“Oh my, I’m so sorry.”

Realizing his cold attitude just now, the old man bowed deeply towards him.

There was no need to apologize to him. In fact, they were practically his benefactors.

“Do you think a simple apology is enough? What you’ve done is a crime.”

To my wife, that is.

Suggesting they stay here for a night wasn’t meant to condemn or scold them. But seeing them apologize without knowing who the real victim was, he couldn’t let it slide. They needed to understand what they did wrong to avoid repeating such actions.

“Oh dear, oh dear, we’re so sorry. But we really had no idea things would turn out this way. We never imagined the Duke would appear at our inn, and of all things, the Duke first…”

“Darling!”

Suddenly, the wife jabbed her husband. He closed his mouth and just lowered his head.

Not ‘of all things’, but ‘fortunately’, right?

Come to think of it, it was strange. That day, he came to this inn unexpectedly. Even if the innkeepers had anticipated Chloe’s heat and given her enzim, they couldn’t have intended to pair her with him, a first-time visitor. It was unlikely they knew he was Hugrey Ulpaz, the wolf shifter Duke, or that he would be in heat. As they said, perhaps that day’s events were a perfect combination of coincidences.

Coincidences…

What if that combination had been even slightly different?

Something felt uncomfortable, as if stuck in his throat.

“Hugrey, let’s just go upstairs. Actually, I don’t feel like eating more since I ate a lot earlier.”

Chloe pulled on his arm, breaking his train of thought.

This overly kind woman seemed to have softened seeing the anxious old couple. He hadn’t really intended to punish them, and the thought occurred that their actions might truly have been unintentional. So he eventually followed Chloe to their room.

The room Hugrey and Chloe entered was the very same one where he had slept with Chloe that night. Whether the innkeepers remembered and gave them this room was unclear, but entering it brought back memories.

That night, Chloe’s overwhelmingly sweet scent made it hard for him to think straight, which is why he tried even harder to push her away. He was firmly resolved to imprint on a female wolf shifter then. Convinced he would lose control and ravish her, he fiercely resisted his instincts. Thankfully, Chloe overcame his resistance. To be completely honest, it wasn’t that Chloe overcame it, but that he didn’t resist properly.

Even now, Chloe remembers him resisting her, but if he had truly tried to push her away, he wouldn’t have succumbed to such temptation.

He only pretended to push her away, using just enough force that she wouldn’t actually be pushed back. Out of a shred of conscience as an alpha. With a faint will remembering his parents’ deaths. But not really wanting to push her away, that weak conscience and will eventually crumbled.

“Hugrey, you still resent those innkeepers, don’t you? Well, I suppose it’s understandable since I pounced on you that day.”

Falling for his half-hearted act of resistance, Chloe seemed to misunderstand that even his questioning of the innkeepers’ guilt was due to his imprinting, not because of what they did to her.

A convenient misunderstanding. He intended to let her believe that forever. He was willing to use any lie or misunderstanding that would help him possess her. There was no room for pangs of conscience.

“No, resentment? I just wanted to let them know their actions weren’t right. I’m glad you pounced on me.”

If you had turned away without insisting on embracing me until the end… perhaps I might have ended up going to your room.

“You really don’t resent them?”

“What about you? Do you resent the innkeepers?”

“No, actually… I… I mean, I like you so much that… it’s hard to resent them…”

Ah, how cute. I find you so adorable and lovable, always showing your heart so honestly like this.

“If you don’t resent them, how could I? I’ll say it again, I’m so grateful you came to me that night…”

Hugrey’s rambling was cut short as his eyes widened. Chloe had kissed him. Is there some magical powder sprinkled in this inn? Why does this woman become so bold whenever we’re here? It’s driving me crazy with joy, though.

It was a night that could be called a wolf and tiger night, rather than a cat and dog night. The act that began with Chloe’s kiss in broad daylight only stopped when pitch-black night fell and Chloe collapsed into sleep.

Hugrey looked down at the unconscious Chloe before getting out of bed.

Something was bothering him.

At the moment he heard those words, he didn’t realize due to the terrifying thought of what might have happened if any of those perfect coincidences had gone slightly awry, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

‘Of all things, the Duke first’…

It must mean that because he checked in and entered the inn first, he encountered Chloe… but…

When the male innkeeper said those words, his wife tried to stop him. It could have been just to make him watch his words, but something felt off. If it involved Chloe, he couldn’t let anything slide.

He headed downstairs, muffling even his footsteps so as not to wake Chloe.

“Your Grace, why have you come down? If you need anything, I can bring it to your room.”

Downstairs, only the male innkeeper was present, without his wife.

“I don’t need anything. I’d like breakfast prepared early tomorrow morning for my wife.”

She hasn’t eaten since lunch, so Chloe might wake up early tomorrow. She’ll probably be hungry and want to eat something. While he came down to confirm what was said earlier, this was also a very important matter.

“Yes! We’ll do that. Shall we bring breakfast to your room?”

“Do that. Just leave it outside the door without knocking.”

“Yes.”

“And there’s one thing I want to confirm, about the enzim. Did you really give it without any intention?”

“Enzim? Ah, that… Of course! Of course! How could we have had any ill intentions? There was absolutely nothing like that.”

The old man, who seemed flustered, soon pressed his lips tightly shut.

“Right, there was no ill intention. But in the end, isn’t it true that I imprinted because of what you did? Even if unintentional, you’ve committed a crime by having such a significant impact on me, haven’t you?”

There was no other way to make him speak except by intimidation. Since he thought imprinting on him was wrong, he’d use that.

“A crime? We truly never had any such thoughts towards Your Grace. I swear to heaven it’s true.”

‘No such thoughts towards Your Grace.’ Then did they have such thoughts towards someone else? Suddenly, his heart began to pound.

“I have no intention of forgiving you. Intentions can’t be proven, after all. Only results are visible. Because of you, I imprinted on a tiger shifter instead of a wolf shifter. As people in the business, you must know well. Do you realize what a great risk that poses to me?”

No need to tell them that I’m about to go crazy with love for that tiger shifter.

“Oh, Your Grace. How can we prove we had no intention? Please believe us.”

“As you deal with shifters, you must know the extent of my influence on them.”

There was definitely something. Something so bothersome that it warranted even this reluctant threat.

“Oh my, we were wrong. We’ve committed a mortal sin.”

The old man’s face turned deathly pale as he bowed so low his forehead nearly touched his knees.

“That’s right, a wrong imprint could even kill a wolf shifter. So for that crime, you…”

“We can prove it! We can prove it!”

The old man, now not just pale but ashen, spoke trembling.

“As Your Grace knows better than anyone, you appeared suddenly that day without any warning, didn’t you? So we really couldn’t have imagined that Lady Chloe would happen to go to Your Grace’s room, a first-time guest. Think about it. Doesn’t it make no sense? How could we have thought that Your Grace would come to our inn that day, that Lady Chloe would happen to be in heat, and that you would happen to encounter each other? Moreover, Your Grace was already in your room. How on earth did you two meet? We actually…”

“Don’t tell me what I already know. Tell me what I don’t know. Explaining circumstances won’t prove your lack of intention.”

The old man gulped. Something was about to come out of his mouth.

“So, we thought that if Lady Chloe were to go to someone that day, it would be to another shifter, not Your Grace. The shifter who always followed Lady Chloe.”

What? What did this old man just say?