TMDW | Chapter 013

Chapter 13

“Because you made me cry earlier, I’ll let you lick me today.”

“Wow!”

Shayla was a generous rabbit.

Even though they had reached a dramatic agreement, she had made the boy cry, so she wanted to compensate him properly.

“But only once.”

Ah… look at that boy’s smell. Shayla, now transformed into a rabbit, shook her head in despair.

She looked pitifully at the excitedly bouncing Callion, then lifted her chin.

“My ears are completely off-limits…”

She barely finished speaking before the boy suddenly rushed in, mouth wide open.

Chomp.

Then he placed Shayla’s head entirely in his mouth as if he were going to swallow her.

“……”

In an instant, Shayla found herself trapped inside the wolf’s mouth. She fainted for a few seconds before snapping back awake.

She was in complete shock, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Meanwhile, the little wolf pulled the rabbit’s head out of his mouth, held Shayla’s body between his front paws like a bone, and began licking her eagerly.

He licked so fiercely that her head was soaked as if dunked in water.

“…Don’t you think this is a little excessive?”

Shayla couldn’t bear it anymore and protested quietly. But Callion, as if enchanted, continued licking with total focus.

“Enough now.”

Despite her attempts to stop him, he showed no sign of stopping, so Shayla finally had no choice but to revert to human form. It was pure instinct.

“I wasn’t done yet…”

Callion, still thirsty, moved his tongue as if savoring the taste.

“You weren’t done? Wasn’t that enough?”

“I feel like I need to leave my scent on rabbit-Shasha… I want to protect you.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t about leaving his scent—it was about thoroughly drenching the fur on top of her head with saliva. But…

‘Was this boy always this energetic?’

No, he hadn’t been. This was the first time.

He had always hidden under a dusty bed or stared blankly through a foggy window. He had always acted like a prisoner, hiding and watching the world from afar.

“Now I understand it clearly.”

Callion, who had always been passive in his reactions, living only inside this room, not eating until full—the little wolf.

“You’re late in growing, which is why you’re late in turning human, Leon.”

Shayla recalled her rabbit form. Though she was still a small rabbit, she was the size of a nine-year-old girl by human standards.

“Look, you’re seven now, and your ears still aren’t fully upright. Isn’t that strange?”

From any angle, he looked like a little wolf, not an adolescent one.

“Your growth has stalled. That’s certain.”

Except for those teeth.

“How do you know all this, Shayla? I want to be smart like you.”

He murmured in awe.

“I read it in books.”

“Books…?”

“Yes, books contain everything you don’t know.”

Leon tilted his head, blinking his round eyes.

“So you can read letters too?”

“You… don’t know?”

“……”

The heir of a ducal family, seven years old, and he still didn’t know how to read?

Is this the mindset of the north? No matter how busy they are guarding the empire’s borders…

“Heung.”

The boy immediately shrank and hid under the chair, tail tucked. Before, he would have shouted “Don’t ignore me!” but this change was new too.

‘What am I really going to do with him?’

Shayla let out a deep sigh.

“The road is… very long.”

* * *

Leaving the sleeping Callion under the chair, Shayla began cleaning the bedroom floor. His fur was so thick that if she didn’t sweep daily, the floor would turn white.

A small bone he had played with, a half-eaten piece of sweet potato, peas he spat out while pretending to eat, and more.

While gathering the small pieces and wiping dust, Shayla wondered whether she was a maid or a noble lady in this castle.

As she wiped the floor, her eyes suddenly narrowed.

Under the bed, in that dark corner.

That was the place where Callion slept.

His habit of choosing dark, uncomfortable spots away from others’ eyes had never changed.

At least Henry had given him a sleeping mat, but…

‘I don’t even like this.’

What was called a “sleeping mat” was nothing more than a tattered piece of cloth.

Full of holes and worn out…

She wanted to throw it away, but she feared the boy would end up sleeping on the cold floor if she did.

Doesn’t everyone have a doll or blanket they cling to? Maybe this mat was something like that for him.

He was still seven—a little child.

‘I’d like to at least wash it…’

The mat was covered in the boy’s gray fur, and it was impossible to guess its original color.

“Hm?”

While removing a piece of bone, she lifted the mat, and something hidden inside rolled out.

It was…

‘A ring.’

The wedding ring she received during the ceremony. The same one now on the fourth finger of her left hand.

She felt a strange sensation staring at the golden ring.

‘I can’t wear it…’

She had only one husband, but he hadn’t attended the wedding, which had made her feel insulted at first.

But looking at this ring now, she began to understand why he was absent from the ceremony.

What was the point of exchanging eternal love vows and sharing rings at a wedding?

He couldn’t wear it on his front paw, and he couldn’t get rid of it either…

It was like the annoying wardrobe she couldn’t throw away. Something painful that reminded him of his situation every day.

For the little boy, the wedding ring carried that meaning.

So he had no choice but to hide it under the mat, out of sight.

He kept it in the safest place for him, where it wouldn’t be stolen.

Shayla gripped the ring tightly.

“I’ll take this. You don’t mind, right?”

“Ung…”

Callion answered even in his sleep, without opening his eyes, and it was adorable.

‘I have to find a way. A way for this boy to carry the wedding ring with him.’

After a long day of playing with Callion, Shayla dragged her tired body to wander the castle library until dawn.

“What? They locked the door?”

She had stayed too long in Callion’s room. Of course the servants needed sleep too, but this forced Shayla to sneak in like a thieving rabbit.

“Ah.”

She had to go down to the basement, transform into a rabbit, and dig a tunnel to the library.

When she lived in the capital, she never imagined turning into a rabbit outside for fear Count Lexi would find out.

But in the castle, while playing with Callion, Shayla spent long periods as a rabbit.

Had she become too careless?

Distracted by squeezing through the narrow tunnel, Shayla didn’t notice there was already someone else in the library.

When she finally lifted her head after great effort…

“……!”

Her eyes met directly with Duke Graywolf, who was holding a lamp.

Shayla froze, her head poking out from under the wall. The duke’s cold expression didn’t change at all.

‘Did… he recognize me?’

How many brown rabbits sneak into the library at this hour?

Shayla wanted to cry.

No normal rabbit would stare into someone’s eyes for this long!

She was in trouble.

‘He’ll definitely kick me out.’

He married his variant son to save him, but now he’ll discover I’m a useless brown rabbit!

“You still can’t shake off your beastly habits? How dare you do something so barbaric in my house, you filthy idiot!”

It was as if her father’s voice rang in her ears. Shayla trembled in fear and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

‘My life ends here.’

That cruel hand would grab her and throw her out of the castle. Then he would complain to Count Lexi that he sent someone unworthy of the duchy…

“……”

But no matter how long she waited, what she feared didn’t happen.

Unable to resist her curiosity, Shayla cautiously opened her eyes. The duke had already disappeared into the last shelf.

‘What? Did he really not see me?’

Strange. Their eyes had clearly met…

But he passed by indifferently, as if Shayla wasn’t worth his attention.

Feeling bold, Shayla took the chance and sneaked fully into the library. Her rear got stuck in the narrow tunnel, but she pushed herself through with force.

“Huff, huff…”

All this sneaking into the library was for that boy, Callion.

The more Shayla showed her vast knowledge as a learning card, the more endlessly amazed Callion became.

When she saw his innocent, admiring face, Shayla couldn’t stop pretending to know everything.

“How do you know all this, Shayla?”

“I read it in books. Everything is in there.”

It was a lie to increase credibility. In truth, she had stayed away from books for a while.

‘I must never look stupid in front of him.’

A leader must be smart. The moment respect is lost, the leader’s position is taken away.

‘Anyway, I won’t run into the duke again.’

The library was incredibly vast. The shelf the duke entered was in the basement, while the books Shayla wanted were upstairs after climbing the stairs.

“Child Development,” “Alchemists of the Empire and Baltus,” “Successful Methods of Gem Polishing.”

She had to reinforce what she talked about today to impress the boy with even more convincing words next time.

‘I need to teach him letters immediately.’

Callion envied Shayla for being able to read. He seemed to want to learn letters too.

It was obvious that, due to his feral behavior, they couldn’t assign him a tutor.

Fortunately, Shayla had already taught her sister letters before.

An animal body loses focus much more easily than a human one. Teaching letters at a desk using a book, as she had learned from her tutor, would backfire.

Making letter cards and teaching them as a game was the easiest and most effective way.

“The Easy Empire for Our Children, Starting from A”

Authored by Robert Wolfgang

‘This book is perfect.’

The author was from a northern family.

Shayla had lived her whole life in the capital, so she thought there might be slight vocabulary differences between her and what Callion knew.

‘Should I look for more?’

The libraries Shayla had visited before were limited to Count Lexi’s library. The Count, suffering from an inferiority complex, had cheap knowledge books and handwritten copies, making calling it a library embarrassing.

The castle library, however, was the largest in the northern empire, she had heard. The shelves stretched from the basement to the third floor, impressing her.

While wandering and browsing books, a particular title caught her eye.

“Understanding Species – Wolves”

Yes, if she was going to live with this boy, studying wolves was essential!

Shayla lit a lamp on the shelf, sat on a small chair, and opened the book “Understanding Species – Wolves.”

She felt a little excited because she had escaped a dangerous situation.

Wolf tails are usually drooping in their natural state.

‘There really is a difference from dogs.’

She felt sorry for scolding him about not raising his tail.

The boy obeyed her enthusiastically but refused that part with embarrassment…

‘That’s why one must learn.’

Shayla turned the pages, focusing on the section about wolf childhood.

Brown, red, black, but most wolves are gray and spotted.

A wolf’s fur color can change as it grows.

‘This is it!’

Shayla felt immense relief.

From their first meeting, she had wondered why Callion’s fur was white.

Duke Graywolf had black hair, his wife dark brown.

Even in the prophecy, wasn’t he supposed to be a black wolf?

‘So why is he white?’

Soft white like fluffy clouds. Pure white without a single spot!

She had feared there was a secret in his birth. She couldn’t ask the servants, nor show her worry…

But since fur color can change, no one found it strange.

‘Thank goodness.’

While Shayla was immersed in reading, she didn’t run into Duke Graywolf again.

Her eyes began to close, so she set the book aside.

‘I should leave a mark…’

But there was nothing for that.

Shayla sighed and searched her pocket. As a wise rabbit, she always carried rabbit grass.

She placed the rabbit grass as a bookmark instead of a proper one, returned the book to its place, and stood up.

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