Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Theodor Diarc Is a Wolf
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Theodor Diarc was a wolf.
Theodor Diarc was a Wolfkin.
Though only a half-formed one.
"......"
Theodor slowly took steps forward with Lara riding on his back.
Snow continued to fall without end, and Lara clung tightly to him.
As if she weren't the least bit afraid. She stayed perfectly still atop him without a shred of doubt, even upon seeing the massive wolf.
'Fearless, is she.'
Or perhaps the terror of what had just happened had shattered her ability to think straight.
He had no idea which it was.
Precious few had ever laid eyes on his true form, and even among fellow Wolfkin, revealing one's "true body" was something deeply avoided.
Yet now, Theodor had exposed it all to this tiny, fragile human girl.
'So this day has come at last.'
It had happened in a single moment amid the endless agony that felt like groping blindly through fog, his body writhing in torment.
Theodor had instinctively sensed Lara calling out to him with desperate intensity.
It defied explanation. The only certainty was the undeniable fact that the Bride of the Wolf needed him.
The location was nearby—in fact, inside the Aren mansion itself.
Theodor had staggered out of his hidden lair in the annex, and when he regained his senses, there she was before him, trembling violently. Everything after that had unfolded in an instant.
The intruder—that most unwelcome of guests—had taken the form of a grotesque shell. Tearing it apart had been easier for him than breathing.
'Didn't expect the Bride of the Wolf to manage something like that.'
Theodor thought back to the voice that had rung so fiercely in his mind, summoning him.
Lara still hadn't asked a single question. She simply held on tight from her perch on his back.
"......"
Why wasn't she asking anything?
His true nature had been laid bare. No matter how innocent she was, even she must have realized what manner of being had brought her here.
That Theodor was no ordinary human.
And that she herself was a human girl invited into the mansion of one who was not.
The creature who had pulled her from the very brink of hell—a stranger who wasn't even human. It was hardly something easy to comprehend. Did Lara feel betrayed by him, then?
She might. He recalled the shock in her wide eyes as they followed him unblinkingly during his transformation back to wolf form.
She must have been startled. Had his bestial appearance terrified her? It was impossible to say.
But neither of them spoke first. Theodor and Lara simply walked on in silence through the garden as snow poured down around them.
There was no one else around anyway, so striding about like this posed no issue.
The servants of the Aren mansion were all beastkin, but precisely because of that, they found it unbearable to behold Theodor Diarc's true form. The oppressive aura emanating from a beast—especially an apex predator like him—was something ordinary beastkin could scarcely endure.
"Hey, Theo."
Lara, who had been silent the whole time, finally whispered softly.
Theodor's snowy white ears twitched, but he gave no sign of it, only slowing his pace further.
"Before I left the room... I read a fairy tale."
All around them was utter stillness. The relentless snowfall swallowed every sound, leaving only Lara's voice ringing crystal clear in Theodor's sensitive ears.
"Did you write that fairy tale, Theo?"
The tension drained from Theodor, and he let out a quiet snort of amusement.
What an absurd notion. Did he strike her as the sort to pen fairy tales?
The image of his massive frame crammed behind a desk, quill in hand, scribbling away at a children's book was utterly at odds with the real Theodor.
"No."
Theodor answered curtly. He felt her arms tighten around him in response. With little else to hold onto, her small hands gripped near his neck—right by his ear—and the sensation felt strangely intimate.
"I figured as much."
"......"
"There was a huge wolf in that fairy tale. One that looked just like you, Theo."
Lara whispered the words gently into his ear. It was the very book Theodor had chosen for her himself, so of course he knew it featured a wolf.
He hadn't picked it with any particular intent. He'd only vaguely thought that the rabbit in the story bore a passing resemblance to the human girl he'd brought to the mansion.
"Seeing that wolf made me worry about you. But... I never imagined you really were a wolf."
"......"
"I'm sorry for disobeying your order, Theo."
Lara didn't ask why he'd taken wolf form. She spoke only of her disobedience.
It struck him as ridiculous. The priorities felt completely backward.
How was a normal human supposed to react in a situation like this? To witness a perfectly ordinary man transform in an instant into a colossal beast...
'Normal?'
What even was normal anymore? He'd dwelled in abnormality for so long that he'd lost all sense of it.
Clearly, Lara was no ordinary human. She was the "Bride of the Wolf" herself. She seemed blissfully unaware of just how vital her role was, but the shell of that Lykan that had dissolved into black smoke before her eyes was proof enough that things were spiraling dangerously.
It was only a matter of time before Lara's existence became known in the beastkin world. And to claim the "Bride of the Wolf" who could end their curse's torment, they would stop at nothing.
At least, that was true of the Wolfkin Theodor knew. Arrogant to a one, cruel to a one, selfish to a one.
True Moonlight hadn't even arrived yet. Tonight would be the peak.
Yet after direct contact with the "Bride of the Wolf" and reverting to his true form, Theodor felt none of the curse's crushing pain around his heart. He was in a state of perfect stability.
It made the fevered suffering he'd endured locked away in the annex's hideout feel like a distant dream.
"It feels just like a dream."
Lara spoke as if reading his mind. Theodor paused for a beat but soon resumed stepping forward. His massive paw prints dotted the snowy garden at intervals.
"Like a fairy tale, so......"
He felt her bury her face into the fur atop his back.
"I hope it never ends."
The soft fur enveloped her warmly.
Theodor came to a complete halt.
'Thank you for coming to me.'
Even in wolf form, Theodor fixed his vividly red eyes on some indistinct spot in the snow-dusted Aren garden.
He hadn't actually heard Lara's words aloud just then. They had resonated from deep within him, as if echoing from his very core.
It was an utterly unique sensation.
Even for Theodor, whose senses were several times keener than most, it was a first.
And so, he wanted to savor it a little longer—this unfamiliar feeling brought by this unprecedented moment.
The sensation of being fully connected to the Bride of the Wolf.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn.
Marsha, the Diarc family butler who had returned to the Aren mansion, froze at the sight of the battle traces left by an intruder right in the middle of the mansion—specifically, in the long corridor connecting the main building and the annex.
Theodor's ice shards hadn't melted; they lay scattered as fragments embedded here and there. Pinned beneath them were more fragments of something black and writhing.
"Master Theodor..."
A bad premonition gripped her. Something must have happened. Her steps quickened.
"Master Theo—"
Marsha nearly tumbled forward as she rushed to knock on Theodor's door, only for it to swing open suddenly. She barely caught her balance.
Had she been an ordinary human instead of her nimble White Weasel Beastkin self, she would have sprawled flat on her face.
Regaining her composure, Marsha looked up to find young miss Lara asleep in her master's arms.
Theodor, one hand still holding the door open, gave a subtle nod for Marsha to enter.
Feeling dazed but noticeably calmer than moments before, she stepped inside his study-cum-library.
"Master..."
Marsha spoke softly. The atmosphere made it clear they mustn't wake the sleeping Lara cradled in his arms.
Theodor perched lightly on the edge of the desk, still holding Lara.
Marsha could tell that young master Theodor was far more stable than he usually was after Moonlight passed. He spoke.
"She hasn't even undergone the ritual yet, and yet my bride possesses more power than I imagined."
"What do you mean... with young miss Lara?"
Lara slumbered on, oblivious to the world in Theodor's embrace. Her peaceful sleeping face suggested nothing amiss...
"Miss, your knee..."
Marsha's quick scan of Lara caught the bandage wrapped around her knee, and she gasped in alarm.
"She's injured."
"I'll summon Breina at once."
"It seems you're the only one back from vacation so far."
Theodor pointed out. Marsha's face stiffened with realization.
All the mansion's servants were currently on leave. Today was the day they were due back, but since Marsha had arrived excessively early, the place was still deserted as expected.
"It's fine. I've already done basic treatment."
Theodor exhaled lightly as he spoke.
Thank goodness the wound wasn't severe, but Marsha couldn't hold back from mentioning the "traces" she'd seen earlier.
"Master Theodor. It looks like an intruder breached the mansion."
"A phantom of Lykan Spender. Lara's location is exposed."
"L-Lykan Spender, you say...?"
Marsha's face drained of color. She'd thought the traces felt oddly familiar, but to think they belonged to Lykan Spender. As a White Weasel Beastkin who had long served the Diarc family, she went rigid at the mere mention of his name.
Memories of great and small clashes between the Diarcs and Spenders flashed through her mind. As she paled further, Theodor lifted his darkened gaze.
"I can't just sit idly by."
"Master Theodor, are you saying..."
"I can't betray Lykan's expectations."
Marsha grew even paler at her young master's fierce resolve.
"I won't forgive anyone who touches what's mine. Absolutely."
To Marsha, the gulf between the peacefully sleeping Lara and Theodor—who uttered such chilling words so casually while holding her—felt utterly alien.