Chapter 83: The Bean of Longing

In the pasture on the outskirts of Elrek, a pure white unicorn soared gracefully through the sky, leaping over several tall obstacles in a perfect arc. As it landed, the little girl on its back let out a peal of silvery laughter.

“Luna, this is where you’ll be working from now on. What do you think?”

Vansha patted the little girl’s head as she nestled into his arms. The scent of cheap shampoo drifted from her twin ponytails; once, Vansha had found this “commoner’s smell” distasteful, but now he realized it wasn’t so hard to accept after all.

Although the princess had done her utmost to keep this lolicon away from Luna’s home, even she was only human and sometimes became overwhelmed. Vansha had seized his chance during those busy moments to sneak in and befriend the little girl, eventually luring her away after she’d recovered from her injuries.

Until today, he’d always considered riding a unicorn with two people the mark of a fool—risking life and limb for some semblance of romance, something only hormone-addled noblemen would do with a girl. But now… if anyone dared object to him riding with Luna, Vansha would bash their head in himself.

The unicorn, Venus, seemed to sense his thoughts and turned its head, letting out a whinny.

“It says ‘three years at minimum.’ Vansha, what does ‘three years at minimum’ mean?”

As the only Listener in the capital, little Luna understood Venus’s words, but not their meaning. Tilting her head, she gazed up at the brother she liked so much and asked.

“Ahem, it means that if you work here for three years, you’ll become a full employee.”

Vansha shot Venus an annoyed glare. Sometimes unicorns were just too clever for their own good, daring to mock even their master. Being a lolicon—could that really be considered a crime?

“Then I’ll work really hard!” Luna nodded her little head. She had a vague idea of what becoming a full employee meant—something about getting a raise. Besides, she was simply delighted to work in a place full of animals, and her happiness made Vansha want to hug her even tighter.

Before Vansha could act on his criminal intent, a flash of red leaped over the paddock fence from outside. The barrier meant to keep unicorns in was nothing but a toy to this one. Landing inside, it headed straight for its stable, ignoring Vansha entirely.

“That one?” Luna watched the red unicorn until it disappeared, then asked in confusion. She vaguely remembered seeing it once before, following behind her older sister, the princess’s, friend.

“Just ignore it.” Vansha knew exactly where Red Bean was headed, and the unicorn’s indifference irked him. He was the one who fed it, after all! Why did it only ever think of someone who’d only ridden it once?

Ever since Ruby had left that day, the unicorn had been listless. Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, it had run off to find him. Unicorns had a keen sense of smell, and Red Bean had never forgotten Ruby’s scent—but when it arrived at Moyuna’s residence, it found the place deserted.

Red Bean could not forget the first person who had ridden it. In both spirit and skill, Ruby was the only human it acknowledged. When they parted, Ruby hadn’t said much—after all, in his eyes, Red Bean was just a friend who had helped him, never someone he’d thought to take along.

Since it couldn’t find him, it waited. Each day, Red Bean would escape the paddock and wait a while at the place where Ruby had lived. If Ruby didn’t appear, it would return home and rest, only to repeat the ritual the next day. This had gone on for quite some time.

“That’s why you shouldn’t come here. Let me take you somewhere else to play.” As Red Bean lay resting, it suddenly heard footsteps approaching. Vansha was muttering to himself, wanting to take Luna away. Red Bean wasn’t to be trifled with—what if it lashed out unexpectedly?

“It’s all right. I think Red Bean is adorable,” Luna said, slowly approaching the stable. After hearing Red Bean’s story, she couldn’t bear to leave it alone. Soon, she saw the unicorn lying listlessly on its hay, the very picture of a “useless unicorn.” Even as they approached, it couldn’t be bothered to get up.

“How pitiful. You must really like that person.” Seeing Red Bean so dispirited made the little girl’s heart ache. Being a Listener had made her even more sensitive to animals’ feelings, and now she just wanted to comfort Red Bean by stroking its neck. But before her hand could touch it, the unicorn reared up, its sharp horn pointed straight at her.

In the past, Red Bean would have struck without hesitation. But now, it hesitated—if it attacked this human, how would Ruby feel? Would he blame it? That moment of uncertainty gave Vansha the chance to scoop Luna back into his arms.

“Are you really going to attack a child now?” Vansha, clutching Luna tightly, broke out in a cold sweat. If anything happened to the girl while she was with him, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

Red Bean let out a shrill whinny in response, then flopped back down.

“It’s saying, ‘Take your little brat and get lost, snot-nosed wimp.’” Luna translated.

“Snot-nosed wimp!? How dare you—I'm still your nominal master!” Vansha’s face turned green with anger at Luna’s translation. He realized now that being a Listener wasn’t all upsides—he had zero desire to understand Red Bean’s true feelings.

“It also says, ‘I’ve always thought you acted like a prissy mama’s boy.’ That’s what it said… Vansha, calm down, please.”

Luna dutifully translated, and seeing that Vansha was already preparing a fireball, she quickly hugged his waist and pleaded with him to calm down.

“Damn it, I’ll make you remember who your master is!”

“Help it, won’t you? I know you’re amazing, Vansha—there must be something you can do.” In the end, faced with the little girl’s earnest pleas, Vansha lowered his magic. Thinking it over, he realized that instead of letting Red Bean mope around and make trouble, he might as well send it to someone else. Ruby was the perfect choice.

“So you called me here for this?” At Vansha’s invitation, Ryan arrived, wearing an amused, ambiguous smile. If anything, he and Ruby didn’t get along, and now he was being asked to hand over one of his carefully raised unicorns—quite a rare thing.

“Lord Ryan, you know where that commoner is now, don’t you? Would you please take Red Bean to him?”

“Are you sure? Unicorns here are worth a fortune.”

“Maybe to outsiders, breeding unicorns is all about money, but I actually hope they’ll find the right owners. The way Red Bean ran that day—it looked so happy. That’s enough for me.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed you were so thoughtful. All right, then. I’ve been wanting to see Mr. Ruby myself.” Ryan walked over to Red Bean and stroked its head. Though his power kept Red Bean from acting out, it did nothing to dampen the unicorn’s verbal protests.

“It says, ‘Get your paw off me, you overgrown feline!’”

“What an unfriendly fellow indeed.”

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PS: A bit busy, next chapter will be posted tonight.