♚Chapter 3: Sweet Memories at Werewolf Mansion

 

 

 

♚Chapter 3: Sweet Memories at Werewolf Mansion

 

WITH a yawn, Rock opened her shop.

The sun rising into the blue sky lavished its morning light upon the imperial capital, granting its blessing to even the shantytown slums pieced together with random junk. But the bright morning sunlight was too much for the sleepless Rock, its rays tormenting her eyes as she swept the storefront. She quit sweeping to retreat within the dark confines of Floria Clothes Shop, where she rested her chin in her hands with her elbows propped up on the counter.

The previous evening filled her every waking thought. Everything that had happened with Ebel luridly replayed in her mind even after a whole night had passed.

“…S-Stop thinking about it!”

Rock shook her head, trying to chase away the persistent memories brought about by the sleepless night. Yet the warmth of human skin was curiously hard to forget and obstinately stuck with her.

The very antithesis of Rock, Phoebe arrived at work in her usual splendor. “You’re here early. I was debating what to do if you hadn’t opened yet,” she casually said in greeting before doing a double take and frowning at Rock’s drawn face. “You look horrible. Don’t tell me he kept you out till morning?”

“No way!” Rock’s unintentionally loud shout rang painfully through her sleep-deprived brain. Moaning as she clasped her head in her hands, she felt Phoebe patting her a few times on the back 0f the head.

“Not even I would think you’d do something like that, dear.”

The comforting gentleness of Phoebe’s hand on her hair helped cheer her up. She looked up at Phoebe’s perfectly made-up face and voiced her biggest worry. “Did you get by all right last night too, Phoebe? What happened to those thugs?”

After their run-in with trouble in the alleyway, Phoebe had let Ebel and Rock run away while promising to handle the rest. Rock had been waiting to see Phoebe again to ask what had happened after they left.

Phoebe shrugged her broad shoulders, sending her curls bouncing. “I smacked them awake and put the squeeze on them to see who they were hired by.”

“Did they say who?”

“They said they don’t know. Sounds like whoever it was sent a middleman over with money and the job request to run the count out of the slums.”

Just as Rock had assumed last night, the thugs were nothing more than hired hands.

Naturally, the shady types living in the slums took affront with His Excellency the Count’s patrols through the shantytown streets for the sake of peace. Finding the person behind it without any clues would be about as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

Rock had no desire to flush out the vipers by poking the thorn bushes either. So she decided not to think too deeply about the crooks from last night.

“Okay, my turn to ask the questions.” Phoebe turned probing eyes on Rock. “What did you two do after that? His Excellency didn’t try any funny business with you, did he?”

“H-He did not! …I think.” The events of the previous evening were too stimulating to assert his innocence unequivocally. Phoebe’s sky-blue eyes peeled open at Rock’s hesitant addition.

“Did he do something to you?” she ground out between her teeth.

“No. Just a little…”

“What is it, child? Spit it out already!”

“H-He hugged me tight…,” Rock nervously confided.

“Hmph. So what did you do?” Phoebe’s voice instantly sharpened.

“I ran away in confusion.” Rock’s childlike faltering reply earned her the greatest sigh.

“Rock, aren’t you twenty? Responding to a hug by turning your back and running away is bordering on shameful. If you don’t like it, be sure to properly say so.”

Phoebe made a sound argument.

But Rock had her own objections. How could she do anything but run when it wasn’t only being hugged that had stunned her last night?

“B-But I was in shock…because His Excellency was naked—”

Phoebe’s whole demeanor changed before Rock could finish explaining. “What the—?!” Astonished, she pounced on Rock. “Why was he naked?! Don’t tell me he stripped in front of you?!”

“H-He did. Because he had to.”

“Why did he HAVE to strip?! WHY?!”

“AH! N-No, Phoebe. I don’t mean it that way!”

“Then what way do you mean?! Wait, you didn’t undress too, did you?!”

“No, no! Not me! Just him!”

“What kind of situation calls for just him to undress and hug you?!”

“Uh, like I was saying…”

Phoebe was terribly distressed, which forced Rock into disclosing the events of last night in order. She told Phoebe about how she had discovered a tear in Ebel’s shirt after escaping to the lookout tower and how she’d offered to mend it. Then how he had embraced her after she’d finished her work—without his shirt on. Rock abridged the conversation they’d had during that moment. It was too embarrassing to repeat.

“…That’s it? You scared me, child!” Phoebe finally regained her calm after hearing Rock out. She combed the curls off her face and caught her breath. “Even so, what I said before is still valid. You have to flat-out tell someone NO when they do things you don’t like or are uncomfortable with.”

“I know,” Rock agreed, but oddly enough, she wasn’t uncomfortable with Ebel’s actions. She had defended against plenty of men before him. She knew how to hold her ground against someone she disliked.

The issue here wasn’t a matter of like or dislike. She couldn’t even wrap her head around what was happening. And that was why she couldn’t turn him down in any way other than escaping the situation.

If he had continued to hug her like that—

“Your face is red, Rock.”

“It is not!” Rock frantically shook her head at Phoebe’s acute observation.

After observing the girl with concern, Phoebe lazily advised, “You’d better watch out. If you don’t do anything about it, he’ll get close and have his way with you before you know it.”

“O-Okay. I’ll be careful.”

“And then once you fall for him, he’ll be the one to run for it. That’s the kind of game this is.” Phoebe made it sound as if she had personal experience with affairs of this sort as she stared into space.

Curious, and wanting to take the conversation in another direction, Rock tried to feel her out. “Sounds like this is familiar ground to you, Phoebe.”

“Who knows? Perhaps that’s how it was.”

“With my father?” Rock pressed on doggedly when it seemed as if Phoebe was trying to avoid the subject. Phoebe quietly lowered her eyes to the ground.

“No. It happened much longer ago than that,” she replied and said nothing more, as if to imply the rest was her personal secret.

And so, Rock couldn’t find out more about her father as she had wanted to.

♚♚♚

FLORIA Clothes Shop was the epitome of peacefulness during the day, so much so that the prior night’s commotion felt like a tall tale. Barely any customers dropped by, giving leeway for Rock and Phoebe to enjoy their lunches at a leisurely pace.

“Blimey, the day is dragging on with nothing to do,” Phoebe remarked between bites.

“Days like this are nice every once and a while with how busy things have been lately.”

“Business owners shouldn’t say such ambitionless things.”

“Only occasionally. I’d be in trouble if it was this way every day.”

They cracked jokes to overcome the sunny early afternoon that threatened to lull them to sleep.

Once evening rolled around, Rock performed routine maintenance on her work tools behind the counter while Phoebe arranged the clothes on display.

The bell over the door jangled.

“Welcome!” Rock lifted her face from her work and froze when she saw her customer’s face.

Peace and tranquility didn’t last long. Through the door entered a handsome young man with burnt sienna hair swept to the side over his golden eyes—it was Ebel.

“Hi there, Rock. How are you doing this fine evening?”

Like a coward, Rock averted her eyes from his generous first-rate smile. “Wh-What brings you here, Your Excellency?”

“Your invitation. You told me to come for new measurements,” Ebel explained with a joyous lilt. “And have you already forgotten my request from last night? I wish you would call me by name.”

“D-Didn’t that just apply to yesterday…?”

“I humbly request you call me by name from now on. I don’t want any kind of walls to form between us,” his rich bass voice asserted.

Embarrassed, Rock found herself looking down at her twiddling thumbs. She never thought he would show up less than a day later. She needed time to get over the excitement from yesterday. What all those feelings culminated in was her complete and utter inability to look him directly in the face.

“Your Excellency must not have much work to do since you come here every day,” Phoebe remarked with a thorny tone. “Are you one of those nobles disposed to excessive idleness? From what I know, the late Count Mateus was a terribly busy man.”

“You knew my father?” Ebel calmly asked, not letting her goad him.

“He was a famous man. Rumors abound about him.”

“I’m curious in what ways his name was renown.” Ebel let Phoebe’s provocation roll right off him and faced Rock behind the counter. “Now then, Rock, I would like you to tailor the clothing per the order I put in last night.”

“A-All right.” Rock consented after finally slowing her breathing and getting her racing heart in check. She hung the measuring tape around her neck and stepped out from the counter, only to stop when she noticed Phoebe closely watching her.

She needed to send Phoebe home before taking measurements. Ebel required two different body measurements, one of which would end poorly if someone else witnessed it. Being alone with him weighed a tad—no, it weighed EXTREMELY heavy on her mind, but the situation required it.

“Phoebe, I’ll handle the—”

“I’ll take his measurements, Rock.” Phoebe slid the measuring tape off Rock’s neck before she could finish.

“Phoebe?”

“His Excellency seems like the handsy type. Don’t you think I’m more suited to this job?”

Evidently, Phoebe was offering to help for Rock’s benefit. She had experience assisting another tailor in the past, so even if tailoring wasn’t in her skillset, she knew her way around a cloth measuring tape.

But her kind offer was more trouble than help this time around.

“Thanks for the offer, but I want Rock to do it,” Ebel responded with a smile that didn’t leave room for objection. “I returned to this shop because I fell in love with his skills.”

“Rock’s skills aren’t the only thing you fell in love with.”

“Obviously. That’s even more reason for me to want Rock to do it, no?” Ebel nonchalantly sent a flirtatious sidelong glance Rock’s way.

“Very well…,” Rock consented, restless. “Phoebe, I’ll be okay. You can go home.”

“Not happening.” Phoebe bristled. “Rock, speak what’s on your mind. Don’t you feel uncomfortable being alone with him?”

“Huh? Uh, um, er, well…” She wanted to deny it, but as the events of last night crossed her mind, the words died on her tongue.

“I’m not leaving, then. I’ll stay here and look after you while you take his measurements,” Phoebe declared without hesitation upon seeing Rock’s reaction.

Ebel smiled dryly. “It appears your assistant doesn’t trust me.”

“I-I’m sorry. Give me time to properly explain it to her.” Panicking, Rock tried to badger her sluggish brain into coming up with a way to persuade Phoebe.

Ebel peered into Rock’s spinning eyes as if to stop her from burning out the gears in her mind. “How about I suggest a plan we can all agree to?”

His face is close! His handsome face spread into a suggestive smile right in front of her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but this fitting room is a bit too cramped. If your assistant is going to join us, let’s change locations.”

“Change locations? What do you have in mind, Ebel?” Rock asked as she struggled with where to look.

The count smoothly replied, “I would like to invite you both to my manor.”

Phoebe audibly gasped at his unexpected suggestion. Rock, too, was so taken by surprise that it took a significant amount of time before she could speak again. “Your manor, Ebel? Wouldn’t that be in the aristocrat district?”

“Indeed. You can take your time measuring me there without feeling constrained.” Ebel’s golden eyes were riveted on only Rock. “How about it, Rock? I’d be ecstatic if you accepted my invitation.”

♚♚♚

SEVERAL days later, Rock and Phoebe boarded a carriage just outside the slums first thing in the morning.

Of all possible conveyances, the carriage Ebel sent to pick them up was the latest luxury berline, fully equipped with steel spring suspension and drawn by two gorgeous white Clydesdales. The young coachman didn’t make a single disgruntled face despite waiting outside the gate that led into the slums. He even opened the carriage door for them.

“I have come to escort you to the manor today. Please get in, Master Rock, Mistress Phoebe.”

The coachman with finely groomed hazel hair was courteous on all levels. He shut the door only after confirming that Rock and Phoebe were safely seated on the cushion, and then he opened the window from the coachman’s seat to politely inform them that the carriage was about to depart.

“If you are all set, we shall be departing now. His Excellency is eagerly awaiting your arrival.” The coachman’s respect and affection for his employer could be gleaned from the joy coloring his tone.

“…Did you hear that? He called me Master Rock,” Rock muttered restlessly to Phoebe once the carriage rolled forward.

The carriage rode smoothly, and the plush velvet seats comfortably embraced them with their softness. The steel spring suspension system reduced the shaking to barely noticeable. Rock gazed out at the cityscape through the high-quality, clear glass windows separating her from the outside.

“I’ve only ever ridden a wagon. This is incredible!” The extravagant luxury carriage overwhelmed Rock just for the first few minutes. Excitement surged through her, and before long, she was excitedly taking everything in with a twinkle in her eye. “Phoebe, look! It’s the castle! I didn’t know you can see it from this far away!”

She saw the emperor’s castle looming in the distance. The white stone building that towered so high it seemed to pierce the heavens was too far away from the outskirts of the imperial capital to be visible from the slums.

The imperial capital was erected in a circle around the emperor’s castle, and the aristocrat district where Ebel’s manor was located was constructed just outside the castle grounds. In other words, the higher the noble’s status and value, the closer they were allowed to live near the emperor.

“I never dreamed I’d someday set foot in the aristocrat district,” she mused.

Phoebe raised a cynical eyebrow at the overly excited Rock from the seat across from her. “You are a child through and through.” She coquettishly crossed her legs and admonished, “Don’t lose your head over fancy frivolities. Aren’t you going there for work?”

“I know. I am,” Rock agreed unenthusiastically, earning a scrutinizing look from Phoebe.

“As long as you actually understand.”

“We’re going there today to take his measurements,” Rock repeated for Phoebe’s benefit. “We aren’t his guests.”

“That’s right. You will be eating out of his hand before you know it if you let yourself be distracted by the foofaraw.” Phoebe was the definition of calm. In Rock’s eyes, she looked dependable as she sat on the cushion like a queen surveying her domain. “Be prepared, because we are heading straight into the wolf’s den.”

Her addendum jolted Rock. “Wolf… You mean how all men are wolves, right?”

“You remembered. Good. Take precautions at all times, unless you want to be eaten.”

Rock hadn’t been able to give an immediate answer when Ebel invited her and Phoebe to his manor. His ulterior motives were as clear as day for all to see—not that he ever tried to hide them. He planned to lure Rock into his territory and win her over with increased efforts of wooing. She was fully aware that taking his measurements in the comfort of his home was nothing more than a pretext to get her there.

She was torn over the blindingly large sum of money that had been offered to her on a platter for this job order. She just wanted to quickly wrap up his measuring session and skedaddle out of there. But her intuition honed by recent experiences told her loud and clear that that was not going to happen.

What eventually helped Rock make up her mind wasn’t the money.

“Responding to a hug by turning your back and running away is bordering on shameful.”

Phoebe’s candid advice, lingering in her ears, swept away her hesitation.

I need to sit down and have a proper talk with Ebel. He’s probably still trying to court me because he thinks there’s room to win me over. Rock felt she was equally responsible for the situation. She needed to clearly lay out for him that she had absolutely no interest whatsoever.

Rock didn’t share her decision with Phoebe. She didn’t want to cause any more problems for the person who enjoyed treating Rock as if she were Phoebe’s own child. While Rock loved her like family, that became the biggest reason why she felt it wasn’t right to cause further mental anguish on her behalf in someone who wasn’t blood related.

Phoebe surprisingly didn’t object when she told her she was going to accept the invitation, conveniently omitting her true intentions. She actually encouraged her to go and make a huge profit off it, but she never stopped advising her to tread carefully.

Before long, the berline passed through a stunning gate and reached a strikingly beautiful block.

Maturing pin oaks and red maples flush with verdant leaves lined the stone-paved street. Colorful imported potted flowers decorated key locations along the tree-shaded street, and a fountain shaped like a goddess holding a water jug sprayed tiny rainbows into the air in the center of the lawn-covered square.

“I take it this is the aristocrat district?”

“Yes, it is. The nobles’ estates are located a short distance ahead,” Phoebe explained as she smiled at Rock, who clung to the window and was gazing outside with fascination.

“You sound like you know your way around. Have you been here before, Phoebe?”

“A bit for my old job.”

“Heh. You’ve done a lot of different jobs in your day, huh?”

The carriage rolled into the residential block where the estates were located, leaving Rock’s suspicions behind.

Palatial residences designed with architectural excellence stood on breathtaking sprawling grounds, and a number of the meticulously landscaped gardens were visible from the carriage windows. Flowering shrubs that essentially screened some of the grounds from street traffic decorated the wide borders paralleling the wrought-iron fences.

Rock tried to burn into her memory the splendorous scenery she’d likely never see again, but two eyes weren’t nearly enough to capture every gorgeous garden that whisked by.

The berline carriage eventually arrived at one of the sculpted iron gates providing an elegant and theatrical entry to the grand manor beyond. It rode through the gates and passed the stunning front garden, which contained purplish-red plume thistle, bright-blue dyer’s alkanet, and white roses blooming in their full glory, before stopping right beside another luxury carriage. The coachman came around and opened the door.

“Wow…,” Rock breathlessly exclaimed upon stepping out of the carriage.

Nestled beyond the vast garden was a stately three-story limestone mansion. Bay windows adorned with traditional decorative ornamentations elaborately lined the third floor, a generous balcony with ivy crawling up it wrapped around the second floor, and central loggias welcomed visitors on the first floor. Sunlight pouring down from the sun at its zenith directly above the mansion made the outer limestone walls appear as white as snow.

The sculpted entryway made use of six arched wrought-iron doors, all of which were presently wide open, and a white-haired man dressed in livery stood in waiting before them.

He bowed in welcome to Rock and Phoebe. “Welcome, Master Rock.” He seemed to have been informed of what they looked like in advance. Greeting Rock first after seeing her face, he then shifted his eyes to Phoebe at her side. “Welcome as well, Mistress Phoebe. Thank you for taking the long journey to grace us with your presence.”

“Th-Thank you very much for honoring us with your invitation.” Rock fumbled over her words, earning a good-natured smile from the man’s deeply wrinkled face.

“His Excellency informed me of your visit. I am the head butler at this estate. You may call me Ludovicus.” Though slightly too old to be called a quadragenarian, Ludovicus wasn’t quite a septuagenarian either. He showed Rock and Phoebe inside with the utmost hospitality, then calmly informed them, “I apologize for having to ask this of you when we invited you over, but His Excellency is currently preoccupied with an unexpected guest. I am under orders to have you wait for him in the reception room, so please follow me this way.”

Another carriage had indeed been parked in front of the mansion instead of in the carriage house. Rock didn’t get a good look at it, but it likely belonged to Ebel’s unexpected guest.

Ludovicus led Rock and Phoebe past the grand staircase to the first-floor reception room. “Please wait briefly while the maid fetches you tea,” he said in parting, leaving the room without them.

The reception room where he left his two guests was decorated with the highest quality furnishings and fixtures money alone couldn’t buy. The magnificent crystal chandelier hanging from a stylized gold-leaf sunburst on the ceiling was too dazzling for the eyes, and its light played off the heavily engraved silverware housed within the curved silver-mounted ebony glass display cabinet. Rock and Phoebe sat on an intricately carved leather-upholstered sofa that felt like sitting on clouds, with a round polished marble slab table situated directly in front of them. On top of the table, unblemished white roses from the garden adorned a porcelain vase hand-painted with flowers and birds.

Not used to such extravagance, Rock’s eyes were beginning to hurt from taking in her surroundings.

“I’m shocked they left us alone in here… Do you think they trust us?”

“Isn’t it more that they know we can’t escape from here?” In direct contrast to Rock naturally dropping her voice to a whisper, Phoebe was just as loud and unreserved as usual. She rose from the sofa and walked over to the window-sized portrait on the wall. “This is the previous Count Mateus.”

Rock left her spot on the sofa and approached the painting.

Two people were drawn on the impasto texturized canvas that smelled of linseed oil. One appeared to be a man in the meridian of life, sitting on a gilded chair in the finest morning dress, a quiet smile on his lips. Standing beside his chair was a boy no more than fifteen, and from his burnt sienna hair and handsome face, Rock assumed he was Ebel.

Which would make the seated man the late Count Mateus.

“It’s a fabulous portrait. It’s scary how much it looks just like the man.” Phoebe let out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile, Rock was unconsciously tilting her head to the side, her full attention captured by the oil painting.

The boy in the portrait unquestionably looked like Ebel, but something about him was different—and it wasn’t just his age. Something else was at play. After studying the details for a few long minutes, the words slipped right off her tongue.

“The eye color…isn’t the same as His Excellency’s.”

The boy’s eyes were the tender green of fresh verdure in early spring. Ebel’s eyes were like golden orbs plucked from the sun. His eyes were the only thing that stayed the same between his human and magical werewolf form.

“Oh, you’re right.” Phoebe noticed it, too, and voiced her confusion. “But that’s strange. Ebel Mateus is Count Mateus’s only child. This boy has to be His Excellency.”

Rock wouldn’t have doubted it, either, if not for his eye color. The boy undeniably shared features with the Ebel she knew today. From his chiseled chin to his kindly smiling lips, almond-shaped eyes, finely shaped eyebrows, and handsome hairline, the boy was a picture of Ebel’s youth.

“Maybe the painter mistook his eye color?” Rock ventured.

“Even if he did, it’s weird to leave a public room meant for receiving guests decorated with an incorrect portrait.”

Both Phoebe and Rock were perplexed, but making assumptions wouldn’t lead them to an answer.

Not fully satisfied with their conclusions, they returned the sofa.

“Forgive me for making you wait!”

The reception room door opened with the sound of a woman’s melodious voice. In stepped a woman a little younger than Rock with wavy blond hair tied in pigtails. She wore a plain black twill dress with a crisp white apron pinned to her bodice and a neat white cap of the same material on her head. By the look of it, she was the maid Ludovicus had said would be coming with their tea.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am His Excellency’s maid, Johanna.” Johanna knelt at Rock’s feet where she sat on the sofa and beamed up at her with a radiant smile. “I have been longing to lay my eyes upon you, Master Rock!”

“Y-You have? Th-Thank you…?” Rock played along, not quite sure where that reaction had come from. Johanna looked up at her with stars in her eyes.

“From what His Excellency tells me, you are his destined partner in life! Your romance will surely be filled with obstacles, but I shall be supporting your noble love with all my heart!”

“Wh-Whaaaaaaat?!” Rock was thrown off guard by this sudden declaration.

How exactly did Ebel speak of her to others? If the maid’s choice of words was anything to go by, he’d already announced they were a couple.

As if she had intuited Rock’s discomfiture, an I-know-how-it-is look crossed Johanna’s pretty face. “You needn’t speak of it! I am sure it isn’t easy to talk about. I just wanted you to know that I am your ally and that I wish to be a pillar of support for your love from the shadows, no matter what anyone else has to say about it!”

Did she misunderstand their relationship? Or did Ebel, accidentally or intentionally, tell a story different from the truth?

Either way, Rock needed to set things straight with the maid.

“Pardon me. Nothing is between His Excellency and I—”

“Like I said, you needn’t explain yourself. I won’t be so impolite as to ask for the nitty-gritty details,” Johanna interrupted, shaking her head. “Just a little…if the opportunity for you to speak of it presents itself, I would love to hear just a little…a tiny bit about your relationship!” Forgetting to pour the tea, she dreamily breathed, with a euphoric look, “Oh my heavens… You are the ideal lover I always pictured for His Excellency, Master Rock…!”

“…What’s going on here?” Rock whispered to Phoebe on the sofa, having given up on explaining.

Phoebe shrugged, as if throwing in the towel before even trying. “I haven’t the faintest idea, but I know exactly how His Excellency has been talking about you now.”

Rock didn’t know “exactly how” Ebel spoke of her, but she was starting to get a pretty good idea of it herself. It turned out she really did need to have a firm talk with him after all.

Thoroughly satisfied after her moment of excitement, Johanna finally poured their tea. “His Excellency said to wait on you hand and foot as two of his most important guests.”

As if to prove the count’s hospitality, the deeply aromatic, unique scent of the tea leaves smelled better than anything that had graced Rock’s nose before. The tea was so excellent she was overwhelmed by the rich depths of flavor from her first sip.

“Phoebe, this is incredibly delicious,” Rock whispered offhandedly. Phoebe shot her an exasperated glance.

“You’re drinking it like normal.”

“Should I not?”

“…It’s not a big deal.”

On second look, Phoebe hadn’t touched her tea or cookies. Rock found that strange, but Phoebe spoke to Johanna as if to escape any probing into the matter.

“His Excellency isn’t coming yet?”

“I am very sorry. He has an unexpected guest taking up his time, and I cannot say how long he will be away for,” Johanna answered, sounding at her wit’s end. “But His Excellency is a man who keeps his word. I believe he will send his guest packing as soon as possible. Please enjoy the tea cookies in the meantime.”

Johanna offered her the freshly baked treats, so Rock reached for them without reservation, but Phoebe still didn’t touch anything served to her.

The way Johanna described it, their “unexpected guest” was more of an uninvited and unwelcome guest. Just what kind of person can barge into a count’s home uninvited? Rock wondered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quickly approaching, stomping footsteps. Some man’s voice boomed outside the closed reception room door.

“All right, which reception room is he in? I’ll go home once I get a look at the chap.”

“I’ll introduce you formally if things go that direction. But not today.”

The second voice trying to stop the first belonged to Ebel. Rock didn’t recognize the first, but she saw Johanna stiffen beside her.

It didn’t take long before the reception room door was thrown open without so much as a knock.

“Is this the one? …Yeah, this is it.” The young man who barged into the room sneered confidently when he spotted Rock perched on the sofa. “This is your urchin? He’s more fragile than I expected.”

Icy contempt filled the emerald eyes looking both literally and figuratively down on Rock. Unforgiving sternness exuded from his hard facial features, not a single raven-black strand was out of place in his slicked-back hair, and his arrogant pose left no room for backtalk. Rock’s first impression of him, informed by the man’s noticeably high-handed and haughty aura, was not good.

“I told you no. Go home for today.” Entering the room after the man, Ebel moved between him and Rock, blocking his view. But the man shoved Ebel’s shoulder aside and rudely stared at her.

“I was wondering what kind of bloke you’d fall for, and this is it? You’re beyond help, mate.”

“I never asked for your help, Guido.” Ebel sidestepped him with an annoyed sigh and glanced anxiously over his shoulder at Rock.

Rock was offended by Guido’s crass remarks, but she was discerning enough not to let anything show on her face around a nobleman. She silently communicated with Ebel through her eyes.

Picking up on her feelings, he took charge of the conversation. “You’ve finished your business here. I’ll ask you to go home now.”

“You aren’t going to introduce us, Ebel?”

“I only just told you I would if things go in that direction.”

“You shouldn’t treat your childhood friend so callously.” Guido gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, then drew Rock into the conversation. “You there. What do they call you?”

Unable to ignore a nobleman’s request, Rock unwillingly answered him just as Ebel and Phoebe turned to look at her at the same time. “My name is Rock Floria.”

“Your name’s the only thing that’s manly about you. You’re the kind of man that gets passed around when there aren’t any women.” Guido ridiculed her after hearing her name, finally pushing Ebel over the edge of his patience.

“Guido! Take back your insult!”

“Fine, fine. That was rude of me, Rock.”

“…Don’t trouble yourself to apologize to me.” Rock coolly shook her head in response to his empty apology.

“Johanna, Guido is going home. Inform his coachman to prepare his ride,” Ebel ordered, unable to put up with Guido’s antics any further.

“At once, Your Excellency!” Johanna energetically replied and flew out of the reception room as if she’d been waiting for that order.

Once the maid departed, Ebel grabbed Guido’s shoulder and tried to drive him from the room. “Off with you. You’ll put our friendship at risk if you utter another reckless remark.”

“Come to my house next time, Ebel,” Guido coaxed, unaffected by Ebel’s threats. “My younger sister is longing to see you.”

“Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

“She was once your fiancée. It wouldn’t hurt for you to show her a little love and affection—”

Ebel succeeded in propelling Guido out of the room at that point. He pushed him into the corridor, then deeply inhaled with his back against the door he’d forcibly slammed shut. Then he ran his hands through his disheveled hair to put the loose strands back in place.

“I’m sorry about all that, Rock. I put you in an uncomfortable spot.”

“It’s not the first time. I’m fine.”

The whole ordeal was definitely unpleasant, but people mocked her all the time for not being manly enough. She knew when she should swallow her pride and let it slide off her.

Something else was bothering her more than that, but—

“Was that possibly Guido Linus just now?” Phoebe asked, joining the conversation.

Ebel’s golden eyes rounded. “You know him? His name is indeed Guido Linus.”

“Isn’t he Duke Linus’s son? The Linuses are a distinguished family of dukes. Who doesn’t know of them?”

Rock knew of the family name too. But she couldn’t help being impressed with Phoebe for knowing the duke’s son by name. “You’re amazing, Phoebe. You know everything.”

“It’s a coincidence. I just happened to remember the name.” Phoebe shrugged, then suddenly directed a diabolical grin at Ebel. “Oh, and if memory serves me well, the Linus daughter and Mateus son were once engaged to be wed. I didn’t know the engagement had been annulled, though.”

“Your knowledge knows no bounds, Phoebe,” Ebel responded, sounding more suspicious than impressed. “The engagement was real, but we broke it off over eight years ago. Both Michaela—Guido’s younger sister—and I are perfectly happy with the arrangement now. He’s the only one who won’t move on.” During this attempt at clearing his name, he glanced at and away from Rock. “So please don’t let it bother you. I no longer have a fiancée.”

“Is that so? It doesn’t bother me either,” she remarked, a tad baffled by the way he put her on the spot.

“Not even a little?”

“Yes, not in the least,” she answered honestly.

Disappointment flashed across his features. “…I see. I was hoping you would be just a little bothered.”

Something else troubled Rock more than this talk of Ebel being engaged. The teenage boy with burnt sienna hair portrayed in the oil painting shared distinct similarities with Ebel, especially when she compared the real man with the portrait. There was no question about it—the portrait captured Ebel as a teenager.

Eight years ago, he broke off his engagement to a duke’s daughter, and he used to have verdure green eyes as a boy. Were these two seemingly unrelated matters connected somehow?

Now that their conversation about Guido had run its course, Ebel proposed they leave the reception room for his private study. “We had a measuring appointment, yes? My study is spacious, and few things can interrupt us there.”

Rock and Phoebe left the reception room and followed Ebel through the winding corridors.

From its enormous exterior, Rock assumed the Mateus mansion would be large, but the interior boasted of sprawling spaces she couldn’t even imagine. The first floor alone could fit more than ten of her apartments with room to spare, and it took ample time to navigate the complex passageways. They ascended the crimson carpeted grand staircase and walked until they arrived at mahogany double-leaf doors down one of the second-floor corridors.

“This is my study.” As he opened the doors, Ebel addressed both Rock and Phoebe: “Please come in, you two.”

“Both of us?” Only Rock raised her voice in surprise. Phoebe’s presence would just make taking his measurements difficult—they couldn’t let her see him turn into a werewolf.

So why did he openly invite Phoebe into the study despite that?

“I’ll be joining you for this session. It’ll be too late to do anything once something happens to you.” Phoebe’s grave tone made it sound as if Rock’s very life was in danger.

“I-I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about me that much.” Rock quickly tried to diffuse the situation, turning to Ebel for confirmation. “Right, Ebel? You prefer me to take your measurements alone, correct?”

“Absolutely—if that is what you want.” For some reason, Ebel chose to frame his answer in a way that made it seem as though this was Rock’s preference, not his.

Isn’t he the one who will be in trouble if Phoebe sticks around? Rock was trying to figure him out when Phoebe furrowed her pretty brow and sought confirmation.

“Are you sure, Rock? Don’t you feel it’s dangerous to be alone with him?”

“N-No, well, yes…I do, but I thought it might be okay?” Rock found herself stuck, trying to justify the situation to Phoebe without Ebel’s assistance. “Why don’t you wait outside the room, Phoebe? Isn’t it boring to quietly keep watch over me while I take his measurements?”

“Well, I can easily run to your assistance from out here, too, if that’s what you want.” Phoebe reluctantly backed down, throwing a loose curl over her shoulder. She shot a sharp look Ebel’s way and made double sure this was what Rock wanted. “But are you positive it’s all right to put this much trust in the count? He’s already got a track record with you.”

“He does, but…” Stuck for words, Rock looked to Ebel for help.

He joyfully came to her rescue. “Phoebe, Rock has said it himself that he wishes to spend time alone with me. Won’t you adhere to his wishes?”

No one said they wanted to spend time alone with him. She didn’t say that, but they wouldn’t get anywhere if she pointed it out, so she silently nodded.

“…Since when did you get so hunky-dory with each other?” Phoebe didn’t hide her suspicion, but she relented.

“In that case, come this way, Rock.”

Ebel entered his study first, with Rock about to follow him, when Phoebe grabbed her arm and whispered, “I need to ask you this to be sure: are you actually into him?”

“ME?! Wh-Why would you think that?”

“You wanting to be alone with him makes me interpret it that way. Duh.”

“…It’s not how it sounds. This is all for work! FOR WORK!”

It finally dawned on Rock what Ebel was after. He’d deliberately set the stage to force her into saying she wanted to be alone with him!

The count’s study enjoyed a spacious layout on par with the downstairs reception room, if not slightly bigger. Stunning geometric patterns and graceful scrolls combining shades of soft gold, ivory, and aqua green were hand embroidered into the wool area rug. The doors were painted and surmounted by panels with bas-reliefs in colored stucco; the fireplace had a painted wooden frame and, on top of it, a stucco work with rosettes and lozenges that framed antique mirrors; and the walls were decorated with elaborate embossed carvings that painted an image that continued up to the tall ceiling.

The doors closed behind Rock as she entered the room, her eyes taking everything in until they landed on Ebel leaning with his back against the magnificent rosewood desk, a suggestive smile on his lips. “We’re alone at last, Rock.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Phoebe can hear you. She has good ears.”

“Not as good as mine, I’m sure. Let her overhear. It does us no harm.”

“…I came to take your measurements. That’s all.”

Ebel had succeeded in making her dance to his tune. Frustrated that she fell for his trap, she pulled out the measuring tape with her guard up.

Ebel closed the space between them with two strides and gently grabbed the hand not holding the measuring tape. Big, strong hands with visible veins, clearly not those of a werewolf, lifted up Rock’s dainty hand and playfully flipped it over. He studied the details of her palm with the zeal of an antique dealer assessing a precious curio.

“Wh-What is it?” Rock asked, flustered.

Ebel shook his head and gave a mysterious smile. “I was simply admiring your hand. So this is what a tailor’s hand looks like.”

“I can’t relax with you staring that much.”

Ebel’s hand felt like a warm summer day, and that warmth felt as if it was going to slowly permeate through her body if he continued to touch her. His appraising gaze sent shockwaves of fear through her that he would see through to her true identity.

Rock tried to shake off his hand, but he thwarted her attempts with a debonair smile. He tightened his hold on her hand just enough to prevent her from getting free, but not enough to cause any pain. The measuring tape floundered, and still her hand couldn’t break away.

“Ebel…you are disquieting me.”

“You’re cute when you’re disquieted,” he merrily replied, as if that’d been his goal. He suddenly brought her hand up and planted his lips on her slender wrist.

“Ah,” Rock squeaked, responding to the sensation of unfamiliar, soft lips brushing along her skin.

He didn’t miss the instant reddening of her cheeks. “You’re a mystery to me,” he said, his voice rumbling in the back of his throat. “I couldn’t ask for a better, more experienced tailor, and yet you surprise me with your innocent inexperience at my touch.”

“I already told you I have no experience with these things…!”

“So you did. I adore that part of you as well.” Ebel encompassed her hand in both of his and sweetly whispered, “Not because I want you as a substitute for something else. I love you for who you are, Rock.”

Rock gasped.

“Now then, I hate to make you let go, but we should get started soon. Otherwise you will be late getting home,” he said slyly.

“…You’re the one who wouldn’t let go of me, Ebel!”

Just how did Phoebe interpret Rock’s shout echoing into the corridor? There was no way to tell from the stationary double-leaf doors.

“All right, enough dawdling. I’m going to start measuring you,” Rock informed Ebel once she collected herself. She glanced at the curvaceous study chair with dark finishes and embellishments. “Do you mind sitting in that chair, Ebel?”

“Your wish is my command.” Ebel complied on the spot. He went out of his way to carry the heavy chair from behind the desk to in front of Rock, then gracefully sat down on it with a pleased smile. “Does this work, Rock?”

“Yes. I am going to measure your head and around your neck.” Rock stepped up to him with the measuring tape in hand as his golden eyes followed her every move. She couldn’t relax with him studying her so intently. “Don’t move your head.”

“I can’t help but move it—I want to watch you.” Ebel blew off her instructions and took it even further by pointing to his lap and suggesting, “How about you sit on my lap to get a better measuring angle?”

“I don’t foresee that ending well, so no.” He exasperated Rock with his ceaseless advances.

“That’s just your imagination. I promise you something wonderful will happen.”

“I highly doubt that,” she sighed, moving around to stand behind him so she could measure the back of his head.

She wrapped the cloth measuring tape around his head covered in burnt sienna hair. His hair was stiff and glossy, reminding her of the werewolf fur it shouldn’t hold any similarities to.

“The plan was for you to make a cloak with a cowl, right?” Ebel asked, feeling ticklish from her touching his hair.

“Yes. You tend to be blithe and careless, so you should conceal your face when you walk around the slums.”

Rock wrote down his head size in her notebook, then removed the tape measure from him. She touched his neck next. The nape of his neck peeking out from his shirt collar was smooth and barely touched by the sun. When she placed the measuring tape underneath his prominent Adam’s apple, Ebel moved his head again to look back at her.

“I’m weak when it comes to the neck. Please be gentle with me, Rock.”

“Thank you for letting me know. I promise it won’t hurt.”

She wrapped the measuring tape around his neck front to the back and held it in place with her fingers. The hair falling on the nape of his neck hid the numbers, so she gently brushed the soft strands away with her free hand. The feel of her fingers grazing his neck drew a small exhale from him.

“Mn…”

“Does it hurt? Should I loosen the tape some?”

“No, it just tickles.”

“I’m sorry. I will be done shortly.” Rock quickly added up the numbers and hastily took them down before removing the measuring tape.

Ebel looked over his shoulder at her once more. “I can’t get enough of you taking my measurements. It might become a habit.”

The light gleaming in his golden eyes swayed like scorching flames. Rock was momentarily frozen by those eyes that shone in a different color from the portrait. His eyes said more with one look than a thousand words could, which was why she found his gaze more difficult to deal with than his words.

“Not many customers say they enjoy having their measurements taken. You have peculiar tastes.” She shrugged, trying to dodge his implications.

He smiled wickedly and took her to task for glossing over the subject. “They just don’t voice their opinions. I highly doubt anyone could make it through such a sensual moment without losing their presence of mind.” When she didn’t answer him, he regretfully went on. “I asked you once before, but do you have any interest in working exclusively for me?”

“You did offer me the same position before, which I refused.”

“I can’t stand the thought of you touching anyone else this way. I want to form an exclusive contract with you,” Ebel said beseechingly, catching hold of the wrist Rock held the measuring tape with.

His hand, so quick to display his possessiveness, held her tight and was hot enough to melt her on the spot. The heat emanating from his palm added to Rock’s dismay, and in vain she quickly tried to shake it off.

At the end of her rope, she pleaded with him instead. “P-Please stop.”

But seeing her troubled expression only made him increase his grip. “It makes me want to let go of you even less when you beg like that.”

“Can you be any more of a nuisance?!”

“You are making me one. You drive me crazy and pretend not to realize it.” Ebel’s lips were curved into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

He was a pain to deal with once he got like this. He toyed with Rock, using any means at his disposal. She could seek help from Phoebe in the corridor, but calling her now would impede taking the rest of his measurements. Rock swung her eyes to the unmoving door and shook her head, deciding it was best to save that option for last. She needed to find a way to continue giving him the slip.

His golden eyes directed an unwavering gaze at her. A light bulb went off in her head as she looked down into those eyes.

“I saw the portrait in the reception room,” Rock blurted under his fiery gaze, her wrist still in his hand.

Ebel’s eyebrows shot up. “What is this about, Rock?”

“According to Phoebe, that’s a painting of you and your father, Ebel.”

“Indeed, that is a painting of Father and me.” Realizing she was trying to redirect the conversation dissatisfied him. But she spotted a hint of a completely different emotion flicker in that expression. Almost as if he was deeply intrigued—as if he was even enjoying their game of cat and mouse.

Rock wasn’t enjoying herself in the least, but she carefully proceeded anyway. “Then why do you have different colored eyes in that portrait?”

She couldn’t help being curious. The supernatural werewolf form looked nothing like the handsome young man. Only the eyes didn’t change color. She couldn’t get it out of her mind, the way these golden eyes differed from the boy in the portrait.

“I would love to ask you why that interests you so much,” Ebel started, smiling from the heart this time. “You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? My eye color is the wolf’s.”

“Then—”

“That’s right. Eight years ago, when I was sixteen, I became a werewolf.” Under normal circumstances, that should’ve been a horrifying revelation. But his tone remained lighthearted, with even a hint of pride. “It’s been publicly explained away as the aftereffects of an illness. I was afflicted by an infectious disease when I was sixteen. My eyes changed color after being anguished by a high fever for days on end. Or so the story goes.”

That story was nothing more than a lie of convenience. Rock swallowed the lump in her throat as Ebel continued his tale.

“But the truth is different. What anguished me wasn’t a disease, but a curse.”

“Did you just say…a curse?”

“I did. One day, my antique collector father unleashed the power of a cursed statue and turned me into a werewolf.” Ebel released Rock’s wrist. Freed from the warmth that could melt the thickest ice, Rock’s body instantly became chilled. He saw through to that and let the seriousness show on his face. “Father blamed himself until the day he died.

“I can understand why. I can’t believe it’s a curse…”

“Here’s the thing, Rock. I don’t bear a grudge against Father. I’m actually grateful to him.”

His words weren’t an empty sentiment for show—his deep trust and love for his father bled through his tone and expression. Of course, Rock had a hard time believing that was all he felt about being cursed.

“That’s why I want to use this werewolf power to protect the things Father loved.” Ebel gazed searchingly into Rock’s eyes. “And…those I care for too.”

Ultimately, the golden eyes that ardently watched her were the mark of a cursed man. It was a wonder how he showed no signs of being anguished by that fact. Even on closer inspection, not a single shadow darkened his expression.

“Isn’t it…painful for you?” Rock couldn’t resist asking.

Ebel’s throat rumbled with laughter. “You’re kind. Are you concerned for me?”

“No, I’m not— Yes, I am.”

His story was so outlandish Rock couldn’t take it all in at once. A curse that turned people into werewolves, the late Count Mateus’s costly mistake, Ebel’s loss—she needed time to understand Ebel and how he could come to grips with everything.

The one thing she knew for sure was that Ebel had overcome it all on his own and that he didn’t need her to worry after him.

“It doesn’t pain me. I’ve long since grown used to it,” Ebel answered glibly, but Rock wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easy.

“But if the curse happened eight years ago, was it the reason why you broke off your engagement?” The two unrelated matters were connected after all.

Ebel confirmed it with a slow smile. “Yes. Michaela was understanding when I told her why.” After a slight pause, he sadly added, “You saw Guido’s reaction for yourself. He didn’t used to be that obstinate in the past…” His expression fell when he spoke of the duke’s son, but he quickly replaced his frown with a practiced smile. “I’m fine. Nothing is tormenting or hurting me.”

“Is that so…?” It took all Rock had to give that tepid response.

She felt that she should’ve said more, but words escaped her. Extremely mixed emotions whirled through her. She understood neither the reason nor the nature behind those complex feelings.

“Also, you can rest easy. This curse isn’t transferable.” Ebel was casual about the whole thing from beginning to end. “We can touch as much as we want without fear of you turning into a werewolf as well. So it’s all right if I touch you, right?”

“Of course it’s not all right!” Ebel’s familiar banter helped Rock recover from the shock.

The Mateus family once experienced a major tragedy that exceeded Rock’s imagination. But now that the past was behind them, was Ebel’s werewolf powers the only remnant of that incident? Or was there more to it?

“By the way, have you finished measuring my neck? What’s next, Rock?” he redirected the conversation.

“Oh, right. I need to take measurements for the cloak’s length. Would you mind standing?” Rock requested, returning to her work.

Ebel rose from his chair, reversing their positions to have him looking down into her eyes now. A mischievous expression flashed across his face as he bent down slightly and blew on her neck.

“Eep!” Rock jumped at the hot breath brushing over her skin. She shot him a killer glare and received a triumphant grin in return.

“Revenge for you changing the subject. We’ll be revisiting that conversation later.”

It appeared the winner of this game of chase was still in the air.

Rock shrunk back and furtively glanced over her shoulder at the study doors. Even after she screamed, they didn’t burst open.

After finishing up Ebel’s human measurements, it was finally time to bring the werewolf out.

“If you will, Ebel…”

“Certainly. Wait a moment.” He began pulling his shirt off. Flustered, Rock whirled around until her back was to him.

“Why are you stripping right here?!”

“It’s too much trouble to go into my dressing room. We’re both men here. You don’t mind. Do you?”

“W-We are, but still!”

Rock minded a great deal. Given her occupation, she should’ve been used to seeing the naked male body, but Ebel was the one person she couldn’t look at directly. Even more so with the memory of being held to his bare chest still fresh in her mind.

“I have to wonder why you get embarrassed over every little thing. I’d be fine with it if it means you’re conscious of me as a man.”

Ebel’s baritone voice accompanied by the sound of rustling clothes filled the still room. Rock wrapped her arms around herself and simply waited for him to finish getting ready.

Before long, the crunching of bone and ripping of flesh replaced the other sounds.

“I’m ready, Rock.”

She turned toward the rumbling voice and found a towering furry werewolf with gleaming golden eyes standing there.

“Your transformation always astonishes me,” she admitted.

The werewolf scratched the black fur–covered spot between his ears. “I’m more astonished by how calm you are. I’m amazed you’ve grown used to it in this short amount of time.”

“I was frightened at first, but not in the least now.”

Strangely enough, her fears had been replaced by a fondness for the werewolf form. From his twitching, pointed ears to his wagging, bushy tail, he was a million times cuter than the wild dogs prowling the mountains.

Rock instructed the werewolf count to crouch down, and she set about measuring his head much the same way as she did for the human count.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door.

“Rock? Are you there?” Phoebe asked from the other side.

Rock never left the room, so of course she’d be there, but that didn’t matter at this point—they were in deep. Things wouldn’t end pretty if Phoebe saw werewolf Ebel. Rock swallowed her response and silently looked to Ebel first.

“…What should we do? Hide?” she asked in a hushed voice.

Should she have him hide? Or make it so Phoebe couldn’t come into the study? Which would be more successful?

“Let’s hide,” Ebel decided and swept Rock into his arms.

“Whoa…!”

“Quiet.”

A furry hand covered Rock’s mouth, and Ebel carried her toward the door deeper within the study. On the other side of the door, soundlessly opened by Ebel, was a dressing room. Dinner jackets, frock coats, topcoats, and hats hung inside the small room that acted as a walk-in closet. He brought her inside and noiselessly closed the door.

The tight space had no lights or windows. With all the clothing inside, it was too cramped for a hulking werewolf and another adult to fit comfortably. Ebel settled into the closet with Rock pressed right up against his chest. She struggled to breathe with his soft fur covering her like a heavy blanket.

“Ebel, I can’t breathe…”

“I’m sorry. Please bear with it.”

Squished painfully together, they peeked into the study through the crack in the door.

The study doors eventually opened, and in stepped Phoebe and Johanna.

“Rock? You aren’t here?” Phoebe raked her eyes over every nook and cranny in the room. Rock watched her beautiful face rapidly grow grim when she realized the study was empty. “What’s the meaning of this? His Excellency isn’t here either!” Her voice sharpened with suspicion, and she shot a needling glare at Johanna.

The young maid smiled to smooth over the situation. “Oh! They might have changed locations!”

“Why would they do that?” Phoebe arched a skeptical eyebrow.

“Because…um, our mansion has many different rooms, including a billiards room!” Johanna’s reply wasn’t much of an answer. Rock was sweating bullets in the closet.

She could’ve just stepped out and explained the situation, if Ebel weren’t a werewolf. No way could she expose the werewolf rumored to devour the townsfolk to Phoebe. Not to mention that would go against Ebel’s wishes to keep his secret safe. Frustration at being trapped in the closet gnawed away at her.

Most of all, she was in the painful position of having to cling to a werewolf inside a stuffy closet. They were both remaining perfectly still, but Ebel was starting to breathe heavily.

Rock also felt weird being hugged by his werewolf form, and it was hot being surrounded by thick fur. An indescribable animal smell filled her nostrils with every breath, and she was growing dizzy. Leaning against the thick, fur-covered chest, she prayed Phoebe would leave without a fuss.

Meanwhile, Phoebe completely distrusted Johanna. “Where did you put that child?” she asked in a murderous tone, sending Johanna jumping a good few feet off the ground.

“Where? I don’t know!”

“Rock disappeared in the short time I was called away. Was this your plan all along?”

Phoebe was called away? Rock latched on to that remark. I thought she was outside the doors this whole time. She wasn’t? Now that she thought about it, Phoebe should’ve reacted when she’d screamed, but she hadn’t.

“I swear to God I don’t know!” Johanna was shaking her head so hard her pigtails were flying horizontally. “Surely Master Rock finished his work and they went for a stroll together.”

“A stroooll?” Phoebe drawled, disbelief coating her every syllable.

“Yes! Um, if you like, shall I escort you to where they might be, Mistress Phoebe?” Johanna seized Phoebe’s right arm with both hands and began dragging her away before she could answer. “Right this way, please!”

“Hold on! I never said I’d go!”

“But don’t you have to search for His Excellency and Master Rock?” she wheedled.

“I do, but… Aah, geez. Don’t pull on me, girl! I can walk with my own two feet!” Phoebe shook off Johanna’s hands and irritably departed the study. She ran her eyes over the room one last time before the doors shut, but she never noticed Rock and Ebel hiding in the closet.

Once the pair’s footsteps were out of earshot, Ebel and Rock took a breath at the same time.

“Looks like we got through it.”

“So it seems. I feel bad about Phoebe, though…” Rock felt guilty for deceiving her.

Something else was eating away at her, too. What had happened that made Phoebe leave her station? Who had called her away?

Rock’s pondering was cut short by Ebel heavily panting above her head. “Ebel, are you all right? You sound like you’re having a hard time breathing.”

“Yeah… I’m not in pain, but it’s just one of those things…”

“You must be hot with all this thick fur.”

“I’m definitely getting hot. I wouldn’t have been able to stay in control if not for being in this predicament.”

Rock was starting to get the idea they weren’t talking about the same thing.

“As much as I hate to end this moment, let’s leave this room,” Ebel recommended before she could think too much about it. “Johanna is quick-witted, but not a very good actress.”

“Let’s do that,” Rock agreed immediately. She pushed her arm through the space around his fur and reached for the closet door.

“Wait. We’ll be taking this exit instead.” Ebel stopped her and pressed the back closet wall with his rock-solid arm.

The light spilling through the closet door crack let Rock see the wall slide down with the sound of rolling chains, unveiling a pitch-black stone passage in its place. She would have to crouch down to pass through the crawl space, though whether the width was enough for two adults to squish past each other was debatable.

“Wh-What is this?” Rock’s question echoed down the stone passage. It seemed to go on forever.

“A secret passage. For use at times like this,” werewolf Ebel answered, his white fangs sharply glistening. “We wouldn’t want to accidently bump into Phoebe like this. Let’s return to the study from another location.”

“From another location? Where does this lead?”

“Everywhere.” Ebel gave a concise answer and stole into the passage with Rock held in his right arm. He advanced surprisingly quick through the tight confines.

He had taken Rock by such great surprise, she went along with it without a fight.

The closet door and sliver of light vanished behind her in the blink of an eye as the furry werewolf carried her deeper into the darker-than-black passage. Wind seemed to be blowing from somewhere, swaying Ebel’s fur into her face and tickling her cheeks.

The wind current told her there were forking passages here and there in the dark. Did werewolves have good night vision? Ebel took all the right turns, advancing through the mansion until he finally stopped at a dead end.

“This is the spot. I’m going to dive inside once the trapdoor opens, so hold on tight.”

“O-Okay.” With little choice, Rock wrapped her arms tightly around the werewolf’s sinewy neck.

Ebel pressed against the stone wall, and the floor beneath them snapped open. They plummeted through as if being sucked down a drain and dropped into a small bright room. He shifted Rock, who was clinging to his neck, into both arms and stuck the landing with the grace of his feline counterpart.

“We’re there. Let’s prepare ourselves here first,” said the very face of a wolf as it peered down at her.

Rock swept her gaze over the room while still in his arms. Only a lantern with a swaying flame, a large wooden chest, and a door leading out marked the drab stone room barely large enough to fit three people. Why was the lantern lit in a place that clearly didn’t see many people?

“What is this place?”

“An evacuation room, should the worst come to pass. A network of secret passages and small rooms like this were built throughout the house to hide my werewolf form from prying eyes.” After answering her question, Ebel quietly placed Rock on the floor. Tail wagging, he ambled over to the chest and flipped open the lid with his clawed hands. Stored inside was a full set of gentlemen’s clothes.

“You’re well prepared,” she marveled.

The werewolf looked over his shoulder at her compliment, his triangular ears twitching. “Thank you. My father had it all constructed for me.” Whenever he spoke of the late Count Mateus, Ebel’s voice took on a gentle yet lonely tone. “Father wrestled with a guilty conscience over the curse that befell me… He did anything he possibly could in order to atone. He reconstructed this historic manor for me and only hired servants he trusted with his life.”

Unknown to him, Ebel’s words froze Rock to the floor. Just as he had once said to her, she sensed the similarities in their backgrounds that spanned beyond class differences.

“He built all this for you…”

“Indeed. Father may have made a grave mistake. But I don’t bear a grudge against him for it. Because I received his love.”

Ebel’s candid declaration brought a swell of emotions surging through Rock that she didn’t quite comprehend.

Not bearing a grudge against a father. Rock felt the exact same way. She didn’t resent the man who had abandoned her and her mother. But she was beginning to detect something akin to envy within Ebel when he spoke of his father.

“You had a wonderful father.” What Rock intended as a casual comment contained traces of sadness.

The werewolf blinked his golden glowing eyes. “What’s the matter, Rock?”

“N-Nothing. Why?”

“You look deeply hurt. Did I say something that caused you pain?” He leaned over to gaze into Rock’s eyes, but unlike his human form, the werewolf was too large to comfortably angle himself to be level with her face.

His awkward bent position pulled a small smile from her. “You needn’t worry about me. I was just thinking of my own father.”

“The one you said was a mercenary?”

“Yes. As I told you before, Father abandoned Mother and me.” Rock shook her head. “Or rather, that’s how it should have been, but he left me everything he had. It was more than enough money for me to open my shop.”

Rock didn’t know how much money a mercenary made with a single job, but the sum her father left her would take her five years of saving up every coin she made to attain. When Phoebe first told her about it, it shook Rock to her very core.

“That’s why I can’t bring myself to hold a grudge against him… Or more like it would be strange to have hard feelings. I understood just how much he cared after I saw how much he left for me.”

The confusion she felt at the time stirred back to life within her, and she unconsciously held her hand over her face. The werewolf gently rested his paw-like hand on her back. His was clearly different from a human’s, but it was warm all the same.

“But I never met my father,” Rock continued, pouring out her feelings while receiving support from his warmth. “What kind of person was Father? What was he thinking as he saved up all that money for me? What did he think of Mother and me? I wanted to know those things… I still can’t get over wanting to know them even now that he’s gone.”

But she would never have the opportunity to meet her father again. Not the man who’d already departed this world by the time Rock had arrived in the imperial capital.

“What about Phoebe? Wasn’t she your father’s lover?” Ebel asked kindly. “Can’t you ask her about your father?”

“Phoebe doesn’t like to talk about him much.”

Letting her curiosity get the better of her, Rock had both directly confronted Phoebe about it and tried sounding her out on the subject. Yet every time, Phoebe clearly didn’t want to speak about it.

“I think she’s probably being considerate of me. So it’s hard for me to ask her about it these days.”

As far as Phoebe was concerned, Rock was her lover’s secret child. Most people normally wouldn’t want to accept the existence of such a child. Yet Phoebe was nice to Rock and always looked after her. Truth was, Rock was comfortable with their relationship the way it was and didn’t want to shatter it.

“…I’m sorry for suddenly bringing this up.” Rock quickly tried to put an end to the conversation so she could shove the sadness under the rug from whence it came.

The werewolf took a short breath. “Nothing for you to apologize for. You and I truly are similar.”

“Yes…you might be right,” Rock agreed.

Ebel scratched the area between his ears as if lost in thought. Then, suddenly striking upon an idea, he asked, “Rock, what’s your father’s name?”

“…Why?” Rock replied.

Fangs gleamed from Ebel’s open mouth in a wolfish grin. “Like I told you before, my father loved to collect antiques. He used to hire mercenaries to scavenge through ruins for items to add to his collection.”

Mercenaries. That word was enough to catch Rock up to speed. “Are you suggesting you might know of my father?”

“Obviously I can’t ask my father about him, but I have an old-timer butler who has been around since then.” Ebel gave a big nod. He lightly patted Rock on the back as if to set her mind at ease. “Plus, I might arrive at the pertinent information if I go through the intermediary my father used at the time. I can be of service to you if you tell me his name.”

The possibility to learn more about her father—that was the most irresistible offer anyone had ever made to Rock. Ebel might be able to tell her more about the father she thought she’d never have a chance to know, about the father Phoebe refused to speak of. If there was even a chance at learning something, she wanted it more than anything.

But—

“I can’t. I can’t tell you.” Rock took a small step to the side, indirectly rejecting Ebel’s gentle hand. The werewolf’s claws hovered in midair as he cocked his head in confusion.

“Why not?’

“Because…I know your feelings. Asking something of you like this would be taking advantage of you,” she answered shamefully.

Put another way, relying on Ebel here might lead to a situation where she would be forced to accept his courting.

Rock wanted to avoid getting involved with him outside of work at all costs. Being rattled by his past had the unintentional effect of making her share the feelings she kept bottled up. Allowing him to do this for her posed a serious risk of his stripping off each layer of her shell until everything was laid bare.

“If you don’t want to take advantage, just accept being courted by me.” Golden eyes glittering in the lantern light, Ebel placed his large hand on her cheek. He lifted her chin up to face him and brought his wet nose tip to hers. Flashing his sharp fangs at the stiffening Rock, he asked, “You don’t hate me, do you?”

“Wha—? Well, no, but…”

She didn’t hate him. She simply had a hard time with him constantly leading her around by the nose, taking her by surprise, and sweeping her off her feet.

“Then you should just love me.” His sweet, inviting whisper came from a mouth filled with sharp teeth. “All you have to do is entrust your heart and body to me and desire my love for you. That’s it.”

She glimpsed his wet tongue, redder than fresh blood, past his fangs. His warm breath caressed her lips. It tickled so much she wanted to laugh aloud. In a daze, Rock listened to the love proposal from the werewolf who once stood as a symbol of fear. She wasn’t afraid.

Nevertheless, when he pushed her onto the floor, her slender body shivered.

Before her back touched the stone floor, his hand softly cushioned her, preventing her from feeling any pain from her soft fall.

Of course, that didn’t make her happy. The werewolf’s enormous body hovered over her, his broad shadow swallowing her whole. She nervously looked up at the werewolf’s slowly narrowing golden eyes.

“Now then…shall we begin?”

“B-Begin what?” Rock’s voice cracked.

Sensing the danger, she struggled against him, but Ebel’s hands gently pinned her arms to the floor. Restrained, she couldn’t writhe around without hurting herself, so she was stuck glaring up at the muzzle directly above her.

“Please release me!”

“No one can beat me physically. You, especially, can’t shake me off.”

Feeling as if he was shoving her weakness in her face again, Rock forgot her fear and let anger take over. “Do you also think I’m like a woman?” she snapped at him.

He appeared to be smiling a little, if a wolf could smile. A long sigh escaped his open mouth. “I don’t think you are ‘like a woman.’”

“Come again?”

“I have confidence in my nose.” His calm voice was in direct contrast to the restless gleam in his eyes. “Since becoming a werewolf, my senses have become far more acute than a human’s. My nose tells me you are a woman.”

Ebel had pointed that out before too. Paralyzed with shock, Rock felt her strength drain from her pinned but struggling arms. Taking advantage of that momentary lapse in her guard, the werewolf licked her cheek. She shuddered from the rough, lukewarm tongue that was clearly not human.

“S-Stop this nonsense!” she yelled at him.

“I can’t give you a gentle kiss in this form.” He removed one of his hands from her wrist and slowly brought it to her cheek. The palm of his werewolf hand had tough pads like a wolf’s paw, but the coarse fur covering the back of his hand and fingers tickled her. Careful not to cut her with his bladelike claws, he poked her cheek, making her increasingly more confused by the situation.

“Are you doing this because you think I’m a woman?” she accused. “I already told you before that I’m—”

“And I also told you that I don’t mind whether you are a man or a woman.” The werewolf hand pulled away from Rock’s cheek and slowly descended. He ran his palm over her slender, round shoulders, down the weak arm he had previously pinned, and over her soft sides with little fat, and finally his clawed hand stopped at her toned waist, which he deliberately stroked to confirm the feeling and shape.

“Hyaah…” In the heat of the moment, Rock moaned, and she felt disgusted by the pathetic sound that escaped her. Pushed passed her tolerance level, she slammed her free hand into the werewolf’s stone-hard chin. “Please stop this right now! I’ll punch you!”

“You’re too cute.” Even with his chin being forced to the side, Ebel was full of composure, adding even more to Rock’s agitation.

“I’m not cute. Don’t treat me like a woman!”

“I won’t if that is what you want. But…” The werewolf hand hadn’t left her waistline yet. He ran his palm over the outline of her hips as he noted, “It’s not just your smell. Your body shape is just like a woman’s too.”

Rock finally realized he wasn’t trying to tickle her or feel her up; he was ascertaining the difference in bone structure between a man and a woman.

“Please tell me. Are you really a man?” he queried. Desire burned in his golden lantern-like eyes, but he kept his tone cool and calm as he sought the truth above all else.

Alas, she suspected words alone wouldn’t get her out of this.

Rock dressed as a man to protect herself and survive in the world alone. Even Roxy Floria, a single young woman with charming looks and no family, could obtain a peaceful existence in the slums filled with riffraff by transforming herself into the delicate wisp of a young man known as tailor Rock.

When Phoebe had suggested she disguise herself that way, Rock had leaped at the idea. It didn’t matter that the crazy suggestion had come from her father’s “lover,” who she barely knew at that point. The thought excited her.

The reason was extremely simple: Rock had always wanted to become a man to take the place of her absent father and protect her fragile mother.

The mother she should’ve protected was no longer with her, but she was happy that her secret desire was granted. But she never imagined someone would show up in her life and try to expose her.

“Why are you…trying so hard to dig into my life?” she asked the werewolf above her, heaving a heavy sigh.

Depending on his answer, she might have to divulge the truth. As it was, dressing as a man did nothing to keep him at bay. It wasn’t as if telling him the truth would stop his advances either.

“That’s a silly question.” His eyes glittered. “People aren’t satisfied unless they monopolize everything about the person they have fallen for. I want to know everything about you.”

Is that how it worked? That state of mind was foreign to her.

“I’m dying to lay bare the secrets you harbor and the heart you keep locked away.” His hand returned to stroke her cheek. He brushed so gently along her jawline that thoughts of coarse fur and unbending claws didn’t enter her mind. “Won’t you tell me about you, Rock?” Ebel’s whispers were sweet, and it was that honeyed tone that made up her mind.

If it was love that made him want to know more about her and expose her secrets—Rock couldn’t answer him.

So she sliced into him with her implacable glare. “I am a man, Ebel.”

The werewolf gasped, something impossible for wolves, and inquired, “Does that mean you…don’t want to answer me?”

“I am telling you that I am a man. That is my answer.”

Only Phoebe and I need to know my secrets. I don’t plan to confide in anyone else, Rock thought, staunchly holding on to that belief.

“You won’t tell me?” Ebel’s voice sank with disappointment. Still he refused to give up and pushed again: “Please. I swear I won’t tell a soul.”

“You heard my answer. I have no secrets to tell.”

“I can’t help wondering. You are so very much like a woman—”

His entreaty finally managed to enrage Rock. “I am a man! I’ll come to hate you if you continue prying into me!”

The werewolf’s ginormous body trembled as if struck by lightning. “You will…hate me?” His pointed ears fell flat against his head, his broad shoulders drooped, and his tail tucked under him as he asked that lonely question.

He naturally loosened his grip on Rock’s arm. Taking advantage of the freedom, she sat up and thrust her finger at his nose. “I will!” she admonished. “Neither a man nor a woman would be happy to have someone making uninvited inquiries into their life!”

“Is that so? When you put it that way, I have to agree…”

“Also, people who suddenly push down others are the worst! Don’t do that unless you want to be hated!”

“…I’m sorry.”

Was His Excellency the Count unused to being scolded? He became despondent and docile just by Rock raising her voice with him. Phoebe was right about when to say no if she didn’t like something.

She was confounded by his sudden obedience. “I’ll forgive you this once as long as you understand.”

The werewolf gave a big nod. “Yes, I understand. There is one thing I would like to ask of you while we’re at it.”

“What is it?”

“What should I do to make it so you won’t hate me? I desperately want to know how to get you to like me,” he implored.

Rock sighed at him. “You want my approval that badly? Why?”

“Because I fell in love with you.”

“I don’t understand how.”

“You lent me a hand several times when I was in trouble. You helped me when I couldn’t prove my identity as a count and had no money to pay you with. Do I need any more of a reason to have fallen for you?”

Rock still didn’t get it after his explanation. She cocked her head.

Ebel jerked his head up and begged, “Will you at least not hate me if I look into your father?”

“What? No. That’s a different matter altogether.” Bringing up Rock’s father was clearly the way to sway her feelings. Obviously Ebel wouldn’t back down after he saw her reaction.

“Please allow me to investigate. I want a chance to make up for what I’ve done.”

“Y-You don’t have to. I feel bad having you go that far for me.”

“You are simply giving me an opportunity to apologize. Don’t think of it as using me.”

Sincerity filled the words that pressed her for an answer, and they were tempting words at that. They penetrated right through the defenses guarding her heart, which had been shaken by the dizzying events of the day.

“I swear I will find information on him. Please tell me your father’s name,” Ebel repeated one final time.

This last time was the charm for Rock, who’d made the long trek to the imperial capital seeking her father and who’d dressed as a man in pursuit of his shadow. “My father’s name is Fredericks Berwick.”

When had she last uttered that name aloud? It meant the world to her. It was the name of the man her mother loved until the end, the name she cried out over and over again on her sickbed.

Ebel gave a deep nod, as if accepting the feelings that came with the name. “Got it.”

“Um…please don’t go overboard trying too hard. It’s all right if you find nothing.”

“Don’t fret. I’ll definitely pass along any plausible leads to you,” Ebel cheerfully told her. She was still hesitating even after divulging the information.

“Thank you very much. But I mean it when I say it can just be something you look into on the side.”

The werewolf’s golden eyes locked on her stiff smile. He leaned toward her on the floor and opened his fang-filled mouth. No sooner did Rock think He’s going to bite me than he suddenly snapped his mouth shut on her neck.

“Ahh?!” The yelp died in her mouth at the painless werewolf bite. “Uh, um, er, excuse me…?”

The puppylike love bite left the feeling of his fangs on her neck without nicking the skin. She got the chills from his hot breath caressing her skin and the smooth tip of his tongue briefly touching her.

“Wh-What are you doing this time?” Rock asked, her voice shaking.

“Giving you an oath kiss and expressing my affections. This is a symbol of my vow to grant your wish,” Ebel answered.

“That was a kiss?” she asked skeptically.

“I can’t kiss gently in this form. So that’s my replacement for one.”

“Was it even necessary to do such a thing?” Rock questioned with her hand on the spot where he’d nibbled on her neck.

“Don’t family members share kisses of this level?” Ebel retorted, seemingly forgetting his earlier bout of depression.

Family members kissed each other only on the cheek or head. At least, that was what Rock did with her mother. She had no experience with her father, so she couldn’t be sure. Was that why she felt terribly flustered after Ebel’s kiss? Heat rushed to the spot where he’d pressed his fangs.

Ebel helped Rock to her feet, and she finished taking measurements of his werewolf form. Once that was done, he returned to human, put on clothes, and left the evacuation room with Rock.

They exited into the Mateus mansion’s first-floor corridor and returned to the reception room as if they’d come back from a stroll. Inside, an exhausted Phoebe languished on the sofa looking as if she had been dragged all around the mansion and grounds by Johanna.

♚♚♚

“WHERE did you get off to? You made me search all over because you weren’t in the study.” Phoebe waited to grill Rock until they left the Mateus estate and boarded the same carriage they had arrived in.

“We had time to spare after I measured him, so I had His Excellency show me around his manor.”

Phoebe’s keen blue eyes narrowed at Rock’s lie. “Hmm… You guys sure are peachy together.”

“No, we aren’t.” Rock decided to keep it a secret from Phoebe that she’d told Ebel her father’s name and asked him to look into him. “And you’re one to talk. I thought you had my back outside the study the whole time, but you weren’t there. Where did you go?” She threw the question back at Phoebe.

“I was summoned by that butler, Ludovicus.” Phoebe sounded miffed.

“Why?”

“He invited me out to dinner alone with him. I shot him down, though.” She shrugged. “Then I was captured by that annoying maid and dragged all around… She was one loud, grating woman. Didn’t give me a chance to rest.”

“Sounds rough.” Although Rock felt bad for Phoebe, she sensed something off in her explanation.

Why did she think Phoebe was lying? Was it because she was lying too?

“Were you okay while I was away?” Phoebe asked, concerned about Rock as well. “His Excellency didn’t try anything funny with you, did he?”

“I-I’m okay.” Rock’s response classified as yet another lie.

Inside the swaying carriage, she rubbed her fingers along her neck where the feeling of fangs still lingered. Far from capable of saying she had been bitten by a werewolf, Rock mulled over those events alone.

It remained as a strangely sweet memory within Rock long into the future.