Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Full Moon Frenzy
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"But I just can't understand why someone as impressive as the head of the Wolf Territory would live with such a wicked girl."
Startled by those words, Rosalyn shot back, wondering if this was truly the head of the Rub Family she knew.
That would mean Ed was also from that family, and suddenly she felt a chill of fear at the thought of whether she'd make it out unscathed.
"You have no idea how shocked we were when you suddenly fought with that young master. You must never do that again."
"Yes......"
Rosalyn replied in a meek, subdued voice to their stern tone.
She'd gotten lucky this time and come back without issue, but she couldn't guarantee her safety if she clashed with Ed like that again.
'But why did I feel so irritated the moment I saw him?'
Then a sudden question popped into her mind.
With Lami Morton not in front of her now, the displeasure had eased a bit, but thinking of Lami still brought that nauseating feeling to the forefront.
She knew about the incident where Lami had harassed her parents while buying herbs and then dumped strange things near their home.
Maybe that was it. Or perhaps the rumors she'd heard over time had piled up, solidifying Lami's image as a villain in her mind.
"But what about Lami Morton? She's supposed to be a really bad beastkin. Have Mom and Dad ever seen her do anything evil?"
Unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked her parents right away.
Their faces hardened instantly as they recounted the herb incident from before.
"That's all? Nothing else?"
Rosalyn wanted to hear more about Lami's misdeeds.
Her parents thought for a moment before replying lightly.
"Well, the rumors are just so bad. They say she often lays hands on the family servants, and more than one or two beastkin have been beaten."
"Ah."
With her curiosity satisfied, Rosalyn recalled Ed, who had defended such a terrifying Lami.
'I hope I never have to see him again.'
Her trip to the Magic Tower had been purely out of curiosity and admiration for it.
She'd long heard how fearsome the Magic Tower was. And given the Sheep Territory's nature, where mages were rare, Rosalyn had lived a life far removed from magic.
She'd vaguely assumed magic had nothing to do with her.
That is, until recently, when she'd overheard her parents' conversation.
"Can you believe it, dear? The Magic Tower rescued magic slaves! Did you know about this?"
"The Magic Tower? Come to think of it, I heard something about a magic circle appearing in the central district."
Having heard that, Rosalyn spotted an abandoned newspaper in the forest and learned about the Magic Tower's new initiatives.
The paper said they'd freed magic slaves, allowing countless beastkin to return to their families, and that the once-veiled Magic Tower was now opening its doors to beastkin across the continent.
"Mom, Dad! I'm curious about what that magic circle looks like."
So she grabbed her parents' hands and dragged them to the central district.
She'd barely convinced her reluctant parents and pulled them along to browse the magic shops.
'Wow...... I want to be a mage too.'
The mage standing bored at the counter there had looked so cool.
The Magic Tower, which had always felt distant, now seemed incredible, and mages looked amazing.
She'd thought she'd spend her life gathering herbs, but after glimpsing the world of magic, going back to her old routine felt impossible.
And right after deciding her dream was to become a mage, she'd run into Lami and Ed's group.
'Guess I can never go back to the Magic Tower now?'
Rosalyn stared glumly out the window.
On one side stretched a lush green forest, and on the other, vast open fields.
At this point, Rosalyn had no inkling of the future awaiting her.
I'd had a dramatic reconciliation with Ed.
Though the lost favorability hadn't returned, I felt fantastic.
Ed coming to my room first, fumbling awkwardly before apologizing—it kept replaying in my mind.
'Cuteness is the best.'
Lately, Ed was turning more childlike, to the point where I could hardly recall his mature demeanor at the Morton estate. I was just glad for this change in him.
His outburst calling me hateful had shocked me at the time, but now I saw it as him acting up because he had an adult to spoil him, and it warmed my heart.
"Heave-ho, time for a stroll around the estate."
Feeling much lighter, I got up and headed toward the training grounds.
It was almost dinnertime, yet the knights were still training hard, their breaths visible in the air.
When I appeared at the training grounds, their eyes flicked toward me briefly.
The knights who gave a quick bow soon turned their attention back to training.
It wasn't a day for sword lessons with Billy, so they probably assumed I was there to train alone.
'Come to think of it, I've never properly greeted the knights.'
I was fairly familiar with the other servants and exchanged greetings often.
But with the knights, it was usually stiff bows like just now, or sometimes no greeting at all.
"Wolves serving sheep must swallow their pride......"
Those words from the knight who harassed Anna suddenly came back to me.
'Do they all think the same?'
I was already pondering how to punish those knights who bullied Anna, and if their view of me was like that, it meant another problem for me to fix.
I gazed at the red sky as the sun dipped low, lost in thought.
I wandered the gardens until it grew fully dark, then turned toward the training grounds.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Kyaaak!"
Sudden desperate screams echoed from somewhere.
I rushed toward the sound and saw a hallway turned into complete chaos.
Every flowerpot from the side tables lay shattered on the floor, and two or three servants who must have been passing by were slumped against the ground, bleeding.
"What happened?!"
Seeing the servants so injured, my instincts screamed to run, but I couldn't just walk away. I grabbed one and asked.
The servant, clutching their wound and groaning, pointed out the window with a finger.
Aside from the darkened night sky, nothing unusual was visible.
"The full moon...... The door opened, and the wolves got out......"
I couldn't make sense of what they were saying. I needed more details, but the servant looked too weak to speak further.
It was near the training grounds, a hallway not heavily trafficked by servants.
That's why no one had noticed and come running yet.
'The wolves got out?'
Recalling the servant's words, I cautiously headed toward the central hall.
Now that I thought about it, the wolves I'd occasionally spot wandering the estate were nowhere to be seen.
A full moon hung in the sky, the wolves were missing unlike usual, and the servants bore wounds like claw slashes from a wolf attack.
Gulp.
Tension making me swallow dryly, I scanned my surroundings.
Billy was at the Magic Tower, so it was up to me and the servants in the estate to handle this.
'Like werewolves? The full moon and wolves seem connected.'
With no prior knowledge, that was the best guess I could make.
'The door opened—meaning the door holding the wolves was unlocked?'
Why keep the wolves locked up in the first place?
'Don't tell me...... Because they go wild under the full moon? So now all the excited wolves are loose?'
If so, this was serious trouble.
The knights had finished training and gone home to the village. No strong beastkin to borrow strength from right now.
I tried to calm my pounding heart and followed the trail of destruction left by the wolves.
Passing the central hall into a long corridor, I saw servants clustered together. This area looked ransacked too—clearly swept by wolves already.
"Oh my god, miss! Get back to your room, quick!"
"It's dangerous here! We'll hold them off until the Family Head returns, so hurry upstairs!"
The maids and servants spotted me, yelling while gripping whatever weapons they had.
'Where's Anna?'
Yet in this spot where most of the live-in servants seemed gathered, Anna's face was missing.
'No Ed either!'
They should both be on the second floor, but a wave of dread hit me just in case.
With most servants here, the second floor would be empty—leaving Anna and Ed in danger.
Tat-tat-tat!
Footsteps quickened up the stairs.
Hiking up the hem of my cumbersome dress, I dashed to the second floor.
The empty hallway seemed untouched by the wolves yet, still intact.
I checked Ed's room first. Fortunately, unaware of the chaos, he'd gone to bed early.
Confirming no wolf had broken in, I locked the door from inside and headed back to the hall.
"Anna?"
I flung open every door, peering inside and calling for her. But no Anna.
"Melanie, over here quick!"
Then I heard Anna's voice.
I raced toward it.
At the end of the hall, inside the estate's library, Anna and a maid named Melanie were facing off against a single wolf.
"Lady Lami? It's dangerous! Get to your room!"
Anna cried out in surprise upon seeing me.
In that moment, the wolf—clearly out of its mind, drooling heavily—advanced threateningly on Anna and Melanie.
The instant the wolf kicked off the ground and leaped high to pounce on them, my body moved before I could think.