I blinked.
"Eh?"
The man didn't say anything else. He just stood there, studying... whatever it was he was studying on my back.
I frowned. "Hey. You don't just go mute after saying something like that! What do you mean by "bound to four princesses"? Speak up, old man!"
His brow twitched in irritation.
"This one talks too much," he muttered.
Then he turned to the beast girl. "Should we just kill him and redo the summoning?"
"Wait, what—?!" I started, but before I could get another word out, the girl stepped forward and clamped a hand over my mouth, her grip surprisingly strong. My protests came out as muffled grunts.
She turned to the man, her voice calm. "It's the only choice."
He nodded solemnly. "Indeed. But first, we redo the ritual. If that fails, at least we'll still have this one."
He gestured toward me like I was some backup dancer.
"Go get the four vials," he said.
The girl blinked. "Four vials?"
His tone sharpened. "The ones containing the blood of the four princesses."
My eyes darted between them.
Blood?
Why is blood involved?!
The girl hesitated, her ears twitching. "well... I… might have… could have… probably used up all four vials during the ritual."
The man froze.
Then his whole body tensed like he was about to explode.
"You WHAT?!"
She shrank back, ears folding. "I thought… more blood meant a stronger summon…"
He let out a strangled noise that was somewhere between a growl and a scream. "That's why the damn ritual failed! You were supposed to use ONE vial to summon ONE groom for the princess whose blood it was! Not dump all of it into one summoning circle like you're making stew!"
He jabbed a finger in my direction. "No wonder he's still human! The magic didn't know which race to pull from—it just grabbed the closest idiot and stitched all four bonds into him!"
The girl flinched, her face scrunching up in guilt.
"…Sorry," she mumbled, her expression so adorably pitiful I almost forgot they were trying to kill me a few minutes ago.
Wait a second,
my brain whispered, the adrenaline finally fading.
They can't redo the ritual. I'm not gonna die!
The man let out a long, exhausted sigh and started pacing the room, his boots thudding against the stone floor.
"I'm finished," he muttered. "We're all finished."
He ran a hand through his graying fur, eyes darting between the girl and me.
"If the princesses find out they've all been bound to one man…" He stopped, voice dropping. "They'll kill all three of us."
Scratch that,
I thought bitterly. I'm still gonna die anyway.
The beast girl flinched, her ears folding. "Then… then we shouldn't tell them."
I tried to speak—muffled through her grip—but she just tightened her hold on my mouth, her fingers pressing firm against my lips.
I nodded anyway, eyes wide, trying to say Yes! Listen to her! Smart girl!
The man stopped pacing.
"It's not possible," he said, voice flat.
He turned and gestured toward me with a flick of his hand—like I was a waste of space.
"Because the princesses… alongside this thing… will die if the bond isn't consummated within two fortnights."
I blinked.
Consummate? Does he mean...
The man glanced at me, his expression twisted in disgust.
"I pity the princesses," he muttered. "Each of them forced to share a bed with this thing."
Why the hell did this old man keep calling me a thing?
My mouth was held shut, preventing me from retorting, so i raised my hand and gave him the middle finger—but he was already sighing, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Alas… there's no other choice."
He turned toward the wall, speaking to the beast girl without looking back.
"Pick him up. We'll bring him home for now. I need time to think."
Then he shrugged off his coat and tossed it toward me.
"Oh, and cover yourself up. You're the only human in this world. Keep your features hidden."
I blinked again, then looked down at myself.
I was still naked.
"Shit!" I scrambled to grab the coat and wrapped it around me like my life depended on it.
Before I could even stand, the beast girl stepped forward and scooped me up effortlessly in a princess carry.
I stared at her, stunned.
"So, uh… where's the exi—"
CRACK!
The man punched the wall open.
Stone shattered. Bricks exploded outward, revealing a jagged opening to the outside world.
I could only stare, speechless.
Who the hell... is this dude?
Evening light pierced my eyes as i was carried out, golden and soft. The sky looked eerily familiar—like Earth.
We were standing on an elevated platform, the remains of a temple half-buried in the ground. Moss clung to the walls outside. Vines curled around broken pillars.
Below us stretched a dense forest.
And beyond that, were massive towering walls that encircled a kingdom, glowing faintly with activity.
The man stepped through the broken wall and began descending the temple steps.
He gestured behind him. "Come."
The beast girl followed, still carrying me like a sack of meat.
I stared out at the horizon, my heart pounding.
This world was nice.
I thought as i watched the beautiful sunset.
I hope its people are too