TFPOTRN | CHAPTER 13

~CHAPTER 13~

I narrowed my eyes and asked again.

Jahar froze with a guilty look on his face.

But it was already too late.

I’d already heard what he said, and Jahar wasn’t the type to pretend he hadn’t spoken after saying that much.

I hadn’t known him long, but I could tell.

He was naive, innocent, and too honest to take back his own words like nothing happened.

Twelfth life as a possessor… counting my original one, that makes thirteen lives in total, huh.

After that many lives, I’d learned to read people.

Anyway, since I got the answer I wanted, there was no point in dragging it out.

“Alright. I’ll keep it a secret from Sian.”

“Really? Thank—”

“What are you talking about?”

The last line wasn’t my voice.

Silence fell over the room like a heavy fog.

“What were you two discussing?”

Sian was leaning against the open door, looking at us.

I didn’t even hear the door open.

How long had he been standing there like a ghost?

His eyes moved from Jahar to me, then landed on the monster egg in my hand.

His brow furrowed slightly.

I instinctively hid the egg behind my back, but from his expression, Sian had already seen it clearly.

“Please show me what you’re hiding behind you.”

“Uh? No. That’s my pr—”

Would the word ‘privacy’ even exist in this world?

“It’s my secret.”

“If it’s really your secret, why were you holding it so openly in front of him?”

Sian looked serious.

“So, you can show it to him, but not me? Are we that shallow?”

“What?”

“Are we just that kind of relationship?”

Did he just say something straight out of a bad drama?

I wondered if he was joking, but there was no trace of humor on his face.

“Sir Sian?”

“I…”

Before he could finish,

The egg in my hands twitched.

Huh?

I almost dropped it out of surprise.

“It just moved…”

It must have been a big movement, because Jahar, standing behind me, also saw it.

Then the egg twitched again.

And again.

Soon it began to tremble wildly.

It was shaking so hard I had to hold it in both hands.

Keeping it hidden was no longer an option.

If I dropped it, a newly hatched mid-level monster could easily take it as an attack and lash out.

“Ah—!”

Jahar seemed to realize the same thing.

He rushed over and added his hands beneath mine.

And then, Sian joined us too.

The three of us, six hands in total, were now holding the violently shaking egg.

“This is a monster egg, isn’t it?”

“W-what are you talking about? Why would something like that be here?”

“You’re a terrible liar!”

“I-I’m not lying!”

Even while arguing, Sian kept his hands steady to prevent the egg from falling.

Watching the two of them bicker like kids would’ve been funny—if it weren’t for the situation.

Then—

Crack.

The trembling stopped, replaced by a brittle sound.

It was about to hatch.

I quickly gripped the egg tighter.

Crack, crackle.

The sound grew sharper.

The cracks spread across the shell until finally—

Smash!

With a crisp pop, the shell shattered completely.

And from inside came…

“Is that… a chicken?”

“Hey, that’s rude. The baby can hear you.”

“Then what is it?”

“…A chick?”

“That’s the same thing.”

It was a small bird with a red comb like a tiny rooster.

It shook its head to get rid of the shell and blinked its eyes open.

So cute.

I stared at it without thinking.

At some point, the chick met my eyes.

Ah, if I keep looking this long…

It’ll imprint on me.

Newly hatched monsters were like wild animals.

The first thing they saw became their parent.

What was that called again? Imprinting?

Monsters did that too.

By the time I realized it, it was too late.

The chick was staring only at me—not Jahar or Sian.

It opened its tiny beak.

I braced myself to hear “Mom?” or maybe “Master.”

After all, monsters usually could speak right after birth, having absorbed fragments of their owner’s mana and memories.

“Pii?”

But what came out was just a chirp.

“Wait, was this… just a normal bird egg?”

I turned to Jahar.

He looked equally puzzled.

“No way… I was told this was a Minotaur egg.”

“A Minotaur?”

“Oh.”

He clapped a hand over his mouth, but both Sian and I heard him clearly.

He’d said *Minotaur*.

This idiot’s insane.

Minotaurs were among the most violent of monsters.

A newborn one, with no control whatsoever, could wipe out a whole area.

And he’d tried to hatch it in the middle of a town full of people?

“Are you out of your mind?”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that.

Sian’s tone was deadly serious.

“You were going to hatch a Minotaur egg here? Were you planning to wipe out the entire village?”

“No, no, I had everything under control! I’m Jahar Knox!”

“Jahar Knox or Jahar Fox, you nearly committed a serious crime! If that had been a real egg…”

While the two of them argued heatedly, I stayed quiet.

Because—

What should I name it?

As the one it had imprinted on, naming it was my responsibility.

Its feathers are fluffy… maybe Fluffy? Or since they’re reddish, maybe Rose?

It was my first time keeping a pet—if you could call it that—across all twelve lives.

In the early ones, I’d been too busy adjusting to this life of possession and regression.

Later, I’d met too many people who forgot me after each reset.

I got used to being the only one who remembered.

“Pya!”

The tiny bird looked up at me with clear eyes.

I couldn’t possibly push it away.

If a creature didn’t receive care from the one it imprinted on, it would soon die of hunger.

And since it was a monster, it wouldn’t accept anyone else’s care.

Sian must think it’s just a bird.

But I could feel faint mana around it.

It’s definitely a monster.

Its mana felt a little different from usual, but considering my condition, I decided not to worry.

Maybe its parent was a mild-tempered monster—or a weak one.

I gently scratched the chick’s head.

It closed its eyes and nuzzled my hand, happy.

“So… cute.”

“What, you’re already that close?”

While I enjoyed the soft feel of its feathers, Jahar leaned in to get a closer look.

So, his argument with Sian’s done?

I glanced at Sian, who rubbed his temple as if he’d given up.

Since nothing bad had happened, he’d probably decided to let Jahar off with a warning.

I can’t let him find out this thing’s a monster.

Even as I thought that, I kept petting the chick’s head.

Its tiny comb was soft and warm.

Jahar watched the bird for a moment, then looked at me.

“Looks like it thinks you’re its mom.”

“Yeah, I think it imprinted on me.”

I said without much thought, and Jahar tilted his head, thinking.

Then he grinned.

“Then does that make me the dad?”