CH 37

Benjamin, who had grown distant before he knew it, was still greeting us with a smile.

“What are you doing bringing me out of class like this? Benjamin doesn’t stop.”

Unbeknownst to her, the grumbling ensued.

“Leone. Please answer me.”

She urged him to answer, who was just walking in silence. Leone pondered for a moment before coming up with an answer.

“The weather is fine.”

It was an absurd reason that she couldn’t understand what he was thinking about.

“Is that why you came out in class?”

“Walk. With Trixie, for a long time.”

He chose his words slowly.

“Of course, it’s been a while since the two of us went for a walk…”

it’s because he was avoiding her but she swallowed the afterword. Leone seemed to be saying that he wasn’t avoiding her again but he did nt tell the real reason.

‘Ah, it’s frustrating.’

He looked up at the sky.

“Is the weather nice?”

It was a rare overcast day. From the humid air somewhere to the sky full of dark clouds. If anyone said that the weather was nice, it would be thought that ‘the taste is peculiar’.

“This… you’re really making an excuse.”

“Well.” he answered softly.

Anyone could see that he was avoiding an answer.

She didn’t teach him that. What a selfish puppy.

“Leone. What the hell were you talking about with Mr. Benjamin? Why do you two always fight?”

Knowing he wouldn’t answer, she asked again.

Benjamin was not one to let Leone go for a walk in the middle of class and Leone didn’t like this kind of weather either. On the subject of making a tired face in the sun on a fictitious day, was the weather good on a cloudy day? He was laughing! It was frustrating. Leone’s attitude keeps changing like flipping a palm, and Benjamin’s ghastly smile.

She felt like she was being bullied.

“Well.”

“After learning the word ‘well’ once, you say it really well.”

“Saying-.”

“In addition. Who doesn’t know that you skip over it whenever you’re in trouble?”

In addition, these days, Leone had become increasingly difficult to read. No, there were ‘moments’ that were hard to read.

When she talked to him first, when he looked at her quietly, when he avoided answering like before. When he fought with Benjamin for no reason. At that moments, Leone’s emotions were hard to read… It felt like a ‘person’.

“Trixie.”

“What, why, what?”

“I like you.”

And then again saying that. Even on that night when the moonlight poured behind his back, his voice was as plain and soft as now. A faint smile clung to it at the end.

“Thanks, I like you too. But aren’t we finished yet?”

She answered indifferently and stroked Leone’s hair.

“… Hmm.”

Leone would occasionally make a low sound, like Benjamin’s or Adler’s when they were lost in thought.

“Certainly you didn’t mean to flirt with me just because you liked me, did you? Leone.”

“No.”

He probably didn’t even know what her words meant, but he answered firmly and looked away from her.

They entered the forest. The wooded forest was darker than usual because there was no sunlight.

‘Is this an opportunity?’

How long has it been since Leone was just avoiding her, then started talking to her and showing friendship through skinship? Now was the right time to take the luck in face-to-face training.

“Leone, you… uh. How would you feel if you made a new friend?”

Leone looked at her.

“Friend?”

“Yes, we call friends when we like and care for each other and play a lot of fun games.”

“I have Trixie.”

He answered with ease, as if it were not a difficult question.

“No. Not me, other interesting friends. If you play with other friends, Leone will have fun, right?”

“Well.”

“Yes?”

“I have Trixie.”

Leone’s big hands hugged her tightly. Leone pressed her closer to his body.

“Leone.”

“…”

Leone didn’t answer and walked silently. He didn’t need other friends, and liked only her now?

She had given up on knowing exactly what he’s thinking and treating me. It’s not good if he thought she was his only friend anyway.

‘Cause I’m leaving.’

Socialization was also important for puppies. They need to interact with others like a human being. If he didn’t make friends, Leone would be lonely again. Then- wouldn’t it be like having nightmares every day again?

“Leone, put me down.”

“… Why.”

Leone asked in a still unsteady voice.

“It’s a path I can walk too.”

“… yes.”

Leone put her on the floor.

“Leone. Does Leone hate people?”

“… yes.”

It seemed that she didn’t understand Leone’s heart so much because he couldn’t communicate. She held his hand and looked him in the eyes.

“Me too? I am also human.”

“Trixie-”

Leone held her hand tightly and spoke with deep breath.

“It’s fine. Trixie.”

“There should be more people like me who you can be okay with, Leone.”

Leone visibly frowned at her words.

“No.”

“They don’t have to be as good as me, so it’s good to have someone to have fun with, at least to be with Leone.”

“Well.”

Like Leone, Deoksoon was also afraid of people due to trauma. The more he trained to adapt to one, the better he got, and later on, he acted friendly to others first.

It seemed that she was complacent when she recalled that experience. Most of the discipline she had given to Leone so far had been successful.

“Yes, Leone. Then, let’s try it just once, even if I’m here. Let’s try to make another friend.”

“Why?”

“Why? That… Sometimes I may not be there.”

“No. There is.”

He didn’t even think she may be gone.

“You don’t know what the world is going to be like, Leone. You have to be prepared for when I’m not there.”

“Trixie… No, go.”

Looking at Leone, who was visibly agitated, she realized the seriousness of the situation.

‘I think this comes before shirts or shoes.’

When she went back, she would grab Benjamin and get rid of him. She had to say very vehemently that what matters now ws not the shirt and shoes.

‘Friend.’

That was it. A minimal device that would be okay even if some other person was alone with people other than herself.

The best training was to sit far away from other people’s traffic and read people’s sights and smells for a long time. It was a way to make them feel at ease by spending a long time with their guardians and recognizing that ‘nothing happens no matter who comes close’.

The only strangers there were the servants of the annex…

She also worried, ‘Will the servants really try to help?’, but there was one thing she was a little more worried about.

Leone was a fierce dog if one asked her… To begin such training, a leash and muzzle would be essential, even for others. She couldn’t help but be seized by a strange feeling as she thought of Leone, who was restrained with a leash and muzzle, and had a clear face.

“Shall we go back, Leone?”

Anyway, she could do something if they went back, so she was about to let go of his hand, but Leone grabbed her hand tightly. The tightly held hands were immobile as if bound by ropes. His strength was gradually constricting his hand.

“Aww, Leone. It hurts.”

“… sorry.”

In Leone’s eyes, she saw an emotion she didn’t know.

Who was that person? It didn’t seem like the Leone she knew. Sometimes cold, sometimes hot, threatening, kind…

Leone’s eyes were filled with very intense emotions. However she couldn’t even guess what exactly it was. She just thought it was hard to look him in the eyes. She didn’t know why, but her body tensed up. As if she was nervous.

No, why was she nervous? Leone was always the same puppy.

“Leone, that. Um, there’s a river over there. Would you like to sit down and rest?”

She barely found a topic worth talking about. Leone gave her a small nod and moved his feet.

“It’s been a while.”

This shallow and narrow river was the place where Leone and she had their first full conversation. Looking back, that day seemed like a distant time. She sat down on a rock, and Leone sat down in front of her and watched the water.

It was more peaceful.

“… Rain.”

At that time, Leone muttered lowly and looked up at the sky. She also moved her gaze to follow him.

“The weather is bad. Will it rain?”

“Yes.”

“Shall we go back then?”

“No, now.”

“Yes?”

As soon as Leone spoke, raindrops landed on the back of his nose. It started raining in an instant.

‘Shoot it!’

“Ahh!”

Leone and she became like mice soaked in water in an instant. Leone sat still as if the rain was not a big deal. The pouring rain soaked Leone’s hair, dripping down his white skin and dripping from the tip of his sharp chin. Like a man born to be in the rain… It looked like a work of art.

“Trixie.”

As if feeling her gaze, Leone looked back at her. No, she was not going to be getting hit in the rain like that. Jumping off the rock, she jumped up and grabbed Leone’s hand, who was sitting there.

“Leone. If it rains, you catch a cold. You have to dodge it quickly.”

“Trick-”

“OMG. The floor is very muddy.”

It was raining in an instant. It was a forest full of dirt and grass, so of course it was slippery and difficult to run. It seemed unreasonable to go back like this.

“Ah, there…!”

As she hurriedly walked, she soon saw a place to avoid the rain. The lower part of the large cliff was hollowed out and looked like the entrance to a cave. It wasn’t a place that led deep inside, it was just a narrow space to avoid the rain.

She led Leone under it.

That way the feeling of the rain hitting her skin was gone.

“Oh my. It was a surprise.”

“Trixie. It’s fine.”

He didn’t have the concept of a question, so he said it in a dry voice, but she could understand it. That Leone was worried about her, who had dragged herself crazy.

“Of course it’s fine, Leone.”

She smiled kindly and ran a hand through Leone’s wet hair. When she brushed off his bangs, which had always been shaggy, his straight, tall forehead was revealed. His handsome eyebrows, the bridge of his nose flowing gracefully under them, and his eyes as clear as stars studded with jewels. The beast’s eyes shone beneath the thick golden hair.

So weird. It’s definitely a normal look, but just by exposing the forehead, the impression of a person has changed so much. She took her eyes off him.

She thought it would be nice if someone could tell her whether she should treat him as a human or as a puppy.

“It looks like it will stop soon, so let’s wait a bit and then go back.”

But the raindrops never weakened. How much time had passed? Her body was shaking.

The cold air of the forest, soaked in the cold rain, was seeping into her body. It felt like she would catch a cold if she didn’t go back quickly and warm herself up in the hot water.

“Trixie.”

“Yes, Leone.”

“Fall.”

“It’s fine. It’s a shower, so it’ll stop soon.”

“Scared.”

“No, it’s not scary, it’s cold.”

“Cold…”

“Yes. It’s cold. Don’t you know that Leone’s body is warm? Something that makes you shudder in the middle of winter. I want to crawl into a warm blanket. Well… Oh. Does rolling in the snow hurt deep inside your body? That’s what you call cold.”

Leone pondered while listening to her explanation. Could that be the education of a sacrificial saint? Teaching while trembling… SheI felt a bit proud of herself at the thought of becoming an educator. However, that was for a while.

“Trixie, it’s cold.”

Leone’s breath clung to his back. His big hand hugged her tightly from behind and pulled her. A warm body embraced her.

“If so, it’s fine.”