IPHW 13💥

Chapter 13

It was more of a puppy than a dog.

A small, black dog lay there very openly, as if it was deliberately trying to be seen.

“Wait, don’t go near it!”

“Huh? Why?”

“What do you mean why? Doesn’t it look suspicious?!”

“What do you mean?”

Raven grabbed my arm as I was about to run forward, his expression filled with frustration as if he had a lot to say.

What, what?

“Do you… not realize how protected your environment is?”

“Overprotect… ion…?”

“It’s not just overprotection level. Do you even know how long it took me just to meet you?!”

Oh, really?

“The one who saved you—me—sent requests for two years, and the Duke and Duchess Wentworth ignored them completely.”

I rolled my eyes as if thinking about it.

“Stop pretending to think and looking away. I won’t let go of your arm. You’ll get hurt if you pull.”

“You’re mean…”

“What’s mean? If I let go, you’re going to run straight to that thing, aren’t you?!”

“I would!”

“You didn’t hear what I said?”

“Oh, I did. I’m overprotected, and there’s no way a puppy should be here.”

“Honestly… you’re strangely articulate for your age. Your pronunciation is a mess, though.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you. You asked what a baby was while looking at one. You don’t seem very childlike yourself.”

Raven blinked his golden eyes, as if he hadn’t expected that topic to come up.

“…When a wolf is holding you, anyone would wonder if you’re really human.”

“Anyway, you knew I was a person and still asked what I was.”

“…”

“Let me go. Raybun is curious too!”

“You think I’ll let you go just because you called my name?”

“…No?”

“If I were the Duke Wentworth, that might’ve worked.”

Tch. So he wasn’t as easy as my father.

Raven’s confident smile looked like something out of a magazine photoshoot. The problem was that it looked like a children’s magazine—no real intimidation at all.

“But it looks like it hurts…”

“…Fine, I’ll let go of your arm.”

He relented after I pouted. Truthfully, it didn’t hurt at all.

“Whatever that is, it’s definitely not just a normal puppy. Don’t get close until someone checks it. The Wentworth Duchess has layered this garden with all kinds of protective magic, so nothing should normally get in… unless it’s something that wasn’t affected because it’s an animal. Someone must have brought that thing here. Whatever it is—Shana!”

He even knows my name, huh!

While Raven was lecturing, I dashed straight toward the puppy.

Don’t underestimate someone who’s been escaping since they were a baby.

It really is a puppy!

A black puppy, about the size of my hand—well, my hand is small, but still—it lay on the grass.

Its ears were drooping, and more importantly…

“Whine…”

“Don’t touch it, Shana!”

“It’s… hurt…”

Without thinking twice, I gathered healing clay and applied it to the puppy’s body. Oh, it’s soaking in.

The light being absorbed into its tiny body was fascinating, and I was watching it with sparkling eyes when Raven suddenly pinched my cheek from behind.

“Ow ow ow!”

“Did you not hear a single word I said?”

“But… it looked like it hurt…”

Raven sighed and let go of my cheek.

“Fearless little thing.”

“It’s just a puppy.”

“On the surface.”

The puppy whimpered and moved, so I reached out to check its wounds.

The small black dog struggled and slowly opened its eyes. In its damp gaze were me, looking worried, and Raven, frowning in annoyance.

How did something this small get so badly hurt?

“It’s okay, don’t worry…”

At that moment, there was a crunch.

Huh. I got bitten.

“Shana!”

“Ah…”

Raven reached out toward the puppy. I let out a scream without thinking.

“No, Raybun!”

“Ugh!”

“Don’t touch the puppy, no!”

“Take your hand out of its mouth and talk properly!”

“It doesn’t hurt!”

Protecting the puppy, I pulled my bitten hand in and covered it with my body. I lay forward with only my upper body on the ground and turned my head back to glare at Raven.

“You were just about to hit the puppy!”

“I was trying to pull it off. Stop being stubborn and move.”

“No! No! Raybun, bad guy!”

“…You do realize that thing is biting you, right?”

“I know! I said it doesn’t hurt! It just got startled! Bad guy!”

“Who are you calling a bad guy?”

As I shouted while hugging the puppy, Raven sighed with a tired expression that didn’t suit a child.

“Fine. Fine, just step back for now.”

“…”

“Don’t be stubborn, Shana. If your father sees you like this, that dog won’t survive.”

“…”

“Give me your hand, Shana.”

Who did he think I was?

But frustratingly, Raven was right. Father would definitely hate this, and clinging to it wouldn’t solve anything.

The puppy whimpered, startled by how tightly I had held it.

“Ah, sorry… I’m sorry…”

It wriggled its tiny body and escaped from my arms. I know that kind of toy. There are toys that look exactly like that.

Like those toy puppies that get pushed backward when they bark…

If I could just pet that soft-looking fur once… The black nose was just too cute. Its glossy black fur made only its shining eyes and nose visible. Ugh, adorable.

When looking at a puppy, you’re supposed to calm yourself from the bottom up… wait, what was it again?

There was something about that from my past life’s dog knowledge, something Mr. Kang had said… but I couldn’t remember clearly.

My friend Mina loved dogs, and we often watched animal programs together while eating. She used to send me cute videos too.

Though I rarely had time to watch them.

I loved animals too, and I had always wanted to raise a dog with Mina, but I couldn’t because of my family situation. And now that I was seeing one up close…

“It’s 너무 cute…” (It’s so cute…)

“That ‘cute thing’ just bit your finger, and you’re bleeding.”

Raven grabbed my hand and frowned.

“Small. Very small!”

“Your hands are small too.”

“Hmm, I guess…”

“I can already see your father going into a rage…”

“If Raybun keeps it a secret, it’ll be fine!”

“Your maids are hardly going to pretend not to notice.”

“……”

“Young A-rank mercenaries hired as sitters—that’s your family. There’s no way they’ll just let this slide.”

“Oh…?”

“If you didn’t know, forget I said it.”

What did I just hear?

“Stay behind me, Shana.”

Raven gently pulled me back.

The puppy looked back and forth between me and Raven with anxious eyes. But its trembling body couldn’t hide its fear.

Judging from how wary it was of people, maybe those injuries were caused by a human?

“The puppy itself is fine. Stop worrying about your hand and heal it.”

“No.”

“…What?”

“I said no.”

“Stop pretending you don’t understand. You healed that dog too.”

“It won’t let me.”

“So you can heal others but not yourself?”

Midway, even my head can’t be cut off like that, you know? But saying that wouldn’t make sense to him. I just smiled while Raven held my hand.

“You healed it instantly, but you still gave me your hand?”

“Uh…?”

“And you touched something potentially dangerous while unable to heal yourself?!”

“It’s not dangerous, it’s a puppy…”

It was so cute I could almost get a nosebleed. No need to treat it like it was about to explode.

“It’s injured.”

Raven tilted his chin as he spoke.

“And you still say it’s not dangerous?”

His golden eyes flashed dangerously.

“You’re going to throw that thing away right now.”

“Raybun… you have no heart…”

“…”

“How can you say that about such a tiny puppy…”

“It’s because you got hurt.”

Raven’s golden eyes were sharp and cold.

“You belong to me.”

“…Huh?”

“I picked you up. So you’re basically mine.”

“That’s not true.”

I have rights, Your Highness. Surprisingly, I do.

“Anyway, if you can’t protect yourself, don’t touch dangerous things. Understand?”

“What’s dangerous? It’s just a little bite from a puppy…”

He had been scolding me for being overprotected by my parents, yet he was acting the same way.

But it felt hard to be harsh with a kid like him.

Still, he was my savior.

The first person I saw after opening my eyes in this world.

“Even if it looks like a puppy, it might not be one.”

“Huh?”

“It could be the offspring of a ferocious monster…”

Raven looked past my shoulder.

“…Or a beastkin.”

Following Raven’s gaze, there was a small girl standing there.