His Breeding Obsession

The combination of feeling disheartened and disrespected made Mirania want nothing to do with him.

 

Grecan did not escape Mirania’s wrath.

 

The pillow hit him squarely in the face, knocking him off his feet.

 

A stray strand of hair fell across his forehead. His expression was stark and dry, unable to tell if he was angry or sad.

 

Mirania’s heart didn’t move an inch as she watched.

 

Looking at him coldly, Mirania said.

 “If I had known you were such a one-sided bastard, if I had known how you would treat me, I would never have cared for you!” 

Grecan was a wretch.

 

In his previous life, he had taken her heart countless times, never allowing her to rest in peace.

 

I’ve tried to forgive and embrace all of those actions, but they haunt me to this day.

 

Now, in this ego-crushing way.

 

Looking down at her sulking, Grecan pursed his parched lips.

 “That’s sad. I care so much for Mirania, more than my own life.” “…” “No matter how furious you get, no matter how many times you hit me and curse me, it doesn’t make any difference to me, so don’t waste your energy. It’s only going to drain your energy, and you don’t want to lose the weight you’ve gained.” “What?” 

Speechless, Mirania pursed her lips until a smirking Grecan opened the door and walked out.

 

‘I didn’t know I could be so angry at my age!’

 

She quickly pulled the covers up to her head, then absentmindedly looked at the back of her white hands.

 

The hands that had been skinny when she’d first woken up had grown back to their former size and were now soft and smooth.

 

At every meal, she recalled, there was a fatty soup with butter and chopped bacon.

 

Not being a big meat eater, bacon was the only thing she ate well, and it was a staple at every meal.

 

Nutritious meals and greasy hands.

 

Mirania’s mood brightened as she remembered Grecan’s last words.

  

The next day, a stream of small animals came through the wide-open windows of the crystal room.

 

As the large room filled with chirps, squeaks, and wing beats, Mirania closed the window and looked down at the floor with her arms folded.

 “Five white rats, ten gray. Thirty insects. Ten birds…” 

Each of the roughly forty beasts looked at Mirania, their eyes narrowed.

 

Mirania’s single-minded focus on escape had been sharpened by her humiliating failure earlier.

 

‘Flying magic is too conspicuous. To escape stealthily, I must have help.’

 

So the method she chose was to seek out beings who could help her.

 

The first to come to mind were the servants.

 

‘They are out of the question, how weak-willed they are. Using them to serve Grecan is like jumping into a fire with no shirt on.’

 Tap, tap, tap— Squeak— Chirp, chirp, chirp— 

Turning her attention to her little helpers, who were making their presence known with various noises, Mirania gave a short order.

 “Quiet.” 

Hmm…

The last rat shut up in a panic.

 

The room fell silent. Soon, a line of rats, birds, and insects formed in front of Mirania, waiting their turn.

 

Mirania listened to their animated tales of life in the palace and plotted an escape route in her mind.

 

After a few moments, Mirania exited the crystal chamber with a small army of helpers at her side. It was strolling time, so there was no one guarding the door.

 

‘The palace the beast has taken over is not the palace of the past.’

 

Once again, Mirania realized, that the beast and humans might look alike on the outside, but there were fundamental differences.

 

The beast’s condemnation of humans as weak, unable to use their power when they didn’t live in groups, meant that they were strong when they came together.

 

Humans are stronger when they gather together.

 

The imperial palace, in particular, was a place where humans with outstanding individual capabilities gathered and lived.

 

People created the ruling system, guard system, security system, organizational system, and so on.

 

The various systems and structures were so dense and excellent that there were almost no holes.

 

‘On the other hand, the system of the beast people is simple.’

 

Unlike humans, who cooperate with each other out of necessity, the beast was a disparate group of races, and they don’t work together. Nor did they feel the need to.

 

They were organized according to their race, according to their abilities, but that was all.

 

‘The palace would have been just as it was, and there would have been no need to change it.’

 

If an enemy invaded the imperial palace, the humans would send troops in order of their roles, while the beast would send out the strongest warriors of their clans at once.

 

‘Each of them has different strengths, so why do they seek to dominate the other?’

 

Mirania clicked her tongue in pity for the foolish.

 

Compared to the complex systems of humans, the beast was simple, and that was to Mirania’s advantage.

 {This way, witch!} 

The little helpers knew where the most deserted areas were, and the imperial palace, with its simple security system, was easily breached by the little helpers.

 

Mirania, who had already passed through several palaces, felt lighter the farther she got from the crystal chamber.

 

‘At this rate, I’ll soon be out of this boring palace.’ 

 {Witch, that’s the entrance, that’s the entrance, right there, to the imperial palace!} 

The gray mouse scampered off at a fast pace, pointing with its front paws at the huge golden gates of the palace.

 

Mirania nodded happily.

 {Oh, praise me. Praise!} 

The gray mouse scurried forward, and the other animals, spurred on, picked up their pace.

 

The great gates of the imperial palace were guarded by a group of sighted warriors.

 

The little helpers turned sideways, familiarly avoiding their eyes. They arrived not at the gates, with their golden glitter, but at a gray, dull stone wall far from the gates.

 {Witch, we must go here, this way we can get out without anyone knowing!} 

The bird atop the tree twitched its head and pointed to a hole in the wall.

 

Mirania fell silent as she stared at the tiny hole, barely big enough to fit her fist through.

 {Witch? Aren’t you leaving? Someone’s coming any minute!} 

Mirania sighed,

“The hole is too small for me to escape.” 

The worker ant wiggled its antennae again as Mirania searched for another way out.

{No, no, no. The walls are weak. The walls are weak. If you hit them, they’ll break, break!} {Hmm. Here, over here. Lots of people have died on this wall, here. We don’t use it anymore.} 

The other insects chimed in with a word or two of agreement.

 

The insects that live in or crawl on the walls pointed to the holes in the wall with conviction, and Mirania half-heartedly flicked her hand around the hole.

 {One more time, again, one more time.} 

She put a little more force into her fist, and the crack in the wall expanded like a spider’s web.

 

Mirania struck again with her fist.

 Thud— 

The stone wall around the hole collapsed. The little helpers cheered like it was their job.

 {Wow, it collapsed. A hole for the witch to get out!} 

Mirania stared at the crumbling stone wall in disbelief.

 “I guess these people don’t even bother to maintain their place.” 

The palace looked as it had before, but every inch of it was in disrepair. It was ridiculous, but it couldn’t have been better.

 

Grateful for their indifference, Mirania climbed out of the hole.

 

‘At last, I’m out.’

 

Overjoyed, Mirania turned to run away.

 {Kyaaah!} {Help me, help me!} 

A terrified scream made Mirania stop running and look back. Her eyes locked with Grecan’s, who was leaning back against the wall.

 

Eyes that were emotionless.

 

Goosebumps crawled down her spine.

 {Ouch, it hurts, I’m scared, it hurts!} 

A scream of pain brought Mirania to her senses.

 

Around her, her little helpers were writhing in agony.

 

The flying birds dropped to the ground and covered their heads with their wings, and the small insects gasped as if they were about to pass out.

 

Mirania scrunched up her face. She didn’t know how Grecan had known and was waiting here, but the sight of her tiny helpers suffering as they could die with a snap of her fingers made her feel sick.

 “Don’t be angry, Grecan. They’re suffering, aren’t they?” 

Grecan shook his head.

 “I don’t hear them.” 

As he mumbled expressionlessly, Mirania felt a deep sense of despair.

 

She could feel the extreme terror of the animals trapped by the energy that radiated from Grecan.

 

It felt like she would die if she tried to move. Mirania stiffened when she spotted the gray mouse foaming at the mouth.

 “Will you not take hold of yourself!” 

She shouted angrily, and Grecan’s brow furrowed in confusion.

 “I don’t know why you’re so angry.” “Tell me, can’t your aura see those children dying?” 

Grecan turned his head and looked around.

 

The small creatures in a circle around him were squirming for life.

 

Grecan’s stared at the pitiful scene of death and life in silence, then muttered to himself.

 “Ah, these. I want to kill them.” “…” “Can’t I?”

said Grecan.

 

‘You’re going to kill them all!?.’