Episode 2
“Ow!”
With a thud, Melis landed squarely on her backside from midair. Rubbing her aching tailbone, she got to her feet and looked around. The surrounding area was densely filled with unfamiliar, overgrown trees.
The scroll had been reserved as a last resort due to its potential deviation effects, but fortunately, she had successfully landed on the mountains at the edge of the village, just as planned.
“Suc-success…”
Once she confirmed she was far from the mansion, Melis couldn’t contain her joy and bounced on the spot. Finally, she had escaped that dreadful house! Reality falling in line with a dream she had long cherished left her utterly dumbfounded.
But her joy lasted only a moment. Brushing the dust off her dress, she calmly started walking.
“Vivian said it should be somewhere around here…”
She had been wandering through the deep forest for quite some time, searching for the meeting spot, when faint sounds of crying reached her ears.
“What’s that?”
“…Ah… I see!”
Listening closely, she realized it sounded like a child’s crying from a distance. Curiosity got the better of her, and she followed the sound almost instinctively.
“Ah!”
Melis found the source of the cries and hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands. A small child was trapped in a net trap dangling from a tree.
“Waaah! Kerman! When are you coming?!”
Startled, she tried to stand, but then the child came fully into view. Short and covered in brown fur, with a long tail sticking out through the net—it was unmistakably a monkey beastman.
“Why is a beastman here…?”
Melis furrowed her brows in confusion. The continent of Physis was a land where humans and beastmen coexisted, but it was mostly for appearances.
Humans and beastmen had been at odds for generations, each posing threats to the other, refusing to acknowledge each other, creating unnecessary conflict.
Even though hundreds of years later the two races had signed a peace treaty and ostensibly lived in harmony, unspoken rules still lingered, and a sense of mutual disdain persisted.
Melis had spent her entire life in the Kingdom of Tarin, commonly referred to as human territory. In her twenty-some years there, she had encountered beastmen only a handful of times. And now, suddenly, a young monkey beastman appeared right in front of her!
After a brief pause for thought, she shook her head. Whatever the exact circumstances, getting involved would only complicate matters. At any other time, she might not have cared, but she had just escaped from home. Her mother was probably on high alert, searching for her, and any unnecessary complications would be disastrous.
‘If I get caught…’
She would surely be beaten to death by her mother. With resolve, Melis quietly turned to leave, but then a cry pierced the air.
“Waaah, Kerman! I was wrong! I’m so scared!”
Hearing the child’s desperate wails made her heart ache. Glancing again, she saw the child clutching the net, shaking it frantically.
“I… I don’t know what to do!”
Melis, unfortunately, could not bring herself to leave the crying child behind. Her resolve weakened, and she pushed through the undergrowth to appear in front of the child.
“Hik!”
“Um…”
“Eek! A human! A human appeared!”
The child panicked at the sight of her and flailed wildly. Melis approached cautiously to calm the child, but the struggles intensified.
“Save me! I’m still a baby monkey!”
“Wait…”
“Kerman! Please save me! This weird human came to eat me!”
“No!”
“Eek! The human is going to eat me!”
“I-I’m not going to eat you, calm down!”
Eventually, only when Melis stomped her foot to draw the child’s attention did the screaming cease. The child blinked large eyes at her, mucus bubbles swelling and slowly subsiding.
“Y-You really won’t eat me?”
“No. Why would a human eat a beastman? Even if it were just a monkey, we wouldn’t!”
“…Then will you put a leash on me and treat me like a pet?”
“No! What are you talking about…!”
Melis paused, wondering what the child thought of humans, then spoke in the softest, gentlest voice she could manage.
“I really just came to help. Don’t you need my help?”
The child sniffled, calming down, and pouted.
“Y-Yes. Please. Get me out of here.”
“Okay. I’ll find a way to help, so wait a moment.”
Seeing the child calm, Melis examined the surroundings. The net was tied to a thick rope on the tree trunk. The knot was loose, likely intended to trap small animals like rabbits.
After some concentration, Melis managed to untie the knot. Holding the rope carefully, the child slid safely to the ground.
“Done! Are you hurt anywhere…?”
“Waaaah! Human, thank you! You saved my life!”
Before Melis could respond, the child threw themselves into her arms, crying hard. The fear of being trapped at such a height for so long was palpable. Melis felt deep guilt for even considering leaving the child behind.
“It’s okay now. Stop crying, okay?”
“Sniff… okay.”
Bending down to meet the child’s eye level, Melis saw them rub their eyes with small arms. The child, now calm, finally spoke, lip trembling.
“M-My name is Garulus Rocan. Thank you for saving me.”
“I’m Melis Fortier.”
When she extended her hand, Garulus shook it with a tiny hand. Despite the tears and mucus, the child’s greeting was surprisingly polite. Though the speech pattern was peculiar.
Upon closer inspection, Garulus’s clothing seemed odd. Even though it was March, the air was cold, yet the child wore only a loose, short-sleeved top with no bottoms. Moreover, a young beastman alone in the kingdom made no sense.
‘No way…’
A sense of foreboding crept over Melis. She furrowed her brow and asked seriously,
“Garulus, how did you end up trapped here?”
“Achoo, I don’t know. Kerman told me not to touch it, but I did… When I opened my eyes, I was up in that tree. I got hungry and tried to grab fruit, and then suddenly… I ended up dangling here.”
Garulus pointed to a nearby tree, speaking in a rambling, mumbling way that Melis barely understood. From the tone, it didn’t seem like abandonment.
“Where’s your home?”
“I don’t know. But Kerman gave me this in case something like this happened.”
A sleek silver bracelet jingled on Garulus’s wrist—a pendant for preventing lost children.
“It’s supposed to be shown to someone if I get lost.”
Melis quickly turned it over, only to be disappointed. She had expected an address or contact info, but the pendant simply read, “Severus Principality.” Seven letters, no more.
“What is this…?”
“Why are you asking? It says Severus Principality. That’s my home.”
Garulus jingled the bracelet, curious. Clearly, the child didn’t understand addresses yet.
‘Did someone deliberately do this to prevent the child from returning home?’
But if that were the case, the bracelet itself would likely have been removed. Melis pondered deeply. Actually, that wasn’t the most urgent matter.
Severus Principality! That was territory under the Eisen Empire. She hadn’t expected Garulus to be from Tarin Kingdom, but an imperial territory, of all places, and specifically a principality.
Although humans and beastmen lived in separate zones, it wasn’t legally enforced. In fact, under continental peace agreements, government and royal institutions were legally required to employ a certain proportion of other races.
But not a single human resided in the principality. The reason: the ruler, Prince Severus, was a severe human hater. He had executed any humans who trespassed into his lands.
With repeated incidents, humans stopped entering the principality altogether. Melis felt overwhelmed at the thought of how to return Garulus safely.
“This is turning complicated…”
“Why do you say that? Tell me too, achoo!”
Garulus sneezed and shivered, likely from being outside in thin clothing too long. Time had passed more than she expected.
Unexpected variables aside, Melis decided to proceed with her original plan. First, she needed to change into clothes she had hidden nearby.
“Garulus, do you want to come with me for now?”
“Hmm…”
Garulus eyed her suspiciously, then nodded resolutely as if making a big decision.
“Alright. You seem very strange, Melis, but since you saved me, I’ll trust you.”
Strange… Garulus had just called her a weird human. Slightly irritated, Melis placed her hand on her side and asked,
“Why do you keep saying I’m strange? I saved you, didn’t I?”
Garulus raised an eyebrow and asked, puzzled,
“Well, do humans often wander in a wedding dress in the middle of the forest during the day? That’s even stranger.”
“Ah…”
Realizing she was still in her pure white wedding dress, veil and all, Melis sighed quietly. No wonder Garulus thought she was strange—this was his first encounter with a human in a wedding dress.
“I… there’s a reason for this.”
“A reason?”
“I was supposed to get married today.”
With a quiet sigh, she reached out again, but Garulus stiffened.
A few seconds later, Melis muttered, blushing with embarrassment,
“You don’t have to worry—I’m not trying to make Garulus my groom…”
