Lily stared at the rabbit skewer in Ren’s hand.
If she were still at the barn, she would probably think twice before eating it, since she had no idea whether it was edible in the first place.
After all, they were so deep inside the unexplored Great Forest that they might encounter all kinds of unknown things, perhaps dangerous predators, venomous animals, or poisonous fruits and mushrooms that Lily had never encountered before.
But she was far too hungry to care about any of that.
She threw all her caution out of the cave and immediately grabbed the skewer.
She ate with relish, completely unladylike, as all the etiquette she had picked up from watching Marigold get trained by a professional table manners tutor were nowhere to be seen.
But she felt alive now.
The moment food filled her empty stomach, Lily seemed to return to her usual cheery self, happily eating one skewer after another without a care in the world.
Little did she realize that she had eaten an entire rabbit all by herself.
“You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” Ren commented, leaning against the cave wall while eating wild berries.
He snacked on them one by one as he watched Lily eat like a hungry ghost.
“You don’t even have the elegance of a lady.
I don’t understand what that mutt sees in you,” Ren continued.
Lily glowered at him before spitting the rabbit bone out of the cave.
“Excuse you.
Gareth and I have been very close ever since I found him.
He likes to spend time with me because I’m tough, crafty, and witty,” Lily said proudly, complimenting herself without any hesitation.
“On top of that, I am beautiful…
with a little rouge here and there…
uhm…
maybe also a little hairdo…
Oh, and the man has to meet me at the darkest hour of the night, then I will be the most beautiful!” Well, Lily had always been quite confident in her skills.
She was good at working around the barn, capable of handling the housekeeping, great at knitting and sewing, and even skilled at hunting her own food.
She knew that she could take care of herself when it came to most things.
But whenever the subject of beauty was brought up, her confidence deflated like an untied balloon, letting out one long, undignified prrrtt before going completely flat.
But that was never a problem, was it?
She had never wanted to marry a king or anything like that.
She grew up as an orphan, had no social standing, and spent her entire life working at a barn.
Thus, she was fairly realistic when it came to marriage.
She simply wanted to find a good husband who would love her in return.
At least, with a husband by her side, she would not have to feel so lonely, and she would have someone to hug her to sleep at night.
Ren stared at her for a while, listening to her ramble before finally scoffing.
“From what I see, you’ve got your own assessment completely flipped.
You are completely useless in all matters, but in exchange…” Ren paused for a moment, his eyes silently trailing down until they stopped at her lips.
“I cannot criticize how you look.” Lily did not really understand what he meant.
She simply shrugged it off and started eating a green apple.
She had no idea how Ren had managed to get so much food, but she certainly was not going to complain about it.
She stole a glance at him a few times, but every time she did, she was caught red-handed because he had been staring at her the whole time.
Thus, she swallowed the piece of apple in her throat before saying, “Thank you, Lord Ren.
Uhm…
you should rest now.
I’ll keep watch.” “So you can run away while I’m asleep?” Ren went straight to the point.
“We are literally inside a cave with no exit except a three-thousand-foot cliff.
Do you think I can just walk out and float in midair like you?” Lily rolled her eyes.
By now, all her nervousness around the Fox Lord was practically gone, especially since he had struck a deal with Gareth in exchange for her protection.
As long as she did not do anything foolish, she would not be killed until the Court of Moonlight began.
“I think you are getting sleep-deprived, my lord,” Lily sneered.
“You should rest.
Don’t worry, the only way for me to escape is if I grow a pair of wings and fly out.” “…You wouldn’t grow wings, would you?” Ren teased.
Lily immediately threw the leftover piece of food in her hand at him, only for it to hit the invisible barrier surrounding him and fall uselessly to the ground.
The Fox Lord finally let go of some of his wariness.
He rested on his tails just as he had before, while leaving some space beside him in case Lily wanted to sleep next to him.
He did not tell her to sleep right away, though.
He knew that the strange little woman would only move around and disturb his sleep again.
Lily watched as Ren quickly fell asleep.
She looked at all the food scattered around them and guessed that Ren must have hunted for quite some time, cleaned the meat in the river, and then finally returned to the cave to wait for her to wake up.
She did not understand why he would go to so much trouble when he could have simply let her forage for herself and thrown a few apples at her instead of preparing an entire feast.
Nevertheless, she was grateful.
At the very least, Ren was fulfilling the deal he had made with Gareth to protect her until the Court of Moonlight began.
As for Gareth…
Lily slowly turned her head toward the full moon and the starry sky outside.
She had stargazed with Gareth almost every night before going to sleep.
He would tell her countless stories from his hometown, which she had always assumed were nothing more than a bunch of fairytales he had compiled over the years.
Even so, for a girl who had never been told stories before bed, those moments had always been a comfort.
But now that she knew the truth about Gareth, that he was a wolf, then…
could it be that all those stories had actually been real?
Lily lowered her head, wondering if Gareth was alright, whether he was warm while sleeping, and whether he had enough food to eat right now.
The more she worried about him, the worse the ache in her heart became.
In the end, she could only mutter softly under her breath, “Gareth…” …
Little did she know that a certain Fox Lord had yet to fall asleep.
The moment he heard that name, Ren let out a quiet snort.