"I am worried that the doctor might let out words about my recovery Viosus!" If any of the Boar clan heard about Yilas still being alive, would they come back to finish the job?
"No need to worry, Milady. The Doctor had been good friends with the late Master for a long time and he already knew about our current well-being."
Viosus was a smart and attentive man, he already knew what Yilas was worried about before she even explained any reasoning.
Yilas thought to herself, she was such a lucky woman to be reborn in the care of this amazingly reliable man. Plus he was too damn good looking, her soul felt refreshed every time she got a glimpse of that reddish hair and those mesmerizing green eyes.
It's not like she wanted some romantic relationship from him or anything, maybe just by having a reliable man by her side would benefit her a great deal if she wanted to survive.
But having a boyfriend would be nice. Yilas thought. She has never had a boyfriend in her previous life. All my romantic standards and knowledge about the relationship between a man and a woman she knew of was based on TV shows, mangas, and novels.
Now, she might not be a stranger to things what it was like to be in a relationship, from beginning till the end. But when it came to hand-on experience Yilas was a total newbie.
"All this talking must make you thirsty Milady, let me go fetch you some water." Viosus was just about to leave when Yilas grabbed his furry wrap dress covering his lower half.
"You said I could get out of bed when the blinder comes off.." Ylias sounded like a little kid asking her mom for candy in the hope that Viosus took pity on her.
"Haiz.. you barely got any better, Milady, and you already thinking about getting out?" Viosus shook his head.
"But it has been over 7 days, I can't stand staying in one place anymore." If she laid in this bed for another day her legs will turn into roots and dig onto the ground to escape this prison. This was no different from the hospital.
Yilas was not a vegetable person, so she thought she didn't want to waste another day being in this healthy body and not go outside and experience life.
Viosus looked down on her with impatient eyes but when it came to freedom, she would not back down. Even if it meant using her secret technique. Yilas really wanted to go outside! So she pouted my lips and opened her eyes as big as possible. Puppy eyes had always worked on her mom so maybe it will work on Viosus too.
Viosus on the other hand was so shocked that the Master even knew of such an expression. However, it shot him dead in an instant with cuteness overload that he couldn't help but lose control of his heart and body.
And poof... His red tail appeared out of thin air and it started to wag from side to side.
Wow… it was like a magic trick..it was so fluffy and fuzzy that Yilas couldn't help but want to touch it. It was like seeing a kitten, people just had an uncontrollable urge to pet it.
She grabbed it! It was even softer and fluffier than she thought it would be. It's so nice to just caress the hair all over, it was a giant piece of fur that was very pretty and cozy.
"Milady.. If you like my tail so much I will stay in this form. You don't have to hold onto it so hard."
'Oh, no.. what am I doing?' Yilas thought to herself. This was so rude of her, 'cats hate being touched by their tails right? Viosus must hate it too.' (he did not)
"Oh I'm sorry.. Very sorry" She put her hands up, flat palms facing each other "It was just so beautiful I can't help myself! Please forgive me."
Viosus never got a compliment from any females before, especially the Master. And he even heard from other clans' males that females are usually very cold, even the nicest female will only bat an eye at males if they brought her precious gifts.
The master has always been cold towards males even since she was little, she never said such a nice thing to anyone. Now she was saying she liked Viosus's fur, a common fur of a lowly born fox, it made Viosus abundantly happy and surprised at the same time.
He looked at the Master in awe.
"Are you well Milady?" Viosus put his hand up to the Master's forehead to check if she was heating up. The Doctor said when the body temperature change affects an animal's behavior, making it went wild.
Yikes realized she must have done something strange, so strange that was out of character of the original owner of this body. She was afraid that a Viosus might suspect her.
"Of course! Worry not dear Viosus, I just need some fresh air and I will feel much better."
"Dear" was definitely a strange word for the Master to use. Even though Viosus was feeling strange about how the Master talked and acted nowadays, he didn't hate it.
In fact, he felt little tingling inside every time the Master praised him or treated him gently.
" I will carry you to the river out back." Viosus gave into his heart and that adorable red and white eye. "But you can't walk on rocks and grass Milady, the wound on your feet will open up again!"
Yilas was definitely pleased with the deal. She could finally go outside.
Smiling from ear to ear, Yilas raised both of her arms imitating a child who asked to be carried.
The little corner of Viosus's mouth curled up, revealing just a little of his pearly white fangs.
He quickly picked up his little Master, swiftly started to move outside where the sun was turning orange-yellow. Not too long after they arrived at the little stream. It ran a long way wrapping itself around the mountain but this was sufficient enough for the Master to see the forest and enjoy the water.
Since Yilas could see her surroundings now, she realized the house she was staying in was nothing much but a few pieces of stones stacked in a somewhat crooked way but straight enough to be taller than 3 meters. The bed she was sleeping in was a round block of wood with a layer of hay and leaf on top. And they didn't have much of a wall outside the house, it was surrounded with tall bamboos and trees, making enough of clear space in the middle to call a yard.
The stream was small and it made little tick tick sounds when the water ran through the rocks.
Yilas has only seen a little stream similar to this a couple of times when she was little in her previous life. It was a stream near her aunt's house in the countryside when her mom and she moved away to the city, Yilas rarely had any chance to come back.
She was so happy to see just a little stream. The excitement wrote all over her little pearly white face and her beautiful big eyes.
Viosus safely put Yilas down on the ground just an arm's length away from the water. But she couldn't contain her eagerness and move straight to the water and start dipping her tiny white toes in the water.
"Ahhh..! So cold!" Yilas screamed delightfully. The weather was a little hot like at the end of summer so the cold water was just perfect to cool it off.
No animal would want to put their toes underwater unless they needed to wash. This was especially weird for Viosus because he hated water. But maybe the Master needed a wash or was dirtied somewhere, Viosus persuaded himself.
If that was the case, he must help the Master in her wishes even if it involved him getting wet.
"Let me help you clean Milady." Viosus also stepped into the water with hesitation but he had to conquer his personal feelings to help his Master.
"No no.. I am fine. Just sit here with me Viosus."
"Yes, Milady." Viosus copied Yilas sitting pose and sat on the ground. However, the water was just too shallow, his knees were up to his face when he was done sitting down.
They didn't say anything for a while, just enjoying each other's company and the breezy wind that blew by every so often.
Yilas was admiring nature and Viosus was admiring the Master gentle smile on her face.
Viosus thought the cold water might not be so bad if he and the Master sat like this.
"Viosus!" Yilas broke the silence.
"Yes, Milady?" Viosus quickly looked away when he was called on.
"Stop calling me Milady when nobody is around Viosus." Yilas looked up to watch the sky that was slowly turning redder and redder signaling sunset coming soon.
"But you are Milady, Milady!" Viosus worried that he might have upset his Master, but no matter how angry she was, he wouldn't let her push him away. Now that he has experienced her kindness, he only craved for more.
"Didn't you say we grew up together, Viosus? Then we should be more like friends than Master and such."
"Friends? What is that Milady?" Viosus followed Yilas gaze and looked at the cloud in the sky.
"It is like you and me, people or beast-man who have known each other for some time and grow to care for each other."
When Viosus heard "care for each other" his heart skipped a beat and his tail started swift from side to side uncontrollably.
"And friends are comfortable around each other, Viosus. They share many things with each other and understand each other. They even call each other by a pet name."
Viosus might not understand this "friend" meant but it sounded like something he would want to be with his Master.
"Am I Milady's friend?" Viosus looked at Yilas but she was laying on her back, with her arms crossed under her head and with her eyes closed.
"Not if you keep calling me that Vio." Yilas took the initiative and created a nickname for Viosus.
"Vio?"
"Yeah, Vio! Short for Viosus. I think it is a cute name for you." Yilas smiled thinking about taking a nap in this beautiful weather.
"Thank you, Milady... I love being Vio." Viosus's cheeks were blushing but Yilas couldn't see them with her eyes closed.
"Now that we are friends, Vio, you have to think of a name for me too. A name you would only call me and I would only answer to such a name to you."
Viosus heart skipped a beat again. Usually, Viosus was stern to others, calmed under danger, and pierce while hunting, but next to his little Master, he couldn't manage to do anything but to let her steal his heart away, little by little.
Viosus never considered himself a smart beast-man, he couldn't even manage to do half the stuff using energy when compared to his Master. Particularly after the boar incident, his self-esteem dropped down to the lowest level.
So how could he think of a name that was worthy of his precious Master? But he couldn't let this opportunity slipped by, it was something that only he could call her, and only she would answer to him. So to Viosus, this task was more important than anything right now!
"Can I call Milady Yilly?"
"Great! That is set. From now on you have to call me Yilly!" Yilas didn't really care about what the name Viosus made up for her. To her, calling each other by intimate names would be a great start over for their friendship.
"But I can't call you that in front of others Milady..they would laugh at you since you are the head of our clan. And I would not allow that." Even though Viosus was enjoying the special treatment his Master gave him, his Master's reputation was something far more important.
"We don't have to call each other names in front of anyone, just when there are you and me alone we can call each other that. Like at this moment."
Viosus thought back and forth and finally gave in. He wanted to be friends with his Master so he would just let his desires gave in just this one time.
When he finally looked over, his master has already fallen asleep. She looked like a little cute cub when she was asleep.
Viosus remembered the first time he saw her, he thought she was the most precious creature he ever laid eyes on. But it wasn't always like that. A flashback from the past suddenly came before his eyes.
The late master in his fox form carried something small in his mouth, running out of the house when the sky was pitch black, thunder, and lightning roaring the sky. No animal dared to disobey the beast god, they always hid during the beast God's rage.
What was more strange was that the Master's spouse was in labor not long ago, why was he leaving her? Viosus didn't understand but he was too scared to move out of his corner.
When the rain had lightened up a little bit, Viosus took all of his courage and went to take a look at Master's spouse, she must be lonely if the master wasn't with her.
Viosus tiptoed to the edge of the door like he was scared of waking the beast god. He finally reached the room and took a peek in with his bright green eyes.
However, what he saw was nothing easy for a young cub to comprehend. The master spouse in her fox form, curled up in the corner covering little red, purple balls with her body.
It would have been a peaceful, touching scene but Viosus couldn't even move away from the edge of the door, he just stood there, frozen. Because he knew, the air was filled with blood, the room was cold and their hearts had stopped beating. Not even a single beat beside his own.
*BANG!* the lightning strikes once more, waking Viosus from his nightmare. All little Viosus knows is that he needs to get away from this room immediately.