Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Moonlight Approaches
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Claude's triumphant voice still seemed to echo in his ears.
'You know humans that well.'
'......'
'In your domain, filled with the germaphobe Family Head and beastkin who won't ruffle his feathers, is there anyone who knows humans as well as I do? You saw it just now—I embrace humans without hesitation. And you're not about to bring a human tutor into the estate either.'
Perhaps Claude had been waiting at the hotel solely for Theodor to come find him. He'd sent that provocative letter to lure Theodor there in person.
To such a Theodor, Claude had laid bare his 'debauched lifestyle,' giving solid backing to his claim of understanding humans.
Cunning bastard. Theodor clicked his tongue.
He hated to admit it, but Claude was right. None of the servants in Aren estate—not even Theodor's close aides—knew how to handle a seventeen-year-old human girl.
He knew that Marsha and Breina were on edge, preparing portions a normal human child couldn't eat, or due to the vast differences in strength between beastkin and humans, even in the smallest details.
Theodor handled Lara delicately, like feathers, but his unconscious actions could still frighten or hurt her.
'Who knows? She might be holed up in her room, shedding tears. The oblivious Theodor wouldn't even notice. You have no idea how fragile humans are to loneliness. You've never felt that emotion yourself.'
Claude had sneered with all his might. But even so, his proposal was absurd.
'That doesn't mean I'll hire you. I'd have to be insane.'
'No, you have to hire me.'
'What do you mean?'
'Moonlight is coming soon. Good luck then, Duke Theodor—with your little human bride.'
Claude hadn't revealed all his cards to persuade Theodor. Theodor knew that too. It was hard to imagine a guy like Claude banking on so little to sway him.
Those meaningful final words weighed heavily on Theodor's chest.
Theodor closed his weary eyes and leaned back in his chair. He couldn't tell if the throbbing in his head was from his chronic condition or from Lara's sullen expression earlier.
Humans were such difficult creatures.
Theodor opened his eyes a few hours later, roused by a burning pain spreading from his heart.
The dim dawn light gave a rough idea of how much time had passed.
His body, accustomed to insomnia, rarely fell asleep easily to begin with—and now it had jolted him awake after barely dozing off.
The faint moonlight of early dawn shone indifferently onto Theodor's bed. The full moon was near.
'Moonlight is coming soon. Good luck then—with your little bride, Duke Theodor.'
Claude's mocking voice flashed in his mind, souring his mood even more.
Theodor scowled and rose from bed without hesitation.
Around the time the moon fills, all Wolfkin inevitably feel its influence. During that period, they become more driven by their beastly instincts than their human reason.
The stronger the beastkin, the more fiercely the instincts etched into Wolfkin blood—and their family's curse—raged. To forget that pain, they each had their own methods.
Indulging madly in women, staining their hands with blood, giving in to greed, or simply enduring it all.
For Theodor, it was always the last option.
'Shh, Theo. It'll be okay soon.'
'Ugh... kuh...'
'Theo...'
He had only closed his eyes briefly against the pain before opening them again, but in that short gap, a memory from the past surfaced.
It was young Theo. His mother's soothing voice still rang vividly in his ears.
Back then, Theodor and his mother had been fleeing the Diarc Family Head.
Escaping the family's pursuit while enduring Moonlight's agony was no easy feat for them.
The curse's torment and Moonlight's irrationality.
All of it constantly plagued Theodor, and his ordinary human mother could only watch helplessly.
In his fading consciousness, Theo bit into his own arm to keep from harming his human mother. Blood flowed from Theo's arm, and the one being Theo never recoiled from—his mother—embraced him tightly.
It's okay, Theo.
Nothing will happen.
So...
"......"
His instincts, amplified to an extreme degree, made Theodor hypersensitive. Every sight in his vision, every sound in his ears, every searing sensation tortured him.
That pain had never once left him. This Moonlight would be no different.
It would be an utterly ordinary Moonlight, but one thing was different this time for Theodor.
'Lara.'
Having brought Lara here, Theodor bore responsibility for her. He'd taken the human girl into a beastkin estate because he, the master, could protect her.
But Moonlight changed everything. During Moonlight, the most dangerous presence in this estate would be Theodor himself.
Ignoring the voice from his past, Theodor closed his eyes, wondering how to pass the coming irrational period without incident.
......
Knock knock—
A knock sounded.
Noting it was around his usual wake-up time, Theodor reacted to the presence beyond the door.
'Breina, probably.'
Only a select few could enter Theodor's quarters, but it was rare for Lara's chief physician, Breina, to visit at this hour. Theodor frowned unwittingly.
"What is it?"
"Young Master Theodor, I have something to discuss."
It was early morning.
Lara had woken early but lay in bed, blinking as she gazed out the window.
Aren was so quiet. Even on days without snow, it felt buried in it.
The orphanage's clamor had made her lonely, but this place's silence did not.
But... today felt a little different.
'I must have bothered Master Theo after all.'
Recalling last night's events, Lara grew a bit gloomy. In fact, those thoughts had kept her from sleeping soundly.
Theodor hadn't returned until late. Glancing at the clock while waiting, Lara had acted out of character.
'Miss, it's time for bed.'
'Can't I wait just a little longer?'
'Miss. It's late.'
'I'm sorry. I just wanted to give my evening greeting...'
Lara's heart pounded. She knew she'd been a bit stubborn. Disobeying someone was almost unprecedented for her.
There wasn't much for Lara to do in this vast estate. Theodor had told her not to do any work, and Marsha and Breina said the same.
The servants startled and slinked away whenever they saw her. Lara realized that aside from the kind Marsha, Breina, and Theodor, the estate's people didn't like her much.
She had no idea it was due to Theodor's warning.
The servants avoided even approaching Miss Lara for fear of irking the Master, but Lara hadn't considered that far.
So Lara missed Theodor even more. The huge estate was too big for her alone. But if Theodor was there, it was fine.
Why was that?
Lara.
She recalled Theodor calling her name.
He was the one who'd brought her here, given her a name, and added a family name after it. The first to heed her words without dismissing them.
'...Master Theo is busy.'
Being disliked was familiar. But she hated the thought of him hating her. If that happened... she might not endure it.
Lara shook her head to dispel the swelling dark thoughts and vowed once more.
'From now on, I really won't bother Master Theo.'
Stepping out of bed, Lara stood before the mirror and gazed at the girl there—slightly changed from the first time she'd faced it in this room.
'This is more than enough already.'
"Good morning."
Theodor, who had been waiting for Lara to enter the dining room, greeted her.
Lara inwardly sighed in relief at his unchanged demeanor. He didn't seem angry.
"Good morning, Master Theo."
"...You look pale. Are you unwell?"
But flustered by his question as he examined her face, Lara tried responding more brightly. No one liked a gloomy child.
"No, I'm not sick."
But what felt lively to Lara looked awkward to others. Reading the mood, she quickly added more—almost resolutely.
"I slept like a log."
"Ahem."
But with Marsha beside him clearing her throat awkwardly, Lara's lie clearly hadn't landed.
Theodor simply stared at her in silence.
Her actions made her thoughts plain as day. He had no idea what to say.
Should he play along?
Or...