Sweet Whispers

That cold face would have been a little less scary if it had wolf ears.

“We are one of the beast-kin races that evolved to be particularly close to humans. That way, we could survive and avoid destruction!”

‘…Ah. Destruction.’
I felt like I had asked the wrong question.

Not noticing my expression as I just swallowed dryly, Tegen was still chattering away.

“Only the most necessary parts remained depending on our place of origin. A tail for balancing well when moving nimbly, and ears that shot up to hear the enemy coming.”

“Then what about Karvan?”

“Valta is a special case, close to the form of a god! Uh, but when it comes to producing offspring…”

He suddenly trailed off and glanced at me.

My face turned bright red at his gaze, which seemed to say, ‘You probably know better.’

This place, ‘Bahalgras,’ was a city of dreams.

There were no Observer attacks, and I wasn’t kicked out every day to perform Baalzeph’s quests.

Karvan hadn’t shown his face for several days, but he was thoroughly fulfilling the terms of the contract.

He gave me the safest bedroom, Valta’s, and even assigned a doctor to check on my condition regularly and a guard who was loyal to me to the point of dying if I ordered it.

Of course, I wasn’t starved either.
Three meals a day, including dessert, were served to my taste.

“They said you’re accustomed to human culture, so I had rice prepared, but I don’t know if it suits your palate.”

Tegen attended to me for half a day.
He would produce anything I asked for in an instant.
The food was also excellent.

I was worried I would have to eat raw meat dripping with blood, but a more luxurious meal than in Midvalen came out.

“By the way, Shinbi-nim. If it’s not rude, may I ask a question?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

Tegen asked as he was chewing on a savory pancake.

He had refused to eat at the same table, saying how could he eat with the Valtael, but I had made him sit down, saying it was lonely to eat alone.
We ate together and asked each other questions, and it seemed the awkwardness had melted away.
Now he even asked questions first.

“I heard from Valta, you’re from the cherry blossom clan?”

I flinched at Tegen’s words.
I thought he was mocking my words, but he had overheard it and was using it on his subordinates.

“…Yes. I’m the last of my clan.”

But what could I do?
I had no choice but to plausibly paint over the sketch that my accomplice had thrown at me.

“I’ve escaped now, but I was once picked up by an Awakener and lived with them.”

“Ah, I see. That’s why you have a strong human scent! Oh my, you must have gone through a lot.”

I was looking at the floor, feeling guilty as Tegen earnestly comforted and empathized with me, when he suddenly said.

“Actually, I was a little scared when I first saw you, Shinbi-nim.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because you were pulling out the Nemea’s nails…”

‘Ah. He had to see that first.’
Well, it would be scary to see someone clipping someone else’s nails in an empty corridor.
I smiled awkwardly as I took a bite of the finely mashed wild strawberries.

“Someone asked me to get them.”

“Ah? Then you should have told Valta! He would have caught a hundred or a thousand Nemea for you!”

‘…That man?’
I thought of Karvan, who hadn’t shown his face all day, while holding a teaspoon in my mouth.

It would be a relief if I didn’t get a cold glare and a ‘Do I look like your errand boy?’

“If it’s hard for you to say it directly, I’ll give Valta a hint!”

“Um, no. He must be busy enough, I can’t ask him for something like that. I can collect them later.”

“Ah, our Valtael is so kind-hearted! Where did he find such a considerate and gentle mate…!”

Tegen’s eyes became moist, as if he had misunderstood something completely.

“But how did you come to have a connection with Valta? Everyone was so worried because he never gave a single glance to a female, and then so suddenly… Well, if you feel like she’s your person, it’s the fate of a mate to imprint at first sight, isn’t it!”

Tegen, who was chattering excitedly, was on the verge of reciting a grand romance novel.

Where should I start painting over with lies again?
I rubbed my throbbing head and subtly changed the subject.

“Is a mate that important to the Varg?”

“Oh, it’s more than important, it’s like our life! We have to share the same primordial energy for our entire lives and live by licking each other!”

“…Do you all normally lick your mates and stuff?”

“Of course! We lick each other to heal wounds and share primordial energy, and while we’re at it, we share affection and stuff like that!”

Tegen laughed heartily, then caught my darkened expression and watched my face.

“Is Valta being distant? Actually, we’re worried too. He’s a man who doesn’t show his inner thoughts and is very blunt…”

“Ah, no. It’s not that. Is it possible for mates to break up? I mean, without either of them dying, by agreeing that we’re not a good match…”

“That’s impossible. Imprinting is like our fate. If we’re not a good match, it’s impossible to imprint in the first place!”

As I listened to Tegen’s continuous words, anxiety slowly crept up, but I soon shook my head.

‘No way.’
He was a cold man who would throw me away as soon as my usefulness was over.
A eccentric wolf who thought it was better to just imprint on some random mate to get rid of them and live as a divorced man for the rest of his life.

“The moment you become a mate! As if possessed by something, the other’s breath becomes sweet, and they become more important than your own life, so even mortal enemies can’t live without each other! Actually, the one I know…”

-Valtael, are you there?

As I was listening to the chattering Tegen like a radio, not knowing my thoughts, I heard a knock.

-Valtael. May I come in?

“Yes! Of course. Come in.”

Rattle.
The sliding door opened, and a Varg with brown hair and matching brown wolf ears entered.

“It’s Mashak, Valtael. How is the imprint fever?”

“I’m much better. The medicine you gave me seems to be working well.”

“That’s a relief.”

Mashak was the doctor who had been talking to Karvan at the door yesterday.

He had been ordered to check on my condition, so he came in every few hours to ask how I was feeling and check my pulse.
He had even brought me a decoction before lunch.

“…Instead of clearing out the riffraff and letting the Valtael rest, you’re bothering her like this?”

As I was lying on my side and showing my neck to have the imprint vein checked, Mashak whispered, barely audible.
It seemed he was scolding Tegen, who was holding my hair so it wouldn’t fall.

“Just enough and let her rest. Don’t be so clueless.”

“She said she had a question, so I’m answering it! Why are you nagging again, you bastard, without even knowing?”

Of course, Tegen didn’t stay quiet either.
He had been wagging his tail happily in front of me, but he immediately growled and bared his teeth.
It was like watching a retriever turn into a wolf.

“Shinbi-nim was enjoying it too!”

“You. How dare you, call the Valtael…”

“She gave me permission to use her name! Mind your own business, you bastard!”

Mashak, who had been getting angry, suddenly became quiet.

The fingertips that were checking the pulse on my neck trembled slightly.
As the conversation was cut off as if a radio had been turned off, I just awkwardly rolled my eyes.

“…It’s done. You may get up, Valtael.”

As I fixed my hair and sat up awkwardly, Mashak looked at me intently.
If my ears weren’t blocked, I would have heard everything, so it was awkward to keep pretending I didn’t know.

“Mashak, please call me Shinbi too.”

“……”

“I’m not used to the title ‘Valtael’.”

The mate of the Valta is called ‘Valtael.’
According to Tegen, you had to go through some kind of ceremony to get that title, but it seemed most of them already believed that I would become Karvan’s mate.

“You’ll have to get used to it. The elders are already…”

Mashak, who was about to say something with a complicated expression, closed his mouth.

“…No. I misspoke. You don’t have to worry about the petty ones.”

‘Maha?’
I felt like I had heard it somewhere.
As I looked at Mashak with anxious eyes, he waved his hands, saying he had said something unnecessary.

“Just always staying by Valta’s side, that is enough.”

He kept watching my expression, worried that he might have offended me.
He was extremely polite and used the highest form of address, like he was dealing with the king’s consort in a historical drama.

Seeing that attitude was starting to make me anxious.
He said I just had to act appropriately.
I kept feeling like things were getting bigger than I thought.

A chilling sensation came over me, but I shook my head, thinking of the man who hadn’t shown his face for two days now.

‘I’m just a useful tool to him anyway.’

What kind of feelings would he have for a tool?
The reason he assigned these subordinates was to watch over me so I wouldn’t get scratched and no one would steal me.