In the game, the player earns Hunter’s favor by extracting a large thorn deeply hidden in the tiger’s throat. However, at that moment, the game was designed so that by clicking only on “Extract Thorn” button “[A thorn is stuck in the tiger’s throat. Extract the thorn.],” The thorn would automatically be removed. This meant that the player would not risk one’s life and physically enter the tiger’s mouth.
Fortunately, it seemed like Hunter was firmly holding Woofu’s mouth from the outside. However, the inside of the tiger’s mouth, mixed with hot saliva and a foul smell was terrifying. I carefully used my hand to explore in Woofu’s throat, and with each gulp of the throat, cold sweat ran down my back.
“Is this really the way to cure Woofu?”
The sound of Hunter speaking from outside could be faintly heard. However, I was not in the state of mind to respond at the moment. I closed my mouth and steadfastly went down the throat. Then, something caught my fingertips, something hard, about half the size of the palm of my hand.
“This guy, it’s caught well.”
Holding it with both hands, I pulled upward.
*Creak…*
More saliva gushed out from Woofu’s mouth. As the tiger body began shaking , my body also started shaking uncontrollably.
“Woofu, I’ve had a knife stabbed in my foot. It hurts both going in and coming out. I understand what you’re going through.”
Internally shedding tears, I exerted more force with both hands. Finally, with a popping sound, the thorn came out. Woofu roared nervously, and sensing something wrong, Hunter outside grabbed my waist and pulled me out. I emerged holding the thorn.
The refreshing air of the forest rushed into my nostrils.
“Haha… I got it out!”
I raised the thorn triumphantly, its pointed end sharp and the sturdy material tinged with an off-white color, resembling bone. Hunter seemed to draw the same conclusion.
“It’s a bone.”
Taking the thorn from my hand and examining it, Hunter commented,
“He ate a bothersome man not long ago, seems like this got stuck then.”
Hunter affectionately stroked Woofu’s head. With the thorn removed, the pain noticeably subsided, and Woofu, expressing delight with a content growl, leaned its forehead against Hunter’s hand. Covered in tiger saliva, I was the only one left staring at the bone in Hunter’s other hand.
Was that a human bone?
As if guessing my inner thoughts with my horrified expression and gaze, Hunter extended the thorn, no, bone, toward me.
“I’ll make jewelry from this bone for you. It’ll be suitable as our engagement ring.”
Guess my foot. You’re a psychopath.
“I, I’ll decline.”
“Don’t you want it as a souvenir? You’re the key player who made our contract come true.”
“It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.”
When I hastily refused, Hunter smirked and casually threw the bone into the distance. Before I could even form an opinion, an alert popped up above his head.
[Hunter Melian’s favorability has increased by +5!]
Risking my life to fix a companion tiger and only getting 5 points? Stingy. Totally stingy.
While I made a sour face, Hunter scratched the tiger’s jaw and said, “Let’s go to the palace.”
“…Now?”
“I don’t have more than two years left, so we have to hurry as much as possible if we want to be together.”
Given the mere 5 points of favorability, what he just said was undoubtedly a joke. However, Hunter’s face remained serious without a trace of laughter, making it sound like a confession to a beloved partner.
“It’s a joke.”
“You have a twisted sense of humor.”
As I said somewhat flustered, Hunter nodded.
“Quite so.”
This one is quite the lunatic as well. Without hiding my uneasy expression, I spoke.
“I have a companion. A knight. And I need to bring all this luggage. I bought everything with my own money, you know.”
Apparently surprised by my rather beggar-like statement, Hunter alternately looked at me and my tent. It seemed like he just realized that even in a place like this, money goes into things like that.
That’s when it happened.
“Young master! Please get behind me!”
Devan, running at an incredible speed from behind, shouted. He threw away the fruits and mushrooms he was carrying, drawing a sword from his waist. Devan’s gaze was fixed on the tiger.
Hunter and Woofu reflexively prepared for battle due to Devan’s fierceness. Once again, it seemed that I had to stop the situation.
“Devan! Stop!”
I spread my arms wide and leaped in front of Hunter and Woofu. Devan, who was running towards me, was startled and quickly tried to stop but it was already too late. He was already too in front of me
The sunlight reflected off the blade that was close to my face, emitting a dazzling light. With my eyes tightly closed, I thought:
Is this how I die…?
I suddenly stopped breathing due to this feeling. However…
Thud!
A blade of a sword, who knows when they drew it, emerged behind me and parried Devan’s sword. Devan’s longsword spun around like in a cartoon, flying away a good distance.
“You lack body control.”
Hunter’s calm voice came from behind.
“Are you alright, young master?”
Devan knelt with a thud.
“I’m fine. And Devan, this tiger won’t attack us, so don’t worry.”
I said that while glancing at Hunter. Hunter nodded.
“This is His Highness, the Crown Prince, and the tiger is His Highness’s sacred tiger.”
In the empire, there was no one who didn’t know about the tiger accompanying the Crown Prince. They were a set and a symbol of the empire. Of course, it was rare for someone to see a man and a tiger in the woods and immediately think of the Crown Prince, so Deban’s mistake wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Realizing that he had thrust his sword at the Crown Prince and his sacred tiger, Devan cowered as if expecting punishment. He seemed ready to prostrate himself on the ground, so I had to use my shoe to block Devan’s forehead.
Hunter quickly lost interest in Devan and focused on petting Woofu until I beckoned Devan to rise. After about ten minutes of doing that, Devan picked up his tent and belongings, and we all moved to Hunter’s barracks.
“The imperial vetrinarian at the palace mentioned that Woofu might have caught a disease.”
As we walked to the tent, Hunter spoke.
“So, I went to the Aurora Forest for a while,” Hunter said. He had stayed in the Aurora Forest for a few days to calm Woofu’s with a nostalgic scent, but there was no sign of improvement.
“But it turns out there’s a bone stuck in his throat. Why didn’t anyone notice this?”
Well, in this era, there were no X-rays, and there certainly wasn’t anyone crazy enough, like me, to recklessly crawl into a tiger’s throat to check. I glanced under my nose and casually replied.
“Meeting you was a stroke of luck.”
“Yes, Del Narcissus, who discovered Woofu’s problem solely out of his love for animals.”
As he said this, it sounded quite sarcastic. I glanced at Hunter with embarrassment, but he seemed unaffected. Frankly, his facial expressions changed so little that it was difficult to discern what he was thinking.
“Promise is a promise. I’ll return to the palace and write up the contract.”
Hunter said this while looking straight at me.
“Please take care of me for the next two years.”
“yes.”
At that moment, for some reason, Hunter’s purple eyes seemed to gleam with joy. Was it my imagination?
***
Narcissus’s mansion was luxurious and colorful, and the Grand Duke’s fortress, known as the Ice Prison, was massive and majestic. However, the palace surpassed them all, boasting a breathtaking beauty that could make one’s eyes pop out. Devan and I continued to stare, mouths agape, marveling at the palace. The presence of a tiger casually strolling through this brilliant and artistic space made it all the more surreal.
“The palace is really beautiful.”
As if enchanted, I spoke, and Hunter stared at me as if piercing through.
“Didn’t you always come to the parties held at the palace?”
Oops
I tightly closed my mouth and put on the calmest expression possible.
“I compared it, to when I came back from the ice prison……”
“Archduke Alexis would have been disappointed if he heard this.”
Hunter said indifferently and walked ahead. However, hearing the name Khan from someone else’s mouth made my heart a bit heavy. By now, he probably knows that I didn’t go to the garbage village, but he wouldn’t be trying to find me, right? My anxiety slowly crept up.
“You will use this room. It’s the best guest room in the Crown Prince’s Palace. It’s right next to my room.”
Hunter said as he opened the large door. The room was luxurious like I had never seen before. When I showed a pleased expression, he told me that I would stay in this room until we were officially married. He also explained that after the wedding ceremony the Crown Princess would be assigned a separate palace after the Holy Wedding Ceremony and the Crown Princess installation Ceremony were held together.
“Usually, we don’t live together before marriage, but since you are currently a prisoner of the family, I have no choice but to take care of you.”
[Hunter Melian’s favorability +1!]
Do you like me being a prisoner? As expected, this bastard is strange.
“I’ll also give a separate room to your knight, so don’t worry.”
Hunter called for Devan and had him taken away. After Devan left, the door closed. In the room, only Hunter, me, and a giant tiger remained.
“Now, it’s just us.”
Hunter said, approaching me with those words.
In the game, the player earns Hunter’s favor by extracting a large thorn deeply hidden in the tiger’s throat. However, at that moment, the game was designed so that by clicking only on “Extract Thorn” button “[A thorn is stuck in the tiger’s throat. Extract the thorn.],” The thorn would automatically be removed. This meant that the player would not risk one’s life and physically enter the tiger’s mouth.
Fortunately, it seemed like Hunter was firmly holding Woofu’s mouth from the outside. However, the inside of the tiger’s mouth, mixed with hot saliva and a foul smell was terrifying. I carefully used my hand to explore in Woofu’s throat, and with each gulp of the throat, cold sweat ran down my back.
“Is this really the way to cure Woofu?”
The sound of Hunter speaking from outside could be faintly heard. However, I was not in the state of mind to respond at the moment. I closed my mouth and steadfastly went down the throat. Then, something caught my fingertips, something hard, about half the size of the palm of my hand.
“This guy, it’s caught well.”
Holding it with both hands, I pulled upward.
*Creak…*
More saliva gushed out from Woofu’s mouth. As the tiger body began shaking , my body also started shaking uncontrollably.
“Woofu, I’ve had a knife stabbed in my foot. It hurts both going in and coming out. I understand what you’re going through.”
Internally shedding tears, I exerted more force with both hands. Finally, with a popping sound, the thorn came out. Woofu roared nervously, and sensing something wrong, Hunter outside grabbed my waist and pulled me out. I emerged holding the thorn.
The refreshing air of the forest rushed into my nostrils.
“Haha… I got it out!”
I raised the thorn triumphantly, its pointed end sharp and the sturdy material tinged with an off-white color, resembling bone. Hunter seemed to draw the same conclusion.
“It’s a bone.”
Taking the thorn from my hand and examining it, Hunter commented,
“He ate a bothersome man not long ago, seems like this got stuck then.”
Hunter affectionately stroked Woofu’s head. With the thorn removed, the pain noticeably subsided, and Woofu, expressing delight with a content growl, leaned its forehead against Hunter’s hand. Covered in tiger saliva, I was the only one left staring at the bone in Hunter’s other hand.
Was that a human bone?
As if guessing my inner thoughts with my horrified expression and gaze, Hunter extended the thorn, no, bone, toward me.
“I’ll make jewelry from this bone for you. It’ll be suitable as our engagement ring.”
Guess my foot. You’re a psychopath.
“I, I’ll decline.”
“Don’t you want it as a souvenir? You’re the key player who made our contract come true.”
“It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.”
When I hastily refused, Hunter smirked and casually threw the bone into the distance. Before I could even form an opinion, an alert popped up above his head.
[Hunter Melian’s favorability has increased by +5!]
Risking my life to fix a companion tiger and only getting 5 points? Stingy. Totally stingy.
While I made a sour face, Hunter scratched the tiger’s jaw and said, “Let’s go to the palace.”
“…Now?”
“I don’t have more than two years left, so we have to hurry as much as possible if we want to be together.”
Given the mere 5 points of favorability, what he just said was undoubtedly a joke. However, Hunter’s face remained serious without a trace of laughter, making it sound like a confession to a beloved partner.
“It’s a joke.”
“You have a twisted sense of humor.”
As I said somewhat flustered, Hunter nodded.
“Quite so.”
This one is quite the lunatic as well. Without hiding my uneasy expression, I spoke.
“I have a companion. A knight. And I need to bring all this luggage. I bought everything with my own money, you know.”
Apparently surprised by my rather beggar-like statement, Hunter alternately looked at me and my tent. It seemed like he just realized that even in a place like this, money goes into things like that.
That’s when it happened.
“Young master! Please get behind me!”
Devan, running at an incredible speed from behind, shouted. He threw away the fruits and mushrooms he was carrying, drawing a sword from his waist. Devan’s gaze was fixed on the tiger.
Hunter and Woofu reflexively prepared for battle due to Devan’s fierceness. Once again, it seemed that I had to stop the situation.
“Devan! Stop!”
I spread my arms wide and leaped in front of Hunter and Woofu. Devan, who was running towards me, was startled and quickly tried to stop but it was already too late. He was already too in front of me
The sunlight reflected off the blade that was close to my face, emitting a dazzling light. With my eyes tightly closed, I thought:
Is this how I die…?
I suddenly stopped breathing due to this feeling. However…
Thud!
A blade of a sword, who knows when they drew it, emerged behind me and parried Devan’s sword. Devan’s longsword spun around like in a cartoon, flying away a good distance.
“You lack body control.”
Hunter’s calm voice came from behind.
“Are you alright, young master?”
Devan knelt with a thud.
“I’m fine. And Devan, this tiger won’t attack us, so don’t worry.”
I said that while glancing at Hunter. Hunter nodded.
“This is His Highness, the Crown Prince, and the tiger is His Highness’s sacred tiger.”
In the empire, there was no one who didn’t know about the tiger accompanying the Crown Prince. They were a set and a symbol of the empire. Of course, it was rare for someone to see a man and a tiger in the woods and immediately think of the Crown Prince, so Deban’s mistake wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Realizing that he had thrust his sword at the Crown Prince and his sacred tiger, Devan cowered as if expecting punishment. He seemed ready to prostrate himself on the ground, so I had to use my shoe to block Devan’s forehead.
Hunter quickly lost interest in Devan and focused on petting Woofu until I beckoned Devan to rise. After about ten minutes of doing that, Devan picked up his tent and belongings, and we all moved to Hunter’s barracks.
“The imperial vetrinarian at the palace mentioned that Woofu might have caught a disease.”
As we walked to the tent, Hunter spoke.
“So, I went to the Aurora Forest for a while,” Hunter said. He had stayed in the Aurora Forest for a few days to calm Woofu’s with a nostalgic scent, but there was no sign of improvement.
“But it turns out there’s a bone stuck in his throat. Why didn’t anyone notice this?”
Well, in this era, there were no X-rays, and there certainly wasn’t anyone crazy enough, like me, to recklessly crawl into a tiger’s throat to check. I glanced under my nose and casually replied.
“Meeting you was a stroke of luck.”
“Yes, Del Narcissus, who discovered Woofu’s problem solely out of his love for animals.”
As he said this, it sounded quite sarcastic. I glanced at Hunter with embarrassment, but he seemed unaffected. Frankly, his facial expressions changed so little that it was difficult to discern what he was thinking.
“Promise is a promise. I’ll return to the palace and write up the contract.”
Hunter said this while looking straight at me.
“Please take care of me for the next two years.”
“yes.”
At that moment, for some reason, Hunter’s purple eyes seemed to gleam with joy. Was it my imagination?
***
Narcissus’s mansion was luxurious and colorful, and the Grand Duke’s fortress, known as the Ice Prison, was massive and majestic. However, the palace surpassed them all, boasting a breathtaking beauty that could make one’s eyes pop out. Devan and I continued to stare, mouths agape, marveling at the palace. The presence of a tiger casually strolling through this brilliant and artistic space made it all the more surreal.
“The palace is really beautiful.”
As if enchanted, I spoke, and Hunter stared at me as if piercing through.
“Didn’t you always come to the parties held at the palace?”
Oops
I tightly closed my mouth and put on the calmest expression possible.
“I compared it, to when I came back from the ice prison……”
“Archduke Alexis would have been disappointed if he heard this.”
Hunter said indifferently and walked ahead. However, hearing the name Khan from someone else’s mouth made my heart a bit heavy. By now, he probably knows that I didn’t go to the garbage village, but he wouldn’t be trying to find me, right? My anxiety slowly crept up.
“You will use this room. It’s the best guest room in the Crown Prince’s Palace. It’s right next to my room.”
Hunter said as he opened the large door. The room was luxurious like I had never seen before. When I showed a pleased expression, he told me that I would stay in this room until we were officially married. He also explained that after the wedding ceremony the Crown Princess would be assigned a separate palace after the Holy Wedding Ceremony and the Crown Princess installation Ceremony were held together.
“Usually, we don’t live together before marriage, but since you are currently a prisoner of the family, I have no choice but to take care of you.”
[Hunter Melian’s favorability +1!]
Do you like me being a prisoner? As expected, this bastard is strange.
“I’ll also give a separate room to your knight, so don’t worry.”
Hunter called for Devan and had him taken away. After Devan left, the door closed. In the room, only Hunter, me, and a giant tiger remained.
“Now, it’s just us.”
Hunter said, approaching me with those words.
