The Wolf Lord is Enduring (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
The Mosteros ducal household was in unprecedented disarray.
The servants shrank back, fearful of making even the slightest mistake, and Melson, the household physician who had visited earlier that afternoon, now stood once more before the mansion, facing a sea of uneasy stares.
He kept clearing his throat repeatedly, trying his best not to tremble.
“When will she regain consciousness?”
“It seems the impact affected not only her eardrum but her head as well. Her nutritional condition was already terrible, leaving her body extremely weak. After the accident, this additional shock makes it hard to say when she’ll wake up… we’ll simply have to wait and see.”
“Grrrrr.”
Riello, still unable to calm down, threatened the physician in his wolf form.
Briel, already in human form, pulled Riello closer and gently stroked under his chin to soothe him.
Melson, feeling cold sweat trickle down his spine, awkwardly forced a smile.
“She should wake up soon.”
Michaela carefully fiddled with El’s hand while watching Raphelian’s expression.
Raphelian had been staring fixedly at El since earlier, saying nothing, his face cold and unreadable.
He clearly wasn’t in a good mood.
‘Well, given how I feel myself…’
As someone with a strong sense of responsibility, Raphelian must be deeply distressed that the person he’d personally brought here had ended up like this—especially since he’d shown such unusual fondness for her before.
Michaela kept stroking El’s small, feverish hand, which felt as if it might burst into flames at any moment, and turned to Melson with a question.
“So we can only check her hearing once she wakes up?”
“Yes. That seems to be the case.”
Melson replied, wiping away sweat that had trickled down from his temple.
“And her recovery?”
“For now, since her eardrum isn’t intact, she may experience tinnitus or ringing in the ears, and some hearing loss is inevitable. But it should improve with time.”
“Will her hearing fully recover?”
At the mention of possible hearing issues, Raphelian’s gaze locked onto Melson.
Under that icy stare, Melson unconsciously swallowed hard and blinked rapidly.
“That remains to be seen. There may be lingering aftereffects.”
The moment Melson finished speaking, the corner of the bed frame Raphelian had been gripping shattered.
Briel and Riello instinctively scrambled far away in a flurry.
“Raph.”
Michaela let out a small sigh and gently rubbed Raphelian’s back.
“Melson, you must treat her properly.”
“Of course. Ah—perhaps we should also seek advice or assistance from the Western Empire. Unlike our Aserion, they’re a nation abundant in clerics and mages, and their magical artifacts are quite advanced.”
“Oh. The Terlon Empire… that’s right, isn’t it?”
Michaela’s hand, which had been stroking Raphelian’s back, stopped.
The Empire of Aserion had few mages or clerics due to the nature of its beastkin inhabitants.
Beastkin were naturally endowed with physical abilities far superior to humans, and some high-ranking nobles even possessed special powers, so there was little need for them to study magic.
Moreover, most clerics worshipped warlike deities, so battle priests vastly outnumbered healing priests.
In contrast, the Terlon Empire was a nation built by humans, with almost no beastkin.
Consequently, they employed all sorts of methods to strengthen their weaker bodies and transcend their limitations.
As a result, the Terlon Empire stood out remarkably in the development of both magic and divine power.
“Sister, she must be fully cured.”
“I have connections there. I’ll reach out. Melson, you’ll stay at the mansion for a while.”
“I shall.”
“For now, go rest. Thank you for your efforts so late at night.”
“No, it’s simply my duty as the Mosteros family physician. I’ll take my leave now.”
Worried another spark might fly, Melson quickly exited the room.
He looked as if his tail were on fire.
“I’ll remain here. Sister, you must be tired from your long journey—please rest now.”
“Alright. Do that.”
Michaela didn’t try to stop him.
She took the twins, who had been pressed into a corner under Raphelian’s imposing presence, and left the room.
Once everyone had gone and only El remained with him, Raphelian sat by the bedside, blaming himself.
‘I should have held onto her, even by force.’
Raphelian gently wiped the beads of sweat from El’s forehead with a soft cloth, deep in thought.
“What should I do with you now? I can’t possibly send you back to that place.”
Not that she could return anyway.
At this very moment, an unexpected crackdown on pickpocket dens was underway in the streets. By tomorrow morning, things would likely be somewhat settled.
Now, this girl had absolutely nowhere left to go.
“It’s not enough to merely solve her basic needs for food and shelter.”
Raphelian dipped a towel, interlaced his fingers, rested his hands on his lap, and wiggled his fingers restlessly.
‘Not only did I fail to repay her kindness, but my poor judgment caused her great suffering. What’s the proper way to take responsibility?’
“Merely providing food, clothing, and shelter won’t be satisfactory in any way. A definite way to take responsibility…”
The consequence of letting her slip away just once had been disastrous.
It was also a blow to his pride as a member of the Mosteros family.
After all, one always becomes more obsessed with something once it’s regained after being lost.
This incident had firmly convinced him that he must take even greater responsibility for El.
But was that really all?
Night fell as the sun set and darkness descended.
Having stayed by Lasiel’s side without a moment’s rest, pondering deeply again and again, he finally found an answer.
‘Yes, this must be the best course.’
Raphelian unclasped his hands, gently took her delicate hand, and made his decision.
“Adoption.”
His gratitude toward El for saving his younger sibling, combined with his guilt over the trouble caused by his own inadequacy, had finally crystallized into a complete resolution.
“Ugh…”
El let out a faint groan as she shifted slightly in bed.
As consciousness slowly returned, her whole body felt heavy and numb, as if a stone had been placed on her stomach.
‘What is this?’
An odd sensation coursed through her—her own body no longer felt like her own.
Every part of her ached; even the slightest movement sent sharp pains through her, and opening her eyes felt nearly impossible.
‘It hurts.’
Her face especially hurt.
In the crude slang used by the other street kids, it hurt like hell.
Carefully, El reached her hand toward her face, where even frowning brought intense pain.
She felt a sharp sting on the cheek struck by the gang leader, followed by the rough texture of what felt like bandages beneath her fingertips.
“Ugh… huh?”
Struggling to open her swollen, stubbornly shut eyes, she fumbled near her ear.
An indescribable pain suddenly surged.
Then she realized her own voice sounded different from usual.
‘Why is this happening?’
Beyond the pain itself, the sound felt strange.
She left her eyes closed and rolled her eyeballs around before deliberately making a sound.
“Aah.”
She could hear it, but it sounded muffled—as if one ear were filled with water.
‘This…’
El quickly realized from the bandage’s position that her left ear was injured.
‘All I know is begging, and now my ears are damaged too… huh?’
Midway through her self-pity, she reached again for her left ear.
Suddenly, it dawned on her—the gang leader would never have treated her.
Forcing her swollen eyes open, she blinked rapidly to bring her blurry vision into focus.
“Ah!”
Memories of her conversation with the gang leader before losing consciousness returned, and into her gradually clearing sight came a ceiling that felt unfamiliar yet somehow familiar.
The only ceilings she knew were moldy or broken wooden planks full of holes.
In her life, a clear blue sky felt more familiar than any proper ceiling.
That she felt a sense of familiarity beneath such an exquisitely grand and elegant ceiling could mean only one thing.
‘The Mosteros ducal household.’
Though slightly different from the reception room, the atmosphere was unmistakably that of the ducal estate.
El’s mind went blank.
The pain that had gripped her entire body vanished like receding tide, replaced by cold sweat streaming down her face.
‘I’ve… I’ve been discovered. They’ve found me out.’
The pain of her identity being exposed to the Mosteros household hurt far more than the physical blows she’d taken. She couldn’t even register the pain in her body anymore.
All she clearly felt was the crushing weight of her earlier sense of worth—of feeling useful—plummeting to the ground.
‘So it’s back to square one. I guess I can never be a good person in anyone’s eyes.’
El bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Her despair naturally brought tears to her eyes.
She raised her heavy arm and roughly wiped her eyes.
Then, suddenly, she felt as if she weren’t alone in the room.
“Huh…?”
El turned her heavy head slightly to the side.
“Aaah!”
“Gahhh!”
At El’s scream, Riello, who had been perched on the edge of the bed watching her with his chin resting on his hands, let out a scream too.
To Briel and Riello, El was firmly branded as “the incredibly, incredibly wonderful person who saved Riello.” Thus, the twins had come here at dawn to watch over her until she woke.
Riello had only drawn closer, hopeful that El was regaining consciousness—but he hadn’t expected his action to cause such an uproar.
“Aaaah!”
“Aaaahh!”
At Riello’s shriek, El forgot her pain entirely, shot upright, and screamed again.
Riello immediately let out another high-pitched wail.
Raphelian, who had just returned with fresh water, sighed softly, grabbed Riello by the scruff of his neck, and yanked him up.
Then, with rather rough movements, he tossed Riello toward Briel.
Briel caught Riello and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“I told you not to do that.”
“But I wanted to see her up close! Up close!”
Riello, slightly shorter than Briel, muttered while staring blankly at the back of his brother’s head—the one who’d just thrown him.
Ignoring the glare fixed on the back of his head, Raphelian approached El.
“You seem startled.”
“No, I’m just…”
“Fortunately, you appear able to hear. Are you in pain anywhere?”
“Um…”
The pain she’d momentarily forgotten came crashing back, but the emotional shock overwhelmed her even more, leaving her dazed and unable to answer.
‘He must surely know everything about me—so why does his gaze look exactly as it did when we first met? Why isn’t he asking anything?’
There wasn’t a trace of disgust or contempt in his eyes—only the same gentle, warm kindness as before.
El stared blankly into Raphelian’s eyes.
“Are you not fully awake yet?”
Raphelian leaned closer to El and reached out his hand.
Frozen at the approaching hand, El squeezed her eyes shut and hunched her shoulders.
It was an instinctive defense mechanism born from a life stained by violence.
But the large hand simply settled softly on her forehead.
At the warmth of his touch, El tightly gripped her blanket and cracked open her eyes.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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Apu
For a child to be used to such abuse that it’s programmed into their instincts is upsetting. How did el raise herself to be so good-natured? And why was Ralph’s only idea to adopt her? You think she would be okay with that? Good luck though!!
Apu
For a child to be used to such abuse that it’s programmed into their instincts is upsetting. How did el raise herself to be so good-natured? And why was Ralph’s only idea to adopt her? You think she would be okay with that? Good luck though!!