Bewitchment
The Young Scholar spoke in a low voice.
"Because..."
"You don't care."
"You don't care what I think of you?"
"You don't care what I call you?"
"You don't care what I've done?"
"...You don't even care what I've done because of you..."
The Young Scholar was breathing a little heavily.
His mouth was also somewhat dry.
He swallowed and continued, "My expectations, my misunderstandings..."
"None of it has anything to do with you."
The Young Scholar didn't know what he was still holding on to at this point.
The Black Monster's attitude had never changed.
He had simply failed to notice.
Even though they had been together for so long, even though he had provided the Black Monster with so much food...
The Black Monster still...
simply... ignored him.
The Black Monster only cared about food.
"Is it because you're not human?"
The Young Scholar wanted to laugh, to act as if he were carefree and didn't care.
Unfortunately,
he failed.
"But..."
Animals had feelings, too.
Pets were affectionate toward their owners.
Some were even loyal.
His family used to have a yellow dog.
His father had raised it.
Later, his father passed away.
The yellow dog lay beside his father's coffin for two days, then passed away, too.
Everyone else said the yellow dog had followed his father.
They sighed over what a devoted dog it had been.
The Young Scholar had been saddened when the yellow dog died.
But when he thought that it had gone to keep his father company, he wasn't quite so sad anymore.
He had thought the bond between his father and the yellow dog was nothing unusual.
Many people in the village kept dogs.
You could see close bonds like theirs everywhere.
The Young Scholar