Chapter 127
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------
Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Chapter 127
"Ugh, this damned pain."
Wale Contana pushed himself upright, rubbing his throbbing chest.
Perhaps because of his resemblance to a whale, his skin was far more resilient than any human's, and he rarely sustained injuries of consequence.
Above all, his tolerance for pain was remarkably dull—even with what felt like a fractured sternum, it was hardly enough to keep him down.
As he rose, brushing sand from his hair, he watched the silhouette of the black horse receding into the distance with the same swiftness it had approached.
Lucas Black.
And the woman who had sworn a marriage vow with him.
Grace Oellin.
Or perhaps Grace Blooming.
I had learned her name from the documents sent beforehand.
Yet nowhere in those papers was there any mention of her being a witch.
'But what just happened—there's no way to explain it unless she is.'
That faintly luminous skin and the power to reverse a curse in a single instant.
And those violet eyes.
I recalled those eyes that seemed to pull me into their depths.
I had known those eyes for a very long time.
Or rather, I had witnessed them.
Contana—one of the cursed families guarding Witch's Island.
Perhaps because of that.
My family had inherited fragments of ancient memories through the generations.
Through dreams, hallucinations, or memories carried from birth itself.
The most troublesome among them were the visions.
For visions sometimes blurred the boundary between reality and fantasy.
And it was precisely these visions that plagued Wale Contana.
So much so that as a child, I had once searched the forest to find the young witch I saw in those hallucinations.
Fortunately, my family understood exactly what tormented me and guided me well, but...
In the visions I had witnessed since childhood, there was always a witch with violet eyes.
The hallucination of the witch who grew alongside me vanished the moment I witnessed her meeting someone.
As a child, I was frustrated by her sudden disappearance, and I even suffered heartache as if I had lost my first love.
But that was eight years ago.
I had believed I would never see those brilliantly luminous violet eyes again.
It was a strange coincidence.
A woman appeared with eyes identical to the witch in my memories.
And she possessed a mysterious power to restore my form to human in a single moment.
In that instant, Wale Contana's expression hardened.
'No... why now, of all times.'
A hypothesis that flashed through my mind unsettled me.
I clenched the hand that had been bracing against the ground.
Empty sand whispered and scattered inward.
In that moment, Wale Contana thought of the deep-sea plants he had failed to harvest after venturing into the ocean.
"Damn fool...."
Perhaps because he guarded Contana, Wale could transform, transcending the constraints of emotion.
Yet restrictions bound him—he could not venture beyond the vicinity of Contana.
Moreover, to return to his human form, he had to hurl himself against the Cliff of Memories at the eastern edge of Contana.
Like all products of The Curse, he could only revert to his original state through pain....
Wale sighed and walked back into the sea.
Just then, he heard footsteps approaching from behind, treading upon the sand.
"Wale Contana."
A cold, chilling voice calling his name.
Wale turned slowly, his pallid face widening his eyes at the one who had sought him out.
* * *
So swift was Lucas Black that he carried Grace Oellin through the gate and arrived near his ship in an instant.
The moment Grace spotted the vessel, she cried out to stop him.
"Lucas! Stop, please!"
He barely halted, spinning in place several times before finally coming to rest, unable to conceal his excitement.
-Hah! My apologies, Grace. You must have been quite startled.
He spoke urgently, as though barely catching his breath.
She wriggled free from his grasp and looked at him with a mixture of astonishment and exasperation.
"What on earth has changed? Did you panic because I fell into the water?"
-I was both startled and urgent.... But Grace, are you truly unharmed? Are you injured anywhere?
Lucas Black, now in the form of a horse, approached her.
He rubbed his nose and muzzle against her forehead, and pressed his cheek against her neck, checking on her well-being.
Grace Oellin embraced his warm neck and stroked it soothingly as she spoke.
"Yes, I'm fine. When I fell into the water, strangely enough, I was able to breathe. And... the fish helped me. It sounds odd, I know, but that's what happened. I'm not entirely sure how it all came to be, but.... In any case, I'm safe, Lucas."
-You could breathe? How on earth....
Both fell silent simultaneously.
A suspicion had occurred to them both.
Witch's blood.
Or... Grace Oellin herself might be a witch.
She had not yet undergone the awakening that Elenoa had experienced in her dreams, so it was not certain....
Yet judging from the series of events, the possibility was considerable.
"...I suppose I should prepare myself mentally for this."
-Indeed. If something is to happen, it will likely happen soon.
"Yes."
Grace Oellin answered briefly and stroked Lucas Black's back. Concern came to her belatedly.
"But... there were so many people on the ship. If you transformed...."
-No. I leaped from the ship alone and transformed while running through the Forest. No one would have seen, and Haem likely handled the aftermath.
"Ah, I see. That's a relief. Do you happen to remember where you transformed? I should probably look for your clothes."
Lucas walked ahead toward somewhere in the Grass Field.
Grace followed behind him, but she suddenly stopped in astonishment upon seeing the densely overgrown trees and vegetation.
'Wait, isn't that the evening primrose mushroom from Grandel's encyclopedia? And there's oingcho too? My goodness! There's even dragon horn!'
Plants that were known to be nearly extinct lay scattered everywhere.
They weren't even mutated—they retained their primordial forms perfectly.
Forgetting to follow him, Grace crouched near a pile of grass and examined the plants.
Her heart pounded fiercely, though for a different reason than before.
"...And there's royal fern too. Wow, how is this even still here? Now that I think about it, this tree as well...."
She had nearly walked past without realizing these treasures were scattered all around.
Grace, entranced and sitting on the ground examining the plants and soil, suddenly lifted her head when something tapped her back.
Turning slightly, a black horse stared at her intently while pawing the ground with its front hooves.
Of course, it wasn't rough—it was simply expressing displeasure.
"I'm sorry. There are just so many fascinating things here...."
Snort—!
Without a word, he began poking her nape with his muzzle.
As she flinched from the tickling sensation, something warm licked her nape, and she grabbed him with a start.
"That tickles."
She felt him nuzzling her nape and collarbone with his nose and lips.
Feeling her emotions stir strangely, Grace, her face flushed crimson, stopped him.
"Y-you're covered in seawater, it's salty."
Why wasn't he responding?
She grasped his elastic, soft skin.
The massive horse, more than capable of overwhelming her, pushed her back relentlessly, and Grace tumbled backward helplessly.
The blue eyes looking down at her were the same blue eyes she knew well.
But because his form wasn't human, something felt strange.
Especially since she was nearly lying on her back while he stood over her, staring down.
Hesitating, she slowly pulled her hips back and spoke.
"D-don't do that."
Pffft—
He snorted as if it were absurd, and only then did he let his voice be heard.
-What exactly shouldn't I do?
"Y-you're not...."
Grace stammered with her face burning red, then buried her face in her hands and cried out.
"Absolutely not! Not in that form!"
No matter how much I love you! It's impossible!
-...No, my wife truly sees me as a beast.
He muttered as if he found it utterly ridiculous, as if he'd heard something outlandish.
Then, as Grace covered her face, he tapped her slightly protruding forehead visible between her fingers with his muzzle and spoke.
-Instead of wasting time on such misunderstandings, couldn't you just hit me once with that palm? Or perhaps you're just saying that, and I'm actually....
"No, no! What are you saying right now!"
Startled, I cried out and quickly raised my hand, striking his shoulder with all my strength.
Smack!
I felt the firm, taut texture of his skin, so solid it made my palm sting.
Then, in a flash of light, the form of the black horse transformed in an instant.
His dark skin shifted to a healthy bronze hue, and my vision was suddenly filled entirely with that warm complexion.
A powerful, muscular chest appeared before my eyes.
I didn't dare look down, and when I timidly glanced up at him, I quickly averted my gaze.
To encounter my large, imposing husband in his bare form in broad daylight, no less in this Grass Field, was decidedly awkward in more ways than one.
"I, I'll find your clothes for you."
"I've already retrieved them. Here."
His clothes lay on the ground where he pointed with his fingertip.
He must have brought them while I was absorbed in examining the plants.
"Then please put them on quickly, Lucas. What if someone comes?"
"Haem handled the aftermath well, so it's unlikely anyone will come near this area."
I, who had been glancing nervously in every direction, timidly looked up at him.
The lush greenery of the Grass Field and dense trees spread out behind him.
The sunlight piercing through the gaps seemed to form a halo around Lucas.
He exhaled softly and caressed my cheek.
"When you fell into the water earlier, and when your form disappeared... I felt despair for the first time, Grace."
"Lucas..."
I covered his hand against my cheek with my own.
His fingertips were trembling slightly.
What if our positions had been reversed?
If he had fallen into the water and I had retrieved nothing from its depths...
An invisible flame seemed ready to consume my heart entirely.
I felt this way merely imagining it; Lucas, who had witnessed it with his own eyes, must have been truly terrified.
His skin was cold and pale.
Lucas pulled me tightly into his arms with his taut, muscular embrace.
His lips, just as they had when he was in horse form, moved toward my neck.
Now I realized he was seeking out the pulse throbbing vigorously beneath my skin, pressing his lips against it.
His lips brushed ceaselessly against that pulsing point.
I patted his back.
Then I felt him let out a soft laugh.
"I never knew I could be such a weak man."
"...Neither did I."
I responded playfully to ease his tension.
Lucas nibbled at my neck.
"So you need to take good care of my heart, Grace. Don't let it stop from being too startled."
"Yes, I'll be careful."
At Grace Oellin's response, Lucas Black murmured with a puzzled expression.
"...Why does this feel so unsettling?"
"Perhaps it's because I'm naturally quite adventurous and courageous, wouldn't you say?"
At her bold reply, Lucas Black met her gaze and laughed.
The two lingered for a moment, feeling each other's breath, before slowly pressing their lips together.
The kiss deepened gradually, the pressure of their embrace intensifying before easing.
Yet soon a hungry, fervent kiss followed in its wake.
In the quiet forest, the sound of their ragged breathing echoed.
With the rustle of fabric, the soft grass beneath them bent under their weight.
For reasons neither could explain....
It was an hour later when the two emerged from the forest.
---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------