Scars of Loyalty

“…I-I can’t eat bitter things well.”

“……”

“I always eat candy after drinking the decoction, but today, there wasn’t any. So.”

The man said nothing.

‘He must be looking at me pathetically.’
Embarrassed, I was just looking at the floor when I heard the door.

A moment later, Karvan returned with a white plate.

Hexagonal honey candies were appetizingly stacked on top of lightly sprinkled powdered sugar.

He placed the plate in front of me, and as I was about to unconsciously pick one up to eat, our eyes met.

“…C-can I eat it?”

A look that said, ‘Do you think I would eat something like this?’

I smiled awkwardly and quickly popped a couple into my mouth.
As the bitter taste that felt like my tongue was being crushed faded, I felt like I could live.

As I rolled the honey candy in my puffed-out cheeks, I flinched at the staring eyes.

“……”

They were clearly the same yellow as the sweet candy in my mouth, but those eyes held no sweetness.
They were bitter like the decoction.

“Why didn’t you say anything.”

“Hmm? About what?”

Feeling better after having something sweet, I forgot my resolve not to speak and answered diligently.

“I asked why you didn’t tell me to stop when you were about to faint.”

Is he talking about last night?
I rolled my eyes and the candy, and answered without much thought.

“You wouldn’t have stopped even if I told you anyway. …A-and I didn’t know either! That I was so tired.”

His face hardened, so thinking I had displeased him again, I hastily added.

“I’m a bit dull, you see. Even if it hurts, I just bear it, and I can endure anything except bitter things. I’m simple, so I forget quickly.”

“……”

“Look, even if you hate me, I’m still smiling and talking to you. I’m really fine, you know?”

I explained earnestly, but it seems it was the wrong answer.

The man, who was staring at me intently with dark eyes, left the room just like that.

Karvan didn’t return even when morning came.

It was nice to be able to sleep well, but I was needlessly worried.

“…Ah, Valta? He’s usually out often.”

When I cautiously asked, he said he doesn’t stay in the city for long.
He even said that he’s usually away for weeks when he goes out, and this is the first time he has come back so frequently.

“And even when he’s out, he’s only worried about the Valtael, he frequently asks about Shinbi-nim’s condition!”

‘…Why my condition? No way, is he going to come in and hold me again if I say I’m fine?’

Chilled, I answered that I was sick every time the Sura asked about my condition.
I felt sorry for the increasingly worried doctor, Mashak, but it couldn’t be helped.

As if my suspicion was correct, Karvan didn’t come in for several days.
Thanks to that, I could rest well again.

Wolves are representative pack animals.

They form groups, move in pairs of at least two, and are thoroughly territorial beasts.
When you step into a wolf’s territory, you hear a howl.
It’s a kind of warning not to come closer.

“Shinbi-nim, you must be feeling stuffy, so let’s go for a walk!”

The root of the incident was trivial.

I went out for a walk with Tegen for the first time in a while.

“Look, isn’t she beautiful? She’s the one Valta brought after falling in love at first sight!”

“Hey, hey, look! She’s the one who will be the Valtael! Greet her!”

Tegen was restless, unable to boast about me to the clan whenever he had the chance, and Mashak, noticing that I liked to walk, tacitly approved of me wandering around.

I didn’t think I did anything particularly conspicuous.
All I did was wander around, being dragged like a dog owner walking an excited large dog.

“She’s not even the official Valtael yet, what’s all the fuss.”

Most of them reacted to me like dogs on a snowy day, but very occasionally, there were those who jeered.

“Don’t mind the black manes. They are insolent fools. They’ll be crawling on their bellies once the Dowongyeong usurpation succeeds…”

The day the Varg call ‘The Ruin.’
They were publicly exterminated.

Exiled from the place they originally lived in called ‘Dowongyeong,’ the remaining tribes gathered in Bahalgras where the Valta was.
For them, with different cultures and following their own chiefs, the current situation was no different from distant cousins who didn’t even know each other’s faces living in the same house.

In words, they were brothers and family, but in reality, they were in an uncomfortable alliance.

Although Karvan was revered as the Valta because he was so strong, he was also unusually young, and many disliked him for his indifferent and ruthless nature.

“Hey, Tegen!”

The aftermath was affecting me as well.

“What have you been up to lately that we haven’t seen you?”

As I was strolling through the ice garden with Tegen, a dark crowd swarmed us.

Their fur pelts and hair were all black.
They all had impressive scars, looking like they were all formidable fighters.

“Let’s go hunting. It’s been a while.”

“I have to attend to the Valtael. You guys go by yourselves.”

“…Valtael?”

A Varg with a mustache-like scar on his cheek scanned me with a displeased look.

“Let’s have the underlings do it and go. Valta hasn’t been here for days anyway. Do you have time for that kind of thing?”

“You bastard, watch your mouth. What an honorable job it is.”

I felt Tegen glance at me, who was standing beside him.

I stepped aside to mean that it was okay and they could talk comfortably, and touched the pinwheel.
It was a gift from a little Varg on the way.

“Do you get some crumbs for sticking to her? Rumor has it that woman is human. She’s trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but it’s certain.”

“Watch your mouth, you bastard! She’s going to be Valta’s mate!”

Tegen burst out in anger.
Then he didn’t know what to do and glanced at me, but I was rather pleased.

Outside of Midvalen, I was always treated like an invisible person.
To think they were actually criticizing me.

As I was watching them with fascination, twirling the pinwheel with my finger, it seemed they didn’t like my attitude.

“She’s not the official mate yet, is she? Since she hasn’t done the full moon ceremony.”

He glared at me as if he was angry.
His perked-up ears flapped like a banner on a windy day.

Would Karvan have been a little less scary if he had such animal ears?
As I was thinking, thwack!
A kicked stone barely grazed my shin.

“Besides, I hear she’s always taking medicine? If she’s that weak, she might not survive the full moon and just die.”

“Hey! This bastard, I’ve been letting it slide…”

“It’s okay, Tegen. You can go.”

I cautiously intervened in the increasingly hostile atmosphere.

“You’ve worked hard looking after me for days. Tegen needs some personal time too. Go and rest.”

From the moment I arrived in Bahalgras, Tegen and Mashak had taken care of me like nannies.
When Karvan returned, it seemed they would report my entire daily routine, down to the smallest details.
Because that man knew everything about me.

No matter how much it was the chief’s order, how tired would he be?
He also had the freedom to rest.

“I’ll keep it a secret from Karvan, so go play for a few hours. I’ll go to my room first.”

“Shinbi-nim!”

I turned away without a second thought to mean that he didn’t need to be so cautious, but hurried footsteps followed me.

“I apologize on their behalf. Those guys are just uneducated.”

“Hey, Tegen. To a human like that…!”

“Shut up! You reeking bastards!”

Tegen, who had turned around, shouted so loudly that the plaza seemed to shake.
The sight of him whimpering, not knowing what to do with me, was gone, and he was baring his teeth and growling fiercely like a Dosa dog.

“Your chief is still moping around without a mate, are you jealous that our Valta found such a pretty mate? Huh?!”

Thanks to that, hostile gazes landed on me all at once.

It was more… shameful than scary.

“You guys don’t have such a gentle and pretty Valtael, do you? You bastards! Are you jealous? Are you jealous?!”

‘Ugh.’
‘Please stop!’
Unable to take it anymore, I fled the scene as if running away, and Tegen hurriedly followed me.

He must have been worried when I covered my mouth and ran out.

“I’m really sorry. I insisted on going for a walk and made you hear such harsh words. I have no excuse.”

“No, it’s really okay. That kind of thing is also a form of attention. The saying ‘hate turns to love’ doesn’t exist for no reason, right? They’ll get attached and become friends after a while.”

‘Anything is a hundred times better than being treated as an invisible person.’
Since Tegen was so apologetic, I smiled bashfully to reassure him.
At that, he looked at me with tearful eyes.

“How can your heart be so wide…. Sob, sob.”

“But, are you really okay, Tegen? No matter how…”

“Those guys? Of course, I’m fine! Even if they come for revenge, they’re no match for my fist!”

But unfortunately, it seemed it wasn’t fine.

“Tegen-nim is unwell, so I came instead.”

The next day, Tegen was nowhere to be seen.

He only returned late in the afternoon, his face swollen.
It seemed like he was trying to hide it, but how could I not know when he came wearing a face covering he never usually wore?

“Shinbi-nim! I was a little late because I had something to do during the day.”

“Your face. What happened?”

“Aha, this is embarrassing, so I was going to tell you after it healed, but I got caught. Uh, I got stung by a bee.”

“…A bee?”

“Yes! I was trying to get some of the honey candy you like, Shinbi-nim, but it was a bit difficult!”

I wasn’t a fool.
There was no way bees could scratch with claws, or beat him to a pulp.

“I fell a bit while running away, haha! Don’t worry, it’ll heal soon!”

It was obvious he had been beaten to a pulp by those ‘black manes’.