It had been over a week since Raoul started studying letters.

Looking outside, the rain was pouring down. Diana felt gloomy.

Whether it was due to the aftermath of her previous life or not, on rainy days, her whole body felt clammy as if soaked in salt.

As she was drying her hands in front of the firewood, she heard the sound of the library doorknob being pulled.

“… What are you doing there?”

“Ah, you came?”

Raoul blinked for a moment, finding it strange that Diana was sitting in front of the bonfire instead of her usual window seat, then pulled up a chair at the desk.

“Do you want to write vocabulary first? I’ll check it for you in a bit.”

Diana said with a weak smile.

Raoul nodded and quietly began his work.

The pleasant sound of pen scratching paper filled the air, and Diana started to doze off in front of the bonfire.

How much time had passed when she opened her eyes to the sound of burning firewood? Raoul was rekindling the dying embers.

Diana unconsciously called his name.

“… Raoul?”

“…”

His small back visibly flinched in surprise.

He seemed uncomfortable with the familiar address, moving away and settling in a distant spot.

“… Sorry, I’m low on energy on rainy days…”

“Sleep more.”

“I’m awake now.”

Diana rubbed her eyes, her lips curling up. Even though it was afternoon, the rain made it feel like night.

She shuddered as she watched the raindrops streaming down the window.

Even knowing that rain couldn’t harm her, she couldn’t shake off the creeping dread.

Raoul, who had been poking between the logs with an iron rod, looked at Diana’s shadowed face and asked.

“You, hate rain?”

“Yes… I hate rain… The sea is… scary…”

In her drowsy state, words from her heart spilled out without filter.

“Opposite of me.”

“Huh?”

“I hate fire. I hate the smell of burning. I hate the black scorch marks.”

“Why…?”

“It reminds me of the past.”

She could guess without hearing more. It must be about when he lost his family.

Diana hesitated for a moment before draping the blanket covering her over Raoul’s shoulders.

“Sorry. Should I put out the bonfire?”

“No.”

As the small body moved away, Raoul finally turned to look at Diana.

She had sat far away, probably not wanting to make him uncomfortable. Her body, curled up hugging her knees, was shivering from the cold.

Raoul rearranged the blanket and handed it back.

“I don’t feel cold.”

“Ah, okay…”

Diana took the blanket back and rolled her eyes.

‘He smiled when I first put the cloak on him…’

Unfortunately, the current Raoul didn’t smile at such gestures.

Diana wanted to comfort Raoul but kept her mouth shut, fearing it might come across as presumptuous meddling or obsession.

Feeling low on energy, she prepared to return to her room early today.

It was when she was walking down the corridor after leaving the library.

Boom!

A thunderclap as loud as lightning erupted from the sky.

‘Sc-scary…!’

Diana curled up tightly, startled. Perhaps due to the aftermath of death, she was excessively afraid of loud noises from the sky.

Trembling, she looked up to find Raoul looking down at her with an unreadable expression.

“… Sorry, I was surprised…”

“… There’s a lot to be surprised about.”

He placed his clothes in Diana’s hand and walked ahead.

Boom!

As thunder roared again, Diana tightly gripped his tunic hem and squeezed her eyes shut.

As her body shook, she felt a warm sensation in her hand.

“How do you plan to live being so scared?”

He walked holding Diana’s hand without looking back. There were no more words after that, but for a moment, it felt like her ears were numb.

Thump. Thump.

As the outside noise dimmed, the sounds inside her body grew louder.

Walking down the dark corridor, relying on the tightly held hand, her heart was beating excessively fast.

She must have been quite startled by the consecutive thunderclaps.

The small hand in Raoul’s trembled. Whenever bright flashes illuminated the corridor eerily, the black pupils hid behind eyelids.

He found Diana’s reactions curious.

‘Is this scary to her?’

Living in the snowy mountains, every day was a battle against natural disasters. It was common to be stranded in the mountains for days while out hunting.

During those times, they would often be caught in rain or hail, and sometimes even avalanches.

Thunder and lightning…? To Raoul, they were just noisy nuisances that chased away prey.

It had already been a month since he started monitoring Diana under the pretext of studying letters.

At this point, he could only describe Diana like this:

‘A weak living being incapable of causing harm.’

This is what Raoul observed of her daily routine:

Diana wakes up when the sun is high in the sky.

By that time, Raoul has already finished training and it’s time for lunch, but Diana is just finishing her grooming and having her first meal.

If one slept in so carelessly in the snowy mountains, the day would be over and they’d go hungry in the evening.

“Oh, Raoul, are you done with class?”

“Yes.”

“If you’d like… would you share this with Vincent…? I prepared sandwiches but made too much… Don’t worry if it’s burdensome…”

But she’s a noble lady, so she won’t go hungry. She wakes up late and has her first meal, which she calls breakfast-cum-lunch.

Sometimes when they meet, she offers to eat together, usually sandwiches filled with greens or bread spread with sweet fruit jam.

Even then, she stops eating after a few bites, saying she’s full.

Perhaps because of that, she eats little and moves little.

Her exercises, if you could call them that, consist of rapidly blinking her eyes, scurrying over to him, or startling and hiding behind a pillar. Yet in the afternoon, she often dozes off at the slightest opportunity.

With such little physical activity, she would have quickly collapsed from exhaustion if she had lived in the snowy mountains.

After eating, she takes a brief walk.

A nanny-cum-maid named Angela follows her. That woman is both perceptive and strong.

She chatters about all sorts of things beside Diana, mostly trivial stories about the castle staff falling in love, fighting, or getting fired.

Despite likely being low on energy, Diana responds to each comment, changing her expressions dramatically.

Then, in the afternoon, she heads to the library. She usually spends time alone there, but recently Raoul joins her.

She focuses on reading two or three books, but they’re not children’s books with many illustrations.

She stares intently at the densely packed text, so absorbed that she doesn’t notice even if watched for a long time.

Only when her neck hurts does she look up, and if their eyes meet, she startles and quickly covers her face.

Her ears turn red and she blinks several times to herself, her emotions so transparent it’s almost worrying.

And when Raoul completes his homework, she comes over and draws a large circle.

Sometimes she adds a smiling or frowning face inside the circle, saying it means he did very well.

Afterwards, they eat dinner together in the dining hall before heading to their respective rooms.

She waves her small hand for quite a while, so tiny and thin that one worries it might break off or fall.

After observing her routine for a while, Raoul concluded that Diana was like a ‘snow mountain rabbit’.

A herbivore at the bottom of the food chain.

A prey animal that trembles and widens its eyes at the slightest loud noise.

She was incapable of harming Raoul.

However, one must always exercise extreme caution. Raoul didn’t forget that humans are a vile species that might backstab at any moment.

Diana too could suddenly change and harm Raoul at any time.

It was with this mindset that he had been following Diana for a month and a day now.

Today, for some reason, Diana’s cough came later than usual.

Skipping breakfast, she hurried somewhere, which turned out to be the kitchen.

In her hand was a sheet of paper.

The kitchen staff were startled by Diana’s sudden appearance.

A woman holding a ladle gulped once, and the chef next to her stammered.

“M-miss. What brings you all the way here?”

“Ah, I have a favor to ask…”

Before Diana could speak, they blamed each other, already frightened.

“Did you make some mistake…?”

“It wasn’t me! Chef, was it your mistake?”

Diana handed them the paper she brought, looking troubled.

“I always enjoy the food sent up… I’m here for a different reason today.”

The chef craned his neck to examine the writing on the paper carefully.

“This is too much food for you to eat, miss. And it’s mostly meat…”

“If you eat like this for a month straight, you’ll get sick…”

The two exchanged worried glances and muttered.

“Ah, it’s not my diet, but for the boy living in the end room on the second floor. Since he’s a lycan, I thought he should eat mostly meat.”

Diana scratched her cheek, smiling awkwardly.

“He’s growing, so he’ll be very hungry. Please prepare enough for an adult man, and leave bread or snacks at his door two or three times a week. But not too much.”

The chef nodded slowly.

“Did you come up with this yourself?”

“Yes. It’s probably lacking to an expert…”

“No, it’s surprisingly detailed. You’ve even specified how well the meat should be cooked…”

Diana squirmed, embarrassed.

“It’s nothing special…”

“Since you’re here, why don’t you have a meal? We’ll prepare it for you. Would your usual bean compote sandwich and stew be alright?”

“Ah, I’ll take it to go. Please make plenty. And one with lots of meat…”

Afterwards, she gathered the maids and gave detailed instructions about cleaning clothes and bedding. And she always ended with:

“Thank you for your consideration. He’s a kind-hearted boy, so please treat him well and don’t be afraid.”

Leaving the dispersing maids behind, Diana headed to the library as usual.

When Raoul turned the doorknob of the library after her, he saw Diana’s brightly smiling face through the opening door.

“Ah, you’re a bit late today…?”

“…Training ended late.”

“I see. That must be tiring. If you haven’t had lunch, would you like to share this? I brought it for myself, but it’s too much…”

In Diana’s hand was a sandwich packed with meat.

Raoul hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out. As the food passed to his hand, satisfaction bloomed on her shy face.

‘Why are you doing this secretly? You could take credit for it.’

At that moment, warm sunlight poured through the window seat.

Her black hair shimmered, and her shy face glowed transparently.

“…What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing…”

Raoul pulled out a desk chair and sat with his back to Diana. Somehow, it felt awkward to look at her right now.