Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Picky Little Wolf
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Billy was buried in the backlog of paperwork he'd let pile up.
'As expected, leaving the Magic Tower to Nick was the right call.'
Billy handled any task better than anyone else, but his personality was far from the type who enjoyed work or lived immersed in it. This time felt unbearably tedious because of that.
Just as he let out a quiet sigh at the endless stack of documents and refocused—
Click.
The door swung open without so much as a knock.
'Who dares barge into the Family Head's office without knocking?'
Billy frowned and looked up, his eyes widening at the sight before him.
Peeking through the slightly ajar door and backing in swiftly was none other than Lami Morton. Without even glancing at the puzzled Billy, she crouched low and plastered herself right against the door.
'...What on earth is she doing?'
His quick hand, shuffling through papers, paused for a moment.
The odd little sheep had barged into someone else's office out of nowhere, hadn't fully closed the door, and was now squatting there, peering outside.
Her movements were just like some undercover investigator on a stealth mission.
Billy gazed at Lami's small back as she huddled on the floor, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Every time he heard servants' footsteps, her little head whipped around like it had eyes of its own. She was straining desperately to get a better view outside.
Billy set down his pen entirely, propped his chin on his hand, and observed her antics.
This seems like the perfect moment to call out.
"What are you looking at so intently?"
"Eek!"
...And that was how Lami ended up seated on the sofa in front of Billy.
She'd said she had something to discuss about Ed, so he'd prepared to listen seriously. But the words that came out of her mouth were completely unexpected.
"Ed eats salad really well!"
Salad? She likes it?
But Ed's a wolf?
Yet Lami's expression was utterly earnest. Billy stared at her in blank confusion, and her tightly pursed lips finally parted again.
"A-And he eats desserts like cake or meat pie really well too."
She clutched the hem of her dress, gazing at him with intensely serious eyes. It didn't look like she was lying.
"Ah, the salad..."
Baffled by the incomprehensible topic, Billy propped his chin on one hand and furrowed his brow slightly. Seeing that, Lami's already pale face drained of even more color.
"Understood for now."
Billy quickly schooled his expression and replied. Only then did she show a hint of relief.
"I take it you've heard Ed hasn't been eating well."
"Yes, I overheard by chance. Seems like he's gotten used to Morton Family food in that short time."
Worry for Ed laced her voice thickly.
"Must mean it was that good."
"But..."
"He'll adjust his tastes quickly after staying here a bit longer."
Billy had risen from his chair at some point and was now perched on the edge of his desk, looking down at her as he spoke.
Lami nodded at his words and stood from the sofa, as if to say it was time to go.
Just in case, Billy saw her off and watched as she opened the door and crossed the hallway with exceedingly cautious steps.
She really is a weird sheep.
Maybe that's why his gaze lingered on her more than usual.
It happened when Lami was nearly at Ed's room. Footsteps echoed as servants ascended the central staircase.
And Billy witnessed something astonishing.
Lami hurled herself under the hallway table. Her speed was so startling, he wondered if he'd ever seen that sheep move that fast before.
He watched in fascination when the servants, having just reached the top of the stairs, glanced toward the table.
Then their eyes shifted to Billy, who was observing the scene.
Billy silently shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips—a silent plea to pretend they saw nothing and pass quietly.
The servants nodded and walked past Lami into the dressing room.
Once she'd confirmed they'd gone, Lami emerged from under the table and knocked on Ed's door with the absolute minimum sound.
After the door opened and she slipped inside, Billy finally returned to his office.
From his closed office door leaked bursts of cheerful laughter for quite some time.
"Ed!"
Making it safely to Ed's room, I threw my arms around him as he opened the door from inside.
We separated quickly, but after only seeing full-grown adult wolves, this tiny, adorable Ed felt far less intimidating than before.
"Lady Lami?"
Ed, startled by the sudden hug, grabbed my arms as I pulled away and asked urgently.
"Y-Your body... is it okay?"
His round eyes brimmed with worry. Since I'd hugged him and toppled backward, he'd been face-down on the bed and hadn't gotten a good look, so he'd clearly been concerned.
I stroked his head reassuringly while checking the favorability bar floating above him.
It's back! Probably from the hug, or maybe just joy at seeing each other after days apart—the favorability that had dropped before was refilled.
"I'm fine, perfectly healthy now! More importantly, Ed, I heard you haven't been eating well lately?"
I stood and flexed my arms, even did a little jump in place to prove how sturdy I was, before cutting straight to the chase.
Glancing back, sure enough, a big hunk of horse meat sat mostly untouched on the table.
At my words, Ed hung his head low and fidgeted with his fingers. His lips moved as if he wanted to speak but hesitated. I just watched him fondly and waited for him to open up.
"Um..."
After endless waffling, Ed jerked his head up and blurted it out.
"Th-The strawberry cake and meat pie from there... they keep popping into my head. The salad with squash was tasty too... and the honey potato salad."
Ah, just as I thought.
Ed, who'd survived on the streets without proper food, had his first taste of something good at the Morton Family. I'd half-expected this.
Ed's palate was completely tamed to Morton Family cuisine.
Meanwhile, I'd lived there longer but still craved meat due to my pre-possession habits.
This is totally the opposite.
Come to think of it, memories from the Morton Family surfaced. Before possession, I'd eaten herbivore foods fine, but after, my tastes shifted to carnivore fare, earning looks like 'She's finally lost it.'
In the midst of that, the new wolf beastkin ate so heartily even without meat that the household servants had gossiped behind my back.
Definitely not your typical scene.
I gazed at Ed—who showed zero interest in the horse meat on the table—with complicated eyes, then quickly smoothed my expression.
"Isn't the food here way tastier? I love steak, duck stew, rabbit meat too."
Hard to believe those words came from a sheep who lived on grass, but hey, tastes are tastes.
Ed pouted and stomped the floor lightly with his feet.
"It's not as sweet."
"Sweet?"
He nodded with his head still bowed, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand—probably drooling at the memories of Morton food.
If he likes sweet stuff, he could just tell the maids or head chef, right?
But the words in my head never made it out loud.
I smacked my forehead at the choices popping up right after I'd finally rebuilt some favorability.
I picked quickly. My hands clamped firmly onto Ed's shoulders, and a stern voice burst from my lips.
"This is sheep territory? You're in wolf territory—eat meat."
The scolding tone made Ed purse his tiny lips and puff out his cheeks hugely.
It was a look I'd never seen from him, not even once since the Morton Family.
"Meat tastes bad! I-I want the food from there! I hate Lady Lami!"
...Huh?
Before I could react, Ed shoved my body away with his small hands. I stumbled backward out the door, and it slammed shut with a thud.
"Wha—?"
What just happened?
Frozen in place before the door, I couldn't even think to knock again.
Why's this sensible kid suddenly acting up?
He'd never fussed over side dishes at the Morton Family—not once—and now he was straight-up refusing meat. A wolf, of all things!
Well, not refusing meat exactly... just prefers sweets.
Still, it amounted to not touching meat without sweet sauce.
Ed had always been so obedient, never throwing tantrums or crying. I'd never dreamed a day like this would come.
Thrown headfirst into childcare without warning, I recalled the last glimpse of Ed's favorability bar before the door shut.
Dropped a whole 2%.
"Ah..."
Raising a baby wolf's favorability is no joke...