“I refuse!”
Despite his firm words, Fenrex hid behind Ian.
“Little wolf, think carefully before you speak. This isn’t for your own—”
“There’s nothing to think about! Rose and I are ‘Havru’! Absolutely not!”
Fenrex bared his teeth and growled.
Bernaba scoffed.
“Little wolf, do you even know what ‘Havru’ means?”
“I do!”
“You do? No, little wolf, you don’t. ‘Havru’ refers to those who have mutually imprinted on each other. Has the child imprinted on you?”
Fenrex clamped his mouth shut, unable to answer.
“Your imprinting happened suddenly and without preparation. The emotions you’re feeling right now aren’t real. So take this medicine.”
“No way!!” Fenrex shouted.
“You insolent brat! So you refuse to listen to reason? Come here this instant!”
Bernaba, seemingly at his limit, raised his voice as well.
“I won’t! I don’t want to break the imprint!”
“Get over here now!”
“If you touch me, I’ll bite you!”
“Go ahead and try! Let’s see if you can bite a dragon and live to tell the tale!”
Ian pressed his fingers to his forehead.
With both of them yelling on either side of him, his head was beginning to ache.
“Why are you both doing this here?”
At Ian’s exasperated remark, both Fenrex and Bernaba turned to look at him simultaneously.
“You convince him!”
“You, Duke, stop him!”
Raising his hands in surrender at the shouting wolf and dragon, Ian spoke.
“Alright. Fenrex, go sit over there. Lord Bernaba, please have a seat as well.”
Leading by example, Ian moved toward the sofa first.
Fenrex hesitated, clutching Ian’s pant leg and inching forward cautiously, afraid Bernaba might lunge at him. Bernaba, glaring at Fenrex in displeasure, snapped his fingers and instantly moved himself to the sofa.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I’ll prepare it.”
With another snap of Bernaba’s fingers, a steaming pot of tea and a plate of Rose’s favorite snacks appeared on the table.
Ian poured tea for Fenrex and Bernaba before serving himself.
Neither Fenrex nor Bernaba spoke as Ian sipped his tea.
It seemed they had entered an implicit truce.
Once the atmosphere had calmed a little, Ian set his cup down and addressed Bernaba first.
“What exactly is the problem?”
“The little wolf refuses to drink the imprint removal potion.”
Fenrex immediately shouted,
“I don’t want to drink that stuff! I chose Rose! Rose is the most important person in the world to me! So why should I have to remove my imprint?!”
Ian looked at Fenrex and spoke.
“Do you even realize how uncomfortable this is for Rose?”
“What?”
“Beastfolk can’t function properly without their imprinted partner by their side. If the partner dies, they die as well. I know that’s why beastfolk are devoted and treat their imprints as special. But so what?”
Fenrex’s eyes wavered.
“To be honest, that’s your problem. Why should Rose have to understand and take responsibility for it?”
“But… the imprint has already been made….”
“Did you ask for Rose’s permission before imprinting on her? Did Rose beg you to imprint on her? Or did she at least agree to become your imprint partner? No, right? You imprinted on her all by yourself, and now you’re demanding she just accept it? Where in the world does that kind of nonsense work?”
Fenrex bit his lip.
“The only reason we let you be until now is because we had no way to undo it. To be honest, I even considered starting a war just to drive you away. But then I thought—what’s the point of fighting a child like you? That’s the only reason you were spared. So don’t push your luck.”
“I’m not a child!”
“Enough! Be quiet!”
“Ugh… huff….”
Since the imprinting, Ian had grumbled and made disapproving faces at times, but he had never spoken to Fenrex so coldly before.
The icy tone made Fenrex’s fur stand on end, and his eyes welled up with tears.
“I-I never intended to force Rose….”
“Really? It might be fine now. But what about after her debutante? What if another man appears by Rose’s side? Will you just stand by and watch?”
Tears dripped onto the floor.
“And it’s not just you. What about your parents? And the beastfolk who expect Rose to take responsibility for you just because she’s your imprint? Once she becomes an adult, won’t they start forcing her?”
“They’ll likely pressure her into marriage right away. Beastfolk tend to marry early, after all,” Bernaba added.
Ian nodded in agreement and continued,
“Do you really think we’re wrong for wanting to break the imprint?”
At some point, Fenrex had lowered his head, his small shoulders trembling.
“I’m sure you feel wronged. I’m sure it hurts. You probably resent us. But we have no choice but to put Rose first. If you truly care about her and want her to be happy, now is the time to break the imprint.”
Fenrex roughly wiped his tears with his arm and glared at Ian.
“What if I still refuse to break it?”
Ian shrugged.
“Then we’ll just have to force you.”
Tears filled Fenrex’s eyes again.
“Why are you trying to keep me away from Rose?!”
“As I already said—because you imprinted on her without her consent.”
“Then I’ll just go and get her permission!”
Bernaba turned to Ian and remarked,
“There’s no point in talking anymore. It’s useless. It would be better to just make him drink it by force.”
Panicked, Fenrex immediately covered his mouth and glared at Bernaba, his defiant stance making it clear he would never drink it willingly.
Bernaba smirked and snapped his fingers.
Fenrex’s arms were forcibly pulled apart.
“W-What?! Hey! Let me go! I’m not drinking it! I won’t drink it!!”
“Be quiet.”
Bernaba snapped his fingers again, and Fenrex, who had been shouting furiously, suddenly fell silent.
Leaping off the sofa, Bernaba pulled a small vial from the wide sleeve of his robe.
“Now, let’s drink it, shall we?”
Fear overtook Fenrex’s eyes.
Just then, Ian let out a sigh and grabbed Bernaba’s wrist.
“What are you doing?” Bernaba asked.
“This isn’t right.”
Bernaba tilted his head, clearly not understanding Ian’s reasoning.
“Let him go first.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I just feel like forcing this on him is no different from forcing responsibility onto Rose.”
“……….”
Bernaba clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers, releasing the magic that had bound Fenrex.
“With a heart that soft, how do you plan to uphold your duty?”
Ian gave an awkward smile.
He understood that Bernaba’s method was the fastest way to break the imprint.
But it was still violence.
If Fenrex had fully understood what they were saying, it might have been different—but he didn’t even grasp the situation.
Forcing him like this wasn’t the right way.
If that made Ian seem weak, so be it. Explaining things at the child’s level was the priority.
“Fenrex.”
Fenrex, still crying in fear, looked up at Ian.
“I’m not stopping this because I’m letting your imprint slide. We’re calling your parents. It’ll take about three days for the Duke to arrive from the Beastfolk Kingdom. In that time, think about what’s truly best for Rose.
Loving someone doesn’t require an imprint. If you care about Rose, you should cherish her. You can do that without an imprint.
Most importantly, you need to understand her feelings. You can’t force this on her.”
Fenrex, his face pale, nodded.
Seeing him look so utterly miserable, Ian pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face.
“Rather than staying at the ducal estate, it’d be better for you to return to the Beastfolk Kingdom. There are limits to what you can learn here. So take some time to think it through, alright?”
“Okay….”
“Good. Now go wash your face and play with Rose.”
Fenrex glanced at Bernaba warily before dashing out of the room.
Ian let out a sigh and set down the tear-and-snot-soaked handkerchief.
“Are you really planning to summon the Beastfolk King?”
“Yes.”
“Are you planning to persuade them?”
“That’s part of it, but there’s also something I’m concerned about.”
Bernaba tilted his head.
“Even after drinking the imprint removal potion, what if Fenrex imprints on Rose again?”
Bernaba’s eyes widened. Even as a dragon, he hadn’t considered that possibility.
“As soon as the imprint is removed, I plan to put Fenrex to sleep with a spell and send him back to the Beastfolk Kingdom. We need to eliminate any potential risks.”
“That makes sense. But I’m more worried about how Rose will react.”
“If we tell her Fenrex went to see his parents, she won’t be too upset. Besides, I don’t intend to separate them completely. Just because the imprint is removed doesn’t mean their memories of playing together will disappear. Beastfolk mature significantly once they turn ten, so I plan to let them meet again then.”
“You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair to make Rose lose her first friend over this.”
Ian nodded, though he suspected that by the time they met again, both Rose and Fenrex would have forgotten most of their time together.
Children’s memories were both sharp and fleeting.
“But can the Beastfolk royal family really arrive at the ducal estate in three days? It’s quite a distance.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?”
Pouring himself another cup of tea, now slightly cold, Ian responded casually,
“If it seems like they’ll take too long, I’ll just give him the potion and put him to sleep first.”
Ian’s bright, innocent smile made him look completely harmless.
Yet, somehow, it was unsettling.
Bernaba thought to himself,
‘This man seems normal, but sometimes… he’s half insane.’
***
“Uncle!”
Rose came running, her small feet pattering against the ground. Ian scooped her up into his arms.
She wore a simple white T-shirt like Hamil’s, paired with navy cotton pants.
At her waist were two wooden training swords, crafted by Ian himself.
Brushing aside the damp strands of hair sticking to her forehead, Ian asked,
“Did training go well?”
“Yes! I lasted a full five minutes today!”
After Bernaba suggested that leaving Rose in Hamil’s care might be beneficial, Ian had a private conversation with Hamil.
He warned her not to curse or display any inappropriate behavior in front of the child.
Since Hamil already wanted to stay in the duchy with Rose, she readily agreed.
From then on, Rose had been learning dual swordsmanship from Hamil.
Honestly, it wasn’t much of a lesson.
Her training consisted of simply holding the wooden sword Ian had made for her with both hands and enduring.
But given that she had grown up malnourished and abused, even just holding the wooden sword was a struggle.
“Why are you even doing that?! I’ll protect you!”
Watching her train, Fenrex couldn’t hold back his frustration and shouted.
“Sister said it’s better to protect myself than rely on someone else!”
Ian chuckled and gently brushed Rose’s hair aside.
“That’s a good lesson.”
“Right?! Sister is amazing! She always says the best things!”
‘Not exactly…’
Ian recalled all the reckless things Hamil had said in front of him. He was still laughing to himself when—
“Sister also said, ‘Trusting a bastard can get you killed in an instant.’”
Hamil, you damn woman!
Ian shut his eyes tightly.
He had specifically warned her not to say inappropriate things in front of the child, and yet here they were.
Suppressing his irritation, Ian calmly corrected Rose.
“Rose, that’s a bad word. You shouldn’t say things like that.”
Rose blinked in confusion, tilting her head as if she didn’t understand.
Just then, another voice chimed in.
“I don’t see what’s bad about it.”
Bernaba approached, his long hair loose, and spoke directly to Rose.
“Child, don’t trust any human except your uncle. Any human who’s kind to you is only doing it because they want something from you.”
“…Sigh. Lord Bernaba.”
Ian called out in exasperation.
“What? What did I say wrong? Humans are deceitful. A child like Rose could be swallowed up in an instant! Look! Even that little wolf cub is already clinging to her and losing his senses!”
Bernaba shot Fenrex a disapproving glare.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of a predator, Fenrex immediately tucked his tail between his legs and hid behind Ian.
“Lord Bernaba, the Beastfolk delegation will be arriving soon. Please don’t be too hard on him.”
At Ian’s words, Fenrex looked up at him.
“My dad?”
Ian shook his head.
“No. It’s the Queen, apparently.”
In an instant, Fenrex’s face turned deathly pale.
