DVDD 05

Chapter 05

She would probably take care of him to the end, as long as the dog didn’t disappear first. After all, he was the first living being she had grown attached to in this place.
Lari—she wasn’t bad either, but she had limits.
She was a maid, and El was the crown princess. In a world where social status was clear, Lari was someone close but not truly close.
When El refused invitations to eat together or tried to help with work, Lari would turn pale and not know how to react. El didn’t need a subordinate.

“I want to give you a name.”
“Woof!”
“You like it?”
“Woof woof!”

The dog’s tail wagged wildly. Until just before leaving the palace, he had been pretending not to notice her, but it was clear this dog was a tsundere. There was no other explanation for such a sudden change in behavior.

“You’re called Haya…”

The servant had named him White. That wasn’t bad, but when El saw the dog, it reminded her of something from her time in Korea.

“Soft Tofu.”
“Woof?”
“I like Soft Tofu better.”

White and squishy—it fit perfectly. And it was also a favorite food of hers.

“Soft Tofu.”
“Woof!”

The dog seemed to understand that this was his new name and ran toward her, barking. El laughed as she received Soft Tofu, who proceeded to lick her face all over. He was so big that El could almost hold him in her arms. Warm and soft, he made her feel happy.

As soon as Soft Tofu got his name, El decided to give him a bath.
Though his fur looked clean, since she intended to keep him in the palace, she figured he should be bathed at least once. Surprisingly, he was calm, maybe because he liked water.
Sitting in the bathtub, she thought she could wash him easily, but as she struggled to remove her dress, Soft Tofu suddenly panicked and jumped out of the tub.
He then began barking madly and scratching at the bathroom door.

Startled by the noise, Lari rushed in and accidentally broke the door. Wet and furious, Soft Tofu bolted.

Splash—
The sound of running water was followed by an eerie silence, then the doorknob fell to the tiled floor.

“Lari…”
“I-I thought something terrible happened… I’m s-sorry, Lady El! Hoo—”

And she was bare-handed.

“Sorry.”
“Huh?”

From now on, El thought, she shouldn’t mess with Lari carelessly.

The dog hid under the desk, soaking wet.
With so much fur and his size, he left a trail of water wherever he ran, so it was easy to track him.
The space under the desk was soaked. When El approached, he growled and whimpered. What happened to the calm dog from before?

Worried he might catch a cold, El wanted to finish bathing him quickly, but Soft Tofu flattened himself against the floor, refusing to come out.

“You don’t want to be washed?” El asked.
Soft Tofu barked in response.

“Alright, I won’t wash you. Let’s just dry you off, okay?”

When he realized he wouldn’t be bathed, he slowly crept out from under the desk. Apparently, he could understand human speech—was he a genius? Come to think of it, his pose in the tub had looked strangely human-like.

“Are you secretly human?”
“…Woof!”
“Even in a fantasy world, that can’t be real, right?”

El laughed at her own absurd thought and wrapped Soft Tofu in a large towel. Once she dried most of the water, she saw Lari rushing over with cleaning supplies and a towel for El.

“Ah-choo!”

El sneezed. Running around in a wet dress after Soft Tofu had drenched her left her a little chilly. Though the empire had warm weather year-round, she still shivered slightly.

“Lady El! Are you catching a cold?!”
“It’s just a sneeze, really.”

Lari fussed and quickly guided her to change clothes. Soft Tofu looked up at her with drooping eyes, whining slightly. El smiled reassuringly, letting him know she was fine.

The next day, though, El actually caught a cold—how ironic.
Lari had no choice but to tend to her.
Even though it was just a mild fever, body aches left El bedridden, with Soft Tofu staying faithfully by her side.
Worried the dog might catch the cold, El tried to send him away, but he was stubborn.

“Cough.”
“….”
“Soft Tofuuuu.”
“Woof.”
“It’s not your fault.”

El, still drowsy from medicine, murmured this upon waking, seeing Soft Tofu right beside her. She gently tapped his side, signaling that he should sleep with her. Hesitant at first, he slowly stepped closer.

“Whine—”
He burrowed fully into her arms, warm and comforting. Apparently, dogs’ body temperatures were higher than humans—Soft Tofu certainly felt that way.

El couldn’t tell whether it was the strong medicine or her weakened body, but she remembered Lari changing wet towels and giving her soup and medicine. Her memory was fuzzy, but she knew she had been cared for.
Thanks to that care, her fever seemed to have subsided slightly. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Soft Tofu, but instead, a long-haired handsome man was sitting there.

Startled, she gasped, and the man blinked sleepily, their eyes meeting.

“….”
“….”

Awkward silence. Then the man suddenly leapt up and ran.
El screamed, grabbed a vase from the table, and ran after him, opening the door.
His footsteps faded into the darkness, and she sank to the floor, breathless.

“What… was that?”
She had fallen asleep with Soft Tofu…
“Where did he go?”

Her racing heart wouldn’t calm down.

“What? You’re saying a pervert broke in last night?”
“Woof woof!”

Soft Tofu, who had slept elsewhere at night but rushed to claim her side in the morning, barked frantically when the intruder was mentioned.
El guessed he was worried about her.

“Yes. While I was sleeping, some man was next to me.”
“What a madman!”
“Grrr, woof!”
“Stop barking, Soft Tofu. It’s okay now… but what do we do?”
“Woof woof woof!”
“Why are you like this? I said stop barking.”

Her cold had gone in just one day, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the man. He had looked high-ranking under the moonlight—but still, a pervert sneaking into a sleeping woman’s bedroom.

Lari said she would do whatever she could and insisted on staying by El’s side.

“But Lari would be tired.”
“I’m fine. Staying up all night is nothing.”
“And Lari is a woman too. If he appears again, there’s a strength difference…”
“I’m strong.”

…Ah, right. She had broken the door with her bare hands. Still, it was dangerous.

“But who manages the budget of the Crown Prince’s palace?”
El had wondered before but abandoned the thought. Even though the palace was practically abandoned, surely there would be knights or guards passing by—yet she had never seen them.
She didn’t care until now, but a pervert wandering freely was unacceptable. Soft Tofu had also come back inside the palace.

“…Probably the head steward manages it.”
“The head steward? I’ve never seen them.”
“W-well…”

Lari hesitated, but El seemed to understand.

“Woof! Woof woof!”

For some reason, Soft Tofu kept interrupting the conversation. Eventually, El sent him outside temporarily.