
I nodded quickly.
So how about you take it and leave? You can pretend you didn’t see one small animal, right? Just show me a little mercy—for once. Though, of course, everyone else probably begged you the same way.
Thinking that made me realize I was no different from all those others begging for their lives.
‘…What makes me any different from them?’
Right! Male lead, at least I gave you a flower. One I picked myself from a snowy mountain. That’s a rare flower. Who else would go pick flowers in a windy mountain like that? I gave you everything I had.
The man stared at me, then picked up the flower from his shoe and spun it between his fingers.
The red flower twirled in his hand, as if my life depended entirely on his whim.
I looked at him desperately.
After a long moment of spinning the flower, he finally spoke.
“Spare you?”
‘Yes!’
I nodded, clinging to a thread of hope.
My eyes sparkled like a kitten’s, as if grasping at a lifeline from the heavens.
There is hope. I can live. I repeated it to myself like a mantra.
“Hmm…”
The man glanced at me indifferently, then went back to twirling the flower as he thought.
“Why should I?”
What.
‘Hey.’
My mouth fell open. You heartless tiger. You could at least spare me once.
‘You can show mercy just once, can’t you?’
But there was no point arguing. The one in a disadvantage here was me.
‘Think about it. If you kill this poor animal, your chances of going to hell increase. You know hell, right? A terrifying, awful place.’
I continued my thoughts, hoping somehow they’d reach him.
‘But if you spare me, your chances of going to hell go down! You don’t want to go to hell, right? And I’ll probably die before you anyway, so if you spare me today, I can testify for you in hell later.’
I looked at him with hopeful eyes.
‘I’ll say good things about you there. What do you think?’
Yes, I knew it was complete nonsense. But survival came first, so I poured all those ridiculous thoughts into my gaze.
The man looked into my eyes, then placed the red flower he’d been spinning—its stem nearly bent—in his front pocket.
Maybe because I’d only ever seen him discard everything before, the sight of him keeping the flower made my nose wrinkle slightly.
“Hmm…”
With the flower tucked into his pocket, he crossed his arms and tapped his fingers as he thought.
It was a short moment—
but it felt like an eternity.
