Act 4. The Wolf Recites Poetry Every Night
A damp sensation brushed against her face, and she barely managed to pry open her heavy eyelids, which felt as stiff as if they had been glued shut. The first thing to swim into her blurred vision was a pair of pale, blue-gray eyes.
As she stared blankly at those gemlike blue eyes shining from a tiny face bristling with downy fur, a small pink tongue darted out and touched the skin around her eyes once more.
Only then did she realize her skin was clammy with cold sweat. It seemed she had suffered through the night as the painkiller wore off.
Gently gathering the gray ball of fur that kept licking her face against her chest, she sat up groggily.
Early morning sunlight slanted through the window. Squinting against the glare, she rubbed her throbbing forehead and pulled the bell cord beside the bed. Yvonne opened the door immediately and stepped inside.
“Did you sleep well, Grand Duchess?”
“Bring something suitable for Khan to eat.”
Talia gave the instruction indifferently, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.
The maid cast a troubled glance at the young wolf cradled in her arms.
“Shall I prepare goat’s milk as before?”
“Must I instruct you on every single—”
Talia, who had been about to snap, fell abruptly silent.
Her thoughtful gaze drifted down to the gray wolf looking up at her.
Barely a fortnight had passed, yet the cub had already nearly doubled in size. Considering he had been unable to walk properly when she first took him in, his growth was astonishing.
‘Is it because he is no ordinary beast?’
She carefully examined the young creature sitting quietly in her arms and gently parted his long muzzle. Small teeth were just beginning to break through the gums.
“I think it’s time he had meat. Mince some mutton finely and bring it up. Prepare some lukewarm milk as well.”
“Understood. I will see to it at once.”
Once the maid had withdrawn, Talia set the wolf down on the floor and rose from the bed. As she walked behind the folding screen to wash, he trotted faithfully after her.
Talia looked down at him, amusement flickering in her eyes.
Khan was truly a strange beast. For nearly a week, he had done nothing but sleep like the dead, worrying her sick; yet whenever he was awake, he refused to leave her side for an instant. At times, he would even fight off sleep just to keep her in his sight.
Perhaps he was terrified of being abandoned.
With a look of tender pity, Talia leaned down and gently stroked the soft gray fur crowning his head.
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you. We’ll take a walk in the garden together once I’ve eaten.”
As if understanding her words, the wolf perked his triangular ears.
She scratched the ears of the beast sitting quietly on the rug, then stepped behind the screen, slipped off her nightgown, and washed. As she was changing into clean clothes, Brisa and Yvonne entered the bedchamber carrying trays.
“Good morning, Grand Duchess. We have brought Khan’s meal and your breakfast.”
Brisa spoke brightly as she began to set the table. Meanwhile, Yvonne carefully spooned the finely minced mutton into Khan’s bowl.
Though he must have been famished, Khan did not spare the food a single glance, keeping his gaze fixed entirely on her. Those blue eyes never strayed for a second.
Talia crouched beside him and nudged the dish closer.
“Go on, eat. You need to eat well to grow big and strong.”
The wolf, who had remained still, finally lowered his head toward the bowl.
She watched with curious eyes as Khan ate quietly, unlike any ordinary demonic beast cub. Without any haste, he cleared the bowl with remarkable composure.
She was not the only one intrigued; a small exclamation slipped from the maid’s lips.
“He eats with such manners.”
“Doesn’t he?”
Pleased by the praise, Talia let a faint smile touch her lips.
“Khan is special. Young as he is, he conducts himself so maturely—he never barks, nor does he tear the room apart.”
“You’re right. He must be very clever.”
Brisa chimed in, her tone light and cheerful.
The maids, who had initially exchanged worried looks at the prospect of harboring a demonic beast, seemed to have surrendered their hearts to Khan’s endearing intelligence.
At some point, they had begun helping to tend him without hesitation, occasionally watching him cradled in her arms with fond expressions. Yet not everyone looked upon her peculiarities with such grace.
Recalling Raina’s fury upon first laying eyes on Khan, Talia’s face darkened in an instant. Her sister-in-law’s sneer still echoed in her ears.
“How truly remarkable of you. After finally driving your husband from the castle with your tantrums, the best you can manage is clinging to a demonic beast!”
Talia bit her lower lip against the sharp pang that tore through her chest.
It was not just her young sister-in-law who despised her actions. Though they refrained from open defiance, most of the retainers in Raedgo Castle harbored deep hostility toward her.
And naturally so. An illegitimate princess who had usurped the position of Grand Duchess over the legitimate First Princess. That alone had been bitter enough to swallow, yet she had failed to produce an heir.
She had shifted the blame entirely onto the Grand Duke, and after endless hysterical fits, she had practically driven him out on campaign.
Now she had thrown the entire stronghold into disarray by taking in a demonic beast; in the eyes of the Easterners, she was nothing short of the most wicked wife alive.
‘Even so…’
Meeting the blue eyes turned up toward her after he finished his meal, she let a smile soften her expression.
Joy rose within her at that gaze, which made her feel as though she were the most precious, vital thing in the entire world.
Within the wolf’s gaze lingered the very light that had cast an inescapable, eternal curse upon her when she was eight years old.
Counting the pale silver flecks scattered across his blue irises, Talia was overwhelmed by a swell of emotion and gathered the wolf into a tight embrace.
Perhaps she had gone utterly mad, just as the whispers claimed behind her back. A dead child returning as a wolf. Her mind knew that such an absurdity was impossible.
Yet her heart insisted on something else entirely.
Talia kissed Khan’s face, murmuring beneath her breath.
‘Khan is my child.’
Anyone who looked quietly into his eyes would know. This small life, pulled from the muddy waters, loved her more than anything else in the world…
As she carried him out through the rear doors of the castle at a measured pace, the brilliant glare of late spring flooded his vision.
His sight whited out for a moment, and he blinked slowly. A garden washed in soft colors opened before him, stretching far wider than a human’s field of view.
Although the contours of every shape were soft and indistinct, as if veiled behind a light mist, the expanded breadth of his vision allowed him to take in his entire surroundings at a glance without turning his head.
Catching sight of the servants whispering behind her back, he bared his fangs on instinct. Before he could check himself, a low, feral growl tore from his snout.
“What is it, Khan?”
Talia, walking carefully along the stone path, asked in a gentle, worried voice.
Feeling the bloodlust coiled within him vanish instantly, he turned his head back. There, her delicate face gleamed like a pearl, framed by radiant golden hair and luminous, gemlike blue eyes.
Why was it that, even through the eyes of a beast, only her figure remained so vividly defined? Everything was a mystery.
“Are you frightened because it has been so long since you went outside?”
As he stared up at her without blinking, her soft, dreamlike voice brushed his ears.
He had known her for many years, yet never had he known she could speak with such quiet tenderness.
The woman, who had been stroking the scruff of his neck to soothe him, came to a halt beside a flowerbed.
“Do you see these flowers?”
Setting him down upon the ground, she gestured toward an armful of vibrant blossoms.
“Your father gave me these as a gift before he departed the castle. He said they bring calm to the mind and body.”
He gazed quietly at her profile, shadowed by a quiet sorrow.
An emotion beyond words surged from deep within his chest. It felt as though he were trapped in a cruel, heartbreaking, yet beautiful dream.
END
