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“A, Aiden! You, you’re bleeding!”
Maru saw Aiden’s back and shouted.
The white shirt he’s wearing is slightly dyed with red.
“I’m okay, it’s not a big wound. They’re just bruises and abrasions.”
“Bu, but……”
Aiden, who stroked Maru’s head to soothe her, turned towards the sheep beastman who swung the chair around.
“My pretty bride almost got hurt there. Are you aware of the crime for lifting a hand on an elf’s bride?”
However, the sheep beastman he complained to becomes defiant.
“That hamster is the one who’s wrong. Even though she’s a beastman, and a former royalty at that, she was easily moved by the elves’ kindness! As one would expect from the royal family’s shame!”
The sheep beastman who was openly criticizing Maru despite being placed in the livestock cabins herself, has probably already fallen ill mentally. It looks like a decent conversation can’t be established.
She was taken by the male employees to the back of the shop and Maru was left behind in place.
“Uhm, Aiden…… Thank you for saving me.”
She sincerely thanks him who protected her.
“Not at all. I am truly happy that you’re unharmed. If that chair had hit you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep my presence of mind.”
“……?”
“Now, let’s go home. It looks like they’ve also come to pick up the other women.”
Looking outside of the shop, the other elves were standing there.
Salami, who has been hiding until not long ago, runs up to Riley with a smile.
Maru also began to think that if it’s Aiden who presented his own body to protect her, maybe she can let down her guard towards him.
They part ways with Salami and the others and return to Aiden’s house/hospital.
Aiden, a doctor, has taken care of his injury on his own.
Elves are said to be sturdy, but it seem that they really are just bruises and abrasions.
After that, he starts preparing for dinner.
She’d like to help with the preparation but because Maru had been living in confinement for a long time, she’s not good at cooking. She just learned a little while living in the cabin.
Aiden cooks their meal in the kitchen, and Maru brings the glasses, plates, and cutleries to the dining room.
However, her hand suddenly slipped and she dropped a small wooden spoon into a gap in the dining shelf.
She panicks and tries to retrieve it with her hand but she can’t reach it.
“I’m stumped.”
Maru restlessly looked around her surroundings to check.
Aiden seems to be engrossed in cooking and hasn’t noticed what’s happening in the dining room yet.
(……Okay, I think it’s still fine.)
Reconfirming that he wasn’t looking at her direction, Maru turned into her hamster form.
Her body steadily shrinks and a small fluffy hamster appears from the clothes.
In this state, she could sneak into the gap between the shelves and fetch the wooden spoon.
She moves forward alongside the shelves and quickly reach the spoon.
He bit it and dragged it along, safely carrying it outside.
It took much longer than she thought but Maru, who didn’t lose the spoon, sighs in relief.
(That was heavy…… Let’s quickly change back to my old form.)
Since she’s powerless while in her hamster form, she wants to return to her human form as quickly as possible.
While she tries to secretly turn back into her human form on top of her clothes that fell to the floor during her transformation…… her body was suddenly lifted up. (TN: Rude, man. Very rude.)
“Chiiーーーー!?”
She unconsciously shrieked and flapped her legs but her body continued to be danglingly lifted up.
Just after, she’s gently dropped on top of something warm and soft.
The unsteady and soft ground was the elf’s palm.
Aiden, who discovered Maru in her hamster form, gleefully captures his bride and tries to admire her.
“Chii, chii!”
“What’s wrong? How adorable, you’re so cute~, Maru.”
Aiden gently strokes Maru’s fur with his fingers, wearing a fawning look on his face.
“…………”
Seeing her for the first time*, Aiden called Maru’s name. (TN: In hamster form.)
His charmed beautiful face looks destructively extraordinary. Somehow, it makes her extremely restless.
Moreover, his fingers that are stroking her gently feels really good.
“Kyuu……”
Her desire to resist gradually disappears.
“Ahh, Maru. I so happy to see your hamster form. It’s very adorable……”
“Kyuu……”
While her cheeks are being nuzzled, Maru thought.
(I want to get dressed and eat. I have to wash the spoon, too.)
However, there’s an adverse effect to going back to her human form now.
Since beastmen don’t wear clothes once they turn into their beast form, they’ll be naked once they turn back to their human form.
“Kyuu~, kyuuu~!”
She wants to get dressed so she appeals to him to leave his seat for a moment but, naturally, he doesn’t understand hamster language.
“Whach wong~? You’re shoo cute~, Maru.” (TN: ‘What’s wrong? You’re so cute, Maru’ in baby language.)
In the end, even his way of speaking turned weird. Looks like Aiden likes hamster quite a lot.
Maru, who wanted to turn back into her human form, ran at full speed on his arm, descended along his feet, and landed safely on the ground after a few minutes of scuffling.
