The Beast That Licks Me - Chapter 3.1

Rosette woke up around noon. When she got up, the sun was already high in the sky. She felt refreshed, but thought she had slept quite deeply, considering how tense she had been while being embraced.

“Evan?”

Rosette called for Evan in a hoarse voice. She thought he might be in the bathroom, but there was no answer. Rosette sat up, hugging her pillow. Looking around with sleepy eyes, she realized there was no one else in the room.

“Evan, where are you?”

Despite her rather loud voice, there was no response. Realizing Evan wasn’t in the room, a somewhat bewildered Rosette stumbled out of bed. Since becoming unemployed due to the Viscountess’s scheme, they had always lazed in bed before getting up. While there were times when Rosette would get up first to write, Evan rarely got up and went out before her.

Breakfast was laid out on the table. It seemed she had been sleeping when Levit came by. Speaking of which, she wondered if Levit was alright. Thinking of Levit while picking up some bread, a piece of paper fluttered down from under the table. As she bent down to pick it up, she saw elegant handwriting.

[Going out for a walk.]

Rosette pondered for a moment who might have written this. Then it occurred to her that Evan was the only one who could have written such a note.

“Evan… knows how to write?”

Rosette muttered in surprise. So he hadn’t just transformed in appearance but could write as well. Of course, even when he was a dog, his intelligence was completely different from that of ordinary dogs, but writing was a separate matter. Moreover…

“His handwriting is really beautiful…”

Rosette said, holding the paper up to the sunlight coming through the window. The writing on the translucent paper was art in itself. It looked like something that would sell like hotcakes if attached to a candy glass bottle.

“Evan, what exactly are you?”

Rosette muttered suspiciously. Then she recalled Evan from yesterday. Evan, suppressing his anger, Evan licking her regardless of the bitterness, Evan contemplating something. All were new aspects of him.

“Come to think of it, his personality seems subtly different too…”

Upon reflection, Rosette realized that Evan, right after becoming human,n was somewhat different from the current Evan. Initially, Evan wasn’t much different from when he was a dog, but lately, Evan had become quite…

“Human-like.”

Rosette felt both more excited about the changed Evan and anxious that the past Evan might be disappearing. While she was seriously pondering this, the door suddenly burst open.

“…!”

Rosette looked up, startled. There stood Evan, drenched in sweat, with an expressionless face. His smile-less appearance somehow felt unfamiliar, causing Rosette to lick her dry lips.

“Rosette! You’re awake.”

As soon as Evan made eye contact with Rosette, he broke into a bright smile. Then he immediately crouched down in front of her and looked up at her.

“You were sleeping so soundly, I let you rest. How’s your body feeling?”

Hearing Evan’s question, Rosette did a light stretch. She had expected to suffer from terrible muscle pain, but her body felt lighter than anticipated.

“I think I’m fine. But where did you go?”

“Just for a walk.”

“Then why are you sweating so much?”

Rosette looked at Evan with a suspicious gaze. Even while being eyed suspiciously by Rosette, Evan smiled with curved eyes.

“Ah, it’s hot today.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I smell of sweat. I’ll go wash up.”

Before Rosette could say anything, Evan took off his top and tossed it aside. His inverted triangle-shaped back, wet with sweat, was fully exposed. Rosette quickly turned her head away, but couldn’t prevent her cheeks from flushing. Her heart beat anxiously. Everything was changing. Evan, and her feelings toward him.

***

“Evan, would you like to go out together for a bit?”

Rosette asked with bread in her mouth, her pronunciation muffled. Evan, who had just finished washing up, replied excitedly.

“Sure, where are we going?”

Despite having just gone out, he was this excited about going out again. While finding his dog-like behavior cute, she also felt somewhat relieved. Now he seemed more like the Evan she knew.

“Are we just going for a walk?”

“No, I want to buy a notebook and a pencil. I promised to teach Levit how to write.”

“Ah, that’s good.”

“Right? I’m done eating. Let’s go right away.”

After washing down the bread with hot tea to clear her throat, Rosette got up. The general store was located between the second and third-class sections. Walking through the now-familiar corridors, Rosette asked Evan.

“By the way, Evan. You know how to write?”

Though she tried to sound casual, Rosette’s heart was pounding heavily. Evan shrugged as if it were nothing.

“I was always by your side when you were learning, Rosette. I learned by watching over your shoulder.”

“Oh… really?”

Rosette briefly recalled the time when she was learning to write. While they were in the same space, she thought he had always been sleeping…

“Your handwriting is really good too.”

“I learned that with you, too. Don’t you remember?”

Evan said with a smile. Rosette quietly gazed at his face. For someone who learned that way, his handwriting was strangely different. More antique and old-fashioned. She was suspicious but felt too afraid to probe further.

“Rosette, I can see the general store over there.”

“Ah, yes.”

They made their way to the general store and opened the door. With a tinkling sound, the distinctive smell of the shop rushed in like a tide.

“Welcome.”

A young employee greeted them cheerfully.

“Are you looking for something specific?”

“I’d like to see notebooks and pencils.”

“Ah, those are over there.”

Walking in the direction the employee pointed, they saw a corner organized with notebooks, pencils, and pens. Rosette carefully examined the notebooks. Compared to the ones she usually used, the quality wasn’t as good, making her unsure what to buy. When she raised her head to ask Evan, he was already elsewhere, distracted. While she was aimlessly touching various notebooks, a voice came from behind.

“That notebook next to it is better.”

Rosette turned to the side while holding the notebook. A woman in uniform with reddish blonde hair. She was tall, and with her short hair at the back, she might be mistaken for a man from behind. Her clear-cut features added to the confusion, but the curves of her body revealed by the uniform made it clear she was a woman. Rosette narrowed her eyes. She definitely had seen her somewhere before.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we meet again.”

Rosette, trained to extract information while pretending to know people, greeted the woman pleasantly while searching her memory. Who could she be? It seemed impossible to forget someone with such a striking appearance.

“I still haven’t found your wallet.”

The woman offered a hint, seemingly noticing Rosette’s difficulty. Then it came back to her. She was one of the security officers on this ship. Rosette had reported her lost wallet to this person. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten. It seemed that with all the major incidents that had occurred recently, it had slipped her mind. Rosette pulled her robe’s hood down further with a slight tension.

“Ah, you must be working hard.”

“Not at all. I haven’t even found it yet.”

The woman spoke with a genuinely apologetic expression. Just knowing someone was trying to find her wallet seemed to somewhat ease the distress of having lost it.

“How are you managing? Isn’t it difficult without your money?”

“Ah… I’m fine.”

Rosette’s voice trailed off. In truth, it was difficult. Extremely difficult. So much so that she had to check prices and deliberate, even when buying cheap paper and pencils she wouldn’t normally look at.

“Just so you know, if you verify your identity at the bank, they can issue promissory notes or temporary loans.”

The woman said with a concerned expression. Rosette had already heard this when she first lost her money. But she wasn’t in a position to do that. How could she take out a loan in her family’s name after running away? Rosette smiled awkwardly.