MTFBMP Chapter 22

“…”

 

In an instant, I was lying on my back facing the ceiling.

 

My hands were still clutching my shirt as if it were an iron rope, and the only relief was that my legs were free.

 

“What else will you allow me to do next?”

 

Adelaine was lying on my side, the same as before, and grinning as before.

 

Something about that laugh. It relaxed him, just a little.

 

Considering the near-animal state he was in now, it was commendable that he still asked permission. But the rudeness of it was beyond my tolerance.

 

“Will you allow me to hold you a little longer?”

 

“Only if you promise not to touch me in the wrong places.”

 

“Where are you talking about? There are no weird places for you.”

 

There he goes again, trying to win me over.

 

“You’ll promise not to touch anything I say no to.”

 

“I will. I promise.”

 

Another verbal promise with no proof.

 

Still, he pulled me into a slow hug, as if it were a substitute for permission. The stomach-churning caress gave me a different kind of palpitations. I clenched my fist over my heart so tightly that I could feel it throbbing in my palm.

 

Even though I was conscious of being caught up in his embrace, I was slowly allowing him to take me in his grasp.

 

“Take your hand away,” said Adelaine.

 

I was even willing to comply with such an unreasonable request.

 

As soon as I removed my hands, Adelaine burrowed into my arms, pulling me into a tight embrace, pressing his face against my chest, his forehead against mine, and breathing heavily. 

 

Again, I felt like he was burying himself deep in my scent.

 

My hand, lost for a place to go, clutched at thin air, and fell gently to the floor.

 

Come to think of it, he’d been the same since we first met.

 

Aside from his body lying there, Adelaine’s approach towards me hadn’t changed much.

 

He was strangely eager to touch me. As if there was something he wanted to find by touching me.

 

It wasn’t that he liked me, but rather that he was instinctively trying to take what he wanted.

 

“Now move away, I want to get up.”

 

“Just a little, just a little more.”

 

Adelaine’s words sounded like some kind of prying.

 

“It’s uncomfortable, ouch!”

 

Instead of pushing him away, a stray strand of my hair got caught between the wooden planks and pulled painfully, and I fell back to the floor, unable to get up.

 

‘Oops, my hat came off again.’

 

Perhaps I should get some clothespins and pin it back on my head. The hat came off too easily.

 

As I thought this, a sudden realization hit me.

 

“Did you already know I was a woman?”

 

Feeling fooled, I asked in disbelief.

 

“Have you been watching me change my clothes?”

 

As much as I raised my voice, Adelaine tightened his hold on me.

 

“No, neither.”

 

That was the answer.

 

Contrary to his words, Adeline was not at all fazed by the fact that he had me lying on the floor like a dog, groping me.

 

“Then why aren’t you surprised?”

 

“Why would I be surprised by that?”

 

He buried his nose in my chest again, inhaling deeply and letting out a long breath.

 

“But…”

 

“You are just a shining human being, and there’s nothing is more distinguished you as anything else.”

 

My face burned.

 

“Hmph.”

 

“What is it?”

 

Looking up at him with the kind of look that mesmerizes people for a moment, and hearing his unfamiliar answer, I gulped unnecessarily and scratched my chin. In that momentary lapse in concentration, I let out a muffled sound.

 

“Mm, it’s because it’s heavy.”

 

“…Yeah, because you’re too small.”

 

This seemed so unfair since I was well above average in size!

 

“I want to get up, please help me get my hair out, it’s uncomfortable and hurts.”

 

Complaining burst out of my mouth, unable to hold it in any longer. I couldn’t take this anymore.

 

“Are you going to run away from me if I free you?”

 

“I have to go upstairs anyway, it’s still very late in the day.”

 

“Then will you come back? I thought I asked your permission, as you said.”

 

“Okay, fine, now help me out.”

 

Oh, to think I have to ask for help from the guy who got me into this mess in the first place.

 

‘I felt so sorry for myself.’

 

“Huh?”

 

Adelaine suddenly sat up and reached for my face. I reflexively closed my eyes.

 

Her fingers lightly touched my forehead. Next, his palm spread out and he stroked my hair. It slowly dawned on me that this was the exact same gesture I’d done right after I’d treated him.

 

There was a sound like wood breaking.

 

Soon enough, I felt a hand slip under the nape of my neck, cradle my shoulder, and support my upper body. I didn’t even notice the hand slipping under my leg.

 

“Hick!”

 

Instantly, my body lifted. I reached out to stop from falling and wrapped my arms around the nape of Adelaine’s neck.

 

Where I landed afterward was not as fluffy as a bed, but it felt like something I would never feel in a prison dungeon.

 

“…”

 

When I opened my eyes, Adelaine had me sitting on his lap. His wings were spread out beneath us, and all around were feathers that carefully wrapped itself around us.

 

“Your hair won’t be harmed now, not a single one.” 

 

Adelaine rested his chin on my head. I didn’t feel much of a weight. I was just a little disappointed that I couldn’t see his expression.

 

Despite the discomfort of the injured wing, Adelaine’s breathing was softer than ever.

 

‘It surely doesn’t seem to hurt.’

 

I scold him for pulling a hair, when he’d endured countless hours with both wings broken and staked.

 

“Have you always had no feeling in your wings?”

 

“Of course not. My wings are part of me.”

 

Somehow, Adelaine looked more pitiful. I wanted to ask a question that would ease the guilt, but I felt like I was caught in a trap.

 

When I looked down, one of Adelaine’s arms was still wrapped tightly around my waist. As if it were not yet time for me to leave.

 

‘What kind of beast uses its wings as a cushion like this?’

 

Unable to push his hand out of the way as he placed me on top of him.

 

💫

 

We stayed in the same position for a while.

 

Adelaine tried to stay in that position until the end, but I managed to get out of it by saying he was injured.

 

‘Didn’t you like my wings?’

 

Adelaine said, of course, but I didn’t want to hurt him, not after I’d mended him with my own hands. I insisted, even though he excused his quick recovery.

 

‘Oho, I said no.’

 

And when I refused, he listened.

 

The feeling was unbearable, and it was hard to know what to make of it.

 

“Are you comfortable now?”

 

Not long after being released from his embrace, Adelaine reverted to his beast form. 

 

Not because he was in bad shape, but rather because he was eager to speed up his improving condition.

 

“You don’t look so sick now.”

 

Freeing his wings must have worked.

 

I gently stroked the beast’s head, focusing on the area around its eyes, just as I would a human’s bangs. It didn’t seem to react to the tickling.

 

“Are you asleep?”

 

Apparently, the pain he felt was not a lie. His breathing was much more even, light, and regular than before.

 

‘We’ll just have to wait and see.’

 

Carefully, and very slowly, and without jostling, I lifted the beast’s head and lowered it to the ground. 

 

Still, the beast made no sign of opening its eyes.

 

The cloak I had brought with me was draped over his body. I could see the blanket rising and falling with regularity. It was an insignificant covering compared to his feathers, but I wanted to do it anyway.

 

‘He must be asleep.’

 

It might seem a bit naughty to sneak out while he was asleep, but being away too long would arouse suspicion among the crew.

 

He knows how to keep an eye on the ship, and he knows I’m no good at running away in the middle of the ocean. I didn’t think he’d be too upset.

 

Slowly, I slipped out of the cage. I was worried that I might make an unpleasant noise, but I closed the door behind me.

 

There was no sound at all, but Adelaine didn’t open his eyes.

 

Again, I found Adelaine trapped inside the cage.

 

The lock was broken, and now that his wings were free, the cage could no longer hold him. But there was something different about seeing him in the cage.

 

Someday I had to get far, far away from that thing. 

 

I thought to myself, ‘I must stop. He’s Adelaine.’

 

But before that?