TEB Ch 43

Fortunately, Liev was deeply asleep and did not open his eyes.  

As Renard licked Liev’s eyelids, nose, and cheeks, he realized that it felt uncomfortable because his body was too small. He thought he could take a big bite if his body were larger. Feeling frustrated, he adjusted his body to match his age, causing the mattress that had been slightly leaning towards Liev until a moment ago to tilt to the other side.  

“If I do it like this, I can trap him in my arms.”  

Renard smiled satisfactorily as he trapped the sleeping Liev in his arms, just like before he fell asleep. An urge to swallow him in one bite flickered like a flame deep within his chest. But he couldn’t do that. Liev would be hurt. It was Liev who ignited this itchy spark of desire. Renard didn’t want to let go of this happy moment.  

Why did he suddenly change his mind? The reason was still unknown. But it didn’t matter how Liev felt when he stopped lying. What was important was the fact that Liev was recognized as completely mine through the systems that humans follow, such as society and the law. In fact, no matter what the humans thought, Renard himself had no reason to follow the norms of human laws. However, Liev was human, and Renard learned that humans, as long as they belonged to a country, were bound by the authority of that country. Since Liev couldn’t be completely cut off from the society he belonged to, he wanted Liev to be fully acknowledged as his according to the norms of humans. As he looked at Liev, who had fallen into his arms, Renard couldn’t help but feel itchy all over his body.  

“Liev…”  

Calling his name softly, Liev’s round earlobe twitched. With his small face, eyes, high nose, and small ears, there was nothing that Renard didn’t want to put in his mouth. The moment Renard, who had been licking his face here and there on the various parts of Liev’s face, thoughtlessly bared his teeth.  

“Umm…”  

Liev, who had been sleeping the whole time, fluttered his eyelids, then slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, confusion filled his golden iris, and then, with clear wrinkles appearing on his forehead, Liev sat up as if startled.  

“W-what, why are you doing that!?”  

He couldn’t help but be surprised to see Renard, who had been clearly sleeping soundly and well-dressed in his child form until he went to bed, but suddenly, he was in his adult form, naked and hugging him in his arms. Liev was so embarrassed that he almost fell out of bed. Fortunately, Renard grabbed his wrist first and pulled him towards him, preventing him from falling head first onto the luxurious marble floor.  

“Uhh? We slept together yesterday. Don’t you remember?”  

Renard tilted his head in confusion, saying something else, and Liev raised his voice.  

“No, I meant, why are you in that state? Hurry up and put on some clothes!”  

Then, without any hesitation, he covered Renard’s head with the blanket, as if to put a net over him. Renard grumbled.

 “But it’s bothersome. It’s more comfortable not to wear clothes when sleeping.”  

In response to Renard’s nonchalant response, Liev shouted his voice again.  

“Don’t say strange things. If you don’t wear clothes, we’ll never sleep together again!”  

It’s true that Renard was precious and cute, but now he had no intention of sharing the same bed with a naked grown man.  

“Alright, I’m just putting on some clothes!”  

While muttering, Renard poked the clothes he had worn as a child last night, making them larger in size. As the clothes instantly adjusted to fit an adult body, Liev finally breathed a short sigh of relief. With perfect timing, a knock came from outside the door.  

“Sir Liev, if you’re awake, may I prepare breakfast for you?”  

The steward didn’t open the door after knocking, showing obvious consideration. Startled by this, Liev answered with a slight jump of his shoulders.  

“Oh, yes! I’ll be down shortly.”  

“Yes, understood.”  

As the steward’s footsteps started to get further and further away, Liev, still lying on the bed, stopped Renard from reaching for his waist with a slap on the back of his hand.  

“Go away. You might not care about breakfast, but I’m hungry.”  

When I gave him a blunt retort for making my heart flutter this morning, Renard puffed up his cheeks and made a deflating sound.  

“I want to eat too.”  

“The steward said you usually don’t eat.”  

“Starting today, I will eat too.”  

“Then you should have told them beforehand. They might not be prepared.”  

Whether or not Liev spoke, he was stubborn.  

“Just share yours with me. I don’t really need much anyway.”  

His attitude was so confident. Although everything he ate, drank, and enjoyed here came from Renard’s power and wealth, somehow this felt distasteful.  

“Still, from tomorrow, ask for your own preparations. It’s better to have more than not enough.”  

“Alright, I’ll do that. Can you hold me a little longer?”  

Anyway, he was talking nonsense again. Before Liev could respond to Renard’s answer, Renard reached out his arms and wrapped them around Liev’s waist. Although he was not as well-built as the knights he had seen so far, he had a lean and firm body.  

Not only did he take on all kinds of chores at the research lab, but he also took care of military warhorses. Although he was called a researcher, in reality, he did almost all physical work, but he didn’t like how skinny he looked without any fat. Still, I guess it’s a good thing that there is no fat and the muscles are still intact, so it doesn’t make him feel scrawny. As Renard touched his waist, Liev was again surprised and pushed him. Renard away  

“What are you doing again? Quickly get up. I’m going to change clothes and go downstairs.”  

With that, he quickly got up from the bed and stretched. Even as he moved to change into casual clothes, Renard’s gaze was focused on only one place. Being at such a close distance made it even more challenging to ignore those piercing eyes. Liev turned to look at Renard, finally shooting a glare at him, as he continued to stand there in the posture just before taking off his shirt to change into his clothes.  

“Stop looking! It’s polite to turn around when someone is changing clothes. Did you do this to other colleagues as well?”  

Until now, Renard had been doing such things, and everyone had probably stayed silent because he was a dragon. When Liev asked, Renard, instead, got annoyed.  

“Are you crazy? Why would I enjoy looking at their bodies!?”  

While Renard was venting his frustration and denying it, Liev felt relieved but also strange. What was there to see in his own body anyway? After all, it’s a man’s body. Before he could realize that something was strange, a bell rang, signaling that meal preparation was ready.  

“Oh, it’s already done. Anyway, turn around. I’ll change into my clothes quickly.”  

After Liev asked Renard again, he changed into casual wear, and for some reason, Renard had a pouty expression. He didn’t know why Renard felt upset, but it didn’t seem like a big deal. Liev headed to the dining room with Renard. The steward seemed a bit taken aback by the unexpected new guest(?) and went back into the kitchen, saying he would soon serve the meal. Liev shook his head.  

“There is no need to increase the portions starting today. I’ll just give it a quick taste today. So don’t worry about it.  

While saying that, Liev naturally cut a piece of his own food into bite-sized portions and placed it on a small plate for Renard. The way he handled Renard, the great guardian dragon, was like when he was a ten-year-old child. Whether Liev or Renard cared or not, to observers, it was a scene that made them feel strange.  

“Now, I’ll feed you, so open your mouth.”  

What on earth was he saying? The man who spread butter on a piece of bread cut from his own bread and placed it gently into the dragon’s mouth seemed so calm that the entire process felt so natural. The steward, who had been thinking of Liev as nothing more than a pitiful sacrificial lamb as his master until now, decided to change his mind. The man, who had seemed to be an unjustly treated victim so far, was undoubtedly a strange person with something fundamentally wrong.