Chapter 2
‘What kind of crazy development is this? And he’s not even human right now!’
When Aslan is in his beast form, he loses all human reason. He becomes a literal wild animal without a leash.
And the only one who could control him in this state was the original female lead, the one he was imprinted on.
‘But I’m just Extra A passing by!’
The moment she opened that iron cage, she would die. No doubt about it.
But if she ran away pretending not to see anything, then Aslan would be the one to die.
His condition was horrific, even at a glance. Whether he had been pierced by spears or arrows, his wounds were gaping. A pool of dark red blood had collected at his feet.
Even knowing that the true identity of the Black Lion was Aslan, Vivian couldn’t just ignore the fact that a voiceless beast had been so brutally abused.
Conflicted and with her thoughts tangled, Vivian decided to try reasoning—like the intelligent person she was.
“Y-You won’t eat me if I let you out, right?”
“Grrr…”
“S-Say yes quickly!”
“Grrrr…!”
Vivian was in despair. She hadn’t really expected a beast to understand human-level language or emotions, but still.
She was his fiancée, after all, and yet Aslan was looking at her like she was a top-grade, dry-aged, premium beef tenderloin steak.
‘Damn it, what is happening? I’m your fiancée!’
The steak sobbed quietly, but that didn’t change the reality.
Vivian didn’t know how Aslan had ended up in that cage, but the more he thrashed around, the worse his wounds became.
The amount of blood soaking the floor made it obvious—he didn’t have much time left.
‘He’s really going to die at this rate. Isn’t there something I can do?’
Vivian cautiously approached the cage. At her movement, the black lion bared his fangs and let out a sharp roar before slowly turning his gaze toward her.
His glowing yellow eyes tracked her every move. Even with the massive bars between them, the pressure of his stare was crushing.
‘Ugh, I can’t just walk away. I’m too soft on animals.’
If she turned her back now, Aslan would die.
They were deep in the mountains, far from people. She was the only one who could save him.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you. I promise.”
Knowing full well he had no rationality in this state, Vivian couldn’t help but speak anyway.
“So… in return, please spare my life. Okay?”
She found an axe nearby and began pounding the thick lock with all her might.
As soon as Vivian made a move to break the cage, the black lion raised himself and stared at her in disbelief.
He bared his teeth, as if to say he’d bite her at any moment, but in the corner of those yellow eyes, there was a flicker of confusion.
“Cough, cough!”
Just as she focused all her strength on breaking the lock, a sudden spasm struck her shoulders.
A warm lump of blood surged up her throat. A tuberculosis attack.
“Ugh, cough, cough!”
Her throat tightened painfully, making it nearly impossible to breathe properly.
She’d been suffering from tuberculosis ever since she transmigrated into the novel. She knew this level of attack wouldn’t kill her, but it still hurt like hell.
Clenching her teeth, Vivian raised the axe and struck the lock one final time. With a loud, metallic crack, the lock split in two.
Relief and accomplishment flooded her—right before her exhausted body collapsed, and the cage door creaked open.
The black lion’s low growl echoed terrifyingly close. He didn’t seem too keen on letting her live.
‘So this is how I die. I just hope he leaves my corpse intact.’
She couldn’t breathe properly. It was too late to run.
“Grrr!”
A massive shadow leapt at her fallen body.
That was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.
* * *
“Ugh…”
When she came to, Vivian blinked slowly. She was lying in a pitch-dark cave, with not a single ray of light in sight.
How had she ended up here? Trying to be rational, she reviewed the events that had led to this.
‘This gloomy atmosphere… is this the afterlife?’
She wasn’t sure if she’d died from a tuberculosis attack or become the male lead’s meal while passed out.
But Aslan had been gravely wounded and starving, so there was a good chance he’d been ravenous.
A flood of vivid red mosaics passed through her mind. Everything was blood-red.
‘At least I can’t remember. Thank goodness for that.’
So what now?
Vivian sighed softly and sat up—just as heavy footsteps echoed from outside the cave. Glowing yellow eyes pierced through the darkness.
The giant black lion was staring directly at her.
“Grrrr…”
Vivian’s instincts screamed danger, and she began scooting backward.
But Aslan lunged faster than she could retreat.
Thud.
A huge paw slammed into her chest and pinned her down. Before she knew it, Vivian was on her back, the lion looming over her like a predator over its prey.
She locked eyes with Aslan’s golden gaze and thought,
‘Could he still have reason?’
Vivian had never met Aslan after transmigrating into the novel. She’d been diagnosed with tuberculosis before that.
And yet, despite never having faced him directly before, she could sense confusion in his eyes.
He looked more bewildered than anyone—almost like he didn’t understand why he was doing this.
‘No, that can’t be right.’
She shook her head.
If Aslan still had any shred of rationality, he wouldn’t be slamming people’s heads into the ground like this.
‘It hurts like hell!’
The force of his paw had sent her skull crashing into the cave floor. The sound was like a watermelon being smashed.
And yet, look at that brazen face.
Even the most despicable person would’ve flinched at a sound like that. But Aslan? He just glared, eyes wide, like he was proud of it.
“…Do you even have a conscience?”
“Grrrr…”
“…Sir.”
Grumbling under her breath, she quickly switched to formal speech at the sound of his growl.
In the original novel, Vivian didn’t know Aslan was cursed by Astaroth. That secret was known only to a few in the royal family.
So it had made sense for her to speak informally to his beast form.
But now, faced with those terrifying eyes, she couldn’t treat him like just any beast.
While she was hesitating, something caught her eye.
“Oh my god, your wound!”
Aslan’s left side was badly torn. And it wasn’t just one injury—his entire body was covered in terrible wounds.
She was afraid of his claws and worried he might kill her, but seeing those gruesome injuries made it impossible to ignore.
“Move your paw.”
“…”
“I said move. I won’t run!”
Whether it was sincerity or sheer determination that reached him, Aslan hesitated and backed off.
Vivian immediately leaned in to examine the worst wound. Blood was still oozing out, nonstop.
It clearly needed immediate care, but there were no bandages or medicine in this unknown cave.
Not to mention, she had lost all her belongings when the carriage overturned during the bandit attack.
“What am I going to do…”
At that moment, pity outweighed fear.
She remembered the Aslan from the original story—wrongly cursed, relentlessly abused by his father, the emperor.
The boy who wrapped his own wounds in a cold chamber without help, enduring the pain in silence.
“…He must’ve been in so much pain.”
The most serious wound was the spear wound on his side. If it had been even a little deeper, it would’ve severed his organs.
If Aslan had been the size of a regular lion, he probably would’ve died in one strike.
“I need to stop the bleeding first.”
“Grrr!”
Aslan bared his fangs, breathing raggedly as if to protest.
But Vivian ignored him and untied her dress. She stripped down to just a thin white slip and ripped the layers of fabric to make bandages.
Rip, tear—
The luxurious dress, decorated with gold lace and jewels, tore like paper in her hands.
It cost more than a townhouse, but Vivian didn’t care.
She used the makeshift bandages to tightly wrap Aslan’s wounds, pinning the struggling lion down in the process.
“Raaawr!”
“I don’t care if you hate it! You need to live first! Don’t you want to find out who did this to you?! Aren’t you angry?!”
Aslan suddenly froze. He blinked and silently stared at Vivian.
She finished tying the bandage, then stepped back with a long sigh.
“That should do it.”
“…”
“I know it hurt. But you did well.”
Vivian forced a tired smile. Maybe it was the stress, but she felt dizzy.
Aslan watched her hesitantly, then slowly lowered his head toward her.
But before he could touch her, Vivian collapsed to the ground.
“Cough, cough!”
The attack she thought had passed returned. The chill of the cave, and being left in only a thin slip, had triggered it again.
“Ugh! Cough, cough!”
Her chest burned. Blood rose up her throat, and she couldn’t breathe.
Her vision blinked in and out as she gasped for air.
And then—darkness.
