Chapter 56
I, who had snatched it with an eagle eye, swallowed my absurdity and asked again.
“You want to show me your naked body? To me?”
“……”
The red eyes slightly avoided my gaze.
He must be serious. Is he crazy?
“Pervert.”
“Grrk!”
The wolf, who had taken offense, barked back at me as if talking back.
“That’s an exhibitionist.”
“Woof woof!”
The wolf seemed to be blaming me instead. Saying that I had stared at his naked body last time.
But that was truly unintentional; I was just so shocked that I froze.
So, instead of acting guilty, I brazenly cursed at him to his face.
“Aren’t you ashamed to be doing this with the lights on so brightly? If you’re not, then you’re a pervert, no doubt about it. I knew it since you slept naked.”
“Woof woof!”
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying, you pervert wolf.”
When I provoked him further, the wolf came closer, sat on the cushion, and then gestured with its chin towards the blanket I was holding.
“And you say you have no shame.”
I tightly covered the wolf with the blanket, not letting a single strand of fur peek out.
“Squeak—”
The curled-up wolf tried to free its arm.
“Sigh, you’re in trouble.”
The wolf, with its ears drooping, gave up and rested its head on the cushion.
After fully covering the wolf’s body, I stroked its head.
“It must have been frustrating. I’ll make you turn back into a human right now.”
I pressed my forehead against his and focused on the flow of divine power.
I slowly and gently pushed the divine power spreading from my core, ensuring it didn’t leak into other pathways.
I was sweating from the effort of making sure it didn’t scatter recklessly or burst out all at once.
But suddenly, whoosh, my waist was grabbed and pulled.
“Wha, what?”
Artif’s eyes, now right in front of me, narrowed.
“Why am I a pervert?”
The only saving grace was that since I had wrapped Artif tightly in the blanket, his bare skin wasn’t touching me like last time.
However, my face grew hot from the arms wrapped around my waist.
“Be-because! You were going to turn back naked with the lights on so brightly!”
“What reason would I have to endure your shame and try to appeal to you like this?”
“I told you, last time was a mistake!”
Artif stared at me intently with a face that seemed to not believe me at all.
This is so unfair, it’s driving me crazy. Even though I was momentarily captivated because it was so similar to my past life, it wasn’t intentional.
“In our past lives, were we lovers, as the stories say?”
Artif asked with a confident look.
But it was difficult to answer.
The reason I couldn’t tell Seth clearly either wasn’t just because it was embarrassing, but because I couldn’t say for sure.
It was true that Calix and I had spent the night together, but we hadn’t agreed to be in a relationship. Originally, Elluna had intended to disappear after that one night.
Now that I think about it, that sounds pretty trashy.
“Don’t tell me we weren’t? That can’t be right?”
“Geez, why can’t it be?”
“Because it would mean that no matter how stupidly I lost you, I was so in love but didn’t even confess.”
At some point, Artif had started speaking very directly and embarrassingly.
So, I ended up grumbling for no reason.
“Could you please not project that onto us? I still can’t really feel that I’m Elluna, you know?”
“I can’t really feel that I’m Calix either. But judging by the memories surfacing, my heart wasn’t one that would have failed to confess.”
Seeing him speak with such conviction that he had loved me endlessly left me dumbfounded.
I guess I should tell him the truth.
“It was Elluna who confessed, not Calix, several times. And he was the one who rejected her every time.”
“I… did?”
“Even after all sorts of temptations, he wouldn’t budge.”
In the end, he finally gave in, allowing Elluna to willingly make her sacrifice.
“No, I can’t believe that. You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie?”
“Since when has scatterbrained Shasha lied to me just once or twice? You even ran away from home, worrying your owner sick.”
Artif made an expression as if he was looking at a disobedient child.
“I had no choice back then! And last time, you said I was the owner!”
“When you’re a cat, I’m the owner.”
“You’re so self-centered.”
“You call me ‘jagii’ (yourself/honey), but now you say we weren’t lovers?”
“Ah, enough!”
I pushed against his chest in disgust, but Artif’s arms around my waist showed no sign of letting go.
“Haa… Calix was a knight from a commoner background.”
When I told him the reason Calix had rejected Elluna, Artif understood immediately.
“So he couldn’t approach the noble Saint from an aristocratic family.”
“That’s right.”
The playful expression on his face suddenly hardened, and he buried his face in my shoulder.
“And because of a reason like that, he let you carry everything alone.”
His hot breath carried anger, making the end of his sentence tremble roughly.
Surprised by his intense reaction, I reached up and stroked the back of Artif’s head.
“Well, the class disparity was much worse back then than it is now.”
“……And this time too, I silently watched you get engaged to the Crown Prince, unable to approach you because of this curse of turning into a wolf.”
“But we had no connection back then.”
I tried to soothe him, but Artif didn’t seem to accept it.
“……I’ve decided to resolve everything and confess my feelings, so let’s stop talking about this for today.”
The hand that was stroking Artif’s head stopped abruptly.
I was sitting on his lap. Because he was holding me so tightly, our whole bodies were pressed together.
Artif had acted like a pervert, wanting to show off his naked body, and even asked me to be his owner.
And you’re saying you still haven’t confessed your feelings yet?
“Artif.”
“What?”
Artif lifted his head. His breath touched my face.
I wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t leave my mouth. I, too, was in a situation where I couldn’t confess my feelings yet.
“Won’t you let go now? I never gave you permission to hug me.”
“But you didn’t refuse.”
“Hey, you should listen to your owner.”
Artif, clicking his tongue as if disappointed, reluctantly loosened his stubbornly wrapped arms.
“Now, put your clothes on.”
As I spoke while turning away sharply, Artif began to put on his clothes.
“Shasha. You’ll be entering the Temple soon.”
“Yeah. Can you come to the Temple before you turn into a wolf? There might be times when I can’t come out.”
“I want to enter with you too. As a Holy Knight, like before.”
“What?!”
When I exclaimed in surprise, Artif grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him.
“How can I leave you alone when I’m so anxious?”
“But you’re a Duke. You have many duties; how can you also serve as a Holy Knight?”
“I’ve managed my duties as Duke while only living half a life. Now that my life has doubled, it’s fine.”
“No. It’s fine because Seth is at the Temple. It might even be safer since demons can’t enter.”
At the very least, it seemed I would encounter Kaius, my biggest enemy, less often than now, which was quite reassuring.
It seemed there was nothing more to gain from him now.
“Moreover, not just anyone can become a Holy Knight.”
“The Pope is on our side.”
He was openly suggesting he would abuse power through connections.
Was the dignified Duke Redmond from before all a lie?
“I plan to look into whether there are more ways to treat my mother and lift your curse within the Temple. If we can solve just those two things, I can break off the engagement with the Crown Prince. Artif, you help me from outside the Temple.”
“How?”
I re-adjusted the buttons on Artif’s shirt, which he had put on haphazardly.
“I’m going to drag the Crown Prince down from his position.”
His red eyes widened. Then, he grinned, raising the corners of his mouth.
“Just trust me.”
With the power of both the Lertel and Redmond duchies, it seemed entirely possible to bring Chase down, which made me feel secure.
I got ready to return home and put my robe back on.
“You’re leaving already?”
“It’s late. I need to get back before I’m caught for sneaking out.”
“I’ll give you veal steak, so stay a little longer.”
Allen said that too; it seems the people here think I’m absolutely crazy about steak.
“No.”
“You’re so mean. You’re so different from last time.”
“Last time?”
“When the two of us had our celebration party.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. He was talking about that day when I blacked out from drinking too much.
What on earth did I do for him to say I’m so different?
A feeling of unease made my stomach churn.
“Th-that time, we had been drinking, so it’s natural to be excited and feel friendly.”
“……?”
“So, it’s normal for my guard to drop a bit when I drink.”
Artif stared straight down at me.
“Shasha, you don’t remember, do you?”
