Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: The Perfect Refuge
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That was because Aren was where Theodor's Shadows were stationed.
The Shadows, granted a second life by Theodor, had sworn knightly oaths of loyalty to their lord. They moved at his command, becoming his very limbs.
Aren, too, was home to Theodor's Shadows. Led by the knight order, they had made it safer than anywhere else.
And so, Aren was the ideal place to hide the Bride of the Wolf.
'...I hadn't planned on bringing her here.'
He hadn't intended to in the first place. Yet looking at the results, everything seemed prepared just for Lara, leaving Theodor with a strange feeling.
But regardless, Lara was currently feeling lonely.
'It might be too quiet a place for a human child to live.'
Theodor hated noise. He could only endure it by removing everything that irritated his sensitive senses.
The same went for the old mansion in Aren. The inexplicably desolate atmosphere that permeated this antique and elegant estate was surely due to that.
But since Lara had arrived, the lonely mansion seemed to be changing little by little. At the very least, somewhere in this place, Lara existed—the sole human in a household of beastkin.
So, what about Lara herself?
Lara's current appearance was so neat and tidy that it no longer reminded him of their first meeting at the orphanage. There was no trace of the dusty, ragged kitten-like girl clad in threadbare scraps of thin cloth.
Her silver hair gleamed smoothly, and the severe malnutrition that had made her look like she couldn't even stand properly was gradually improving. The new cape suited her perfectly.
However, it wasn't just her outward appearance that had changed.
Lara was usually quiet and composed, with subdued expressions of emotion. Yet it irked Theodor how she sometimes reacted overly sensitively to the actions of those around her, including himself.
It was never pleasant to see her flinch in fear at a single gesture or tone of voice from him. Each time he glimpsed the scars of abuse etched into her, his mood soured unmistakably.
But at some point, her cowering or startled reactions in front of Theodor had begun to fade away.
"Your skills have improved."
"Ah..."
Lara now handled the cutlery with familiarity. It seemed she had mastered all the simple etiquette he'd taught her during meals. She no longer gripped forks or knives incorrectly or dropped things from her hands.
At Theodor's indifferent praise, Lara's cheeks flushed ever so slightly. After a brief pause, she spoke.
"I've been practicing."
"... "
"I'll do even better."
...You ask if Lara has changed? Yes. Now he could answer with certainty, not mere speculation.
To others' eyes, Lara might still seem like a beautiful doll girl, clumsy with emotions.
But in front of Theodor, she was different.
Lara was no doll—she was human.
That made her all the more difficult for Theodor, who didn't understand humans.
His mother had left his side long ago, and back then, even Theodor hadn't been sure what he truly was.
For a very long time, Theodor had lived as a being that belonged nowhere. He feared his mutations and dreaded losing control over himself.
Even after rising to a position no one could touch—a half-being who could be neither side—he still hadn't found answers about his own existence.
To such a Theodor, Lara was like an unsolvable riddle. The moment he thought he'd grasped a clue, the opposite end would twist away like a lie, a tangled skein of thread.
"Why?"
In the end, Theodor asked her directly. Lara froze at his words and lifted her head.
"Why are you trying so hard?"
Theodor asked again.
One of Lara's eyes, partially hidden by her long hair, glimmered the same color as his.
"Because..."
After a moment's thought, Lara slowly opened her mouth.
"...I don't want to be a hindrance to you, Lord Theo."
"... "
That answer twisted something deep inside Theodor in a bizarre way.
Why? The inability to understand the reason only made it more frustrating.
Humans truly are difficult.
With this girl before him, he could escape the curse's torment to some extent, yet in another way, everything became hopelessly tangled.
As Theodor remained silent for a long while, Lara's gaze gradually dropped lower.
Was she dejected? Or disappointed?
Or if not, what was she thinking right now?
"No matter what you do, you won't be a hindrance to me."
In her heart, Lara quietly agreed with his words.
It had been too presumptuous after all. Lately, it felt like she kept saying things she shouldn't.
What could someone like her possibly become to Theodor? No matter what she did, Lara could never be anything to him.
Theodor shone at that impossibly lofty peak, and just being able to gaze up at him made her happy.
She didn't desire more, nor did she intend to...
Lara began inwardly debating whether to apologize to Theodor. But he spoke first, quicker than she could.
"If anyone dares call Diarc's bride an obstacle, I'll make them regret those words immediately."
At the end of their meeting gazes, Theodor looked at her with utterly calm eyes.
"I teach you things because they help you. Others' opinions mean nothing to me."
"... "
"If you can't handle the knife, I will."
Theodor's knife glided slowly over the steak like silk. Lara's eyes were drawn more to his hand gripping the knife than to the smoothly sliced piece.
His hand, gloved in leather as always.
Though his demeanor seemed colder than the knife's sharp edge, it didn't feel that way to Lara.
To Lara, Theodor was not a cold person.
Lord Theo was...
"If you can't eat it, I'll feed you."
Lara's thoughts halted, and she froze in place. Theodor had casually placed the steak into her mouth.
She had absentmindedly followed his actions and opened her mouth to accept it, but the moment passed, and realizing what she'd done, Lara panicked intensely.
What have I done? Thinking of the dining etiquette she'd learned, such behavior was surely forbidden.
But it was Lord Theo himself who did it—not anyone else. What right did she, who knew nothing, have to question his actions?
As Lara, at a loss for words, reluctantly chewed and swallowed the steak in her mouth, Theodor stared at her intently and spoke.
"From now on, act for your own sake, not for mine."
"... "
"No matter what you do, you're already mine—and that fact won't change."
Lara's eyes wavered.
Chewing and swallowing the steak felt bizarrely slow. In truth, she hadn't even tasted it since moments ago. It felt like something was caught in her throat.
Theodor watched as Lara chewed the food painstakingly slow and barely managed to swallow.
Eating like that wasted all the effort he'd put into feeding her.
But for now, he didn't feel like pointing it out.
He could clearly see that if he said even a word, she'd force the food down unreasonably again.
He vividly recalled something Lara had once said to him.
What had she said she was doing it for? To repay his grace, she thought. Something about diligently fulfilling the bride's duties.
Saying such things without even knowing what the "Bride of the Wolf" entailed. Calling him "Lord Theo" and following him devotedly, oblivious that he might not even be human.
Did this girl even imagine?
That Theodor Diarc—the one who firmly believed she was a good person—had thoughts of sinking his teeth into the pale nape faintly exposed on her.
The current Lara harbored not the slightest doubt toward Theodor.
The wariness she'd shown in the carriage had probably vanished the moment she drifted off to sleep in his presence.
Clumsy and laughable. The child asleep under his coat like a blanket looked unbelievably fragile.
For a human girl who had lived seventeen years, the only being she could trust until then was not another human, but a half-wolf beastkin like herself. It was absurd.
Facing the child who had unwittingly entered the wolf's den on her own two feet and fallen soundly asleep, Theodor couldn't tear his eyes away from her until they arrived in Aren.
No foolish wolf ever let prey that wandered into its grasp escape.
If there was, it wouldn't deserve to be called a wolf.
From the moment Theodor had Lara in his hands, he had no intention of ever letting her go.
He didn't yet know what name to give this emotion, but it was his instinct.
As long as wolf's blood flowed in Theodor's veins, it was an instinct he could never deny.