Chapter 83

Unable to think of a proper retort, Lino blurted out something incredibly stupid. To describe Grondil—the man who controlled all the mana stones in Isberg—merely as ‘rich’ was a laughable understatement. Still, with Grondil’s fingers currently digging into his gluteal fold and rubbing back and forth, he couldn’t exactly tell him to ‘do whatever he wanted’. No matter if he owned the place or not, they absolutely could not fuck in a hospital room. And besides, Lino was still angry.

“Are you planning to just swallow it down every single time something displeases you?”

“…”

Grondil continued to knead Lino’s ass, whispering directly into his ear. The beast’s scalding, wet breath poured over his skin. It was Grondil’s breath that was hot, but Lino felt his own body temperature steadily rising in response.

“We have a very long life ahead of us. Do you genuinely believe things will go smoothly if you keep acting like this? It is the nature of a married couple to honestly confess their grievances, fix the problems, and grow closer as a result.”

“Is… that so?”

“Yes. So, show me your face and tell me exactly why you are sulking.”

“Mmm.”

Ultimately, defeated by Grondil’s honeyed whispers, Lino lifted his head from the fur. The second he lowered his hands, Grondil hoisted him up, adjusting his posture so Lino could lean back comfortably against his arm. Being held sideways against his chest like a giant baby was immensely embarrassing, but it was also incredibly comfortable, so he stayed put.

Hmm… He makes a fair point. And it’s really not good that he’s already calling the babies such… vulgar things. We haven’t even given them prenatal names yet.

The pregnancy had been short, and given how agonizingly difficult it was, they hadn’t possessed the luxury to come up with names. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have had the breath to use them. He had simply referred to them with generic plurals: ‘hey guys’, ‘these little punks’, ‘the babies’. There were three of them, after all.

“Well… About the babies. I’d really appreciate it if you referred to them with prettier words.”

“Ah.”

Grondil, who had been rhythmically patting Lino’s waist and ass, let out a short sound of realization.

“Understood. Remembering how much agony those b—… the babies put you through makes it difficult to speak fondly of them, but I will make an effort.”

It wasn’t the most enthusiastic promise, but since he said he’d try, Lino decided to let it go. “Ahem, hem.” He cleared his tight throat. Grondil immediately brought the cup of water to Lino’s lips. Gulp, gulp. After draining the lukewarm water, Lino began to speak, his voice much smoother now.

“I don’t know exactly why my life has been so brutal. It just feels like endless hardship has clung to me with a vicious grip since the moment I was born.”

The sudden, heavy topic was an unfiltered lament about Lino’s own miserable fate. Though momentarily taken aback, Grondil quickly realized Lino was responding to the regretful monologue he had muttered earlier, and he listened in quiet contemplation.

“No matter how positively I tried to spin things, no matter how quickly I gave up and accepted what I couldn’t change, I couldn’t help but resent the gods for opening up paths that led exclusively to suffering. Some days, I’d get so angry my head felt like it was boiling over. Other days, the sheer unfairness of it all would make me cry until I couldn’t breathe. But the only thing that kept me going was the singular, stubborn belief that this suffering had to end eventually.”

Lino explicitly didn’t say that joy would follow the suffering. Through that omission, Grondil caught a devastating glimpse into just how much Lino had resigned himself to. He had lived day by day, merely praying for the pain to stop, not for happiness to begin.

“If anyone else heard my wishes, they’d call them laughably ordinary. Honestly, they’re just basic milestones most people naturally achieve in life, but for me, I had to attach the grandiose label of ‘a wish’ to them… Things like getting married someday, having kids, and building a pretty house for my family to live in. Things like that.”

Every time Lino blinked, Grondil blinked with him. He was completely riveted. Whenever Lino paused to find the right words, Grondil stopped breathing entirely, waiting for his lips to move again.

“To me, you are the happiness that finally arrived at the end of all that suffering.”

“Lino. I am—”

Grondil was about to say he wasn’t worthy of such praise, but as if anticipating the self-deprecation, Lino shook his head and cut him off.

“You are my blessing, my luck, and my joy. You made every single one of my wishes come true. I’m terrified because I feel like I have things I don’t deserve… but that doesn’t mean I want to give them up. So, Grondil.”

Desperately trying to ignore the strange, agonizing itch deep within his chest, Grondil barely managed to force the words past the lump in his throat.

“…Alright. Tell me.”

“I had a dream while I was out.”

“A dream…?”

“Yeah. I think it was right before I woke up… I was harboring some pretty dark thoughts, giving up on everything, and then someone spoke to me.”

He could feel his body growing heavy again, his newly recovered energy already draining. Deciding against explaining every single detail, Lino chose to deliver the most crucial part before falling asleep.

“They asked me… despite everything, aren’t you the one who refuses to give up and keeps moving forward?”

“…”

“They told me I endured well, that they would bring my hardships to an end here, and that I should go.”

Your hardships end here.

Hearing Lino’s dream, Grondil let out a scoffing chuckle. He didn’t need to ask who had spoken those words; the identity was glaringly obvious. Giving the disease and then offering the cure. To think the gods would pull such a cheap, underhanded trick.

“This is just my guess… but don’t you think the goddess Aquila was the one who woke me up?”

Inwardly, Grondil hurled a barrage of the most vile profanities imaginable at the heavens. There was no conceivable way a newborn infant had committed a sin grave enough to warrant twenty-three years of absolute torment. They always said the whims of the gods were boundless. When designing the destiny of a Letia, it seemed they intentionally stacked every ounce of suffering into the early years, setting up some twisted, sadistic game to see if the mortal could endure it for a reward.

“I honestly think all my suffering might have just been the price to meet you. Just like you said, because I’m the Letia, I might have had to endure those massive tragedies due to divine wrath. But if I hadn’t been the Letia, would I have ever met you?”

Placing his hand over the massive paw holding him, Lino intertwined his fingers with Grondil’s thick, elongated ones. The contrast between smooth skin and dense fur was a sensation that always brought him profound comfort and peace.

“I barely even remember the orphanage days anymore. And during my imprisonment at the Haklan barony, at least I wasn’t starved, and I didn’t have to freeze to death in the winter. Actually, since that’s where I first learned about Isberg, looking back, it really wasn’t that bad.”

“Bullshit.”

“The slums… Haha, okay, even I can’t pretend that was okay. It genuinely was a place where my life was constantly on the line. But I survived it, so it’s fine. Assuming I never have to go back there.”

“Do you really think I’d ever send you back to a place like that?”

“Nope. I don’t think you’d even let me near the general vicinity.”

Lino flashed a bright smile, playing along perfectly.

“And my time in the capital, Ebek, was enjoyable too. The moment you chose me as your escort knight… I think that was the absolute greatest turning point of my entire life.”

Sensing Lino’s voice growing increasingly sluggish, Grondil hoisted him higher, cradling him like an infant, and began patting him rhythmically to sleep. Soothed by the steady thumping and the searing heat of the beast’s chest, Lino slowly surrendered to the heavy pull of sleep. Yet, as if he still had one final point to make, his lips moved sluggishly even after his eyes had closed.

“Thanks to you, marriage, kids, and a house… I got all three at once, didn’t I?”

Haha. I really am an incredibly lucky person.

Ending on a soft, exhausted chuckle, Lino fell into a deep sleep with a serene smile still curving his lips. Grondil gently pressed his elongated snout against Lino’s sleeping forehead before pulling back, a hollow, disbelieving laugh escaping him.

“I’m the lucky one here, Lino.”

Getting stuck with me… doesn’t that mean your luck is actually phenomenally terrible?

Especially now that you’re stuck with three more beast brats who look exactly like me.

***