âI mean, the missing person Count Elliot mentioned, did it really eat it? Its stomach is slim, and its fangs donât have any flesh between them.â
I opened the wolfâs snout with both hands and looked inside its mouth, this time looking into the wound.
âIâm curious about how it got hurt like this. Didnât you say it was a young beast? My heart actually softened because of that.â
ââ¦..Eve, aside from your crappy excuses, have you realized that youâre in a great position to get eaten right now? Iâll answer your questions, so back off a little bit.â
Hmm? I opened my eyes wide. My hand was still caressing the wolf.
âBut itâs very gentle though? Itâs a little cute when you look closely.â
âIf you can take your hand off and take five steps back, I will be very relieved, Eve.â
Aedis took his coat off and approached me.
I then grabbed his coat, put it on, and took five steps back.
Aedis closed his eyes and smiled as if I had done well.
And as if it wasnât enough to take off his coat, Aedis also rolled up one of his sleeves.
Before long, he relentlessly stuffed his hand into the wolfâs wound.
âAedis?!â
The wolf screamed terribly, struggling with his paws, but Aedisâs hand went deeper.
It looked like heâd gone almost forearm deepâ¦.
The wolf closed its eyes and slumped, in a pain that was impossible to imagine.
Aedis calmly explained, rubbing something inside the wolfâs belly.
âThe stomach is empty. The attack seems to have been from the people. It seems that its awakening was too late and it was abandoned by its pack.â
âAhâ¦..yesâ¦.â
âIt was lucky I saw the inner wounds it suffered while passing through the gate.â
Blood kept splashing.
Thatâs why he told me to step back five stepsâ¦
I need to step back three more steps.
âWhat should we do? Even now, it may be able to live if you close the wound.â
For some reason, Aedisâs face suddenly looked like a villain.
âWhat about after I save it?â
âIt has a lot of uses.â
âBut Aedis, do you know you have a very nasty look on your face right now?â
âWhatever I do, it would be better than going back to the pack, but staying in the woods is worse for it.â
He wasnât wrong, so I nodded.
He wasnât that evil in the novel, he didnât eat people, and he gave people life.
Aedis pulled his arm out.
Afterward, first aid, which could have been torture or treatment, began.
A bloody mess unfolded, which bear in mind was hard to see, but after closing the wound, the wolf opened his eyes again.
The wolf was no longer on guard. All that was left was the fear of Aedis.
âKiinggâ¦.â
The wolfâs drooping ears and dragging tail stimulated my guilt.
âIâmâ¦Iâm sorry, wolf. I didnât hurt you or heal you, but Iâm sorry anyway because I brought a dagger.â
Sorry for the misunderstanding, I whispered a little and put a human-shaped cookie that I had brought as a snack in the wolfâs mouth.
âArenât you hungry? First, eat this one. Just think of it as meat.â
The wolf chewed on the man-shaped cookie. Aedisâ mouth went crooked.
âIf it were a cookie of a normal shape, that would have been a very moving sight, but Iâm not sorry at all. There is water nearby, so letâs move a little.â
The wolf, who had eaten even the crumbs, stood on the ground with its legs.
Even though a large scar remained, the treatment was perfect.
Rather, it healed in a short period of time, and it looked like a scar from a few months ago.
The minerals embedded in its forehead also had a cloudy light and color and werenât as bright as before.
They gave off a mysterious color like the mineral celestine.
Those minerals were evidence that the wolf had powerful abilities.
Honestly, there was something I was a little more alert about because of that. But it doesnât matter because Aedis will watch it now.
All beasts possessed abilities, but the degree was not the same.
But beasts with unusually powerful abilities were born often.
They instinctively gather together in one area until their body grows up enough to handle this ability, which grows and condenses into what looks like a pretty mineral.
Upon successful awakening, the mineral splits, and the power is completely absorbed by the beastâs body.
The black diamond I gave to Regen was also from a beast who died without awakening.
The body rotted and decayed, but the crystals of psychic powers that looked like black diamonds did not disappear, so they were eventually collected in the hands of people.
Black diamonds have long traversed the black market.
The owner was rumored to be cursed, so no one would buy it at a high price.
And even if a geek or a scholar bought it, they soon became cold bodies or disappeared.
However, in a few years, those same black diamonds would light up peopleâs eyes and become a treasure that everyone was looking for.
It wasnât a cursed gem, but a treasure that allowed you to manifest special powers.
In the novel, Gilbert, who had risen to the place of emperor, was also obsessed with black diamonds.
And that was because of a single sentence left by a scholar who went missing while studying black diamonds.
âKiinggâ¦..â
The wolf rubbed its head against my shoulder as if it was complaining.
It seemed like an expression that meant it didnât want to walk, but I couldnât carry it.
âYou have to wash up too. Iâll walk slowly, so letâs go together.â
The wolf tilted its head sideways.
Ahh, itâs so cute!
âIâm so sorry! Iâll never try to hurt you again!â
Aedis mumbled as I hugged the wolf.
ââ¦..My wife likes dogs more than cats.â
âItâs big and fluffy. Would you like to hug it, Aedis?â
âGrrrr!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The wolf immediately raised its fur.
âYou canât do that. Aedis saved your life.â
It wasnât a little⦠but a lot of violent methods.
The wolf rubbed its snout against my palm as I scratched its fur.
And like before it had started growling, its tail and its eyes drooped down.
Do you hate Aedis more than me?
It seemed that it had completely forgotten the dagger I had on me because of the trauma of its stomachâs treatment.
âWell, I canât help it. Now Iâll hug Aedisâs share.â
ââ¦.â
âNow, come to my armsâ¦.Huh? Aedis? Why are you taking the light and walking away first?â
* * *
When I got back to the mansion, after watching the wolf swimming in the water with excitement, the day was dawning.
It seemed Iâd barely gotten to close my eyes for an hour. I was sleepy, but I went down to the dining room for breakfast.
âYou are here, Your Graceâ¦.Eek, and Grand Duke.â
It was a peaceful mealtime, except for Baron Paisleyâs unpleasant greeting.
As I kept dozing off, Aedis stared at me the whole time so that the Baron couldnât look at me.
The frustrated Baron kept his head down, his nose almost stuck on his plate, so he couldnât even notice whether I was dozing off or not.
Fortunately, I was able to sleep a little more before noon.
In the afternoon, I decided to take a tour of the inside of the estate, but the Baron suddenly felt chills and a cold sweat and recommended that Sein be used as our guide.
I smiled and allowed the Baronâs unintentional expression of wanting to leave his position to the Heir Apparent as soon as possible to go farming.
As I went outside, I held Aedisâs hand.
It was because he had to go to a place with a large crowd, but I was both grateful and worried that he was willingly following me.
Hiding oneâs presence everywhere was temporary.
It could happen anywhere, anytime, that people would see Aedis and then flee in fear.
If that happens, Aedis would be the first to apologize to me, so I was more concerned.
I like strong people and itâs also good if theyâre uniquely beautiful.
However, when someone is far beyond the average, people instinctively felt a sense of difference.
It was easy for that to turn into fear.
For Aedis, he raised questions like âIs that person really like me?â And that was because he was a person beyond the standard.
Surprisingly, he knew how to bluff and was skilled enough for it to feel real and not seem like just a bluff.
So I understand that they are scared and reluctant, but it was a problem because they couldnât manage their facial expressions and because they would scream, all rattled and shaken.
If Aedis even came out of the bedroom, the employees of the Grand Duchy acted as if a disaster had occurred.
Aedis, who has been treated like this for 500 years, was amazing.
If it were me, I might have blackened earlier.
Aedis was great for me, who knew through Gilbert that your personality can be poor even with outstanding abilities.
Aedis opened his eyes wide for a moment but didnât shake off my hand.
Even after riding in the carriage, I was still holding Aedisâs hand tightly.
Thatâs why, even though I kept sleeping in my spare time, I continued getting sleepy.
As expected, a human sleeping pillâ¦.