Chapter 76
14. Eunji, Who I Picked Up By Chance
When I opened my eyes, I was still in Kaiden's arms.
Because our bodies were pressed together, our body temperature was naturally maintained, so I didn't have to shiver and fall asleep.
I quietly stared at Kaiden's childlike face as he slept soundly, oblivious to the world.
'He looks like an angel when he sleeps.'
If only he could get rid of the madness in his eyes.
I slightly raised my body and got out of the tree root. Then, I sat quietly at the entrance of the tree root and blankly looked up at the sky.
Dawn was breaking.
Rustle.
And then, I heard something moving right nearby.
I drew the dagger from Kaiden's waist and looked around. My shoulders stiffened with tension.
I thought Monsters wouldn't come out because the sun was rising, but didn't Monsters appear even when the sun was setting? You never know.
Then, I saw a silver, round object through the bushes and let my shoulders slump in vain.
"Haa... Is it you again? I'm getting tired of this."
It was a silver bird egg with a smooth, fine texture. Now it was certain. This thing was definitely following me.
No... I don't know how a round egg with no eyes, nose, or mouth can follow me around like this.
Since I couldn't figure out what kind of creature it was, it was impossible to tell whether it was harmless to us or not.
I was squatting in front of the egg, resting my chin on my hand, observing it.
Tok.
Tok.
The silver egg began to crack. The egg was breaking.
"What the...?"
I was so surprised that I couldn't even think of moving and just stared at the egg breaking as if I were possessed.
Tok tok tok.
The top of the egg cracked open, and something wriggled inside.
Damn it, wriggled? Wrriggled??
And when I saw the smooth creature that poked its head out from the broken shell, I screamed and fell backward.
"Aah! S, s, snake...!"
"What!"
Kaiden, startled by my scream, woke up with a dazed look on his face and came to me, pulling me into his arms.
"You scared me."
Kaiden rubbed his eyes and buried his face in my shoulder.
"Let's refrain from unnecessary skinship."
I pushed him away, left a warning, and looked at the baby snake hatching from the egg.
Luxurious silver scales that sparkled through the shell caught my eye. After wiggling for a while, it peeked its head out.
"Eek!"
I was so surprised that I almost fell backward, but Kaiden easily grabbed my shoulder again.
But my scream startled this thing too, and it trembled before quickly hiding its head back inside the shell.
After hiding inside the shell for a while, it cautiously poked its head out again after some more time had passed.
Then, when it made eye contact with me again, it startled and hid back inside the shell.
'Something that looks like an earthworm is more timid than me.'
I watched the thing repeatedly poking its head out and hiding, calming my startled heart.
"I don't think it's a Monster."
Wasn't it impossible to be sure whether it was a Monster or not?
I quietly retreated and hid behind Kaiden. I peeked out and looked at the snake, and the thing flinched again when it made eye contact with me.
It hesitated, glanced around, and crawled behind the shell, hiding its body like me.
Kaiden crossed his arms and looked back and forth between me and the snake.
"What are you two doing?"
"It's shy."
"With the snake?"
"Yeah."
At my answer, Kaiden turned to me and smiled as if he found it amusing. Somehow, honey was dripping from his eyes, and it seemed like he thought I was cute.
It's nice that he thinks I'm cute, but I wish he would do something about that snake.
"You don't think it's just a snake?"
At my question, Kaiden observed the thing closely again.
"I guess so, it doesn't look like a Monster."
Come to think of it, didn't it follow me around like a ghost even when it was an egg? Isn't that something only a Monster could do...?
As time passed, the fear disappeared, and the thing stretched its body out from the shell.
I looked at it and quietly muttered.
"If it's not a Monster and just a snake, it would be good to catch it..."
"Huh? Why?"
Kaiden asked me with a face that genuinely didn't understand the reason.
"It's full of protein. I'm hungry right now."
No sooner had I finished speaking than the thing was startled and began to fuss anxiously behind the eggshell.
It really seemed like it understood human speech.
