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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Golden Wolf's Name
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Kalarop Degladis, Duke of the Degladis family.
The head of the household living across the street in the neighboring mansion—a quick three-minute ride by carriage or a fifteen-minute walk.
He was Kaleo Dayamor's closest childhood friend, Ardores Dayamor's great benefactor, and Solles Dayamor's godfather all at once.
"Lord Duke!"
Solles greeted him with delight.
Kalarop, down on one knee, twitched an eyebrow as if feeling slighted.
"Kiddo, you don't call me Uncle Kalarop anymore?"
"If I do, Nini might pick it up. And I'm ten now—two whole digits—so I need to act more grown-up."
"You're looking so reliable. Still, it's a little disappointing."
He ruffled Solles's hair—the boy had shot up noticeably in that short time apart—and his gaze fell on Nibelria and the boy.
Kalarop flashed a brief wry smile.
"Nini."
Nibelria flinched at the sound of her name.
"You forgot about your uncle again, didn't you?"
"......"
He wasn't really scolding her, but Nibelria shrank back even further. Even so, she made sure to shield the boy behind her.
The boy whispered to Nibelria, who was clutching his hand tight.
"He brought me all the way here. He's not a bad guy."
Nibelria's ears perked up.
"...Wolf helped?"
"Yeah. He helped me."
"But he looks like... that...?"
Kalarop, who indeed looked the part, stifled a hollow chuckle.
Al and Rubens, giggling, jumped in to back their father.
"Nini, sure, this uncle looks like he might wallop people left and right, but he's actually super cool. And loaded, too."
"He's our dad. So you can trust him."
With Al and Rubens's help, Nibelria eased her wariness just a touch and stepped forward.
Kalarop held out his hand.
Nibelria threw scissors.
"Nini wins!"
"...No, I meant your hand."
With some effort, Kalarop finally managed to press a kiss to the back of Nibelria's hand.
"An honor to see you again, Lady Dayamor."
"Indeed."
"My, the Young Lady has much to teach."
"Nini gonna study now! Did letters earlier!"
Right, right? Nibelria pressed her brothers for agreement.
Al and Rubens nodded along.
"Yeah. We were in the library earlier, reading the dictionary with Nini. She memorized one word—that counts as studying."
"We helped her name him. She can't read yet."
"This is what Nini wrote."
Solles pulled a single sheet of paper from his pocket and held it out.
Kalarop unfolded it to reveal something far too abstract to call writing—big and boldly scrawled.
Hard to make out, but with his parenting experience, Kalarop deciphered it in no time.
"Arep?"
"Arep!"
Nibelria cried out.
"Wolf name!"
"You named him?"
At that moment, the closed parlor doors swung wide open.
"Having fun, little ones?"
Muniel Dayamor approached the children with her usual serene expression. Her eyes quickly drifted to Nibelria and Arep's clasped hands.
Kalarop shot her a worried glance. Muniel smiled back as if to say not to fret.
"Let me see—is our Nini taking good care of her wolf?"
"Doing great!"
"You greeted Uncle Kalarop properly this time? Were you polite?"
"Was polite."
Kalarop opted to stay silent.
"Grandma, we just named this boy."
Solles gave the boy's shoulder a gentle nudge to prompt him.
The boy spoke up.
"It's Arep."
"From Sir Ardores's wolf."
Kalarop turned to the boy.
"They say the wolf that fought at Sir Ardores's side long ago, back when he exterminated those beasts, had golden fur and red eyes just like yours. Grow up strong and splendid, like that wolf."
The boy nodded eagerly.
"So that's the name you settled on."
Muniel, by contrast, smiled as if she'd seen it coming.
"It suits you perfectly."
The boy—now Arep—squeezed out his reedy voice.
"I... like the name too...."
Arep.
Golden wolf.
The instant he heard it, a strange certainty washed over Arep: this name had always been his.
"That's Wolf's."
Nibelria leaned her head against Arep's forearm, nuzzling like a gentle bump.
Everyone took her words to mean the name came from the wolf that had fought alongside Holy Knight Ardores.
But to Arep's ears, they rang entirely different.
That name's been yours from the start.
"...Yeah."
Arep gave their joined hands a little squeeze.
He wanted to become someone worthy of that name, and fast.
"I'll send Al and Rubens back before dinner."
Muniel said as she saw Kalarop off on his way back to his estate.
As he moved to board the carriage, she slipped him a small note.
"Read it and burn it."
"......"
"And this is my blessing."
Muniel reached out and laid her hand on Kalarop's head.
He knelt at once, familiar with the ritual, and closed his eyes in reverence.
Particles of pure white light drifted down onto his black hair like fresh snow. The glow swept lightly over his entire body before sinking in.
Muniel withdrew her hand.
"How's the body feeling?"
"Lighter. Guess more fatigue had built up than I realized."
"You think it's just fatigue?"
"Am I getting old?"
"Drive safely."
Muniel shut the carriage door herself and watched until it had fully departed the estate.
The Degladis mansion was just a short carriage hop away.
Brief enough for a quick read—and a moment's reflection.
Kalarop scanned the note's message.
"...?"
A rare crack fissured the impassive duke's composure.
[Didn't they say there's embezzlement evidence behind the frame?]
Embezzlement evidence?
Kalarop could answer that in all honesty: the Degladis family never embezzled. It was thanks to the rigorous upbringing from Muniel and Ardores, who had raised him since boyhood.
"Any act against your conscience will come back to threaten you. It'll choke you when you least expect it and crumble the ground beneath your feet."
Their words were etched deep in his soul.
So this wasn't aimed at him.
Then whose embezzlement is it?
Head spinning, Kalarop arrived home and made straight for his study. Something told him to burn that note pronto.
"Master, welcome back."
A head maid passing by spotted him and hurried over with a curtsy.
Kalarop gave a curt nod.
"The child?"
"You mean Miss Rima?"
He caught the warmth softening the maid's tone.
"She's in her room reading a book. Yesterday, the eldest young master lent her a few, figuring she might get bored."
Clearly taken with Rima, the maid volunteered details unasked.
"Such a sweet, hardworking girl. You should've heard her—she wants to be useful to the duke who took her in."
"......"
"Truth be told, she wanted to play with the young masters, but said she wasn't in any position to... that bitter little smile just about broke my heart..."
"...Hold on."
Kalarop cut her off.
"Did you say 'book'?"
He recalled Rubens's earlier words.
"We helped her name him. She can't read yet."
Flustered by his sharp tone but forthright, the head maid replied.
"Yes, Miss Rima's reading right now. So young, and already literate—what a prodigy."
"......"
"Master?"
"It's nothing. Looks like I need to find her a tutor."
"She'll stand out in no time once she starts lessons."
He reached the study in quicker strides than usual, lit a candle at once, and torched Muniel's note.
The paper curled to black ash in the flames, mirrored in his crimson eyes.
Am I jumping at shadows?
Not every orphanage kid was illiterate.
But the conditions there weren't exactly ripe for lessons.
Kids teetering on starvation—how'd they learn their letters? Arep was a year older than Rima and still needed the other kids' help.
Knock knock.
"Um..."
Kalarop, deep in thought, turned toward the door.
"Is the duke in? It's Rima."
"Come in."
The door creaked open amid grunts of effort. Rima, on tiptoe, wiped her forehead with a dramatic arm swipe and a big huff.
Then she beamed and trotted over to Kalarop.
"Hello, Duke sir!"
"What is it?"
Kalarop heard the gruff edge in his own voice before he could stop it.
Too late—he regretted it, but Rima pressed on undeterred.
"Heard you were back, so I came to say hi!"
"No need to go to the trouble."
"But you helped me out. Hehe, thanks a bunch!"
"......"
Kalarop quietly drank in the sight of Rima bowing low to him.
She'd transformed overnight—unrecognizable.
Still a touch ragged, but her face brimmed with vitality. Her starry violet eyes sparkled with sharp intelligence.
Yet Kalarop's mind raced elsewhere at once.
...Something wrong with her tongue?
Even much-younger Nini, or Arep from the same orphanage, didn't slur words that badly.
Need to consult a physician.
As that thought crossed his mind, Rima piped up.
"Duke sir. Any word on Rima's old orphanage?"
"Why do you ask?"
"It's a real bad place—super duper bad!"
Rima fidgeted with her hands clasped at her chest.
"See, Rima caught the teachers hiding stuff behind a picture frame..."
"Behind a frame?"
"Overheard 'em sneaky-like. Somethin' about... embez... embezzle-ment?"
His red eyes, fixed on the girl, flicked to the tiny ash pile beneath the candlestick.
[Didn't they say there's embezzlement evidence behind the frame?]
Kalarop turned back to Rima.
"Ma-maybe we could use that to chew out the teachers?"
