♚Chapter 1: The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor
THE bell hanging over the shop door rang, drawing tailor Rock’s attention. Someone’s shadow loomed in the dark doorway. The enormous figure nearly touched the ceiling and pressed against the doorframe.
Rock had become so engrossed in joining garment parts with basting stitches that closing up shop for the night had completely slipped the tailor’s mind. Floria Clothes Shop was almost always closed by this time, and the shop assistant had already gone home for the day.
Rock stood and called out to the late-night visitor over the counter. “Welcome. I don’t usually receive customers at this hour.”
The towering figure hidden in the shadows ponderously swung its head, its gleaming eyes—a brighter shade of golden yellow than the swaying candle flames—locked on Rock.
Tailor Rock was a trickster who lived a double life.
Roxy “Rock” Floria was a full-fledged twenty-year-old woman who assumed a male identity while operating her tailor shop. Disguising herself was the only way to survive and run a successful business in the slums where crooks, thieves, ruffians, and other riffraff called home.
As luck would have it, her God-given trim figure and catlike, sharp facial features proved useful in assuming a male guise. Cutting her wine-colored hair to fall evenly beneath her ears and donning men’s shirts and slacks made her look just like a poor and unambitious young man. In spite of being mocked for her fragile appearance by those who thought she was a man, she had in turn gained a peaceful life in the Empire’s imperial capital.
But on this night, Rock met a trickster who lived a double life on par with her own.
“May I have a full set of clothes?”
The owner of that low, rumbling voice was a werewolf.
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Pointed upright ears twitched on top of the werewolf’s head, his sinewy body bristled with fur blacker than night, his arms—thick as logs—hung at his side, and a bushy tail swayed behind his long, powerful legs. Rock had heard the rumors—that a werewolf was living hidden somewhere within the imperial capital. Word had it that the werewolf normally disguised itself as a human, living among the people as if it were one of them, only to show its true colors with night’s arrival when it fed upon the unsuspecting citizens like cattle.
“Eek…” A small cry spilled passed Rock’s lips.
The werewolf raised his clawed hands in a submissive gesture as if to set the tailor’s mind at ease. “Don’t be scared, lad. I only came for clothes.”
Razor-sharp fangs flashed from his big mouth with every word he spoke, his visage exactly like that of a wolf’s. Asking Rock not to be scared was an unreasonable request, but she answered him through her violent trembling.
“You came…for clothes?”
“Indeed. As you can see, all my clothing has ripped.” The werewolf spread his forearms, showing off his entire wolfish frame.
Fur blacker than the night sky was all that covered his body, the faint outline of tempered pectoral muscles peeking through the tufts. By every definition, he was stark naked, but the customer was a ginormous werewolf whose head grazed the shop ceiling and whose arms barely fit through the door. It begged the question: Does a werewolf need to wear clothing as men do?
“You aren’t looking to purchase ready-made items, are you?” Rock asked apprehensively. Seeing the werewolf bob his head, she continued in a hoarse voice, “As you can see for yourself, this is a clothing shop for ordinary humans. It is questionable whether such clothing will fit you, sir.”
Among the selection of ready-made clothing were tunics and other stretchable garments, but this werewolf was several times bigger than even her largest customer. Watching her precious wares ripping one after the other was unthinkable.
The werewolf met Rock’s doubts with a refined bow. “That’s just it, lad. I’m seeking clothes meant for an ordinary human.” Sweeping his eyes about the shop with his perked ears twitching, he asked, “Is it all right for me to take a full set of clothes off your hands? You are…the shopboy, I presume?”
His bizarrely gentle-mannered question only amplified Rock’s distress. “I am the shopkeeper here.”
The werewolf appeared startled by her honest answer. His wolfish visage did nothing to hide his dilated golden pupils. “You are? You look surprisingly young to be one.”
“I may not look it, but I am twenty.”
“Heh…you are a man, correct?”
“Yes, I am.” After lying, Rock mustered her courage to step out from behind the counter. She set about coordinating a full gentleman’s outfit from the ready-made pieces in the shop per the werewolf’s request, then placed the clothing in his fur-covered hand.
“Where might I find the fitting room, shopkeeper?”
“Um, you can change in the back.”
“Thank you.” The werewolf vanished into the back of the shop as directed, his fluffy tail swishing behind him.
After seeing him off, Rock sunk to the floor.
To think the rumored werewolf would visit her shop.
Rock had never met anyone who’d actually seen one in person either. But whispers of people who’d glimpsed a werewolf or had been devoured by one in the imperial capital spread from person to person as if they were true. She thought the stories of a monster that prowled the streets in the dead of night, sinking its fangs into human prey moments after ensnaring them, was nothing more than an old wives’ tale—until she saw one with her own eyes
The werewolf was real.
He had appeared in her shop and was currently changing in the back.
For all the stories of werewolves attacking and feeding on people, this one acted like a courteous gentleman. All the same, he had a monstrous appearance. Rock had best gather her wits about her and come up with a plan in case he decided to snack on her after he finished changing.
“But how do you defend against a werewolf…?” Rock muttered in despair.
Currently the only person in the shop, she had no one to seek help from. Screaming wasn’t going to spur the lazy city constables into taking on a werewolf or rushing to the aid of a resident of the slums. The impulse to turn tail and dash out of the shop coursed through Rock, but she couldn’t abandon the business that meant more to her than her own life.
In the end, she gripped one of the canes for sale and waited for the werewolf’s return.
What stepped out of the fitting room after a short wait was—
“This is some fine tailoring. You’re skilled, shopkeeper.”
—a handsome young man with hair the color of burnt sienna.
He appeared to be in his midtwenties with a symmetrical physique and taller than average height. Rock’s tailored shirt and pants fit well against his toned arms and legs, which had no trace of werewolf fur. His chiseled Adonis face didn’t bear the slightest resemblance to that wolfish visage, except for the golden gleam of his almond-shaped eyes.
“What I normally wear doesn’t fit my werewolf body.” The young man spoke to the frozen Rock with the same gentleness as earlier. “But you saved me from a great embarrassment. I came very close to not being able to return home. You have my thanks, lad.”
Rock slowly lowered the cane and stuttered in a quivering voice, “I-I am glad to have been of service.”
The young man chuckled lightly. “I seem to have given you quite the scare. A natural reaction, but please forgive me.”
His apology only served to further Rock’s confusion.
Werewolves were said to transform into humans during the day, but this was the middle of the night. And he was boldly revealing his true form to Rock. Just who was this young man?
“Incidentally, shopkeeper, I feel bad about doing this after you assisted me, but—”
When the young man suddenly spoke in an overly polite manner, Rock braced herself for the worst. He wasn’t going to attack her now, was he? “Wh-What…is it?”
“I currently don’t have any money on hand. My wallet exploded somewhere with my clothing when I transformed.”
“…Pardon?”
This…shouldn’t have been completely unexpected. The werewolf had been naked. He had nothing on him that could’ve held money, so not having his wallet wasn’t a convenient lie. But that was problematic for a tailor.
“I will pay you back with interest in the near future. Could you add it to my tab until then?” the young man requested without batting an eye.
Rock hurried to object. “I can’t do that. My shop’s policy is not to let customers pay at a later date.”
Letting people pay later in the slums would put her out of business faster than the pickpockets nicked watches. This was a policy Rock had sternly adhered to for the three years she’d run her shop. Even a werewolf became subject to store policies the moment he took clothing from her.
“But I don’t have my wallet. A tab is the only option,” the young man brazenly insisted, showing little remorse despite being in the wrong. “I promise to pay you back. I can make an oath before God if you like.”
Swearing to God had less value than trash in this godforsaken district, but since he was willing to say that much, Rock compromised.
“Please tell me your name and address, then. If you don’t come back to pay me, I will go to you to collect the debt.”
The young man held his chin in his hand contemplatively before answering. “I’m Ebel Mateus. My home is located in the aristocrat district.”
Mateus was the same last name as the count’s. Rock knew the name even though she wasn’t raised in the imperial capital. She could hardly believe a werewolf was a member of the famous Mateus family.
“You jest. A werewolf in the count’s family wouldn’t end at just being a big scandal.” Rock glowered in reproach of his lie.
Ebel shook his head, his expression unchanged. “I’m not lying. I won’t deny there would be a massive uproar should the people discover the count’s a werewolf, but if no one ever finds out, there’s no uproar to be had.” The brazen young man was even claiming he was His Excellency the Count. Adding to Rock’s feeling of light-headedness, Ebel lowered his voice and stressed, “And, shopkeeper, I presume you can keep your customers’ secrets confidential?”
Having her pride as a businesswoman called into question, Rock spontaneously agreed. “O-Of course, Your Excellency.”
“Then please do. I will return on the morrow with your money.” Ebel graced her with a classy smile before vanishing into the sleepless slums.
He just deftly escaped with my clothes, Rock thought with regret once she pulled herself together. But not even the droves of scammers and crooks nesting in the slums would turn into a werewolf to pull off such petty thievery. He absconded with only a shirt, pants, and shoes. Valuable wares that they were to Rock, they weren’t expensive goods worth stealing at the risk of exposing his identity.
What just happened? She pressed a hand against her forehead.