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Chapter 13
I didn’t expect them to arrive this quickly!
He moved cautiously, watching the duke’s party closely.
Fortunately, thick grass and trees between the rear garden and the basin provided enough cover to hide his body.
“Your Grace!”
Suddenly, the knights spread out, forming a defensive wall in front of the duke.
Roman snapped his head around, wondering what was happening—
and froze.
A black wolf, its fangs gleaming like blades.
That devilish beast was charging down at a terrifying speed.
“Your Grace, something’s happening in the basin! Please, step back! We’ll check it out!”
As Edwin readied his sword upon spotting the wolf, Roman came back to his senses.
He didn’t know how the beast had escaped from its iron cage,
but if it clashed with the duke’s group, that was his chance to escape!
But then—
“!”
The wolf that had been sprinting toward the duke suddenly changed direction.
Where the hell was that damned beast going?
Rustle, rustle!
The question didn’t last long.
Pushing through the undergrowth, the wolf’s blazing eyes locked precisely—
on Roman.
Its sight, its scent, its strength—all far beyond that of a human.
With explosive speed, the wolf leapt toward him, jaws wide open.
Its long fangs gleamed viciously.
“Damn it!”
Roman drew his sword and swung immediately.
The faint trace of sword aura made it threatening enough.
But the wolf, freed from its cage, was no longer weak.
Especially not when it had a reason to die fighting.
Its purpose was singular.
Crunch!
“Ah…!”
To avenge the one who stole its child.
It drove itself into the sword, offering its own flesh, and sank its teeth deep into Roman’s arm.
“AAARGH!”
Overwhelmed by pain, Roman flailed wildly, striking with his other hand.
But the mother wolf, covered in blood, tore his arm off completely.
“GAAAHHH!”
In the blink of an eye, Roman lost an arm.
Desperate to escape the beast lunging for him again, he stumbled toward the duke’s group.
“Your Grace! Please—spare me! Count Fillmore—ugh—help—AAAH!”
The men of Calypse stared, dumbfounded by the sudden chaos.
“What shall we do, Your—”
A knight turned to Caltherion, but trailed off at the sight of his master’s cold, expressionless face.
Even as the wolf’s teeth tore into flesh once again, the duke did not move an eyebrow.
“Your Grace—please—save me—!”
“Where were you in such a hurry to go, Roman?”
A low, calm voice questioned the dying man.
Cold as an ancient glacier that had endured for millennia.
“Were you on your way to His Majesty?”
Beneath the tone that almost sounded kind, a seething fury could be felt—
and it utterly crushed what remained of Roman’s will to survive.
Even if he survived the wolf, Caltherion’s wrath awaited him.
“Roman seems suspicious.”
The report that Roman might be the emperor’s spy reached Caltherion shortly after the death of Belladis’s physician.
A witness claimed to have seen Roman in the underground prison where the physician had been held.
Once he became a suspect, the missing links between numerous unsolved incidents became clear in an instant.
And just as Caltherion was concluding that Roman was indeed the emperor’s mole,
news arrived that Belladis had headed toward the basin.
“Your… Grace…”
As the last breath left Roman’s body, Caltherion made no move to save him.
It was punishment.
The knights swallowed hard, caught between the corpse of the man brutally torn apart and their frozen, icy lord.
“My granddaughter-in-law is in that basin, is she not?”
Caltherion looked toward the basin. Edwin immediately answered.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Secure the safety of Belladis Calypse. She must be alive.”
The command was as sharp and cold as winter wind.
Edwin left two knights with the duke, sent the fastest riders to call for reinforcements,
and led the rest toward the basin.
And then—
The mother wolf that had just ended Roman’s life slowly, silently rose to her feet.
“Your Grace, please step back.”
But the wolf paid no attention to the duke.
It only nosed through Roman’s blood-soaked bag with its muzzle.
And when it carefully pulled something out from within—
even the knights—and Caltherion himself—were struck speechless.
“…It seems she came to retrieve her pup.”
After gazing for a long moment, as if worried the tiny creature might be hurt,
the wolf gently took her cub into her mouth.
Then she turned back toward the basin.
Her body swayed, every step wringing the last of her strength—
as if she had a destination she must reach, no matter what.
Along the path she walked, red blood dripped, drop by drop, without end.
“Your Grace!”
Even as his knights called out in alarm, Caltherion followed the wolf.
Her figure was a wreck—so pitiful it was almost unbearable to watch.
Her body was so thin her bones showed through, her fur patchy and missing in places.
It was astonishing she had managed to run this far at all.
Caltherion’s crimson eyes darkened with thought.
In the days when Valhalla Forest still thrived with green,
there had been wolves there—massive ones, the size of houses.
Long ago, when the memories were still clear, he had once met a great male wolf in that forest.
When he looked into its golden eyes, he felt not fear, but awe.
He had instinctively understood.
The being before him was no mere beast.
He had wanted to protect them somehow.
But as the forest became tainted, one by one, wolf corpses began to appear.
It felt like watching the very fate of House Calypse decay before his eyes—it tore him apart inside.
That was when Roman appeared.
“Your Grace! Leave it to me. At this rate, the Calypse wolves will die out. Let me take them from the forest and preserve their bloodline. Once the forest recovers, I’ll return them.”
There was no way to save the forest itself,
so Roman’s plea—to at least save the wolves—had moved the duke’s heart.
“Your Grace! Look! The cubs were born!”
He’d thought it was the right choice.
Caltherion’s red eyes never left the dying mother wolf.
Following her staggering steps up the slope, they soon reached the basin’s edge.
And there, carried on the wind—
a foul, sickening stench enveloped him.
As he passed through the cold iron gate, Caltherion knew what must lie beyond would be dreadful.
His jaw tightened unconsciously, and he lifted his lowered gaze.
“……”
He held his breath.
He even forgot the stench that clawed at his lungs.
Where he expected horror—
there was a vast blue sky and brilliant golden sunlight.
Under the endless heavens, black wolves looked upward, unblinking, bathed in light.
Edwin and the scouts, who had arrived ahead of him, stood frozen, unable to move.
The mother wolf limped across the basin.
At the end of her path lay a massive wolf, unmistakably large even from afar.
And beside that great beast lay Belladis—
flat on her back, staring up at the sky—
with two scouts, her assigned guards, next to her.
“There—there’s the young duchess!”
“Shh! Don’t agitate the wolves!”
Edwin swallowed hard and approached Caltherion.
“It seems the young duchess is safe for now. I’ll carefully approach her to ensure her safety without alarming the wolves.”
“……”
But no words came from Caltherion’s lips when he saw Belladis.
Puzzled by his master’s silence, Edwin followed his gaze—
“!”
And then he, too, was struck speechless.
The limping black wolf, having crossed the basin—
placed the cub she had risked her life to retrieve…
“…No way…”
…onto the unmoving belly of Belladis Calypse.
