"..." I pinched the sleeve of my coat. "I have a personal excuse to take that down."
"Okay~ Then make sure you protect your kids whenever my men pester you."
I contained half of my anger from slamming the table. "Would it kill you if you show kindness, sir?"
"Of course, not. I only want to figure out how long you will lie to the people around you. Don't you think it's troublesome to keep that secret for the rest of your life? Let me help you." He swings his finger upward, consequently, my plate almost splashes out on my face and the food stains my coat. I caught the plate from falling to the floor and patiently laid it on the table. "Go ahead and remove that coat. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself, do you?"
"Stop it!" Ophelia asserts.
"Don't meddle, you're just an average."
"You are the one meddling at our table! I took Hessuel here to consult and be cured, not to be bullied!"
"Cure? Are you ill? Ah, that's why you look weak," he said to me.
I shook off the dirt on my coat, formally fixing myself, and said, "I am not into frays, neither would I rejoice for it. I will work with the authorities to capture them since I got permission from you if your men persist. I might as well start from you, Sr. Afvshaganifs." I hold Hedwelch's tiny hand. "We'll meet your friend next time, Madam Ophelia," I informed and left immediately.
But this bully yells in an inappropriate manner. "We're not done yet, wolf boy!" I wasn't paying attention to him until he yanks my coat from behind and removes it from me with the force of his magic! I pull back my claws, maintaining my glare at him—his lips circle when I'm exposed. Immediate silence dwells in the bar. "There you are~ The real you. Your pipsqueak looks exactly like you!" he announces, and drops my coat on the floor.
I'm accustomed to humiliations like this, but one thing is the common mistake of my scoffers: they think I'll respond in a way that pleases them.
I comb my white hair upward and sigh. "Fine. That coat is magical. I requested that gift from my father to alter my appearance and entice not the people's attention!" I announced, too. Some of the men are murmuring whilst some of the women are drooling wine.
Afvshaganifs cannot react at the moment. I stand closer to him, hook my coat on the floor through my foot, toss it, then catch it. "What do you want from me for real?" I whispered to him. He's not backing off from my glare when he said,
"I want you out of my way for real." His answer made me scowl. I cannot understand how he's supplying his hatred at me except for being a bad-tempered bully. He glances at my left arm. "Your bite mark?" he asks, pointing at it. He seems to know a lot about me, too. A magic circle illuminates around his right hand and my left hand is pulled, he grasps my wrist and hits my bitemark through his other hand!
"AH—!" I pushed him as I fell to my knees, gnashing my teeth and squirming my arm!
"I know how to heal you. Let's cut your mate bond." A magic circle appears again, and before he could make another step closer, a chair slides and bumps on his knee. Hedwelch steps on it expeditiously and blows a punch on Afvshaganifs's face with the gauntlet on! 'Twas powerful enough that tossed him to the counter and caused the glasses to shatter. Hedwelch was attempting to tackle again but I gird my other arm on his loins.
"HE'S A BAD GUY!! LET ME GOOO!" he screeches at me. Afvshaganifs has created magic circles with both hands, raging with every step he makes toward Hedwelch but Ophelia hinders his way.
"That's enough. I will not tolerate this behavior." She forms her magic circle as well. The frightened customers move out. A familiar person who came upstairs joins the commotion to pacify the growing tension and I'm greatly surprised by her presence...
"What's going on here!?"
"Mrs. Lanasia..."
The gape of her mouth enlarges when she sees me. "Hessuel!"
...
...
(Dandeline's POV)
"I'm really sorry! I forgot about asking for consent from the guardian!" I said when we met at the rendezvous: the train station. Dayana sent me the message in her letter that she was looking for Danteleon. The witnesses brought her to the idea of sending me a message.
"Mr. Hessuel might give him a penalty once he discovered his naughtiness."
"No! Don't tell dad!"
"I'll handle it. Is he home?"
"No news yet. I came there after I fetched Hedwelch but Mr. Hessuel wasn't there. L-Let's go home first!"
Danteleon is holding the leash of Six as we keep an eye on him up front. After hearing from Dayana that Hedwelch is at home, I filled my determination to face him with my authority as her mother. I cannot spoil such an attitude in front of me again! However, what we met inside was more unexpected than Hedwelch's reaction—in fact, he's not home. Staring at the white she-wolf sitting on the couch, I contain my hostile issue as I remove my shoes.
"Ms. Hrista! You're back!" Danteleon—without a second thought—gifted her a hug. "Where's dad?" He's looking around and because of that question, my heartbeat increases in speed. Apparently, Hessuel's scent is not around. I may be eager to bite Hessuel on his arm right now but a smirk is drawn on my lips that he's not home alone with this mistress.
"I'm waiting for him, actually," she responds timidly.
"Where's Hed?" Danteleon nags more. He looks around with Six following him wherever. She was planning to tail Danteleon but I approached her with my feet slowly pacing toward her.
"Hrista?" I called. "That's your name, no? Do you know who I am?" We're standing beside the dining table.
"Pardon me. I don't."
Danteleon noticed Acro on the dining table lying weak on a furry fabric. "Acro! What happened!?"
"Her condition is getting worse so I brought her here to seek help," Hrista explains.
Using an enchast in a finger, I scan Acro's body to find the defect. "She'll be fine once you wash her in the bathroom," I told Danteleon. He nods and moves on his way but Hrista defies,
"No! The cold might make her situation worse."
"The enchantment will work with my instruction."
"The pishnies already tried magic with her and it didn't work."
"It'll work with me. Do it."
"Don't. It's too risky! We should consult the vet."
"Uuuh..." Danteleon has been glancing at me and Hrista alternately. I glare at her and she has the audacity to reflect it to me.
"Fine," I revised the spell, "Just feed her any bread she can eat. She'll be fine thereafter."
Hrista didn't debate against it and Danteleon obeyed. A piece of pricked bread brought back Acro's strength. Danteleon cuddles her without wasting any second. "You can perform magic even without performing...?" Dayana mutters in amazement.
On the other hand, I scan Hrista's outfit from head to toe. No sandals. No underwear. Only a wet button-down shirt covers her and it doesn't seem it belongs to her. "Have you seen Hedwelch?" I asked.
"N-No. This house was empty when I came."
I made a step closer to speak closely to her, "You can enter the empty house without being deemed as a trespasser? I did it once and I was accused. That doesn't seem fair."
"... Because I'm not a stranger to them. Maybe you were?"
"Hm, I'm afraid you're not pointless. If you don't mind, I have another question. Why are you wearing that?" I pointed a finger at her outfit. She pulls her collar in an attempt to cover her cleavage and glances at Danteleon who's still busy befriending Acro to Six like his toys.
"I'm also here to return this shirt to Al— Hessuel."
Tapping a finger on the table, I ask, "How do you plan to do that? Are you planning to strip that in front of him?"
"... Yes!"
"What a shameless—"
"I will change this shirt with one of the dresses he bought me before I return this, of course," she reinforced her answer confidently.
"You..." This woman is a professional flirt! I'm certain she can enthrall men! I won't let my mate join the fandom! "May I see the dresses he bought you?" I make my way upstairs to the wardrobe and she follows me with haste.
"Why are you meddling too much?"
"Being inquisitive made me a scholar."
"You're meddling even with things that don't concern you!"
"I am the wife. Is there anything I shouldn't know?"
"..."
"You must be special to have a space here."
"So what? Hessuel is simply that kind of person."
I stopped in front of the wardrobe and faced her. "You were with Hessuel, no? Why is that shirt wet?"
"We... were looking for you in another city and we accidentally fell on a river."
"Looking for me?" I smiled after a few seconds. "And you? Are you planning on staying here?"
"Why do you have so many questions?"
"I enjoy listening to your lies."
"I'm not lying—"
"Aw, I know you're a werewolf," I whispered to her ear. Grasping her arm, I pulled her closer to the wardrobe as I opened it by magic, and instead of clothes, the wardrobe opened a passage to a forest under the two moons.
"What are you doing!?"
"I've been wondering how you crossed worlds. Werewolves cannot stay here."
"Your world sucks!"
"Ah, you know me after all! So what makes you disgusted at your world? you can't flirt my mate there!?"
"Stop touching me!!" She sways her claws that almost bruised me but she stumbled herself on the floor in front of the passage just to avoid crossing it. After that, she groans louder deliberately, emphasizing her pain. Placing my hand on my chest, I stand here while doing nothing else but watching her.
"What're you doing? You're cringing me..."
"Ms. Hrista? What's wrong?" Danteleon rushes to her aid.
"My leg!" She laments.
"Mom?" he asks me with suspicion.
"She pushed me!"
"She fell on her own." I shrugged.
"Can you heal her?" he pleads.
"There's nothing to heal. She's only acting."
"Ah!" Hrista plays in pain again.
"You despicable liar! Would you like me to make it real!?" I unleashed my spellbook, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her up. However, Danteleon stands between us—unlinking my hold on Hrista.
"Mom! You're hurting her!"
"She's only acting."
"You said you won't hurt her!"
"I said that varies!"
He flinches and it's only a matter of seconds for his eyes to refract tears! What’s really painful… is watching my own son defend the flirt.
I released her hand and sulked.
"So you choose her over me?" I spun an enchast in front of my hand, then the wardrobe closed. "You're hurting me too!" I rant and walk away. Danteleon calls me many times to go back but I left the house nevertheless. Keeping my act on the road outside, he wails on his way to me. I pulled back my smile before I face him and accepted his embrace.
"I'm sorry! That's not... what I mean! I'm sorry!"
His clingy arms are about my hips as I raise his chin to wipe his tears, caressing his wavy white hair where my fingers tangled. Technically, pups tend to be attached to their parents automatically once they recognized their warmth and scent of them during the pups' infancy. Werewolf parents are the same to them. "Danteleon, this might be too early for you to understand, but not all kind people are honest."
Gesturing through my lips, I told him to look at the doorway of the dome house where Dayana and Hrista are standing. He looks up at me again and asks, "You healed her?"
"Ugh, no. I told you, there's nothing to heal in her. You can't have two moms because you came from only one mother and one father."
"How?"
"I-It's not the right time for you to know!" I messed up his hair. Holding his hand, I took him back to Dayana, then invited Hrista to come with me to the bar.
"I'm not coming with you," she enunciates.
"Your Luna resides there. She'll do whatever must be done to you on my behalf. I don't want any more headaches."
"I said I'm not coming!"
"..." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Alright, then I'll summon the Luna here. I'll report to her that there's a fugitive dog in our house." I turned my back right away though I felt her attempt to stop me.
Confidently, I made my entrance into the bar but to my surprise, everyone on every side is having their own battle! Why are Zaeramil's customers violent today!? he even has his own fight! Carefully walking in the middle of turmoil, one man stands out in my view. The smell of alcohol swirling naturally in this establishment failed to cover the scent of the sweetest cabbage in my nose.
"Hessuel..."
At present, he's struggling to tame Hedwelch as this boy is seizing at Afvshaganifs—who's smashing the faces of any opponents who come at him using a wine bottle! A stranger randomly smashes the bottle on Hessuel's nape so as a result; he released Hedwelch to keep him from the broken pieces, grabbed the stranger's hips, threw him onto a distant table, "Sorry!" he said, and shook off the pieces from his clothes while looking around for Hedwelch.
Unexpectedly, he found me.
We suddenly become nonchalant by the chaos surrounding us. The noise of my heartbeat thumps louder than the shouting of troublemakers. Not even the flying bottle between our gazes cut it. Even from a distance, just staring at my favorite eyes drives me out of my sanity, ghryc djvie eeekj! I can't believe I can cringe myself!
After that seemingly endless stare, my fingers flinch when he starts walking toward me—pushing away anyone who randomly hinders. Until we heard the screeching of Hedwelch; he's clasping on a man's pants while he's running and dragging Hedwelch to the wine cellar beside this area! The man bumps on the wooden containers, enough to waver it while Hedwelch is left lying beside it.
"Hed—"
"Hed!"
I wiped everyone who was on my way with enchasts and covered Hedwelch from the falling containers, moreover, Hessuel shielded us behind me while he blocked the other containers with one arm. Although the balance of the containers is totally gone, I quickly enchanted all the containers by turning them into thousands of rose petals when it drops to the floor. Hedwelch utters his astonishment.
At first, I glanced at Hessuel's hand propped beside me, then I looked at him over my shoulder. There's only a small distance between the tip of our noses. No words came out of our lips again but our eyes communicated. He glances at my lips, and I close my eyes without resisting as he pulls his face closer until,
"You!?" Hedwelch said.
I almost forgot there's a child in front of us. "Why, yes, me!" I said I cannot tolerate this child's bad attitude!
The whole household was put into silence when Zaeramil shouts, "SILENCE!!" and he slams a table along with the sudden ground shaking. "This bar is closed now! I know you all had fun, now would you please leave this bar peacefully!?" He raises a menacing flaming sword. The next thing I know is Lanasia's forced expulsion of the customers.
"Seriously? That was all for fun?"
"He started it! He's bullying dad!" Hedwelch is pointing at Afvshaganifs.
"Hessuel?" I inspected his body. "Are you alright?" I asked for the first time after 5 years.
"... I guess," he answered.
I only knew Ophelia was here when I heard her arguing with the pirate. "Now look at what you've done! You will even argue with a child!?"
My heels clunk on the floor as I stride toward Afvshaganifs. Frankly, his face shifts from cold to docile. "Avi, you did what to my child?" I confronted.
"I was... trying to befriend them in my normal way."
"You were picking a fight with Hessuel," Ophelia recounts.
"That's just me being friendly~"
Lanasia speaks up, "All customers witnessed you harmed Hessuel."
"You don't. Come on, why are you on Hessuel's side?"
"I have no bias," Zaeramil informs as he drinks on his own on the counter.
I said, "You're not good at lying, no?"
"... Damn. Fine." He shrugs. "Let's say I'm trying your boyfriend's patience."
"Are you bored? Don't try Hessuel's patience lest yours will be tried instead. And how many times do we have to tell you that your normal is not the norm of the people on the land?" Poking a finger at Afvshaganifs' chest, I warned, "Don't ever mess up with my boys again."
"For you, my lady." He lifts and kisses my hand in a split second. Startled, I pulled my hand and it bumped into Hessuel's chest who was already behind me without my knowledge! Apparently, he’s glaring at the captain like a prey and this captain didn’t step back from it.
"You know each other?" he asked.
"Yes. We made the world of wolves together."
"W-We!" I clarified. "All of us created that world." Yet he suspiciously tilts his head. I touched his arms and muttered, "I have a lot to tell you..."
"Yes, we have a lot to talk to," he said, however, his cold approach changed the beat of my heart. Especially when he pulls me out of the circle of mages, calls Hedwelch, and leaves the bar.
While observing him from behind, I've been trying to unloose my wrist from his tight clasp and follow his quick pacing! His anger is transparent at the moment and such emotion is crawling into my arm through his cruel hold. "Hessuel, I'm coming home with you, okay? Release my hand."
"No."
"Wha— You're hurting me! Release. My. Hand!"
He did it but he then lifted me on my waist and hanged me on his shoulder! "Hessuel!" Flailing my legs, I rant, "This is humiliating—! Hey! When will you learn to carry me like a lady!?" When shouting was futile, I stopped like a dead fish on his shoulder. I just started flailing again when we came into the dome house. He's ignoring me by leaving a favor on Dayana to keep an eye on the twins for the meantime, and now he's taking me inside the bathroom.
"What are you doing!?"
He laid me in the bathtub and opened the faucet.
"Seriously? Are you... going to bathe me?"
"Can't you smell yourself?" he said, then poured a mug of water on my head. What's my smell that irritates him like this? Sniffing my underarm, I got more confused because I don't smell any odor. What happened to his nose? or maybe my nose? During my brainstorming, he's brushing my foaming hair but stormy!
"Are you going to bathe me with clothes on?"
"..." He's too serious to tease right now.
I hold both of his hands. "Don't make me a mind reader. What's going on with you? Why are you acting like this?"
"I noticed this once but twice is suspicious. Why is your smell the same as that pirate?"
"That pirate!?" I sniffed my clothes again. "I don't know! I can't smell it!"
"You've been with him for 5 years, why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm not alone with him. I created a group for that creation to hasten it and come home earlier than 10 years!"
"Don't I deserve to know what's been going on with you for 5 years? send any letters or whatever to at least tell me and the kids how you were? Dan, I've been waiting for any signs from you but nothing came! I might lose my mind thinking if you're alright or not! Everything was telling me that you're dead, and now that you're not, your relationship with that pirate will afloat into my knowledge?"
"What relationship? You're fabricating it negatively!"
"Then what was that kiss on your hand? 'My lady'!? And you named him Avi..."
"His name is complicated!"
"... while you're calling me by my name!?"
"That doesn't mean you're not special to me! He calls me 'my lady' with regards to respect, that's all!"
"You think."
"You think, too! You think I never cared. I can't visit you or leave my responsibility with the Moon Goddess. I can't leave that world for my own so please understand that! To be apart from my family wasn't easy for me, either!"
"They have two moons~!"
"Shooosh! Danteleon, don't interfere there!" We heard Dayana and Danteleon on the other side of the door, and we remained shut until their shadows and voices are gone. "Let's play outside. Come on..."
"..."
"..."
Holding carefully on the side of the bathtub, I step out of it to face him properly. "Alright. I'll tell you everything."