Stirring, she opened her eyes at the touch on her forehead and saw Kevrant. It was nice to have his calm, grayblue eyes looking this way.

“I’m sorry to wake you.”

His deep voice was also pleasant to hear.

“No, are you done with work?”

“Yes.”

Kevrant climbed into the blanket. The warmth of his body under the blanket made her feel odd, even in her sleep.

He didn’t approach her as he lay neither too close nor too far away.

‘I think we slept closer before.’

At some point, Kevrant stopped getting too close to her.

‘When did that start?’

She gave up trying to remember, as it was bothersome. She wanted to hold Kevrant more than anything.

She wanted to bury her face in his firm chest after a long time and inhale his scent to her heart’s content.

It was both embarrassing and awkward to feel this way.

‘Why am I like this?’

Kevrant was lying with a straight posture, eyes closed. His hands were neatly placed on his chest.

His fingers with their thick joints were beautiful. She wanted to wear a ring on that finger.

‘Why am I really like this?’

She closed her eyes tightly.

‘I should sleep.’

Still, she muttered because it was hard to completely get rid of the regretful feeling,

“I like the puppy.”

If he were in wolf form, she could hold him under the excuse that his fur was fluffy.

When she sneaked a peek, she saw him smiling with his eyes closed.

Blinking once, a huge black wolf was lying quietly in his place. The wolf still had its eyes closed, but she knew that this lovely black wolf wasn’t asleep.

Regardless, she pretended not to know, approached the wolf, and laid her arm on its waist.

The wolf’s tense twitching was conveyed.

She buried her face in the wolf’s soft fur.

Why did it feel like she had found her place only now?

Her pondering over the question didn’t last long. Holding the wolf, she fell asleep abruptly.

+++

When Chrishina and Erwell arrived, she was sitting in the room living room, reading a book.

Next to her was a trolley containing bread and soup, fruit jam and butter, salad and meat stew that Kevrant had sent.

“You’re early.”

As she greeted them lightly and reached out for the bread, Chrishina quickly ran over and pushed the trolley aside.

She looked up at Chrishina with wide eyes.

It was surprising to have the food removed suddenly, but Chrishina’s movements were incredibly fast.

“How much breakfast did you have, Iris?”

“A piece of bread and an orange?”

“That’s enough.”

“Are you planning to starve me to death, Chrishina?”

“I can’t help it. The party starts at 4 PM. You should have had nothing today to wear the dress most beautifully. You’ve already had something, so there’s no helping it….”

She swallowed a sigh.

She had forgotten that you had to starve before wearing a dress.

That’s why she hated attending parties in her past life.

“Even if you make that face, I can’t help it. The star of today is you, Iris, so you must shine more than anyone.”

“Wolf fur…”

Then, Erwell, staring at the black fur picked up from the floor, muttered.

Startled, she looked back at Erwell.

The sharpness of Erwell’s eyes was unprecedented.

“Iris, it seems that a wolf has invaded this room last night. It appears to be a black wolf. Did you get hurt anywhere?”

“Huh? Ah… there was a wolf invasion….”

“More wolf fur.”

Erwell picked up another piece of fur from the floor.

She swallowed dryly.

“It seems to be a big one based on the length….”

“A wolf? Does it make sense that a wolf casually enters this mansion?”

Chrishina scolded, but Erwell’s gaze was still menacing.

“Look, Cini. This is wolf fur. Take a good look.”

Erwell held out the two furs in front of Chrishina.

Narrowing her eyes to check the shape of the fur, Chrishina frowned.

“It’s really. Iris, were you injured… didn’t you feel like something invaded last night?”

“Ah… not at all. Nothing….”

“Perhaps it could be hiding here. Please wait a moment, Miss Iris.”

Before Lishi could even speak, Erwell had moved.

Erwell meticulously searched the areas where a wolf could hide its body.

Lishi was in a predicament.

She couldn’t inform them that it was Kevrant’s fur.

After a while, Erwell, who had been searching the room, came back with a perplexed expression.

“There’s a lot of fur near the door leading to the bedroom… Miss Iris, may I go in and check the bedroom?”

“No, you can’t.”

Lishi said firmly.

“But… if it’s a wolf that’s prowling around, it’s a big problem. Especially a hungry wolf is dangerous. This is an issue that must be reported to the count.”

Lishi was curious about what expression Kevrant would have when she informed him of this fact.

While Lishi was tracking Erwell’s movements, Crishina, who had disappeared somewhere, returned with Jamie.

“Excuse me, Miss Iris. I heard that something big has happened.”

“Look at this, Jamie.”

Erwell held out a few strands of wolf fur in front of Jamie.

“It’s wolf fur. It seems that a wolf has been prowling around Miss Iris’s bedroom. And it’s likely to be a black one.”

“Ah.”

Jamie froze, his lips slightly parted. It seemed he had stopped moving, unable to laugh even though laughter was on the verge of bursting out.

“It’s certainly a starving one. It must have wandered around here because there was nothing to eat, and entered. If this thing attacks Miss Iris, her frail neck will snap instantly.”

“Ah… if it attacks, that… that’s a big problem.”

“We need to strengthen the guard. It may be hiding in the bedroom. I want to go and find it, but it’s the bedroom after all. It would be better to inform the count and check the bedroom at least.”

“That’s right. We should check. I will inform the count properly.”

“And, look here. Judging by the significant amount of fur in front of this bedroom door, it seems to have rolled around right in front of the door before entering the bedroom.”

Erwell pointed at the front of the bedroom door as he spoke.

Jamie looked as if he was about to cry. He was having a hard time holding back his laughter.

“Could it be shedding its fur?”

At Erwell’s serious question, Jamie, who had been holding back his laughter, made a strange throat sound, chuckling.

In the end, Jamie, who had bowed his head and spent some time gathering his expression, managed to respond.

“Well, it might be a very affectionate wolf.”