♚♚♚
THE werewolf bounded through the starlit imperial capital carrying Rock.
Compared to the overcrowded slums where poorly constructed dwellings were crammed into any open space, the use of land in the aristocrat district was luxurious, to say the least. The streets were wide and there was plenty of space between the houses. It must’ve been hard remembering where to go, Rock thought, with so few buildings to use as landmarks and just the streetlights to guide the way.
“Put me down!” Rock continued to shout as her last means of struggle. “Return me to my father!”
The werewolf shook his head as he lopped down the road.
“Quiet. I don’t want anyone else to see me.”
“Mmph…!”
A hairy werewolf hand covered Rock’s mouth. After that, she was carried off somewhere without even being able to scream.
How long was she stuck in that position?
A blinding light suddenly stung Rock’s eyes that’d grown accustomed to the dark. She inadvertently squeezed her eyes shut, just as she felt the werewolf land softly on something.
It appeared he’d descended on the balcony of some mansion. The large window leading indoors from the balcony was left open, and the dazzling light was spilling out from there.
The werewolf strolled inside through the opening with her in his arms.
Inside was blindingly bright. But Rock strained her eyes despite the pain because she wanted to know where he’d brought her.
It looked like someone’s bedroom.
She saw a canopy bed, an exquisitely carved dresser, and a round table decorated with a full bouquet—clearly a young lady’s room. All of the furnishings were made of finely polished, expensive wood, and the sheer silk hanging from the canopy and the bedding were unified by the same soft coral color. Given the furnishings’ splendor, she suspected it was a mansion in the aristocrat district.
“We’ve arrived, Roxy.”
The werewolf spoke Rock’s real name. Then he gently lowered her onto the plush rug.
Rock immediately jumped back and glared daggers at the werewolf looming in the coral pink bedroom.
“Who the hell are you?! Why’d you bring me here?!”
The werewolf stared back at Rock with his gold eyes. But the bedroom door quietly opened before he could answer.
Rock’s eyes swung toward the door, and she was rendered speechless by the person standing there.
“…Lady Alexis!!!”
It was Lauretta Alexis—the aunt who looked frighteningly like her mother.
She ran over to the werewolf, placed both hands on his broad chest, and cried out in a shaky voice.
“I’m so glad you’re safe, darling…”
The werewolf’s expression softened as he stared lovingly down at Lauretta.
“I was able to get the job done without a single injury, thanks to this power.” He looked over at Rock and continued in a satisfied tone, “And our precious child is safely with us now too.”
“H-HUUUUUUH?!” Rock raised her voice in utter disbelief over that.
Lauretta looked at Rock. Those gray eyes that were identical to her mother’s misted.
“Aaah, Roxy… You finally came back to us.”
Her voice sounded terribly gentle, loving, and even compassionate—the complete opposite of the frigidness that’d permeated it at Mateus Manor.
“W-Wait just a minute! I didn’t willingly come—”
“This is your home now. I had this room prepared just for you. Isn’t it lovely?”
Lauretta smiled, completely ignoring Rock’s protests.
Her smile was beautiful but deranged. Or perhaps it was Rock not knowing her true nature that made it seem that way.
Chilled, Rock shuddered.
“I will make you happy now that Valencia cannot.”
The werewolf nodded along with Lauretta’s seemingly kind words.
“You needn’t worry about a thing anymore. We will protect you.”
“Go to hell!” Rock was indignant. “You’re bloody insane, trying to act like my family after you attacked my carriage and kidnapped me! I’m not your damn child and I never will be! I’m the daughter of Fredericks Berwick and Vale Floria!!!” she snapped as loud as her voice allowed.
Lauretta gave the werewolf a confused look as if to say, “Why is she reacting like this?”
The werewolf placed his furry hand on her shoulder to soothe her.
“Roxy is still confused, it seems. It’s very late. We should let her rest.”
“You’re right, darling…”
They seemed to be husband and wife, but neither of them was in their right mind as far as Rock could tell. Not only did they seem to have no guilt over kidnapping Rock, but they actually acted as if they were in the right. As if they’d some sort of legal claim to bring her home as their child.
Who the hell is this werewolf anyway?
Thanks to her interaction with Ebel, she wasn’t scared in his presence, but werewolves were still oddities. Did this man also unleash the power of the statue and end up cursed?
And if this man truly was Lauretta’s husband, then that’d mean Lord Alexis was a werewolf.
First Ebel, then Guido, and now Lord Alexis—Rock was horrified that the werewolf curse was steadily taking hold of the imperial capital’s nobility.
“I don’t want to be here! Let me go back to my father…!” Rock shouted as she held a hand to her aching head. “Please let me go! This isn’t my home…!”
Lauretta looked pleadingly at the werewolf after hearing Rock’s complaint.
“Darling, Roxy is acting funny…”
“She is. She must be terribly confused.” The werewolf took a breath, then called outside the door. “Danilo, can you come in here?”
“Yes, my lord.”
The door opened and in stepped a short, middle-aged man. Judging by his well-kept attire, he might’ve been their butler, but Rock recognized him from elsewhere. He was the man she’d seen praying in the sanctuary when she’d visited the holy church district with Ebel.
“I want to let Roxy get some rest. She probably doesn’t know her way around yet, so please tell her what she needs to know,” the werewolf instructed, and the stubby man called Danilo swept into a respectful bow.
“As you command, my lord,” he said, then courteously suggested, “Perhaps you should change soon… The little miss probably can’t relax with you in that form.”
Being called “little miss” was the final straw that pushed Rock over the edge.
“That’s true. Although Roxy seems rather used to seeing a werewolf.”
Or so she thought until the werewolf said that. She was shaken to the core.
He saw through me.
He’d realized Rock had seen a werewolf before—not only that, but he seemed to notice she was so familiar with werewolves not to be scared out of her wits by one.
I can’t let them find out about Ebel.
Rock steadied her breathing and forced herself to calm down.
In the meantime, Lord and Lady Alexis seemed to have finished handing over control of the situation to Danilo.
“Take care of her, Danilo.”
“Please be extra careful with my daughter.”
The werewolf put a supportive arm around Lauretta’s shoulders and escorted her out of the coral pink room.
“Young Miss, I am Danilo,” the man gingerly introduced himself to her. “I hope we can get along—”
Obviously, Rock wasn’t interested in being friendly with him. She leveled him with a penetrating glare.
“You were the man I saw at the church.”
Danilo instantly paled.
“Y-Yes…I am.”
“According to the priest, you are a very devout believer who often attends Mass. Can you truly turn a blind eye to someone being kidnapped right in front of you…?”
Imitating her father’s way of threatening people with words had an immediate effect. Danilo instantly fell to his knees to beg forgiveness.
“Please forgive me…! I certainly do believe in God.”
“Then please bring me back home.”
“I…can’t do that.”
“Why not? Do you believe God won’t judge you for this sin?”
Finding Danilo particularly tractable, Rock doubled-down. She normally didn’t even like talking about God, but she was willing to do so to get out of this situation.
“Does God approve of kidnapping?”
All the color drained completely from Danilo’s pudgy face with that last remark.
“Please forgive me, Young Miss. I haven’t forsaken God. I just—” He paused, as if needing a moment to pick the right words. “Um…if you know about werewolves, then you should also know the kind of power His Lordship has acquired.”
Rock didn’t respond. She gnawed her inner lip in silence.
Of course she knew about werewolves. She had a good idea of their power too. She’d also seen the moment that power was acquired once before.
“We committed a grave sin,” Danilo continued to confess. “His Lordship turned his back on the natural order and offered himself up to the werewolf curse of his own volition.”
“Wh-Why would he do that?” Rock asked despite herself.
Danilo said it was of his own volition, but Guido had also acted like unleashing the curse was what he desired most in the world too. But once he’d regained his senses, it became apparent that he was being controlled by the werewolf statue.
With that in mind, wasn’t it also possible that Lord Alexis acted like it was what he wanted when that really wasn’t the case?
“It was all for his wife,” Danilo revealed, his voice shaking. “He did it to support and protect his dear wife.”
“Oh, come on. He didn’t need the werewolf power for that—”
“But he did,” Danilo vehemently interrupted Rock’s objection. “It is only with the werewolf’s power that His Lordship and Her Ladyship were able to obtain you, Young Miss.” He held up his hand to prevent Rock from arguing and deeply bowed his head. “I understand your side of things. I do. But it is my hope that you will at least hear them out. They were distressed and prepared enough to make this sacrifice,” he insisted, keeping his eyes on the ground to escape further questioning from her.
“It’s unreasonable to ask me to listen to a bloody thing they have to say when you guys KIDNAPPED me! I don’t give a damn about you people! Send me back! Let me go home to my father!”
No matter how much or how loud Rock complained—
“Please forgive me, Young Miss.”
Danilo just apologized without further explanation.