“He’s leaving now?”
Kura asked in disbelief, and Napharoa nodded with a dazed expression.
Just then, Sebastian entered through the open door and said.
“The Duke is ready. You may come out now.”
Sebastian gave a polite bow and left, but the two were still too stunned to react.
As they stood frozen, Hamil happened to pass by the door with hurried steps and asked.
“Aren’t you going?”
“W-We’re going.”
Snapping out of his daze, Napharoa mumbled in response to Kura’s reply.
“The Duke’s pretty bold, huh?”
***
After deciding to go to the Beastfolk Kingdom, Ian ordered Sebastian to begin preparations for the trip.
Though the situation called for urgency, their true objective had to remain secret.
To keep up appearances, Ian announced that he was visiting Fenrex’s home for personal reasons. To make this story more convincing, he even brought knights along, making it a sizable entourage.
Among the essential members were Ian himself, who would need to perform magic, Bernaba, who would look after the child, and Edelmar, who insisted on coming as a bodyguard.
But then, an unexpected person threw themselves into the mix.
“I want to come too!”
“Denied.”
“Why not?!”
Ignoring Hamil’s outburst, Ian took the documents Fred handed him.
“I’ve never been to the Beastfolk Kingdom! Come on, please? I’ll keep an eye on Rose, and I’ll be useful as a guard too. Just let me come. Please?”
“Fred, this budget section could use adjusting. If we allocate too little, we might run into problems later.”
“Do you think 100,000 gold coins won’t be enough?”
“No. It’s better to set it at around 1,000,000.”
“Understood.”
As Ian continued his conversation with Fred, completely disregarding Hamil, she blocked the documents with her hand.
“Duke. Please? Pretty please?”
Ian forcefully pushed her hand aside and replied.
“This isn’t a vacation.”
“But you said it’s a home visit. And if it’s not a trip, then you definitely need someone to look after the kid. You know I’m great with children! Rose really likes me too. Please? Let me come too.”
For two hours straight, Hamil had been trailing Ian and whining. Just as he rubbed his temples in frustration…
“Why not just let her come?”
“Grand Duke!”
It was Edelmar, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed—when had he come in?
“Lord Bernaba may need to step away. Someone has to be with Rose when that happens.”
“Lord Bernaba might have to…”
‘He might, actually.’
Bernaba was the Balance Keeper of the world.
If the situation in the Beastfolk Kingdom had anything to do with the balance of the world, Bernaba might be required to leave to consult with the Lord.
It was only a possibility, but not one Ian could afford to ignore. He looked over at Hamil.
She looked back at him with eyes full of eager anticipation.
Ian let out a sigh and nodded.
“…Alright. You can come.”
Claude had been assigned to stay with Rose, but Ian wasn’t entirely confident in Claude’s abilities.
Especially after he lost to Hamil in sparring.
After Hamil had started frequenting the training grounds, knights began challenging her to duels.
It wasn’t every day that they saw a female knight in the Empire—let alone one who wielded dual swords.
Hamil accepted every challenge that came her way. And the knight order was utterly and repeatedly defeated.
They were used to fighting large, lumbering monsters, and weren’t prepared for Hamil’s fast, relentless attacks.
Fortunately, William—who’d been training with Ian to unlock his aura—managed to defeat her once.
If he hadn’t, Ian might’ve seriously considered disbanding the knights.
“YES!”
Hamil jumped up and ran off cheerfully.
Ian shook his head with a sigh and turned back to his paperwork.
But he felt an intense, pointed gaze over his head.
“You’re not going to pack?”
“Do I look like someone who would?”
Ian clicked his tongue at the arrogant remark.
‘Right. There’s no way a Grand Duke would pack his own luggage.’
Ignoring Edelmar, Ian finished reviewing the documents and stood.
“Where’s Rose?”
Edelmar, now following Ian, asked.
“She’s talking with Fenrex. Apparently, they had something to discuss privately.”
Edelmar gave a theatrical huff.
“You left them alone? What about propriety between men and women?”
“Fenrex’s imprint has been broken, so it’s fine.”
At this point, Fenrex no longer loved Rose so fiercely it could kill him.
As long as the mark binding his love for her was gone, Ian could allow him to stay as a friend.
“You’re surprisingly relaxed. Aren’t you worried Rose might fall for Fenrex?”
Ian smirked.
“Do people fall in love with their pets?”
***
Rose was looking down at Fenrex, who had transformed into a wolf pup and was now burying his face in her lap.
It had felt good, at first, to have spoken with her uncle and gotten some alone time with Fenrex.
But the moment they entered the room, Fenrex had transformed into a small wolf and had refused to look up since.
No matter how many times Rose tried to talk to him, Fenrex stayed silent.
“Fenrex. Are you seriously not going to say anything?”
“…….”
Rose frowned.
“Fenrex. I’m leaving, okay? I’m really going.”
She stood and walked toward the door, but Fenrex didn’t budge—his unmoving figure brought a watery glimmer to Rose’s eyes.
Fenrex had suddenly changed.
The Fenrex who had once wanted to always be with her was now avoiding Rose—and wouldn’t even look at her.
‘Just like those people… maybe Fenrex hates me now too?’
“Fenrex… do you hate me now…?”
Her voice trembled with tears, and at that, Fenrex’s head snapped up.
Seeing Rose with tears brimming in her eyes, he immediately transformed back into his human form and rushed to her.
“No! It’s not that. Why are you crying?”
Tears streamed down Rose’s cheeks.
“You don’t like me anymore. You won’t even look at me or talk to me…”
Fenrex panicked.
His mother, Kura, used to say, ‘A wolf who makes a girl cry isn’t a wolf—he’s just a mutt.’
With the imprint no longer tying him down, Fenrex was overwhelmed. He quickly pulled Rose into a hug.
“No, that’s not it! It’s not that I hate you—it’s me that’s the problem!”
“…Sniff. What do you mean?”
Seeing the tears still clinging to her pink eyes, Fenrex nodded frantically.
“What’s the problem?”
“Well…”
“Are you lying?”
Her eyes welled up again, and Fenrex blurted out.
“The imprint is gone!”
“Huh? What’s that?”
Fenrex gently took her hand and led her to the couch. Just like his mother used to do, he wiped away her tears and explained.
“Among wolf tribe, we have something called an imprint. It’s like marking your mate for life.”
“And?”
“I imprinted on you once… but now it’s gone.”
“A mark? Where?”
Rose looked herself over.
“It’s not marked on you.”
“Then where?”
Fenrex pointed to his chest.
“Here. I stamped it right here to say you were mine.”
Rose blinked in confusion.
“Hmm… so why did you get rid of it?”
“…Because I didn’t get your permission first.”
Tilting her head, still not quite understanding, Rose asked.
“Then why were you avoiding me just because it disappeared?”
“Well…”
“Yeah?”
“Without the imprint… I didn’t know how to look at you anymore. My head is full of happy memories with you, but my heart is calm now. It feels weird.”
Looking at Fenrex pointing to his chest, Rose stuck out her lips in a pout.
Fenrex lowered his head, looking glum.
His mind still thought of her as his imprint partner, but his heart was quiet now, no longer guided by instinct.
His parents had said he’d get used to it eventually, but this strange feeling didn’t seem like something he could ever grow used to.
“Then just stamp it again.”
Fenrex looked up in surprise.
“If the problem is the mark being gone, then can’t you just put it back?”
“Ah… Rose, that’s…”
Rose gave him a bright smile.
“If you removed it because I didn’t give permission, then I’ll just give it now! How do we do it? Let’s do it right now!”
“R-Rose?!”
She grabbed his hand and leaned in close.
“How do you do it? Like how Uncle stamps my forehead when I do a good job—do I give you a kiss right here?”
She moved closer, lips near his chest as if to kiss his heart, and Fenrex jumped back in shock.
“Rose!”
“What? You said something feels wrong, right? I’ll fix it for you! Come here!”
“T-That’s not how you do it!”
“Huh?”
With a face bright red, Fenrex stammered.
“T-That’s not how the mark works!”
“Then how do you do it? Hurry and tell me.”
Fenrex covered his face with one hand and gently pushed Rose away with the other.
“N-Not now! So don’t come any closer.”
“Why not? You did it before—why not now?”
Rose tilted her head as she grabbed the arm that was pushing her away. Fenrex’s heart began to pound.
It wasn’t the imprint.
Even he could tell this feeling wasn’t from the mark.
But still, his heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap from his chest—just like when he was marked.
“Please, Rose…”
He called her name with a groan, hoping she’d stay back, but Rose only tilted her head more curiously.
Just then—knock knock—the door opened.
“Rose.”
“Uncle!”
Rose immediately let go of Fenrex’s arm and ran over to Ian.
“All done talking?”
Ian reached to pick her up, but Rose stepped back and shook her head.
“Why? You don’t want me to hold you?”
“No. I’m going to be a big girl now, so I’m not going to get carried around anymore.”
“Out of nowhere?”
Up until yesterday, she’d happily stayed in his arms. And now she was saying she’s a “big girl” and wouldn’t be carried anymore?
Ian looked flustered as Rose explained
“Sister Hamil told me. Big girls don’t get carried like babies.”
Ian knelt on one knee in front of her.
“To me, Rose will always be my baby.”
Rose paused.
She scrunched her brows, clearly thinking it over.
The sight made Ian chuckle—it was both amusing and adorable—so he waited for her reply.
Eventually, Rose said with a determined face.
“Still no. Sister Hamil said that to make your legs strong, you have to walk often!”
This is Hamil’s fault.
Not only was she giving strict advice to a child, now she was feeding her nonsense.
Since coming to the Duke’s estate, Rose hadn’t spent even two hours in his arms in total.
If her muscles were truly at risk of deteriorating in that short time, she’d have stopped walking long ago.
‘I’ll have to say something to Hamil later.’
While Ian was mentally drafting a scolding, Edelmar, who had been watching with interest, spoke up.
“Rose, what were you and Fenrex talking about?”
“Oh! We decided to do the stamp again!”
“…Stamp?”
“Yeah! What was it called… the mark… mark… what was it?”
“You mean the imprint?”
Rose nodded brightly.
“Yes! Fenrex started acting weird, so I asked him why, and he said the thing was gone. So I said I’d do it again!”
“…What?”
Ian snapped out of his distracted thoughts.
‘Did I just hear something really strange?’
“Rose, say that again. What exactly are you going to do?”
“Well, earlier, Fenrex wouldn’t talk to me and tried to ignore me, so I cried.”
“You cried?”
Ian’s eyes sharpened.
“Yes. Then Fenrex explained it to me. He said he stamped here, to say I was his, but he didn’t get my permission, so he erased it.”
She pointed to her chest.
“And since that’s why he felt weird, I gave him permission and said he could stamp it again!”
“WHAT?! You gave permission?!”
