Kalz stopped talking there and went silent again.
In the movie, I remembered that the Beast was cursed because he was arrogant and cruel, punished by a witch. But the truth here was completely different. The Beast had simply grown up lonely, numb to the kindness of others. Everything was actually the cruel result of a witch’s twisted affection. Seeing Kalz like that today, his expression looked even lonelier than usual.
For the first time, I felt like I caught a glimpse through the crack in Kalz’s guarded heart. Inside wasn’t some cranky nagger, but a wounded child. It was the first time I genuinely wanted to help him.
“So… do you know how to turn back into a human?”
“I don’t know. We’re out of drinks. It’s late; let’s call it a night.”
Wait, he was cutting it off here? This was the crucial part! Who knew when another opportunity like this would come? I couldn’t just let it go.
“Can you stand up?”
“…”
He reached out a hand to help me. Without a word, I grabbed it tightly and pulled with all my strength. Caught off guard, Kalz lost his balance and toppled onto the sofa.
“Ugh, what are you—”
“What if I told you I know?”
“Know what?”
“How to break the spell.”
“What…?”
I saw the surprise flash across Kalz’s face. It wasn’t bad, looking down at him for once instead of always craning my neck upwards. Plus, thanks to his firm muscles, sitting on him felt surprisingly comfortable. Kalz rubbed his forehead with a weary expression.
“Stop fooling around and get off.”
“I’m not fooling around.”
Honestly, even I wasn’t entirely sure. It was confusing. I knew for sure that the beauty was the key to breaking the Beast’s spell, but I couldn’t quite remember the exact action needed.
Was it a kiss? Tears? Or was there something else? Considering various fairy tales, though, the most plausible option had to be…
Thump.
I cupped Kalz’s face gently with both hands. His fur felt surprisingly soft as it brushed through my fingers.
“What are you doing?”
Kalz’s golden eyes began to waver. It was the same expression he’d shown when I removed his mask during our first meeting.
True, our first encounter had been absolutely terrible, and since then we bickered nonstop over small things. Still, deep down, I knew Kalz wasn’t really a bad guy. I knew he had done many things behind the scenes to make sure I could live comfortably here.
Well, he’d certainly acted insufferably enough despite all that kindness…
But it was precisely because I had knowledge from my previous life that I couldn’t ignore this chance to help him. Besides, I’d grown strangely attached to this lion-headed jerk. It seemed the old saying about hateful affection being the scariest was completely accurate.
“Hold still a moment.”
I gently wiped Kalz’s muzzle with my thumb. If lips were going to touch there, the spot needed to be at least somewhat clean.
But… it felt nicer than I’d expected.
The short fur on his muzzle was fluffy and soft, while his black lips felt moist and pleasantly springy. Yup, I could definitely do this.
As my touches grew bolder, Kalz’s body stiffened beneath me. It shouldn’t have amused me so much, but he was actually kind of adorable.
“I’m warning you, you’d better stop. Unless you want to regret this later when you sober up and start banging your head against a wall.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Hah… don’t complain about bruises later.”
After failing to convince me verbally, Kalz tried to use brute strength to subdue me. But I wasn’t going to back down so easily.
“Ugh, let go!”
“Just give up already! I promise I won’t hurt you.”
We wrestled fiercely on the sofa for a long time. Even I was amazed at the hidden strength I summoned, enough to push Kalz to his limits. Eventually, Kalz bared his fangs and resorted to pleading.
“Please… let go of me.”
“I don’t think I will. If you just hold still for a moment, it’ll all be over soon. You’re being unnecessarily difficult.”
“You try holding still in this kind of situation! Fine, if you stop now, I’ll pretend nothing happened.”
“Pretend? Nothing’s even happened yet. Well, not yet anyway.”
“…I’m begging you, please, come back to your senses.”
Come back to my senses? I felt perfectly clear-headed. In fact, what I couldn’t understand was why I had to try so hard just to help him.
“Stop resisting and just accept it.”
Holding down Kalz’s wrists firmly, I slowly closed my eyes and lowered my head. My lips gradually moved closer to Kalz’s muzzle. Just as our breaths mingled and our lips were about to meet, Kalz shouted urgently.
“Fine! I’ll raise your salary!”
Huh? A salary raise?
I unconsciously pulled back a little. Taking advantage of the widened gap, Kalz caught his breath and quickly continued.
“If you promise right now to quietly return to your room and sleep without doing anything else, I’ll raise your salary to 1.2 times what’s stated in your contract. So get off immediately!”
“1.2 times…?”
That meant a 20% raise—an unbelievably good offer. Still seated comfortably atop Kalz, I paused, genuinely considering the proposal, before finally nodding.
“…Alright.”
“Good. Smart decision.”
I obediently released Kalz’s wrists and straightened my posture. Kalz breathed a small sigh of relief as he began lifting himself off the sofa.
But it wouldn’t be that easy. Just as Kalz let his guard down, I swiftly leaned forward and pressed my lips firmly against his muzzle.
Chu.
Our lips touched and parted almost instantly, barely a heartbeat passing between us.
“……”
“……”
Yet, shockingly, nothing happened. Was it because the kiss had been too quick? Curious, I leaned in again, holding my lips there for exactly three full seconds this time before pulling back. But what greeted my eyes was the same familiar lion face as before.
“…That’s strange.”
Why hadn’t it worked? Just then, the muscular cushion beneath me abruptly sprang to his feet, sending me tumbling helplessly to the floor.
“…You’re drunk. Go to bed.”
Leaving behind only that curt remark, Kalz swiftly exited the room without so much as glancing at me sprawled out awkwardly on the carpet.
Had I remembered wrong? Wasn’t kissing supposed to break the curse? Or perhaps the issue was that it had only been a quick peck? But the original was a fairy tale—surely a longer kiss wasn’t necessary?
“Could it be tears instead? That’s troublesome, considering I hardly ever cry. If that’s not it, what else could it be?”
Muttering quietly to myself, I pushed myself off the floor. I needed to seriously rethink how to break this curse, but a wave of exhaustion suddenly overtook me. My eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and all I could think about was crawling into my bed.
Forget it. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Leaving behind the messy aftermath of our drinking session, I staggered slowly back to my room.
***
The following morning came mercilessly.
I woke up clutching my head, groaning in agony.
“What the hell did I do?”
It would’ve been better if I’d forgotten everything. Other people blacked out conveniently after drinking, yet every embarrassing detail from last night was painfully vivid in my memory—even down to the soft, furry sensation of Kalz’s muzzle on my lips. As Kalz had predicted, I was now repeatedly banging my forehead against the wall.
“Die already, you idiot! Just die!”
How was I supposed to face Kalz now? It wasn’t even mutual; I’d practically forced myself onto him! At the very least, I should’ve mentioned the possibility of a kiss breaking the curse. Why had I left out something that important? I truly felt like I was going insane. I continued rhythmically knocking my head against the wall, blurting out frustrated excuses.
“This is why we should’ve stopped at beer! Who even suggested bringing out wine?”
Although, admittedly, I’d been the one cheerfully preparing snacks to accompany our wine.
“And bringing up his parents was completely unfair! How could anyone ignore such a tragic backstory? I’d have to be heartless!”
Though, again, it was me who’d asked about the Beast’s curse in the first place. Kalz’s only real mistake had been answering me honestly.
“Right, this all started because he offered a vague 1.2x salary increase! If it’d been 1.5 or double, I definitely would’ve snapped out of it immediately!”
Even I recognized how absurdly shameless my logic was.
No matter how desperately I tried to justify myself, I couldn’t escape the heavy burden of guilt. Everything that happened last night was entirely my fault. I was the villain here. As self-loathing consumed me, I only bashed my head harder against the wall.
Just die already, Briel. Seriously—just die.
