The smell of potent stink took me back to my senses!
I'm lying on the same bed in the garden. But right at this moment, something is different. I dislike the smell of flowers! I cough one after another while itching my nose. My steps spontaneously run towards the outside. I grasp on the fences while relieving my nose and throat with the fresh air.
And when I touched my forehead, I felt the tightness in my nails and found out the reason why. Everything about the incident last night is vivid in my memories. The moon... the sensation underwater... The ghost… I thought it was just a dream. My nails grew longer, sharper. I tested scratching the fence and it left a deep mark, effortless.
My body feels lighter—and that's not a bad thing. I looked at the path beside our farm and found a villager passing by with a wagon. The sound of the wheel, even at least one hundred meters away, is clear to my hearing.
"Weird..." It was the first word I uttered this day but I covered my mouth when I felt something strange with my teeth: fangs. “Wha… Did I become a merman?”
I bit my wrist to wake me up from this odd phenomenon but I ended up hurting myself. My fangs and teeth left a mark on it and bled. However, it's astonishing that I felt not the pain, only an itch. In addition to these odd things, my wound closes for a short period of time. This is above normal and I can't stop my sentiment.
I can hear Cormelio's voice inside the garden, his steps, and his moves. I ran towards the closed door, expecting Cormelio to come out and he did. Right after the door opens, I cuddle him! I even heard him squeal. "Uncle Cooor! You won't believe what's happening to me!" I said with a euphoric grin, then coughed.
"I know what's going with you, now get off me!" He pushed me on my shoulders. And right away, he wore a long blue coat on me.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Well, yes. Better than better."
He slapped me on my temple! "And what were you up to last night? Did I tell you to swim!? I only asked you for an errand!"
"Yes, I heard you." I thought he was concerned and harmless. That made me giggle.
"The mark! Why do you have that mating mark on your neck!? With whom did you make love last night!?"
I suddenly embrace myself and say, “I did not!” That reminds me of the ghost. The bitemark was carved. “Uncle Cor, do you have any idea about the apparition on the cliff?”
“What brings that up?”
“I was bitten by a ghost underwater! You said you’re aware of what's going on with me. Please tell me.”
I slid my fingers on the hem of the coat and that's when I found out that my nails are back to their usual and decent appearance. The coat has a silver lock where the design is a full moon brooch that is cut in half. The cotton itself is soft like fur rubbed onto my palms. And this includes a hood too.
He sat on the cemented fence of the flowers. "From now on, start wearing that coat to conceal your power."
"Conceal my..." I licked my teeth and found no fangs, my fingers are normal, and the flowers don't itch my nose anymore. I set aside my excitement to heed Cormelio's explanation about this. "Did you know everything all this time?"
His eyes closed and he expelled an amount of air. "... Hessuel. You're not a normal human. You belong to the race of werewolves. Not just that... You are a silver wolf. A living weakness of your kind, and the last one. Yes, I've known you all along. But I hold my tongue with this truth to hide you... to protect you from any werewolves who hunt you."
He said, "These flowers aren't just flowers. I fertilized it with stenches that irritate a werewolf. I'm sophisticated with developing traps and weaknesses for them. And now that your power finally reawakened, it affects you. So, always wear that coat to hide your identity for a while... because once they figured this out, they'll kill you."
"Who're they?"
"The pack is called Vengeance. Don't let them catch you. And if that still happens, don't let them kill you."
"Uncle Cor, I'm an adult now. Scary tales like this won't work to drag me to bed earlier."
"You think this is just storytelling? Do you think the changes in your body are illusions? Do you think I tell you werewolf tales for nothing?"
I swallowed. "No?" I said.
His shoulders fell. "Take this seriously. I will not tell you everything but line upon line only. You have to discover some things on your own, too."
"In terms of what? A growl? Can I do a mighty 'roar' like a beast? Then let's figure it out." I was about to give it a shot when he halted me.
"No— Don't be ridiculous, Little Devil! You're a werewolf, not a dinosaur."
"Actually," I scratch my nape, "I thought that I'm a long-lost prince. Or a son of a god underwater. Either a cursed mage or a noble member of kin, too. Just like how stage plays work. But being a beast is a whole turn of events."
He sighed in frustration. "Then stop feeding your head with such plays. Your story is different. You're not a monster. Don't ever degrade yourself. You are a wolf but something peculiar; your claws, hair, and fangs are silver. I do not know the whole background but—"
I unplugged the moon brooch to remove the coat, hung it on my shoulder, and rushed to his upper room to see myself in the reflection of his study table mirror. My sharp pupils in the eyes are crystalline blue. And when my mouth formed a circle, I saw my fangs that are silver in color but the other teeth are the same.
With my hair, some strands are silver, and I played with my fingers and that twinkled my silver claws. "This... is so attractive~! It feels like I'm walking with free pieces of jewelry!" I look at my reflection and through it, I can scan the slightest details of my skin. So this is how I look without the coat. I'm totally a different person. A perfect strange thing that isn't cogent.
I jumped down from the second floor and asked Cormelio. "Is this..." I cough and rub my nose. "Is this really me? I don't have the natural image of humans now. How can I..." He pulled the coat from my shoulder and put it on me.
"That's why I told you, every now and then, wear this coat to conceal your appearance and the essence of your power while you still have to master everything you've got."
"You will teach me how?" I asked with a grin.
"The little devil is waggling his wolf tail," he mumbled.
Nothing but pure excitement lingers within my chest. Although I have several questions about who I really am. Why am I mundane from the tales of the werewolves? Where did I come from? Who is my family? And why should I be here? What did the Vengeance pack do to them? What is the origin of these? Cormelio said that I might not handle the entire truth about myself which awakens my curiosity even more.
And just like what I'm excited about, my life routine mutated into something exhausting. I trained with Cormelio using the dagger we bought, he taught me every knowledge he has when it comes to combat, and that left me for the rest of the episodes boosted up and frailty. As for the break time, Cormelio lay on the ground.
I let my hands down holding the dagger and stood beside him, concerned about the reason behind this rehearsal. "Uncle Cor, why do you have to train me? Does it mean that I might encounter countless feuds? Are you preparing me for war or something?"
After his rough hum, the answer was spilled, "To defend yourself from potential harm ahead, now that your identity has awakened. I know you have great power. And it's completely worthless without prior knowledge on how to handle those. I have experience of dragging novice knights to deadly training. I can do the same for you."
"That's exciting! When?"
"... Not the answer that I expected." He sighs. “But other than this, I want you to keep in mind one of the most important things you should do as a werewolf.”
“What is it?”
“You need to find your mate.”
☪ ✧ ✧
I gained two lucky pockets for today's merchandise. The weight of it pulls my belt down, leaving me no choice but to tie it to the handle of the handcart instead. I was on my way home, filled with excitement and lines in my head on how to brag about my fruit of hard work today! But on my way, walking roadblocks discontinued my pace.
"That's him. That's the slave the old man feeds." The scoffers are on the field of my whereabouts again. But this time, they have a giant commissary. His baleful stare down on me is terrifying. I'm still glad that Cormelio isn't around to spar with him. The scoffers are standing behind, some of them are bruised from the last battering.
Two of them locked my arms with theirs. "You’re gonna be dead for good. Let's see what that old man realizes."