Beast Taming: Reincarnated With The Ultimate Bond System!

Chapter 225: Chapter : 225 : Her Safe Breath!

Everything felt wrong. The world was too loud. Too bright. Too heavy.

Voices came and went like waves crashing against her ears. They didn’t make sense. Words tangled together, breaking apart before she could understand them.

Her body wouldn’t listen. Her hands felt distant. Her legs felt like they belonged to someone else. Cold metal bit into her wrists.

Chains.

She knew that word. But it felt far away.

The floor beneath her knees was hard. Unforgiving. Her head swayed slightly, but she couldn’t stop it. The air smelled strange—sweet, sharp, unfamiliar.

So many eyes. She felt them. Even without looking up. Eyes that weren’t kind. Eyes that weren’t safe.

Her ears twitched weakly. Her tail barely moved. Her thoughts were slow.

Sticky.

Like moving through deep water.

*Why am I here?*

The question formed slowly, then dissolved before it could finish.

Suddenly—

The world shook. A loud sound ripped through the air. Her ears rang. People screamed.

The lights shattered into fragments of white.

She flinched instinctively, but her body reacted too late.

Fear rose in her chest. Real fear. Not dull. Not distant. Real. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Shadows moved. Fast. Violent.

She saw shapes falling. Heard voices crying. Heard anger. Heard death. Her heart began to beat faster. Too fast. Her breath became shallow.

She tried to move.

Failed.

Her head lifted slightly.

Through the blur—

She saw him.

At first, he was only a shape. A silhouette standing still while everything else moved.

Calm.

Unshaken.

The chaos parted around him like water around stone.

He walked toward her. Step by step. Not hurried. Not afraid. Not cruel.

Her eyes struggled to focus. His face was half-hidden.

Dark.

Quiet.

Different.

The people she had seen before were loud.

Hungry.

Smiling in ways that hurt. He wasn’t like that. He stopped in front of her. For a moment, he just looked at her.

She felt it. Not like staring. Not like judging. Like seeing. Her ears twitched faintly. Her fingers trembled.

Then—

He reached out his hand. The world slowed. His voice came to her through the haze.

Soft.

Low.

Gentle.

”Come with me.”

She didn’t understand the words. But she understood the feeling.

Warm.

Safe.

Different from everything else. Her hand moved on its own.

Slow.

Weak.

Shaking.

Her fingers brushed his. For a moment, she hesitated.

Fear whispered. But something deeper answered. She grasped his hand.

The moment their hands touched—

The world shattered into light.

Warmth.

Softness.

Quiet.

No screams.

No chains.

No cold floor.

Her body felt heavy. But not painful. Her ears twitched.

Slowly.

Her eyes opened. Blurred at first.

Then clearer.

She was lying on something soft.

Cloth.

Warm.

A bed.

The room was dim.

Silent.

Peaceful.

Her head turned slightly. And she saw him.

Sitting beside the bed. Watching her.

Not like an owner. Not like a buyer. Not like a predator. But like someone waiting.

Her fingers tightened slightly in the blanket. Her tail moved faintly.

For a moment, she only watched him.

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t lean closer. He just stayed there. Waiting. That was unfamiliar. People never waited for her. They pulled. They dragged. They commanded. They shouted. They hit.

Her breath became uneven. Her eyes widened. Slowly, painfully, she pushed herself up a little.

Her muscles trembled as if they had forgotten how to obey her. The blanket slipped slightly from her shoulders.

She froze.

Her gaze darted around the room. It was too big. Too clean. Too quiet. Her ears flattened instinctively.

”Where am I?”

Fear crawled up her spine. She noticed the door. Then the curtains. Then the window.

Then—

Movement.

Not just him. Others.

She saw silhouettes near the wall. Many silhouettes. Her heart slammed violently. Her body reacted before her mind could.

She scrambled backward on the bed, claws digging into the sheets. Her tail puffed out.

Her voice finally came out—thin, cracked, trembling. ”...D-Don’t...!”

The room froze.

Aiden turned his head slightly. Behind him, figures stepped forward into the light.

Women.

Many women.

And—

Children.

Her eyes widened even more. She pressed her back against the headboard, shaking.

”P-Please...” she whispered. Her voice was barely louder than breath. ”I-I’ll behave...”

The words came out automatically. Like something memorized. Like something carved into her bones. ”I won’t talk back. I won’t run. I won’t bite. I won’t scratch. I won’t cry. I won’t—”

Her voice broke. Her hands trembled violently. ”J-Just don’t hit me.”

The room went utterly silent.

For a heartbeat—

No one spoke. No one moved.

Aiden felt something twist inside his chest.

Not anger. Not rage. Something heavier. Something colder.

Behind him—

Luna’s fingers tightened into fists. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out.

Nyxion’s eyes darkened.

Selvara’s jaw clenched so hard her teeth almost cracked.

Valeforia’s expression lost all teasing.

Xylendra’s hands slowly rose to her mouth.

Aethoniel’s eyes trembled.

Seraphina’s fingers curled around her dress.

Even Thristle stopped smiling.

The children reacted differently.

The children reacted in their own fractured ways.

Leona blinked rapidly.

Liri became a statue.

Noir stared at the floor so hard it might crack.

Venya took one step forward before Lysandra’s hand gently caught her shoulder.

But Aiden moved first. He rose — deliberately slow. Both palms came up, open, empty, fingers relaxed.

”I’m not going to hit you,” he said gently.

The gentleness in his voice sounded almost painful.

She searched his face for the lie she knew had to be there.

Nothing but steady eyes looking back.

Her tail wrapped three full times around her own thigh like a tourniquet.

”...Y-You’re lying,” she whispered.

People always lied softly before the first strike.

”I can clean,” she said quickly. ”I can cook. I can listen. I can kneel. I can sleep on the floor. I don’t need food. I don’t need clothes. I don’t need—”

Her voice fractured again.

”I-I’ll do anything.”

The room felt like it was suffocating.

Aiden took one step forward.

She flinched so violently the headboard knocked against the wall. Both arms flew up to protect her skull.

”Don’t—!”

He froze instantly.

Then — instead of advancing — he folded himself down. All the way to the floor. Cross-legged. Back straight but not rigid. Hands resting loosely on his knees.

He looked at her.

Not like a buyer. Not like an owner. Not like a judge. But like someone trying to reach her.

”You don’t have to do anything,” he said quietly.

Her lips trembled.

Her mind refused to understand the words.

”That’s not how it works,” she whispered.

Her voice sounded very young suddenly.

”People don’t buy things they don’t use.”

The word ’things’ hurt more than anything else.

He didn’t flinch outwardly. He simply nodded — once.

”You’re right,” he said.

Her ears jerked in shock. No one ever agreed when she spoke truth.

”

But,” he continued softly, ”you’re not a thing.”

Her tail stopped moving entirely. The sentence felt grammatically impossible.

Behind him, Luna stepped forward slowly.

Aiden didn’t stop her.

Luna stopped a few steps away from the bed.

She didn’t smile. She didn’t tease. She just looked at the girl, quietly.

Then she spoke.

”You’re safe here.”

Her voice was firm.

The cat-girl shook her head in tiny jerks.

”...No one is safe,” she whispered.

Nyxion’s voice followed — calm, almost clinical. ”You were safe once,” she said. ”And someone took that away from you.”

The girl’s eyes trembled.

Selvara spoke through clenched teeth. ”You’re not in that place anymore.”

The girl looked at Selvara.

Valeforia — voice stripped of its usual playfulness — murmured, ”Look around,”

The girl’s gaze moved slowly.

She saw many faces.

None smiling cruelly. None laughing. None looking hungry.

Xylendra’s voice trembled. ”...We don’t hurt people here.”

Aethoniel — barely audible: ”...We were like you once.”

Seraphina, soft as moth wings: ”You don’t have to kneel anymore.”

The word kneel struck like a brand. The girl flinched so hard she nearly fell sideways.

Lysandra spoke next — measured, deliberate. ”You can sit. You can stand. You can walk away. You can say no.”

The girl stared at her.

Her mind refused to accept it.

Nivara’s voice came from behind. ”You are not property here.”

Vegia added quietly, ”And no one will force you.”

Vaara’s voice was hesitant but sincere. ”...We won’t let anyone touch you.”

Zerra crossed her arms. Her voice was blunt. ”If someone tries, they die.”

Thristle gave a single nod. ”Simple.”

Venya suddenly walked forward — slipped past Lysandra — climbed onto the foot of the enormous bed with zero hesitation.

She stared at the cat-girl with enormous shining eyes.

”You can be our friend!”

The girl didn’t understand the word ”friend.”

Leona suddenly stepped forward. Lysandra tried to stop her gently. But Aiden lifted a hand. Leona climbed onto the edge of the bed. She looked at the girl with wide eyes.

No fear.

No disgust.

Only curiosity.

”You’re fluffy,” Leona said honestly.

The girl froze.No one had ever said that to her before.

Liri stood beside Leona. Her voice was quieter. ”You look tired.”

Noir peeked from behind Liri. Her voice was barely audible. ”...You can stay.”

Something inside the cat-girl made a quiet, wrenching sound.

Her hands began to shake harder — not from fear this time, but from the unbearable pressure of too many new feelings trying to occupy the same body.

Aiden spoke again. His voice was closer now. But still not touching her. ”You don’t have to be good,” he said.

She stared at him. Her eyes were wide. Her lips parted. Her voice came out small.

”...Then what should I be?”

Aiden answered without hesitation. ”Live.”

The word hit her harder than any blow ever had.

Her vision blurred. Tears slipped — silent, unhurried — carving clean lines through the grime on her cheeks. ”...If I’m not useful,” she asked in a voice smaller than a kitten’s, ”won’t you... throw me away?”

Aiden didn’t answer immediately.

He turned his head — slowly — and looked at every person in the room.

Then he looked back at her.

”No,” he said simply.

She didn’t believe him.

So he explained.

”Everyone present in this room are defination of useless.” he said quietly.

Her eyes trembled.

Luna spoke again.

”...We weren’t chosen because we were useful.”

Nyxion added calmly, ”We were chosen because he loved us.”

Selvara looked away slightly.

”...Annoying way to put it,” she muttered.

But her voice lacked hostility.

Aethoniel whispered, ”...He didn’t abandon us.”

The girl’s breathing slowed. Just slightly.

Aiden moved his hand slowly. Not toward her. He placed it on his own chest.

”You’re not here because you’re only valuable,” he said.

”You’re here because I didn’t want you to stay there.”

The sentence refused to fit inside any cage she knew.

Her lips trembled. ”...I don’t know how to be here,” she whispered.

Aiden nodded slightly. ”That’s fine,” he said.

”You’ll know eventually.”

He rose carefully. Walked to the bedside table. Picked up the water glass. Set it down within her reach — but did not push it into her hands.

”

If you’re thirsty,” he said simply. Then he backed away again. Gave her the entire radius of the bed.

She stared at the glass for what felt like forever.

Then — trembling so badly the water nearly spilled — she lifted it.

Drank.

The water tasted like life.

Warm.

Safe.

When she lowered the glass her eyes drifted shut for a second. When they opened again the room no longer felt like a trap.

Still strange. Still overwhelming. But not hostile.

Aiden’s voice once more — gentle as falling snow.

Aiden spoke again.

”Do you have a name?” he asked gently.

She froze.

Her mind searched. Nothing came. ”...I don’t know,” she whispered.

Silence followed.

Aiden nodded.

”That’s fine,” he said. ”I’ll give you one.”

Her ears twitched faintly.

For the first time—

She didn’t feel like prey. She didn’t feel like merchandise. She didn’t feel like something waiting to be broken.

She felt, save.

Slowly, her body relaxed. Her shoulders dropped slightly. Her tail curled loosely beside her. Her eyes became heavy.

Her consciousness began to fade.

Before she fell asleep again—

She whispered something. So quietly that only Aiden heard it. ”...Don’t disappear.”

Aiden didn’t hesitate. He answered immediately. ”I’m here.”

Her eyes closed. Her breathing became slow. Steady and peaceful.

Around the bed, the room remained silent.

No one spoke for a long time.

Finally—

Luna whispered softly. ”...Master.”

Aiden didn’t look away from the sleeping girl. ”Yes.”

Luna’s pouted cutely, ”...You’re cruel for calling us useless.”

Aiden blinked.

Selvara frowned.

Valeforia tilted her head.

Nyxion raised an eyebrow.

Luna continued quietly.

”...And too kind to people who don’t deserve pain.”

Aiden didn’t reply.

His hand remained resting — not touching, but close — on the edge of the bed. Like someone guarding the world’s most fragile candle flame.

---

END OF Chapter : 225 : HER SAFE BREATH!

---