Chapter 7: The Prince longs for more

Ian lived happily at the maiden’s home

The young teenage girl cleared up a corner for him in the room; she set up a small pond along with some aquatic plants. She regularly replaced the water and used the damp scarf to wipe and moisturize the frog. Luckily, Ian never needs to eat insects here! After the maiden discovered that he likes to eat cooked food, she would often take from her own plate and share it with him…..it was a blessing!

As the girl would hold the spoon and feed him, Ian looked at the other pets at home with contempt. He proudly straightened his chest as if to say, “See, I am the most favored one!”

The girl’s name was Joanna. She lived alone in a small house by a stream. The furnishings in her room were actually no different from an ordinary girl’s, but one thing was very strange; her curtains were thick and heavy. Once they were pulled closed the entire house would dim black. Ian later learned that the girl’s skin was very sensitive. Being under the morning sun was fine, but once the sun would shine high up in the sky, her skin would break out in blisters….So if the girl goes out in the middle of the afternoon, she must cover her body completely. It was best for her to stay indoors, otherwise she would easily burn under the hot sun.

Joanna was a very loving girl.

There were many small animals in her house, but they weren’t the kind that ordinary people would keep as pets. 

One time when he saw her bring back an injured puppy, he noticed that after bandaging the dog, she immediately sent it away to the hunters; the nearby hunters did not mind having a hound at home. From then on, he knew that all the pets in the family were ones that still needed care. For example, there was a lizard sleeping on the corner with broken legs, while the turtle under the table with a broken shell was always sick. The lizard, the turtle, along with the crow that could no longer fly from wounded wings—all of them were poor creatures who could no longer survive in the wild…..Ian refused to admit that he was such a pitiful person.

Joanna’s house wasn’t too small, but it wasn’t too big either. The living room and the bedroom were little in size, but the study itself was very large; all four walls were covered with bookshelves. The height from the floor to the ceiling was about six meters. In addition to the four large bookshelves, there were two more shelves that were used to hold new books. So many books filled the room that if the shelves were to collapse, the whole room would be flooded with volumes.

The maiden loved to read, and he likes to watch her immerse into her books. When he first followed him into her study, she brought him back to his corner, a little confused with his behavior. Only after seeing him repeatedly entering the study did she realize that the skinny frog was trying to follow her. Since then, whenever she was studying she would place a basin of water next to her along with a few stones for the frog to step on. As long as the frog doesn’t wet her book, she doesn’t mind having one more sticky pet.

Moreover, there is a cute little frog to accompany her. She can read her book while teasing her little friend from time to time.

There was a frog to relieve her of boredom; it was fun!

Ian felt helpless whenever he was teased, and he couldn’t help but croak loudly. When the girl puts down her book, she sometimes touched his head very gently and caresses his back. However sometimes she would pinch at his nose in a joking manner and other times would poke at his protruding belly with the back of her pen. Whenever she does this, he couldn’t resist loudly “croaking.” He was very loud; yes, some frogs could only “squeak” lightly, but the River Frog species would croak as loud as a cow. Ian was a river frog himself, so the maiden enjoyed the sound of his croaking. 

At first Ian only dared to stay in the basin, not daring to leave its boundaries. Later on, he was emboldened to gradually leave the spot. In the end he even managed to climb over her shoulder to keep her company. She wouldn’t object, but instead poked his nose.

If Ian was just an ignorant frog, he would definitely be the happiest frog in the world.

However, he was a person. He couldn’t help but feel more and more dissatisfied…..He wanted to be able to embrace her, smell the scent of her hair, talk to her, and give her the world’s most precious treasures. He wanted her to always have that beautiful smile when they were together.

These were crazy thoughts, but he believed that his goddess was worth all of his madness.

“How is it that you’re so quiet today?” The goddess’ cool hand reached out to touch his nose once again, as she expressed her worry.

When he felt the goddess’ cool touch, he quickly covered his face with her hair. Every day with her was a true joy but at the same time it was painful living. He is willing to be her pet and stay with her for a lifetime, but he also couldn’t be satisfied with the fact that he could only be a pet and not a man--a man that could protect her for a lifetime.