“Your father is such a fool, isn’t he? I treated him so poorly, yet… even when he left, he must have been worrying about me.”
Seeing the clear tears welling in her eyes, he hurriedly pressed his body against her side. Her sorrow-clouded eyes looked down at him.
“One day, I will let you meet him, too.”
He stiffened at an ache that felt as though it were gouging out his heart.
‘I’m right here, Talia. I’m by your side right now.’ He wanted desperately to tell her, but only a feeble whimper escaped the beast’s vocal cords.
“What is it, Khan? Are you hurt somewhere?”
Startled by his sudden agitation, she gathered him into her arms and stroked his back. Instantly, a sweet scent so dizzying it felt as though it would melt his brain filled his nose.
His sense of smell, dozens of times sharper than when he had been human, occasionally plunged him into overwhelming confusion.
Perhaps all of this was nothing more than an illusion conjured just before his breath gave out.
Whenever that thought crossed his mind, an unbearable dread washed over him.
“It’s all right, Khan. I’ll take good care of you.”
Holding him tightly in her arms as he trembled, Talia turned to retrace her steps. The Head Maid, who had been waiting at a distance, approached them with a look of surprise.
“Are you finished with your walk already?”
“Khan is acting strange. I must have the healer examine him.”
The Head Maid’s gaze fell upon him. Having raised three children and tended all manner of livestock, she seemed to realize at once that nothing was particularly wrong with him.
Yet, knowing the Grand Duchess’s delicate temperament all too well, the Head Maid merely nodded.
“I shall fetch her immediately.”
“I will be in the pavilion, so bring her there.”
Without waiting for a reply, Talia headed toward the marble pavilion at the edge of the garden.
Before long, the healer crossed the garden in her flowing robes. He stared up blankly at the expressionless, middle-aged woman.
She was unmistakable—a woman who had lost her life in an unfortunate accident last year. Yet the healer bowed before Talia with an ordinary expression, as though nothing had ever happened.
“I was told you summoned me, Your Grace. Has the pain in your leg flared up again?”
“I called you for Khan, not myself. Please examine him.”
For an instant, the healer’s brow knitted. She seemed deeply displeased to have been summoned for a mere magical beast. Talia, however, was far too occupied fussing over him to notice the woman’s irritation.
“I fed him raw meat for the first time today. Could it have upset his stomach?”
“I am no authority on magical beasts,” the healer replied with a sigh. “Yet I know they possess an extraordinarily resilient vitality. You need not worry, Your Grace.”
“We cannot know that for certain! Stop making excuses and examine him at once.”
With a reluctant grimace, the healer rested her hand upon his head. He endured the unpleasant touch in silence. Soon, a warm energy seeped into his flesh. She appeared to be channeling mana to inspect his condition.
“The wolf is perfectly sound. He is slightly weak, but not to an extent that warrants concern.”
“Weak?”
“Having barely eaten and done nothing but sleep for nearly ten days, it is only natural his constitution should suffer. If you feed him proper portions and gradually increase his activity, he will recover in no time. Pray, do not worry.”
Only upon hearing the healer’s calm reassurance did the tension leave Talia’s face. Only then did he realize her panic was an overreaction rooted in the lingering trauma of losing her child.
Drawing him close against her neck, she whispered in apology,
“I’m sorry, Khan. I’ll make sure to feed you better from now on.”
“I am far more concerned for Your Highness’s health than that wolf’s,” the healer muttered stiffly, sinking to one knee before her. Extending a hand toward Talia, she asked, “How are you feeling today?”
“Much better,” Talia replied half-heartedly, placing her hand in the healer’s as a matter of course. “Though I still toss and turn through the night because of my leg, the agony has lessened considerably. It seems the salve you prepared is working.”
“Did you apply the medicine this morning as well?”
Talia nodded. After briefly studying her condition, the woman retrieved a small glass vial from the satchel tucked beneath her arm.
“If the pain worsens at night, take this.”
Talia regarded the clear vial with a doubtful eye.
“What kind of medicine is it?”
“A newly prepared painkiller. Its effects will endure far longer than the previous draught.”
Taking the vial, Talia unstopped it and sniffed. Detecting nothing amiss, she replaced the cork.
“I will take it before bed.”
The healer rose, looking satisfied.
Setting him back down on the ground, Talia began to make her way along the garden path. He followed close behind on all fours, craning his neck upward to watch her.
Her golden hair, drifting softly in the breeze, filled his sight with breathtaking warmth. Sealing the view deep into his memory, he offered once again the prayer he had whispered thousands of times.
‘Dear God.’
‘If this is all a dream… take my breath while I sleep, so that I may never open my eyes again.’
‘So long as I remain in a reality where she lives and breathes, I do not care if I am trapped inside the flesh of a helpless beast for the rest of my days.’
He prayed with all his soul that this miraculous dream would never end.
As dusk gathered, drowsiness pulled inexorably at his senses.
He struggled desperately to stay awake, yet he could not keep his heavy eyelids from falling shut. Watching her intently as she read, propped up against the headboard, he finally succumbed to darkness and sank into a deep slumber.
By the time he came to, heavy darkness had swallowed the room.
Opening his eyes with a clear mind, he immediately turned to look at her. Talia had apparently fallen asleep over her book, her back still resting against the pillows as she breathed soft and even.
Watching her as though spellbound, he used his small teeth to tug the blanket over her legs, which lay exposed beneath her hiked skirt.
Even so trivial an effort drained his strength, leaving him panting for air.
Having barely drawn the blanket to her shoulders, he paused to catch his breath, then hopped down from the bed and padded toward the hearth.
Perhaps a maid had tended it while they slept, for flames danced behind the iron grate. He slipped his forepaw through an opening in the screen. Instantly, a searing pain tore through him.
Snatching his paw back, he inspected the stinging flesh. The soft pad had burned bright red.
To confirm the sharpness of the sensation, he dragged the raw pad against the floorboards before padding behind the folding screen in the corner.
Stepping before the tilted full-length mirror, he met the reflection of a young beast cloaked in pale, ash-gray fur. After staring at his likeness in silence for a long time, he finally began to take stock of his circumstances with cold reason.
If this was neither madness nor a hallucination, he had truly returned to a time before her death—and inside the very creature she had cherished above all else.
How could such a thing be possible?
He glared at the wolf in the glass as if demanding an answer. All at once, the desperate eyes of the beast he had faced just before dying flickered across his memory.
Had that creature sent him back to the past to save her?
It was an absurd notion, yet no other explanation held weight.
Besides, his very existence here already defied logic. Trying to unravel the reason behind it was an exercise in futility.
What mattered now was what came next.
Unless he had completely surrendered his mind to delirium, he had been granted a miraculous chance to save her life.
Yet what could he possibly accomplish?
He slowly surveyed his reflection with helpless eyes. Though he had grown slightly since first waking in this skin, the brutal truth remained that he was still nothing more than a powerless beast.
END
