1 - The Good Wolf Learns to Wag Its Tail from the Bottom
People often think that fairy tales are warm, instructive stories for children.
But I knew.
If you peel off just one layer of the pure white innocence, at the bottom lies raw madness and unfiltered human primal desires crouching there.
Before the era passed and ethics were overlaid, the real stories secretly passed down in rural corners and gloomy back alleys.
I was always a collector obsessed with those forbidden originals.
That day was no different.
In the outskirts of the city, in the basement archive of a dilapidated library about to be demolished, my fingertips touched something unfamiliar amid the musty dust smell — a book emitting a thick iron smell and sweet fragrance.
The tough cover that didn't fade even after time had passed had only a single dry title written on it.
Märchen: Original Collection
"......I found it."
My heart raced. I had searched for many editions, but I hadn't seen a book of this form. Original Collection, huh.
"What content is in this book?"
With trembling fingers, I opened the first page's tightly closed clasp and turned the pages.
At that moment, on the rustling parchment, pitch-black ink writhed like a living creature, and thick mist rose between the letters.
"What, what... ?!"
I tried to close the book, but my fingers stuck to the leather cover and wouldn't come off. The mist swallowed the library's visibility in an instant, and with the sensation of the concrete floor beneath my feet sinking and falling into an endless abyss, I lost consciousness.
"...Cough."
With a terrible headache, when I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was the cold, damp touch of soil. No fluorescent light from the library, no dusty bookshelves. All around were grotesque thorn bushes covered in blood-red moss, and the sky was dyed with thick fog and ominous purple moonlight.
"Where... is this?"
I tried to sit up, but my limbs had no strength. The strangely lethargic fragrance floating in the air made my body heavy every time I breathed in.
Ssssss—
From beyond the thorn bushes, the sound of a branch snapping came. Deep in the Dark Fairy Tale Forest, cutting through the thick fog, a red silhouette slowly revealed itself under the moonlight, a thick red velvet hooded cloak fluttering.
"Huh? A lost, clumsy wolf crawled in on its own feet?"
A provocative and arrogant voice.
Bright golden blonde waves flowed from under the hood, ruby-like red eyes flashing even in the pitch-black darkness. She looked down at me with an arrogant, sadistic smile. She didn't look like a normal human in terms of appearance or atmosphere. A danger alarm was clanging loudly in my brain, but in this situation where my whole body was drained of strength and I couldn't move, there were no choices.
'...I know this is crazy, but I have to at least open my mouth and ask for help.'
I barely placed my hand on the damp dirt floor, lying prone, and forced my stiff tongue to open my mouth.
"Uh, um... wait a minute. Where is this? My body isn't moving well, so... maybe do..."
Thud—!
"Cough?!"
Her leather-booted foot mercilessly stomped the middle of my back that was lying on the floor. An unexpected heavy weight made the air in my lungs burst out in one breath. I struggled to get away, but she just stood on my back, pressing down gently with her weight. From my face pressed into the dirt floor, a low chuckle and mocking voice poured down.
"Hah? 'Help'? You can't even understand words even though you're a wolf lying on the street?"
The woman, with one hand on her hip, looked down at me, barely breathing beneath her feet, as if I were a pathetic piece of trash.
"A lowly wolf pup without a collar trying to imitate human speech? A good wolf doesn't wag its tongue when it sees its master; it lies on the floor and wags its tail from the bottom."
More force was applied to the toes pressing on my back. At the moment our eyes met, I clearly saw sadistic pleasure and thick demonic excitement flickering in her red eyes.
"Your face is quite blue? Don't worry. In my cabin, there are plenty of excellent collars and tools to 'nicely' tame a guy like you."
She laughed at me on the ground and slowly licked her lips with her tongue.
I had just turned the pages of a fairy tale book and fallen into the dark forest, and suddenly an obscenely revealing woman appeared, calling me a wolf and stomping on me. My normal thought circuits were completely paralyzed as I just scratched the floor.
The woman took her foot off my back, then bent her body in an instant and grabbed my collar and nape with one hand roughly.
"Cough...!"
Where did such strength come from? She lifted me up from the dirt floor in one breath. My breath was choked, and the vision floating in the air was forcibly fixed towards her face. Close enough that our noses almost touched. A sweet yet dense rose fragrance pushed deep into my lungs.
She stared fixedly at my face frozen in confusion and fear, curling her red lips as if appreciating a newly picked toy.
"Have you been poisoned by the forest miasma and your brain rotted? You can't even control your breathing properly, you pathetic beast."
More cool force entered the fingers gripping my nape, forcing my jaw up. Her red ruby eyes shone with mad demonic excitement.
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, once I throw you into my cabin and roll you around, you'll learn by body and bone how to wag your tongue from the bottom."
"You'd better remember the name of your future master who will tame you well."
"I am Red Cloak. Scarlet."