Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: A Strange Sheep Has Arrived
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15.
A strange sheep had arrived.
The sheep who had come as the guardian for Ed Rub, the heir to the Rub Family, whose Family Head had personally visited. Rumors about that sheep spread quickly through the mansion.
"I heard she reached out to the Family Head, and he just fainted on the spot?"
"She suddenly shouted that she was faint-hearted and then toppled over."
"She even said it to the Young Master."
"Yeah, she seemed a bit prickly at first, but then she changed into someone completely different!"
"I know a sheep from back home, and they say she's notorious there as a ferocious one."
"Really? She didn't look ferocious at all... far from it."
The servants' opinions on Lami varied wildly, but they all agreed on that last point.
Who could believe a sheep who proclaimed herself faint-hearted, flopped backward, and passed out cold was ferocious?
"You there! What are you all gathered in the dark hallway gossiping about?"
A plump middle-aged woman suddenly appeared among the maids chatting in the dim corridor.
"Get back to your rooms and go to sleep."
"Y-yes! Head Maid!"
The Head Maid hurriedly shooed them off, worried their chatter might leak somewhere it shouldn't. She sighed, recalling what the Family Head had said upon his late-night arrival.
"You'll see when you meet her, but she's particularly timid, so make sure not to scare her."
From what she'd observed, this sheep seemed to have a stronger instinctive fear of carnivore beastkin than most herbivores.
'Why did she come here?'
The Head Maid couldn't fathom why a sheep who surely knew better would walk straight into wolf territory—the natural predators of her kind.
To be precise, Lami's own will had played almost no part in bringing her here, but the Head Maid had no way of knowing that.
Suddenly tasked with serving such a skittish sheep, the Head Maid had a strong premonition that a lot of troublesome work lay ahead.
Having collapsed onto the bed the moment I arrived and spent the whole day there, I lay sprawled face-down, surveying the room that would be my quarters.
I hadn't slept properly overnight, so my neck was stiff. With effort, I rolled only my eyes, taking in the surroundings one by one.
I'd expected a carnivore beastkin's mansion to feel drastically different from a herbivore's, but there were surprisingly familiar touches.
The floor and walls were all marble, and beside the massive bed stood a glass table paired with a plush-looking sofa on gleaming gold legs.
Ornately decorated bookshelves, a fireplace, and gold ornaments dazzled the eyes just to look at.
A cool autumn breeze slipped through the slightly open glass doors to the terrace, where a tea table and chairs sized for two faced the garden.
If herbivore mansions emphasized cozy simplicity with wood, carnivores seemed to favor eye-searing opulence.
'At least I'm alive...'
I'd passed out cold last night, and when I woke, the morning sun was already high—I'd been so flustered.
Only after getting up did I see the status window announcing quest success. An additional 10% reduction in choice appearance frequency!
"Aaaah—!"
I writhed in joy while still sprawled, but a scream escaped. My bruised hip and back from the fall hurt so much I could barely move on the bed.
'Did my quick thinking work, at least?'
Just recalling that moment made me want to crawl into a hole.
Not content with that bizarre display in front of all those wolves, I'd even fainted!
Still, I'd survived, so that was something. I buried my face in the pillow.
Knock knock.
"Lady Morton, are you awake?"
As I kicked the bed in frustration, swallowing tears from the sharp tailbone pain, Billy's voice came from outside the door.
"Y-yes! I'm up."
Worried he'd barge in if I delayed, I answered hastily. My hoarse throat produced an awkward, cracked voice.
Nothing had gone right since arriving here, but Billy outside spoke up.
"I'll send up the maids who'll be attending you from now on."
He'd been sly and teasing from the Morton Family all the way here, but his stiff tone today amplified my anxiety.
Had Ed recommended me as a good guardian, only for them to peg me as a weird, bad-tempered sheep?
"N-no, that's fine! I can manage on my own."
"Then I'll send in the sheep first."
Click. The door opened, and a welcome face poked through the gap.
"Mimo!"
Still sprawled on the bed, I called out joyfully, and even the usually aloof Mimo bounded over happily.
She must have been scared entering the wolves' den, just like me.
"Once you're feeling better, let's have a meal together."
With my acknowledgment, Billy's footsteps receded.
"Mimo, was the trip tough?"
Mee-eh.
Yeah, yeah. I get it, all of it.
Leaning against Mimo's fluffy wool brought a brief peace. From now on, let's survive together in wolf territory with your timid owner!
"Lady Lami! Where are you? ...That's weird. Where did she go now?"
The maid's muttering trailed off as she left the room.
The moment I heard her approaching, I'd hurriedly hidden. Only now did I open the wardrobe door and cautiously step out.
For the past few days, I'd been doing my utmost to avoid the mansion's servants.
A sheep tended by wolves? Even thinking about it felt awkward.
Most noble ladies handled their own dress changes—which were a hassle—along with simple makeup or baths.
'Lucky I'm a possessor. Otherwise...'
Ugh—just imagining wolves attending me made my body shudder involuntarily.
"Ah! There you are in your room. I've brought your meal."
Then the door flew open, and a maid entered carrying a plate with roasted rabbit legs, accompanied by potato salad.
I'd been had. She'd been waiting right outside. Frozen in place, I watched with trembling eyes as she set the food on the room's table.
"Enjoy your meal."
Thankfully, sensing my discomfort, the maid quickly arranged the food and left.
I licked my lips, polished off the plate clean, then mustered courage to crack the door open—just a sliver, enough for me to peek out.
'This should be safe to venture out.'
Thanks to that solid pratfall, I'd been cooped up in the room since arriving, but now I could probably move around.
To gauge the outside, I peered at passing servants in the hall when, conveniently, some gossiped about Ed as they went by.
"The Young Master's barely eaten these past few days?"
"He does eat, but always leaves some."
"Why? Doesn't suit his taste?"
Ed was leaving food uneaten?
'That's odd. I hardly ever saw a kid eat like Ed.'
As a carnivore, he devoured salads fine, and meat pies or cakes with meat vanished in a blink.
'Did I ruin the kid's tastes somehow?'
If I'd accustomed a wolf to herbivore meals, that'd be disastrous!
That thought propelled me; once the servants vanished down the hall, I slowly swung the door wide.
My eyes darted left and right, brimming with wariness.
Rushing toward Ed's room, I heard footsteps approaching from ahead.
Thud—!
I immediately ducked behind a table holding a vase in the hallway corner and waited for the servants to pass.
Their steps seemed to slow a bit oddly, but once they'd cleared the corridor, I bolted across it.
"This is for the Young Master?"
"Yeah, if cow, pig, and rabbit don't suit him, maybe horse will."
Then voices of maids ascending the stairs made me freeze and frantically scan for cover.
Clop clop—their footsteps drew nearer. Rounding the corner like this, we'd collide head-on.
I still wasn't used to living in a mansion crawling with wolves, so I desperately wanted to avoid the servants. They scared me.
Strangely, Billy and Ed felt less frightening than the help. Maybe because I knew them from the original story?
Musing on that curiosity, my eyes locked on the dishes the maids carried.
'Horse meat?'
Were they planning to cycle through every meat if he rejected that? Deer next, then wild boar?
Watching them pass beyond the window, my hand gripping the protruding wall began to tremble.
I glanced down cautiously. No beastkin passing below.
'Good thing this is the second floor. Third, and I couldn't have hidden.'
Instead of precariously clinging outside the window, maybe I should've just slipped past the maids...?
But instinct overrode reason. The deep-seated wariness and fear of carnivores etched into this body drove me right out onto the ledge.
Confirming the maids enter Ed's room, I slipped back inside and cautiously headed to his distant quarters.
Click.
"Young Master, if this doesn't suit your taste, just call for something else."
At that moment, the maid delivering food emerged into the hall.
I frantically yanked open the nearest door and dove inside. I hadn't toured the mansion yet, but I'd heard the second floor had Ed's room, mine, and things like the library.
'Whew, even reaching one room is a workout.'
Pausing by the door to catch my breath and peeking through the crack, a voice sounded from behind.
"What are you staring at so intently?"
My fur stood on end at the voice. My sideways glance first caught towering bookshelves stuffed with thick tomes.
Then a table and sofa, followed by a massive desk screaming "office," piled with documents—and beyond it, Billy seated there.
"Eek!"
Startled near to flipping, I collapsed to the floor, fumbling backward blindly as he rose with, "Trying to leave again?"
'Oops, I backed in without checking inside!'
No one mentioned an office on the second floor!
"Ahem."
I scrambled up, brushed off my indoor dress as if nothing happened, and cleared my throat. No more voice cracks.
Billy approached, then perched on the desk's front edge, gesturing to the sofa ahead with one hand.
"Well, what brings you here?"
His usual sly tone. No—last time he was utterly formal. Why the palm-flip mood swings!
Having stumbled into Billy's office en route to Ed's, I pretended it was intentional and strode confidently to the sofa.
Billy remained perched, arms braced on the desk.
"Well..."
What excuse to give?
My mind spun, fabricating a reason.
"Ed... isn't eating well..."
By "Ed," the faint smile on Billy's face vanished, turning serious. My voice trailed off smaller and smaller.
'No, Lami Morton! I have to survive here until Ed's favorability hits 100%!'
I couldn't cower like this every time!
Steeled, I opened my mouth with a matching serious expression.
"Ed eats salad just fine!"
"...Pardon?"
His dumbfounded eyes shook, at a loss.