†††
“OH, Bruce. You’re up already?”
The lady patted me on the head as she passed by. Everyone in the mansion was so happy when they pet me. It made me happy, too. I loved everyone in the mansion. Everyone here is a normal person except the monster. They’re all nice. They all pat my head and say, “How cute.” And they give me nice food.
This place is filled with kindness. It’s so friendly. That’s why the monster came to live here. It’s not just Rosemary I have to protect; it’s everyone. Everyone in the mansion.
From that day on, I kept watch on the monster. She doesn’t really leave her room. She seems different sometimes. It’s really, really rare. Just sometimes.
The monster is just scary, that’s all. But sometimes, she seems more like an emotionless doll. Normally, when I look at the monster, the monster ignores me even if she knows I’m there. But when she’s the doll, she stares at me. Like, just the inside of the monster was swapped out for a different person.
Like right now. The monster’s in her room, and I’m staring at her through the window, and she—the doll one—is staring right back at me.
“……”
“……”
The monster isn’t scary when she’s the doll. It’s probably okay. And I’m busy. Guess I don’t have to worry about keeping an eye on the monster today.
“Huff, huff, huff.” I started humming and went for a walk in the garden.
The weather’s nice today, and I don’t have to keep watch on the monster. What should I do? Oh, a butterfly! I’ll chase it. I wonder where it’ll fly to.
This is fun! Everything’s been so good ever since I came here. I’m never hungry, I don’t have to stay out in the rain, and I’m not cold.
This is my first time being able to take it easy and chase around the butterflies. I’m really lucky I met Rosemary and that we came to this mansion.
“Hey! You dumb mutt! Stay out of the garden, you mangy beast!”
I whined.
I got so caught up in chasing the butterfly that I didn’t even realize I went near the gardener man. The women who work in the house always tell me not to go near him because he hates dogs.
Now he’s throwing rocks at me!
It’s not the first time people have thrown rocks at me. Sometimes, I’d just be walking around, and my just being there made them angry for some reason. They’d chase me around, throwing rocks at me.
I wasn’t doing anything; I was just there. When did humans take over everything in the world?
“And the same goes for that commoner girl,” huffed the gardener man. “She’s a commoner just like me, but the mistress takes her in just cause she’s a kid. Now she’s wearing these dresses that don’t suit her. Who does she think she is?” The gardener man scowled at me. “Hey, why are you looking at me like that? You’re just a dog.”
I bared my teeth and glared back at him. The gardener man didn’t seem to like that.
Humans don’t make any sense to us animals. They randomly treat us like they love us, then randomly abandon us, and randomly act mean to us for no reason.
Whenever an animal like me bares its teeth to a human, we have a reason. We have our own rules. All things that live in this world live by their own rules.
Only humans try to force their rules on other things, making us try to understand. They say that’s how we learn to live with each other. They don’t even try to accept other animals’ rules and still look down on us like we’re not smart or don’t understand reason. Live together? Hah.
I hate humans—not all humans, though. I love the humans in this mansion. I love Rosemary. I know how it is; it’s the same with us: Some are good, some are bad.
“What are you doing?” came a voice.
“Urgh!” I jumped, and not because the gardener man was swinging those big scissors he used to cut branches at me.
I jumped because the monster was back. It appeared there, between me and the gardener. She grabbed the blades of the big scissors with her bare hand like she was protecting me.
When I saw her in her room, she was just the doll. Now she’s back to being the monster. She’s scary. My instincts still warn me she’s dangerous, but I can’t let them take over my body like when we first met and I tried to take her out.
I’m still trying to figure things out. Is the monster my enemy? Or is she maybe a friend?
The monster looked at me, then at the gardener man.
“L-Lady Selena! This dumb mutt’s been causing trouble.”
No! I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who started throwing rocks at me. I didn’t do anything wrong.
“Dumb mutt?” said the monster. “Do you mean Bruce?”
“Y-Yes, my lady.”
“Hmph. Dumb mutt…”
“M-My lady? Is something wrong?”
“I’m always thinking about how so many people in this mansion don’t actually understand what they are. You’re one of them.”
The air felt cold.
The hostile aura the monster let off was going towards the gardener man, and I was behind her, but every one of my hairs still stood on end, and I started shaking. I thought I was going to die.
“Bruce is not just a dog,” said the monster. “He is a dog owned by the Violette family. Do you understand what that means, Jacob?”
The monster smiled. The gardener man crumpled to the ground, and the monster lifted his chin, holding him in place so he couldn’t look away.
“Are you, are you saying I’m lower than an animal?!” he rasped. His face was bright red, and he was shaking.
“Of course you are.”
It looked like the monster was intentionally insulting him. Or I didn’t understand what was happening, and that’s the only way the monster knows how to interact with people.
Her eyes were empty. She smiled, but it was just a smile where she curved her lips up.
“Bruce is a pet of the Violette family, making him a member of our family,” she said. “But he is still just an animal. If he were to endanger any of the family, he would be euthanized. There is a priority amongst living things, after all. That priority puts human members of the duke’s family first, followed by animals owned by the family. Horses and dogs are considered part of the family’s assets the moment we own them.”
The monster then placed a finger on the gardener man’s chest and said, “You are a servant. You are not a member of the Violette family. Know your place.”
“Erk. My apologies, my lady,” he said. He hung his head apologetically, or at least it looked like that at first glance, but the sparkle in his eyes didn’t match his words.
Humans always say stuff that doesn’t match what they’re thinking. But they’re still really dumb. They make all these schemes and try to trick other people, so why don’t they ever think the other person is also making schemes and trying to trick them? I don’t get it.
Animals like me always do exactly what our hearts tell us to. Only humans lie to others about what’s inside.
“No need to apologize,” said the monster.
“Huh?”
“You’re removed from service. We’ll pay your wages up to today. I’ll explain the situation to my mother. Pack your things and leave.”
But humans’ lies don’t work on the monster.
The gardener man looked at the monster, his mouth flapping open and closed. I guess he never thought he’d be thrown out just because he threatened me. I’m surprised, too.
It’s not like the monster needs to worry about me.
“You can’t possibly continue to work here after you’ve threatened a living creature of the duke’s family,” said the monster. “There’s no guarantee you won’t next threaten my mother or Rosemary like you did Bruce. And since there is no guarantee, it’s best to let you go. ‘When in doubt, punish,’ as they say.”
“Ah, p-please forgive me! I don’t have anywhere to go if you kick me out!”
“Oh. Well, then, go die on the streets.”
“Y-You can’t be… P-Please! I’m begging you, please!” The gardener man sunk down, repeating the same thing over and over.
“You should have thought more about how you lived if this is such a problem. I would have let this go if you had honestly meant that first apology, as no actual harm was done. But you were thinking something else. You may have had an apology on your lips, but in your heart, you were thinking about how you would get revenge for this humiliation. Didn’t I tell you, Jacob, to know your place? Tiegel, remove him from the property.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The monster’s attendant dragged the gardener man off, and then, the monster left without even looking at me. It looked like she’d already forgotten about me.
I followed behind her. She looked at me only once but seemed to lose interest right away. She just looked forward again and kept on walking.
The monster always has a blank expression and a scary aura around her. She doesn’t pat me or talk to me like the other people in the mansion. She’s completely different from all of them. Which makes sense. She’s not a human, after all. She’s a monster.
But sometimes, she seems softer. It’s when she talks to her attendant, the person named Tiegel. Those times, she…smiles.
The monster is scary, and I don’t really want to interact with her, but I figured out she’s the same as us animals. She doesn’t attack unless she has a reason. I was the one who just got all scared and attacked her the first time, so she attacked me.
Maybe…I’ll give her a thank-you present for today. And an apology. To say I’m sorry for trying to bite her that one day.
She obviously can’t understand what I say, so maybe I’ll give her some of my food.
But my duty is to protect Rosemary and all these people in the mansion I love, so I guess I should still keep watch on the monster. I still can’t trust the monster completely.
You know, though, if I happen to see her in trouble while I’m doing that, I might as well just help, I guess.
✦ ✦ ✦
†††
“LADY Selena, what is this bone?” asked Tiegel.
“A thank you and proof of an improved relationship,” I said.
Tiegel looked at me questioningly.
I know Bruce is always watching me, but that look has changed recently. Not that he had to care about what happened. He seems honest despite being an animal.
Actually, maybe being an animal is exactly why he is honest.