Chapter 21
Laches, who returned to the bedroom alone, let out a deep sigh.
He lightly brushed the top of the desk with his palm. Although the warmth had already dissipated, it seemed like the fragrance lingered.
“I must be going crazy.”
Laches was surprised when he first heard the faint sound of footsteps lingering outside the bedroom.
There was only one person in the Viscount’s mansion who could make footsteps as light as feathers.
Was it someone passing through the corridor?
Laches tensed up, focusing all his attention on the door, feeling oddly nervous.
Knock, knock.
And when the owner of those faint footsteps knocked on the door, he was so startled that he almost fell off his chair.
If he hadn’t grabbed onto the desk, he probably would have actually fallen.
The embarrassment was stifled, but instead, the pen on the desk fell unattractively downward with a thud.a
“Sigh.”
Laches found himself holding his breath and freezing in action as he stared at the door.
What would they think if the door opened right now and they witnessed this foolish behavior?
The pacing footsteps sounded as pleasant as stepping on autumn leaves.
Whoever was pacing beyond the door, was this situation causing them as much tension and excitement?
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking on the door again echoed. With each knock, Raches’ heart pounded in unison.
Just from a simple knock on the door.
“Hmm.”
When the sound of contemplation was faintly heard from outside the door, Laches had to quickly cover his mouth with his palm.
Laughter seemed about to burst out.
Just realizing that she had to be alive for him to be safe, What was so funny about it?
“Good dream…”
At the following words, Laches hastily rose from his desk. His footsteps retreated.
It seemed the woman outside the door was about to leave.
If she left, that would be it.
Laches found himself rushing without realizing, opening the door.
Sure enough, the woman was standing there. With a surprised expression.
“Ha.”
With a sigh, Laches gathered his thoughts, running his hand over his dry face several times.
He noticed a bandage fallen under the desk.
Bending down, Laches picked up the fallen bandage from the floor. It had gotten dirty from being trodden on and was smeared with ointment due to being unwound and rewound several times.
Nevertheless, Laches lightly brushed it off with his hand and skillfully wrapped the bandage around his arm.
“I can’t even do this one thing.”
In the midst of the battlefield, where doctors were scarce, he had to know how to perform simple treatments himself.
So, treating a wound like this was nothing.
‘Knowing that I contemplated killing her.’
Only then did Laches understand the woman’s somewhat guarded behavior. He thought he should be a bit more careful in his actions from now on as he turned off the lamp on the desk and headed to bed.
His arm was tightly bound with the bandage.
On the bed lay the book Laches had thrown earlier, Laches naturally leaned against the head of the bed and opened the book.
…These guardians possess far superior physical abilities than ordinary people. They are much stronger, agile, and adept at reading movements, using a sword to defeat demons beyond comparison with ordinary individuals. We call this the ‘Sword of Violentus.’
The morning dawned.
My head, which had been dizzy all night, cleared up easily.
Anyway, it wasn’t a bad sign that Laches hadn’t made a decision yet.
He could kill Reprentia, but he could also save her.
If he hasn’t made a choice yet, I can force him to choose.
In the direction that saves me.
“Did you sleep well?”
I laughed as I stroked the hunting dog’s head.
Anyway, if I wanted to live uncomfortably in this lukewarm concern, I had to create that place myself.
“By the way, I need to give you a name.”
I grinned as I ran my fingers through the fluffy white fur of the hunting dog.
I had never raised an animal before, nor had anyone given me a name first.
“Woof!”
A small puppy, so full from eating that its belly looked like it would burst, barked fiercely and ran out.
And it played with my hand as if it were a toy.
The hunting dog, which had been still as I petted it, reached out its big front paws to protect the puppy from going too far.
‘Why can’t I read the memories of this little dog? Is it because it’s still young?’
Clearly, while I could read the memories of the big hunting dog, I couldn’t read those of the small puppy. Is it because it’s still a baby and doesn’t have memories to read?
Or maybe it’s because that hunting dog has mixed blood from the maw? It was hard to understand.
‘Nothing but strange things in the north.’
If I couldn’t read Laches’s memories, now I couldn’t even read the memories of the small puppy. Maybe it’s because it takes after its owner.
“Well then…”
As if understanding my words, the hunting dog, with its eyes closed, turned its head.
“You’re Cream.”
Because it’s white and easy to pronounce. It’s easily remembered and loved by many people.
“You’re Cheese.”
The little puppy called Cheese gave a small bark and then playfully rolled over in front of its mother, wagging its tail.
“Cream and Cheese.”
It was quite a fitting name that stuck easily. The name suited well, being cute.
May you grow smoothly without any hardships.
“Do you like it?”
The large dog, Cream, nuzzled my palm. It seemed to express its approval.
Naming them myself made me feel more attached.
“Come here, I’ll show you around the estate.”
With Cream’s leash in one hand and Cheese cradled in the other, I headed out. Cream, who used to growl whenever someone approached Cheese, thankfully remained calm when I held her.
Feeling that she trusted me made me feel even better.
“When people see you, they might be surprised, so you have to walk beside me. Got it, Cream?”
“Woof!”
Unlike little Cheese, Cream responded with a loud bark. I chuckled and continued walking.
Cream stuck by my side as if she had been trained to, even without me tugging on the leash.
Tom had warned me that hunting dogs tend to dart ahead and wander off during walks, so they must be controlled. But Cream showed no signs of such behavior.
“Cream, Cheese. That’s where you came from. See it?”
I pointed to the west entrance. Cream turned her head, while Cheese paid no attention and continued playing in my arms.
“If you go that way, you’ll reach the den of the wolves. So, never go there even if you get lost. It’s dangerous, Got it?”
“Woof!”
“You’re a good girl, Cream.”
I led Cream, checking lightly around my bedroom area and the places where there were many people, areas she shouldn’t go.
“How long do I have to stay here anyway?!”
While I was walking, I heard a familiar commotion. When I turned my head, I saw Delia berating the carriage repairman.
“Miss, I apologize, The carriage repair took longer than expected…”
“Useless! What’s the point of being a carriage repairman if it takes so long? What good is it to me if I weaken due to the cold of the North?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Do you think my brother, Paulo Gaju, will let you off easy? I will not only punish you but your entire family!”
“Oh, please spare me! My family has done nothing wrong!”
The carriage repairman urgently prostrated himself, pleading with Delia.
But Delia’s atrocities did not stop there.
“You have a daughter, don’t you? Poor child, having a father like you!”
She even uttered words that should not be said, wearing a human disguise. Delia was even attempting to step on the back of the prostrated carriage repairman.
Her grip tightened on the leash.
And then, as if sensing my anger, Cream reacted.
“Woof!”
His bark was much louder than when he responded to me. Delia, startled by the sudden roar, fell to the side.
As Delia fell, she turned her head in the direction of the noise.
“Eek! Wh-what’s that! What is that thing!”
Delia looked in my direction, I quickly bowed my head so she couldn’t see my face.
Fortunately, Delia didn’t seem to care about me at all.
“A monster! A monster here! There’s a monster here! Eek!”
Delia was only looking at Cream. Cream, though showing his teeth and growling, showed no sign of moving away or charging forward from my side.
“Someone! Someone please help! There’s a monster here! Eek!”
Delia, cowering behind the carriage repairman she had previously berated, screamed loudly.
“Cream, sit.”
I murmured quietly, still hunched over, towards Cream.
Even though I hadn’t informed it, Cream somehow understood my command and obediently sat down.
“Miss Delia, I apologize for the rudeness. This dog is not a mastiff but a Violerentus hunting dog from the Castle. It’s still in the process of being trained, so there may have been mistakes.”
“Crazy, crazy! That thing’s a hunting dog? Where did you see that it’s a dog! I’ve never seen a dog like that! Its teeth are as big as my forearm!”
“It’s a bit different from other dogs.”
“If it barks at me and shows its teeth, whether it’s a dog or a mastiff or a person! I should just kill it! How dare you bring a hunting dog to me! What are you doing?! Kill it right now!”
Delia shouted with raised voice, stepping back further and further away.
“It’s difficult to punish it without permission since it was brought directly by the Duke.”
Unable to argue further with Laches’s words about bringing it herself, Delia bit her lip tightly.
As Delia stumbled, she saw her dress dirtied with dust. And finally, she turned her head to look at me next to Cream.
“Well then, it’s your fault for not properly training that hunting dog!”
“…”
“If the Duke can’t punish that hunting dog brought by himself, then you can be held responsible for not properly training it!”
Delia pointed her finger at me accusingly. Even though I was hunched over and my face wasn’t visible, my physique would be clearly visible.
And my voice would also be clearly audible.
Yet Delia didn’t recognize who I was.
To Delia, I was barely even a presence. If my face wasn’t visible, she’d quickly forget and move on, just barely that much.
“Cream.”
Delia revealed her hostility towards me, and Cream sitting beside me bared her teeth once again.
Thanks to Cream, Delia couldn’t come closer and only moved further away, shouting louder and louder.
Pathetic.
“I am of the sacred guardian lineage! If there’s any harm done to me because of your poorly trained mutt, not only you but that dog as well will be held responsible and put to death!!”
“It seems you’re perfectly fine standing here.”
“Do wounds have to be visible to the eye to count as wounds?!”
“And above all, it was because you raised your foot to step on the carriage repairman’s back to regain balance and lost it.”
“If that dog hadn’t barked then, I wouldn’t have lost my balance!”
She was one to blame anyone who tripped over a stone they didn’t bother to remove.
“Ha! Come to think of it, you. You keep talking to me in that condescending tone? How dare you to me! … Come to think of it, you, your mannerisms and all, strangely resemble her…”
As Delia said this, her face turned pale, and she bit her lip tightly.
“No, That’s impossible. She’s dead , She’s dead, there’s no way.”
Delia, muttering with a bluish pale face, glared at me intensely.
Judging from her muttering about someone being dead, she must have realized that I now resembled Reprentia in appearance and voice.
But she didn’t doubt it. Or perhaps she didn’t even want to doubt the fact that I am alive.
“Get down on your knees right now in front of me, Kneel and beg for mercy pitifully. Beg!”
Delia shouted angrily.
I stayed still, pretending to move, and subtly loosened Cream’s leash without saying a word.
Although I didn’t say anything, Cream understood my intention and acted as if she was about to run outside, then sat back down.
“Ahh! Don’t move! Don’t you dare move!”
As the huge horse-like dog moved, Delia panicked and quickly moved further away.
“…Right, she was such a coward.”
I forgot how much she feared everything, even the smallest bugs.
I glanced at Delia indifferently, still stooping, and repeatedly loosened and tightened Cream’s leash.
Delia’s face turned white as a sheet, tears welling up in her eyes.
