Hugrey, receiving reports of the wolf beastmen gathering in Roysen, the capital of the Ulpaz dukedom, under orders to come together to protect the Alpha’s mate, finally brought up an issue he had kept buried until now.

“Joyce, go to Tigrium until all the wolf tribes have gathered.”

“What is the matter?”

“Find out how King Staxton learned that Chloe is the hidden tiger beastman princess.”

“Yes, understood!”

Though everyone found out due to the attempted murder incident, until then, even among the wolf beastmen, no one knew that the Alpha’s mate was a tiger beastman. After all, Hugrey had publicly declared that he had imprinted on a human.

Of course, among the wolf beastman elders who met Chloe at the banquet, there may have been some who noticed the scent of a tiger from her. However, even that was nearly impossible. Chloe already had a weak tiger scent to begin with, possibly due to the long-term use of suppressants, and she had taken a special deodorizing medicine before coming to the banquet. Though the effect didn’t last long, it was enough for the duration of the banquet.

So the possibility of the elders noticing first was low, and even if they had noticed at the scene, inserting an assassination team into the imperial palace to kill Chloe and executing the plan was not something that could be done on the spur of the moment.

They had already known everything before the banquet and meticulously planned and thoroughly prepared how to kidnap and kill her before carrying it out. So Staxton had known about Chloe’s existence for a long time, but the problem was who had leaked that information to him. Especially when there were only a few people who even knew that fact.

It was an investigation that had been briefly postponed to deal with Chloe’s recovery and Calcus’s irrational obsession, but it was something that could no longer be delayed. They had to identify and address all factors that could threaten Chloe.

“There is Reina Tilbes and her subordinate, a man named Hans. Watch their movements. Especially investigate Reina Tilbes’s actions after Hans visited Roysen.”

The man’s eyes she had encountered in the corridor on the day Chloe drank Letunia tea. An image that suddenly came to mind while thinking about where the information could have leaked from.

In fact, it was difficult to suspect Reina Tilbes, who was of the wolf beastman race. No matter how creepy the woman was, she wouldn’t be crazy enough to break such a taboo. However, they couldn’t ignore all possibilities either. Especially since that man’s gaze and actions had left an unpleasant, lingering feeling.

“Yes, I understand.”

Joyce’s work was usually thorough, so they would soon find out the truth.

As soon as Chloe woke up, she realized that Hugrey had left the room and grew anxious. He stayed with her most of the day, but as soon as it was midnight, he would leave her room. It wasn’t because he wanted to, but because imperial palace law required outsiders to sleep in the outer palace.

Then since she was also an outsider, it would be nice if he took her with him.

Without fail, as soon as Hugrey left the room, Calcus would come to visit. It seemed he had even posted a guard to watch Hugrey leave the room and report to the emperor.

How meticulously crazy.

“Hugrey, where have you been?”

As Hugrey returned to the room, Chloe sat up in bed and asked.

“I went out to the outer palace to meet Joyce. When did you wake up? How are you feeling? Does it still hurt a lot?”

“I’m almost fine now. I think I heal faster when I’m with you.”

Chloe was spilling her sincere thoughts without even knowing if it was embarrassing. Since her injury, Hugrey’s presence had become more desperate for her. So much so that she felt anxious even when he was out of sight for a short while like this.

“……”

Hugrey looked at her with a strange gaze.

“What is it?”

“Do you like me that much?”

“Yes. I like you.”

“I need to take you out of here soon. Out of this lion’s den.”

“I’m ready to go right now.”

Chloe examined Hugrey’s face and deliberately hinted that she wanted to leave. Now that her body had almost fully recovered, it seemed she could return to the Ulpaz dukedom’s estate at any time, but she couldn’t understand why they were still staying in the imperial palace. It was also becoming difficult to see Calcus, who came to visit whenever Hugrey was away.

Something seemed to be happening, but no one would tell her, so she couldn’t know for sure. She also needed to know what exactly was going on. What Calcus was thinking, when she and Hugrey were planning to return to the Ulpaz dukedom’s estate.

“Not scared anymore?”

However, Hugrey brought up something unrelated to her last statement.

He was probably asking because of how she had sobbed when she first regained consciousness. In fact, she was still scared, terrified, and miserable. She wanted to run away or hide from those memories. But she had made up her mind never to show those emotions again. Revealing her fears would only make Hugrey uncomfortable and not help at all.

As Hugrey said, if she hadn’t killed that man, he would have killed her. She would never have been able to see him again, the one she felt so anxious about even when she couldn’t see him for a moment.

Even though she had thought she should be able to protect herself and the person she loved. When such a situation actually occurred, she had been engulfed in fear and taken a step back. She shouldn’t act like such a coward again.

“I’m not scared.”

To fight until the end if something like that happened again, she had to overcome both fear and sadness. For herself and for this man she loved. This man had imprinted on her and couldn’t be with anyone but her. For this man to live, she also had to stay alive.

As this man’s mate, she had a responsibility to live long and healthy.

“You’ve become brave, my tiger lady.”

Hugrey smiled as he ruffled her hair.

Yes, this feeling, this sensation. She liked how this man messed up her hair like this. She was glad to be alive, to have not died.

“Hugrey, Calcus seems a bit strange, am I being held captive by Calcus?”

Chloe brought up the words Hugrey had consciously avoided earlier, though she wasn’t sure if he had.

“……”

Hugrey closed his mouth.

So she really was trapped.

As expected, he had deliberately avoided that conversation earlier. The reason he had pretended not to hear her say she wanted to leave right away was because they couldn’t leave.

“This won’t do. I’ll have to transform into a tiger again and escape by jumping over the wall. You know I’m good at climbing trees, right? I can easily scale the imperial palace walls.”

Chloe deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone. If she really was imprisoned by Calcus, she knew how Hugrey would feel.

“You know what wolf beastmen hate the most?”

But again, Hugrey said something incomprehensible that had nothing to do with what she said.

“……?”

Chloe just kept looking at Hugrey’s face.

“The fangs of tiger beastmen.”

“Pardon?”

“So instead of jumping over the wall, bite off that hateful lion cub first with those terrifying tiger fangs. I really hate that lion guy! And lions are a bit scary…… So you have to protect me. With those scary fangs.”

“Huh?”

Into Chloe’s mouth, which had unwittingly fallen open at his absurd words, Hugrey lightly poked a finger and tapped her fang.

“With these fangs. Kwak!”

“…… Ha! Hahaha!”

Chloe, who had been dazed, finally burst into laughter. The fact that she had failed to bite the man’s neck must have stuck in Hugrey’s mind as well.

Instead of asking why she couldn’t kill that one man, if she was that scared, that she shouldn’t be afraid, that if she didn’t kill him, she would be killed, that he would take care of escaping from here so she shouldn’t worry, Hugrey was telling her to protect him.

Because tigers are strong, because they have even greater strength than wolves, he was telling her to protect him with that strength.

No matter how strong tigers were, she was just a weak tiger who couldn’t even transform into a tiger. But the strongest male wolf was asking the weakest female tiger to protect him…… She liked it. She liked it so much she could cry.

This man not only knew how to comfort her, but also how to make her strong. Because she was a tiger who, though weak, had the strongest desire to protect her loved ones. A tiger who wanted to become strong to protect the wolf she loved.

Chloe pulled Hugrey into a tight hug.

“What a cowardly wolf. Alright. Just trust me.”

I’ll protect you. Just as you protected me, I’ll protect you too.

Hugging Hugrey and smelling his scent, Chloe actually felt her fear fading and courage rising. For this man, who could only be with her and no one else, she felt she could become as strong as necessary.

Because the strongest man in the world was the weakest man to her. Enough that she had to protect him no matter what.

The meeting of the supreme elders gathered at the Ulpaz dukedom’s estate was being conducted in strict secrecy. Initially a gathering of all wolf beastmen, as the schedule dragged on and a decision was slow to be reached, its scale was reduced to a council of elders.

They could no longer delay. An order had arrived from Hugrey to move to the border region with the emperor’s territory. Now they had to make a decision.

In fact, they had first gathered to pressure the emperor. The wolf beastmen were prepared to risk war, so hand over the Alpha’s mate. But contrary to their expectations, the emperor, who had received reports of the wolf beastmen’s full mobilization, still had not released Chloe Liden.

They had no choice but to discuss the possibility of war. Even so, the reason they were dragging their feet without reaching a conclusion was because the situation was complicated and delicate.