TCGAD 28

The palace was built to be extremely splendid. It was so extravagant that one’s energy was drained and one felt intimidated just by looking at it. It was a given that magnificent works of art hung on every wall, and on one side, an exquisitely constructed fountain was placed where a small cherub baby poured water from a jar.

It seemed that every place I looked was so sparkly that my eyes hurt. Besides that…

In truth, there was an even bigger problem. There were statues modeled after me placed here and there in the palace. Every time I saw them, I felt so embarrassed I thought I would go mad. Not only were they all ornately decorated, but they seemed to be treated like true works of art, making me feel like a self-loving narcissist.

Haengbok and the puppies were very fond of the newly relocated palace. The puppies ran and played between the statues built on the wide grounds, and Haengbok, perhaps wondering if it was me, stared up at a statue for a long time, then playfully nudged the back of my hand with his nose, asking to be petted. Then Kkakkah, who had become Haengbok’s shadow, approached, circled the statue, and barked, Woof woof! Bono, the most observant among them, recognized me, trotted over, and stealthily claimed my lap for himself.

Seeing his ears droop in time with my caresses, he seemed quite content.

“Bono, does it feel good?”

His small whines were unbearably endearing. When I tickled his warm belly, he stretched out almost like a black sesame rice cake on a hot grill.

The number of servants had also increased from before, and Lemon’s face was beaming.

“You can put that over here, no, no! Doesn’t that disrupt the overall balance of the palace?”

Lately, she had gotten a taste for nagging the servants and ordering them around as she pleased.

It was so extravagant and splendid that living in a place like this still felt awkward and burdensome, that much was true, but… it was also much more bustling and lively than when we lived in the cave, so there were definitely good aspects to it.

I slowly roamed the palace with Bono.

Then, someone in a corner caught my eye, and I turned my gaze toward him. Someone was sitting in front of a brazier. It was a very small, young girl.

She must have been very hot sitting in front of the fire. She was even wearing a cloak that covered her eyes and her entire body. I could not approach and ask who she was or if she was hot, in case I startled her. But a strange atmosphere flowed from her that I could not tear my eyes away from, and I stared blankly.

“It is the Priest.”

Startled, I flinched and looked to my side, and I was even more surprised to see Lemon’s face. She approached and whispered to me.

“She walked into the palace herself, saying she would help with your, the bride’s, delivery.”

“But she looks so young?”

She looked to be six or seven years old at most. Her shoulders were as small as the wings of a newborn bird, and the limbs visible beneath her cloak were gaunt. To think that a child who looks so young could be a Priest.

For a moment, the children in the village flashed through my mind. I wondered if maybe this child had also come to the palace under some pretense because she was hungry.

“Well, you know, she got my lover’s story exactly right. She said he definitely had another woman, so I said what are you talking about, there’s no way, he’s the most clueless of clueless men.”

Lemon blew out a breath, phew, as if she were getting angry just thinking about it now. Her blond bangs fluttered wildly.

“Still, something felt off, so I thoroughly investigated all the women around him.”

“…And you investigated?”

“He had a hidden daughter.”

Haah, Lemon let out a long sigh. Her voice followed, muttering, “I should have rammed that b**t**d’s a** with my horns.”

“Anyway, the nymphs heard the rumors and came to ask about everything they were curious about, and she apparently got everything right. It seems she is definitely a Priest.”

I let out a soft “Ah.” I approached the child carefully so as not to startle her.

“Excuse me.”

As I spoke gently, the child’s eyes turned toward me. I was about to ask if she was hot, and that if she was okay with it, she could take a short break and sit down. But as soon as I saw those eyes, my lips sealed shut as if glued with paste. On the outside, she looked like an ordinary child, but from her eyes alone, I could feel a sharpness, their light was very clear.

Besides… I do not know if it was just my imagination, but her face looked very familiar. I could not take my eyes off the child’s, as if they were nailed there. I knew it was rude and uncomfortable, but I could not stop.

“The child will be born soon.”

At that moment, the child’s young lips moved towards me.

“…Oh.”

At those perfectly concise words, I hugged my belly with my arms. I had a feeling anyway. The cycle of contractions that made my stomach throb was getting shorter and shorter.

“A healthy child will be born. The bride will be happy.”

The corners of my mouth naturally lifted at the prophecy that followed. It was the first time a prophecy had given me good news. I was not one to deeply believe in this kind of shamanism, but given my past experiences… I was secretly pleased.

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head slightly in gratitude.

Hugging my belly, I steeled my heart. It seemed that it was now really time to prepare.

That night, a sudden chill ran through my entire body, and I woke up with a start. Although she had said a healthy child would be born, the news that the birth was imminent had made my nerves unavoidably sensitive. I tried to keep recalling the prophecy.

‘A healthy child will be born. The bride will be happy.’

Thinking of the baby in my belly who would come to us after this pain ended, my heart seemed to calm down a little. Just then, Bulkan, who had noticed my secret anxiety, pulled me into his embrace.

“Bride, come into my arms.”

I could feel his heartbeat from our touching skin. Thump-thump. The nerves that had been sharply on edge seemed to soften a little. I spent almost the entire dawn awake in his arms.

Just as the young child had prophesied, I could not last two days before I bit my lip and choked back a groan against the pain that felt like it was piercing through my stomach.

In the deep predawn, I lay on the bed, panting heavily, haah, haah. In the room, there was only Bulkan, Lemon, and the Priest. We had intentionally taken all the babies to another room. In case there was any bleeding, we could not let them be shocked.

Saliva kept pooling in my mouth. I wanted to be calm, but sweat kept beading on the nape of my neck, and I could not hide how nervous I was.

I kept panting heavily. Haah, haah… An unavoidable fear crept over me. The agonizing pain I had experienced once before was almost hellish. To have to walk that path again, I felt like the world was going dark before my eyes.

“Bride, can you hear me…?”

“We need the hemostatic herbs right now…”

I could hear them calling my name intermittently or talking amongst themselves, but my consciousness was gradually fading. I could feel my mind slipping away from my head.

The prolonged, excruciating pain continued to bind me. My vision would be stained red like the sunset, then I would pass out, and when I opened my eyes, morning had come again. I would endure the contractions by biting down hard on a towel, pass out, and when I opened my eyes again, darkness had fallen outside the window once more.

“Odeu.”

In the midst of it all, the word that made me open my eyes was ‘Odeu.’ It was the only name Bulkan called me. I struggled to push my eyelids up. A bead of sweat dripped from my eyelashes and landed on my cheek.

“Tell me you will return to my side.”

A sharp voice poured down over my forehead. Unable to even bring himself to hold me, I looked up at Bulkan, who was sitting beside me, his hand just gripping the headboard of the bed next to me.

My vision was blurred white from the beads of sweat that flowed ceaselessly from my forehead. Nevertheless, I could immediately recognize this sharply featured, fierce face. Even in a darkness without a single point of light, I would be able to find this face.

“Bu…”

I clutched the front of Bulkan’s clothes with my hand. Grip, I gathered and held on desperately, as if grasping at the very last straw. Hoo-wook, hoo-wook. I breathed with difficulty. Drip, a bead of sweat that had formed on my eyelashes fell and stained my cheek.

I kept moving my lips as if I were a person who had to deliver a message right at this moment. I think there would be many better times than this. My name was not on the register of the dead, and the Priest had clearly said the child would be born safely. It would be fine to tell him on a better day, when I could speak a little more clearly.

…However, if I did not say it now, I felt like I would regret this moment for the rest of my life.

“You are asking me if I love you right now, aren’t you?”

Bulkan did not answer. He was only holding me, who looked as if I would breathe my last at any moment, precariously in his eyes.

“Bul, kan. I resented you, and I hated you…”

I could feel my breath becoming unstable. Gasp, gasp. I barely held on to the thin thread of my consciousness.

“And now, you are in my heart.”

Even if my throat were to close up and my tongue were to be tied, I wanted to finish everything I had to say.

“I will come back to you.”

I did not even want to dare imagine you after my death. I did not want to give up anything here.

“I will definitely, come back to you.”

I was desperate. I do not know what I had foreseen, but even as I muttered until my throat felt like it would burst, I did not let go of Bulkan’s clothes that I held in my hand. I could feel the strength slowly draining from my hand. The moment my hand slipped and my head fell back, Bulkan’s shocked face filled my vision. It felt like the fuse in my head had completely burned out and snapped.

.

.

.

And when I opened my eyes, it was an all-white world. A perfect world of nothingness. Where am I? I looked around, but it was just empty, and when I looked down, even the clothes I was wearing were white. The last clothes I remember seeing were stained red with my blood.

‘Uh, what the.’

…Moreover. I was wondering why my body felt so light, and my stomach was flat.

‘Did I… did I actually die?’

Is the baby safe? Was he born safely? Bulkan…? Did I really die in front of Bulkan? I stared into the empty space with my shoulders slumped, then I snapped back to my senses. No, this can’t be. I have to go back. Because I definitely promised I would go back. But what on earth am I supposed to do?

I started running aimlessly without knowing the destination. Pant, pant, I quickly became out of breath. Having not done any strenuous exercise in a year, my stamina had hit rock bottom. Even so, I could not stop putting one foot in front of the other. I ran frantically, like someone who had lost something. I was desperate, without even knowing what I was supposed to be looking for.

Then, in this place where white was all there was, I found something that was the only thing with color. I slowly stopped walking. Buried all alone in that pure white place was surely… a Buddhist temple. As if possessed, I continued walking toward the temple. The temple, in its perfect form with no signs of having been burned anywhere, seemed as if time had turned back several years.

“Our Myeongha’s shoes are all worn out. It’s about time to get him new sneakers.”

As I got closer to the door, I started to hear signs of life from inside. This voice… it was my grandmother’s.

“It’s about time for my baby to come home…”

It could not be, it surely could not be. The voice flowing through the crack of the paint-peeled door was definitely my grandmother’s. I carefully pushed the door with my hand.

“Oh my, is my baby here?”

A back bent like a shrimp, a face wrinkled along the shape of her smiling eyes, an old woman who had kept her silver hair without dyeing it—it was definitely my grandmother.

The yard was also exactly as it was at my home. The persimmon tree, which would bear clusters of fruit in the fall and on which we would leave some for the magpies, was laden with luscious, plump fruit, and on the narrow wooden porch, a basket was filled with ripe persimmons.

Captivated by a dreamlike sentiment, I looked around at the things inside the house. All my memories were contained there. I took in everything, one by one, with my eyes.

The old clothesline, the narrow wooden porch that would creak every time I sat down on it because it was so old, and the cracked crockery stand where we used to ferment sauces. They were all things I had missed dearly.

“Have you eaten?”

I mumbled, “Yes,” and nodded my head.

“You must have been tired coming all this way. Shall Grandma give you a ripe persimmon?”

As if possessed by something, I slowly approached the narrow wooden porch. There, I laid my head on my grandmother’s lap and looked up at the sky. The clouds drifted by slowly, and a few birds flew in and pecked at the persimmons.

“This year, the rain fell just right, and the sun shone just right, so the persimmon harvest was good.”

When I bit into the ripe persimmon, a sweet fragrance spread inside my mouth. Because I was lying down, it all dribbled down the side of my mouth, but something like that did not matter at all.

“Yes, I know.”

Everything was just as it used to be. It was a very rare, happy dream. I had once said something like that to Lemon. That sometimes, the dreams I have are happier than reality. The life I had often met in my dreams was all contained here. There was nothing sophisticated or expensive, but everything was what I had longed for so desperately.

“Shall Grandma buy you sneakers? Your shoes were all worn out.”

“No, Grandma, I am fine… I have other shoes.”

But the gentle peace did not last long. Suddenly, the house began to shake as if it would be uprooted. Lying comfortably, I flinched and my shoulders trembled. The sound, grrrrowl, sounded like thunder, and also like a large iron chain being dragged across the floor.

“Ugh, so noisy.”

My grandmother clicked her tongue as if she disliked something.

I was looking around, unable to grasp the situation. I felt a damp sensation on my cheek. It was a feeling as if something was l**king me. Startled, I sat up. When I rubbed my cheek with my hand, I could not feel anything. There was clearly nothing in front of my eyes, so what on earth was this?

“He is looking for you.”

At that moment, my grandmother told me in a benevolent voice. Her wrinkled hand gently swept the hair from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear.

Once again, I felt a damp sensation on my cheek. Startled, I covered my cheek with my palm.

“Bulkan…?”

Was he holding onto someone who had already passed away and l**king their cheek? It seemed he was trying to warm my body, which had probably gone cold, and get my blood flowing. In a way, it seemed utterly gruesome, but it also seemed just as desperate. And to put it another way, it was confirmation that I had really died.

“Grandma, my name definitely wasn’t on the register. And when the Priest made the prophecy, she said the baby would be born fine.”

“Everything depends on your choice.”

Everything depends on choice. Dragged to h**l, I was relentlessly forced to choose.

“My child, you can be born again, or you can return to where you were.”

And facing death, I ironically had a very free choice in my hands. Such direct freedom.

“My baby, you’ve suffered so much until now. Shouldn’t you be at ease now?”

At my grandmother’s words, I almost nodded my head without thinking. That’s right, I want to be at ease now… But the reason words did not easily leave my mouth was because there was something weighing on my heart.

“Grandma, I…”

I was about to continue speaking when a voice struck my ears like a sudden bolt of lightning, and I flinched, my body tensing up.

“He was mine!”

Where was that coming from? It was as if it was striking down from the sky like flashes of lightning, as if someone from beyond this world was convulsing in a frenzy.

<<Look at your state now. You have slammed your head against the wall numerous times, and you have plunged and pulled your head out of the river. Did you think a god like you could die by doing that?>>

Next, a stern voice echoed from all directions. It was less like a single voice and more like a venerable sound resonating from nature. For example, like the sound of thunder striking, the sound of waves, or the echo heard when shouting from a high mountain…

<<Is that human not making you sick and anxious?>>

It was so frightening and chilling that my heart tingled, like a thunderstorm clashing on a dizzyingly high cliff. It was clear that this was a high-ranking god, yet Bulkan had no hesitation in talking back.

“If you kill this human just like this, I will bring chaos to this place.”

You crazy b**t**d, I bit down on the skin between my thumb and index finger, filling my mouth with it. Please stop, you son of a b**ch. Who makes a request like that?

“I will destroy everything and drag it down to h**l.”

But that voice… it sounded so desperate, it made me wonder if this was really Bulkan’s voice. He seemed desperate, as if someone were pushing him off a cliff. The skin touching my body was trembling and shaking ceaselessly.

<<Even if it means taking away your immortal body?>>

“Even if it means taking away my immortal body.”

<<You insane dog. Does a god dare to forsake the peace of the world? What in the world is that mere human?>>

Dog. At the word that followed, I felt my mind going hazy. Imagining Bulkan, holding my corpse and crying out for me to come back, I felt as if a heavy rain was pouring inside my chest. It felt like everything was being swept away, like I was collapsing. The thought that I might lose Bulkan like this carved a maddening emptiness into my heart.

I want to go back. I have to go back. I have to go and stop that dog before he spouts any more crazy nonsense. As my will grew stronger, cracks began to form in my surroundings. Soon, the sky shattered into blue pieces, crumble, and collapsed into dust. I quickly continued speaking urgently.

“Grandma, I want to go back. I promised I would definitely go back.”

This place was filled with things I had loved, and still love. It seems I will live my whole life missing this moment. But. Nevertheless.

“I have left too much behind there.”

The thought of leaving made my heart race. I quickly took in the yard with my eyes. I intended to store it all in my two eyes like a picture frame. So that I could take it out and look at it whenever I missed it. I frantically turned my eyes, and finally, I looked at my grandmother’s face. My eyes were about to well up with tears of regret, but my grandmother was just smiling affectionately.

“Yes, my baby. Let’s see each other soon.”

…See each other soon? I could not hide my confusion, wondering what she meant, when a light began to shine from my grandmother’s face. Her wrinkled face became smooth as if pulled by hand, her drooping eyelids were lifted, and her long philtrum became noticeably shorter. But her eyes… only her eyes remained with my grandmother’s deep gaze. As it gradually became more similar to the face I had seen, I covered my mouth with my hand and just watched.

Finally, a cloak covered her forehead, and she completely transformed into the person I knew. It was the Priest from the palace.

“Grand—!”

The Priest was my grandmother! Surprised, I tried to reach out my hand, but my body was suddenly flung somewhere. The Priest, no, my grandmother, waved her hand, its sleeve drooping, towards me.

“Let’s see each other there.”

With my grandmother’s last words, I was s**ked into somewhere with a whoosh.

☀️

In an instant, an ice-cold chill hit me. The dreamlike feeling of floating had completely disappeared, and only a cold warmth enveloped me. The thought, ‘I’m back,’ slowly crossed my mind.

How long had I kept my eyes closed? My eyelids would not open easily.

“You said you would come back to me.”

I heard Bulkan’s voice muttering close to my nose, as if trying to feel my breath.

“Odeu.”

I wanted to open my eyes for him right away, but even a robot that had been turned off needs time to reboot to work again.

“You promised me you would come back.”

I had never heard such a desperate voice. His throat was completely shot, from how much he must have been yelling and screaming. For Bulkan, whose physical condition was rarely affected, he must have been screaming for days and nights and doing things harmful to his own body.

“No matter what I do, I cannot follow you… I’ve slammed my head against rocks, thrown myself into the waves, and let all sorts of beasts bite my neck, but I cannot go to where you are.”

So come back to me… I can feel the skin touching mine growing hot and swelling. He was transferring his body heat to my entire cold body with his whole body.

I struggled to open my eyelids. The situation around me began to rush into my stiff vision like a wave. Beyond the back of Bulkan’s head, who was holding me and burying his face in my neck. Around us, there were countless flowers. Half of them were withered, and the other half were withering, and they came into my sight one by one.

And I was dressed in white clothes. Something was tickling my ear, so I looked, and a red veil was touching my cheek. This was a wedding outfit. You insane dog. I do not know what he had dressed a corpse in. It was as if he was trying to live by holding on to even my dead body, and I felt something bursting out from my heart.

“…Bu.”

I could not even finish the short word, ‘Bulkan.’ I gasped for breath. I breathed erratically, like a fish that had lost a fin, been swept away by the waves, and had barely been pushed ashore. At that moment, the body of the person holding me flinched and froze.

“I’m back.”

Bulkan, who had been holding me so tightly, squeeze, as if he would crush me on the spot, released me from his embrace.

“You… what on earth is wrong with your appearance.”

Bulkan truly looked like wildness itself. His hair was sticking out in every direction like a barbarian’s, and the eyes visible through his sparse strands of hair looked as if all the blood vessels had burst and were bleeding.

He had dressed my already dead body in a wedding outfit and had been repeatedly l**king my cold corpse with his tongue. He had even picked the flowers I liked and placed them here, but he had not taken care of himself at all, looking no different from a truly abandoned dog. My heart ached so much I thought I would go mad.

“Just how long have you been like this.”

I told you I would come back. Even when I tried my best to smile, tears kept welling up in my eyes.

<<Oh, foolish human.>>

I wanted to spend enough time with him, as much as it took for me to return. Without even a moment to fully share the joy of our reunion, a dark aura began to creep out from one side.

I quickly composed myself and sat up. I looked up at him while sitting haphazardly.

<<Bulkan, a demigod, despite being a dog who must guard the gates of h**l, was bewitched by you, a human, and neglected his duties.>>

He was so dazzlingly bright that I could not even look at him properly. I could only stare blankly at the beams of light extending out. I was so overwhelmed by the solemn atmosphere that I thought, ‘Is this the god of h**l?’

<<You, a human, can face death at any time. We cannot stand by and watch chaos befall the world each time that happens.>>

He stretched out his hand and made a gesture of sweeping the ground once. Then, food and bottles of wine were placed before me. The food glistened, and the wine bottles gave off an endlessly sweet scent.

<<This is ambrosia, the food of the gods, and nectar, the drink of the gods. If you partake of them, you, a human, will also gain eternal life.>>

I was just staring blankly, wondering what all of this suddenly was.

<<Eternal life may seem sweet at a glance, but to you who live a finite life, it can also be an endless, unknown poison.>>

Eternity. For a moment, my vision swam at the dizzying concept I had never once considered. It felt as if I were standing on a very high place, looking down below.

However, I will die someday, and Bulkan will feel this same pain again. Even if I have a next life, it would be the same endless, uncertain wait.

I had once been forced by Bulkan to hold a pomegranate in my mouth. At that time, I had to eat it because I was cornered by the situation, but now.

I slowly picked up a piece of food and placed it in my mouth. If I really ate this, this moment could never be taken back, but I did not hesitate for even a moment. Soon, a sweet taste spread on the tip of my tongue, and a soft fragrance coiled down my throat.

☀️

Inside a cabin on a luxury cruise touring Santorini, Greece. In the art auction room, decorated like a gallery, people were gathered around a single painting, chatting softly.

A blond man with curly hair stepped forward and explained the painting.

“Bulkan, known as the god of destruction, was a demigod whose disposition was ferocious. He loved war and took pleasure in bringing discord to Mount Olympus whenever he had the chance.”

I slowly tilted my head to the side. I filled my eyes with the painting displayed in the large frame.

“The gods made Bulkan guard the land of h**l called Tartarus. Yet, they were also very afraid of him, not knowing when Bulkan might open the gates of h**l and attack Mount Olympus. But since they were too scared to guard the gates of h**l themselves, they turned him into a dog when the night before dawn grew bright.”

A black dog, standing on a cliff above a vast forest, was looking up at the sky and howling, Awoooo. The large fangs, flashing blue in the moonlight, were so vivid that I felt as if the scene was being painted right before my eyes.

“The ill-tempered and ferocious dog, who was not easily tamed, unexpectedly fell in love with a human. Unlike other gods like Zeus and Poseidon who enjoyed promiscuous s** lives for the sake of procreation, he is said to have cherished his bride dearly. A dog and a human, what a thing.”

The coordinator chuckled. Come to think of it, that coordinator, I thought his face looked familiar. His unique hairstyle and fidgety demeanor looked quite similar to Nicholas, whom I had seen in the town square before. While I was having such stray thoughts, one of the audience members raised a hand and suddenly spoke out.

“He must have been incredibly beautiful, then?”

A burst of laughter, wahaha, erupted at the lighthearted comment.

“Well, there are no detailed records of his beauty. But still, he probably couldn’t have surpassed a goddess, right? Shall we move on to the next painting now? This is a very famous painting, isn’t it? Of Aphrodite, also known as the goddess of beauty…”

At the coordinator’s suggestion to move on, people’s eyes naturally shifted to the painting next to it.

“You’re wrong.”

The coordinator was visibly flustered by the words that suddenly burst out from my side.

“Excuse me?”

“I said, you’re wrong.”

The gazes of the tourists naturally turned towards my side. Bulkan, who had instantly drawn everyone’s attention, chuckled.

“Odeu was extremely beautiful because he offered his soul to the goddess of beauty.”

He casually held a bundle of white fox fur in one arm and gently bit his thumb with his canine tooth. His two eyes were glistening with interest. The sharp canine tooth peeking out from under his lip was, to anyone’s eye, not human. For a moment, my heart chilled.

I could hear the people around me whispering among themselves, asking what on earth that man did for a living.

My face felt like it was flushing hot on its own. He just could not stay still for a moment and always had to draw the eyes of everyone around like this.

Anyway, we were currently receiving the full attention of everyone around us. Since we were abroad, it was not strange to bring a four-legged dog onto the ship, but Haengbok, being a deer, seemed a little unfamiliar to their eyes.

Even when we were just standing still, we drew attention, and now he was causing a commotion on the level of ‘look over here!’…

“Please, continue.”

I smiled awkwardly and pulled on Bulkan’s arm.

As we left the cabin where people were gathered, a soft breeze tickled my cheeks and nose. I went to the bow of the ship and stood before the railing. Haengbok, Kkakkah, and Bono, who had been playing amongst themselves while roaming inside, quickly gathered around.

The beautiful sea rushed towards me, filling my two eyes. The Mediterranean Sea, which I was seeing for the first time in my life, was truly like a painting. It was so clear and blue that it was hard to find the boundary with the sky. I was gaping slightly in admiration when.

Awoong, from the bundle of fox fur held in the crook of Bulkan’s arm, came the babbling sound unique to a baby. It was a sound that made a smile form on my lips just by hearing it. I smiled softly and looked at the baby.

“Haetsal, did you sleep well?”

When Bulkan held the baby forward, a chubby cheek that had been buried in the fluffy fox fur was revealed. His red hair was damp, having been l**ked thoroughly by Bulkan. Haetsal opened his cute mouth and yawned, haahm. Haengbok l**ked the baby’s cheek with his tongue, as if asking if he had woken up and saying it was nice to see him again today.

“Ayaet.”

The black dogs, who were now well over the size of large breeds, could not hold back their curiosity. They tried to climb up Bulkan, kicking him with their large paws. It seemed they wanted to quickly touch and l**k him, but the baby was still small and too fragile, so we needed to be careful.

“These fur-ball brats.”

Bulkan twisted one corner of his lip. Finally, when the puppies calmed their excitement and planted their front paws firmly on the ground, Bulkan carefully placed the baby back in the cradle. The four-legged creatures gathered around and looked at the smiling baby.

The puppies, looking at the newborn, were much more careful than we had worried. They seemed to find the human baby with two hands and two feet, different from them, strange and fascinating.

“Whine.”

As Kkakkah was watching the brightly smiling Haetsal, one of his legs suddenly, pop! became short. Bono’s ear, who was next to him, pop! became small and resembled a human ear. They found it fascinating and were spinning around, looking at each other.

“Oh, they changed again.”

My eyes widened in wonder. Lately, a part of the puppies’ bodies would sometimes change to look like a human’s before changing back. Since Bulkan was a demigod, I thought that perhaps the puppies, who resembled Bulkan a lot, might also be able to change into humans someday. I was very excited to see what that would be like.

Bulkan slowly leaned his body against the railing. I took in the beautiful sea with my eyes for a long time. The sunset was just starting to fade, and the orange carpet spreading across the sea was mesmerizing.

“Do you want it?”

I turned my head towards Bulkan, who was asking if I wanted the sunset. His lightly worn black tunic floated in the air like a gentle wave. I shook my head from side to side. In times like this, if I said I really wanted it, even as a joke, I had no idea what might happen. Bulkan was the type of guy who would desperately try to steal it somehow. Besides…

“I already have more than enough.”

A sweet energy settled in Bulkan’s pitch-black eyes as they swayed towards me. He tilted his head to the side and then lowered his lips to my forehead. I gently closed and opened my eyes. The brilliant sea rushed into my half-open eyes.

The sunset descending beyond the horizon generously sprinkled golden powder over the sea. The ship carrying us rode that orange carpet and sailed forth without hesitation towards the endless sea.