Episode 91. Now We Must Have a Child
Adele woke up after an hour. When she said she couldn’t sleep anymore, Mark sighed and lent her the book as promised.
However, Jade and Pauline kept nagging her to play board games, so she had to stay up all night.
She was finally able to find the silver wolf with the book when the two children fell asleep.
Even then, the silver wolf was still asleep. Adele could barely suppress her anxiety as she watched its back rise and fall steadily with each breath.
“Chris, are you here too late? Don’t be angry. I brought you a present. It’s a book about the wolf clan.”
Adele sat down comfortably next to the silver wolf with the book she borrowed from Mark. Then she began to read the book out loud.
Hoping that if he heard her own voice, he might wake up a little faster.
“...However, even this seemingly perfect beast has a few fatal weaknesses. We must use those weaknesses to destroy them...”
The author of this book argued that the wolf clan was nothing more than beasts and could not coexist with humans. He even suggested a way to exterminate them.
“First, the wounds from fighting between clans regenerate significantly slower. This is because their teeth and claws secrete a special substance during battle. That’s why the population of these top predators, who have no natural enemies, did not increase exponentially.”
Adele paused from reading and muttered.
“Mark was right. That’s why the wounds from fighting Stone didn’t heal easily.”
She gently stroked the silver wolf’s neck.
“Chris, if you ever meet the same clan again and fight them, avoid close-range attacks. Shoot him with my pistol instead. No, I’ll shoot him, so you avoid. Yes? That means don’t fight without me knowing.”
She spoke as if she were asking a child, then resumed reading the book.
“So we have to make them fight each other by causing discord among the clans. This is a tactic to subdue the enemy as an enemy... You bastard!”
Adele shouted in anger, but he still didn’t respond.
She stared blankly at the silver wolf, who was still breathing, and then turned her gaze back to the book.
“Second, the wolf clan mates with one partner for life. They imprint on each other through mating, usually in the winter, the breeding season. Sometimes, the imprint weakens after a long time after the companion dies. However, most people mate with one partner for life and reproduce.”
Adele smiled and turned to the silver wolf.
“So you’re saying that the wolf clan can never cheat? What, then, you’ve been worrying for no reason.”
Then she whispered mischievously in the silver wolf’s ear.
“What should I do, Chris? I can cheat, but you can’t. Why are you upset? Then get up quickly. If you don’t, I might cheat.”
“...”
But he still didn’t respond.
“Tch, it’s not fun.”
Adele turned the page again.
“We can find another way to exterminate the wolf clan here. It’s to slaughter the weak females and cubs. Then their population will naturally decrease... This is ridiculous!”
Thump!
Adele eventually closed the book she was reading.
The way they fought the wolf clan was all mean and cunning.
“I’m angry. They treat the wolf clan like animals, but they are more cruel and mean than the animals. They don’t even know shame. If this is really how the wolf clan was exterminated... Are you listening, Chris?”
“...”
“I think I know how your clan disappeared. I’m so angry too...”
Adele stared blankly at the unconscious silver wolf and urged him.
“Please wake up. If you do something wrong, your clan will disappear like this. So get your act together. It’s ridiculous to be taken advantage of like this.”
He was always strong, and he was never cornered by any crisis.
To Adele, he was a solid fortress and an unwavering faith. If he fell and did not get up, her world would also crumble.
Adele hugged the silver wolf's nape and buried her face in his soft embrace.
After a while.
The moon that had been hiding in the clouds gradually revealed itself. As moonlight poured in through the examination room window, the previously dark room brightened up.
Ssaaaah...
The silver fur mysteriously swayed in the wind that had seeped in from somewhere, and the neatly arranged eyelashes slowly moved.
The blue-gray eyes revealed under his eyelids also came into focus.
“Haaaaah...”
A faint breath escaped from the silver wolf.
However, he didn’t move as if he didn’t want to wake Adele, who was leaning against his body. He just looked down at her with his transparent blue-gray eyes. He had just woken up from a long sleep, but in the past few days, her plump cheeks had become terribly thin. He carefully moved his head and gently licked Adele’s cheeks.
This was all he could do for her now...
“Ugh... Chris...”
“...”
Adele, who had been mumbling as if she were sleeping, slowly opened her eyes. Then, the moment she met his deep eyes, she was startled and quickly sat up.
“Chris!”
“...”
“You’re really awake. I thought it was a dream. Thank goodness, really...”
Tears flowed down Adele’s face as she spoke. She quickly wiped them away with her hand and smiled.
“I was really worried.”
“...”
“Chris... why aren’t you saying anything?”
Adele’s expression, which had been smiling in relief, became anxious again. He was just staring blankly at her in the form of a silver wolf.
After a while, he asked hesitantly,
“Aren’t you surprised? That I look like this?”
His voice was much lower and huskier than when he was human. Her brow furrowed slightly, as if his voice was grating on her ears.
But Adele quickly shook her head.
“I knew.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t know. I just knew when. That you might be a silver wolf. There’s no way I didn’t know. We were so close. It was just that it was hard and took a long time to admit it.”
Then Adele smiled weakly.
“Now that I admit it, I feel better.”
“...Hmm.”
He only mumbled softly and didn’t answer any further.
But that wasn’t important to Adele.
“How’s your body? Are you feeling better now?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Christine’s huge body gradually got smaller. The silver fur covering his entire body also slowly disappeared...
“Oh! What, what’s going on all of a sudden...”
Adele, who had been blankly staring at him, quickly turned her head in embarrassment.
He had already returned to being human and was naked, not wearing a single thread. He stood up casually and examined his body.
“I think I can move around a little. Fortunately, the vet wasn’t a quack.”
“Let’s put this on for now.”
Adele turned her head and quickly handed him the sheet on the bed.
Christine’s expression became slightly mischievous.
“What, you’re upset. You didn’t want to see my face, I guess.”
“Of course, I wanted to see you. But I wish you had dressed up properly.”
“What’s the point of manners between us?”
Christine smiled and cupped Adele’s cheek, making her look at him.
“Chris. You really...”
Adele sobbed.
Embarrassed, he quickly took his hand off her cheek and wrapped the sheet around his waist.
“Sorry. I was joking. I was just so happy to see you again. So Adele, don’t be mad...”
The once fearsome wolf had now become a puppy that was always watching its master's face.
Adele finally ran to him and hugged him as if she couldn't stand it anymore.
"I'm happy too. I thought you were really better when I saw you playing around. I was really scared that something would go wrong."
"Ha, no way."
He laughed with his usual arrogant expression as if nothing had happened.
In the end, Adele ended up crying out loud.
"Ugh! Huh!"
It must have been because she felt relieved that everything was over.
She felt relieved that it was okay to cry and show her weakness like this.
"Adele..."
Christine patted Adele's back as she sobbed, then hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone make you cry. I made that happen."
Adele woke up after an hour. When she said she couldn’t sleep anymore, Mark sighed and lent her the book as promised.
However, Jade and Pauline kept nagging her to play board games, so she had to stay up all night.
She was finally able to find the silver wolf with the book when the two children fell asleep.
Even then, the silver wolf was still asleep. Adele could barely suppress her anxiety as she watched its back rise and fall steadily with each breath.
“Chris, are you here too late? Don’t be angry. I brought you a present. It’s a book about the wolf clan.”
Adele sat down comfortably next to the silver wolf with the book she borrowed from Mark. Then she began to read the book out loud.
Hoping that if he heard her own voice, he might wake up a little faster.
“...However, even this seemingly perfect beast has a few fatal weaknesses. We must use those weaknesses to destroy them...”
The author of this book argued that the wolf clan was nothing more than beasts and could not coexist with humans. He even suggested a way to exterminate them.
“First, the wounds from fighting between clans regenerate significantly slower. This is because their teeth and claws secrete a special substance during battle. That’s why the population of these top predators, who have no natural enemies, did not increase exponentially.”
Adele paused from reading and muttered.
“Mark was right. That’s why the wounds from fighting Stone didn’t heal easily.”
She gently stroked the silver wolf’s neck.
“Chris, if you ever meet the same clan again and fight them, avoid close-range attacks. Shoot him with my pistol instead. No, I’ll shoot him, so you avoid. Yes? That means don’t fight without me knowing.”
She spoke as if she were asking a child, then resumed reading the book.
“So we have to make them fight each other by causing discord among the clans. This is a tactic to subdue the enemy as an enemy... You bastard!”
Adele shouted in anger, but he still didn’t respond.
She stared blankly at the silver wolf, who was still breathing, and then turned her gaze back to the book.
“Second, the wolf clan mates with one partner for life. They imprint on each other through mating, usually in the winter, the breeding season. Sometimes, the imprint weakens after a long time after the companion dies. However, most people mate with one partner for life and reproduce.”
Adele smiled and turned to the silver wolf.
“So you’re saying that the wolf clan can never cheat? What, then, you’ve been worrying for no reason.”
Then she whispered mischievously in the silver wolf’s ear.
“What should I do, Chris? I can cheat, but you can’t. Why are you upset? Then get up quickly. If you don’t, I might cheat.”
“...”
But he still didn’t respond.
“Tch, it’s not fun.”
Adele turned the page again.
“We can find another way to exterminate the wolf clan here. It’s to slaughter the weak females and cubs. Then their population will naturally decrease... This is ridiculous!”
Thump!
Adele eventually closed the book she was reading.
The way they fought the wolf clan was all mean and cunning.
“I’m angry. They treat the wolf clan like animals, but they are more cruel and mean than the animals. They don’t even know shame. If this is really how the wolf clan was exterminated... Are you listening, Chris?”
“...”
“I think I know how your clan disappeared. I’m so angry too...”
Adele stared blankly at the unconscious silver wolf and urged him.
“Please wake up. If you do something wrong, your clan will disappear like this. So get your act together. It’s ridiculous to be taken advantage of like this.”
He was always strong, and he was never cornered by any crisis.
To Adele, he was a solid fortress and an unwavering faith. If he fell and did not get up, her world would also crumble.
Adele hugged the silver wolf's nape and buried her face in his soft embrace.
***
After a while.
The moon that had been hiding in the clouds gradually revealed itself. As moonlight poured in through the examination room window, the previously dark room brightened up.
Ssaaaah...
The silver fur mysteriously swayed in the wind that had seeped in from somewhere, and the neatly arranged eyelashes slowly moved.
The blue-gray eyes revealed under his eyelids also came into focus.
“Haaaaah...”
A faint breath escaped from the silver wolf.
However, he didn’t move as if he didn’t want to wake Adele, who was leaning against his body. He just looked down at her with his transparent blue-gray eyes. He had just woken up from a long sleep, but in the past few days, her plump cheeks had become terribly thin. He carefully moved his head and gently licked Adele’s cheeks.
This was all he could do for her now...
“Ugh... Chris...”
“...”
Adele, who had been mumbling as if she were sleeping, slowly opened her eyes. Then, the moment she met his deep eyes, she was startled and quickly sat up.
“Chris!”
“...”
“You’re really awake. I thought it was a dream. Thank goodness, really...”
Tears flowed down Adele’s face as she spoke. She quickly wiped them away with her hand and smiled.
“I was really worried.”
“...”
“Chris... why aren’t you saying anything?”
Adele’s expression, which had been smiling in relief, became anxious again. He was just staring blankly at her in the form of a silver wolf.
After a while, he asked hesitantly,
“Aren’t you surprised? That I look like this?”
His voice was much lower and huskier than when he was human. Her brow furrowed slightly, as if his voice was grating on her ears.
But Adele quickly shook her head.
“I knew.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t know. I just knew when. That you might be a silver wolf. There’s no way I didn’t know. We were so close. It was just that it was hard and took a long time to admit it.”
Then Adele smiled weakly.
“Now that I admit it, I feel better.”
“...Hmm.”
He only mumbled softly and didn’t answer any further.
But that wasn’t important to Adele.
“How’s your body? Are you feeling better now?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Christine’s huge body gradually got smaller. The silver fur covering his entire body also slowly disappeared...
“Oh! What, what’s going on all of a sudden...”
Adele, who had been blankly staring at him, quickly turned her head in embarrassment.
He had already returned to being human and was naked, not wearing a single thread. He stood up casually and examined his body.
“I think I can move around a little. Fortunately, the vet wasn’t a quack.”
“Let’s put this on for now.”
Adele turned her head and quickly handed him the sheet on the bed.
Christine’s expression became slightly mischievous.
“What, you’re upset. You didn’t want to see my face, I guess.”
“Of course, I wanted to see you. But I wish you had dressed up properly.”
“What’s the point of manners between us?”
Christine smiled and cupped Adele’s cheek, making her look at him.
“Chris. You really...”
Adele sobbed.
Embarrassed, he quickly took his hand off her cheek and wrapped the sheet around his waist.
“Sorry. I was joking. I was just so happy to see you again. So Adele, don’t be mad...”
The once fearsome wolf had now become a puppy that was always watching its master's face.
Adele finally ran to him and hugged him as if she couldn't stand it anymore.
"I'm happy too. I thought you were really better when I saw you playing around. I was really scared that something would go wrong."
"Ha, no way."
He laughed with his usual arrogant expression as if nothing had happened.
In the end, Adele ended up crying out loud.
"Ugh! Huh!"
It must have been because she felt relieved that everything was over.
She felt relieved that it was okay to cry and show her weakness like this.
"Adele..."
Christine patted Adele's back as she sobbed, then hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry. I promised myself that I wouldn't let anyone make you cry. I made that happen."
She seemed to have been sleeping deeply and long time.
However, whenever he heard a familiar voice, he thought that he had to wake up.
If he continued to sleep like this, the owner of this voice would be very sad. Just thinking about that person being sad made his heart suffocate and sad.
Thanks to that, when he fought and won against the heavyweight of the water, everything became clear.
The person who had constantly spoken to him and made him sad was none other than... his beloved wife, Adele.
“But what happened to your hand?”
Then Christine saw that the back of Adele’s hand was scratched here and there.
“Ah, this? I was carrying you to the carriage. The Emperor’s soldiers were trying to capture you.”
Adele said casually, but she remembered how fierce the fight in the forest had been that day.
Even she, helpless and unable to do anything in the chaos that resembled a battlefield.
It was so horrible that she wished it was a dream...
“If it hadn’t been for Zimmer and Jennifer’s help, that place would have been my grave.”
“If it hadn’t been for you, it would have been my grave. Thank you, Adele.”
He held her small, wounded hand.
This delicate hand had saved his life.
Adele, who had been watching, smiled faintly.
“Good. Your hands are big and warm.”
“But what happened to Stone?”
Christine asked as he put on the clothes Adele had brought him.
Adele’s expression hardened when he mentioned Stone. She took a moment to catch her breath and spoke as calmly as possible.
“I shot his head with my pistol. It hit the mark.”
“Really you?”
“Yes. I did.”
Adele felt relieved, as if she had done homework that had been pending for a long time.
However, she was not entirely happy when she thought of Stone dying horribly from the pistol she had shot. If the same situation had come up, she would have made the same choice over and over again.
“Good job.”
Christine patted her head as if praising her.
Adele felt relieved at those words, as if she had been granted an absolution.
“But somehow, I feel a little empty. What had sustained me all this time was my desire for revenge against the man who killed my mother.”
“I think you’ve pulled out a big thorn stuck in your heart. It’ll heal soon.”
“A thorn... That’s right. You’ll help it heal soon, right?”
“Wouldn’t our child be able to do it better than I?”
“Our child?”
He nodded as he looked at Adele’s wide-eyed face.
“Yeah, now we have to have our own child.”
Adele’s face turned red as she looked at Christine, who was so calm.
However, whenever he heard a familiar voice, he thought that he had to wake up.
If he continued to sleep like this, the owner of this voice would be very sad. Just thinking about that person being sad made his heart suffocate and sad.
Thanks to that, when he fought and won against the heavyweight of the water, everything became clear.
The person who had constantly spoken to him and made him sad was none other than... his beloved wife, Adele.
“But what happened to your hand?”
Then Christine saw that the back of Adele’s hand was scratched here and there.
“Ah, this? I was carrying you to the carriage. The Emperor’s soldiers were trying to capture you.”
Adele said casually, but she remembered how fierce the fight in the forest had been that day.
Even she, helpless and unable to do anything in the chaos that resembled a battlefield.
It was so horrible that she wished it was a dream...
“If it hadn’t been for Zimmer and Jennifer’s help, that place would have been my grave.”
“If it hadn’t been for you, it would have been my grave. Thank you, Adele.”
He held her small, wounded hand.
This delicate hand had saved his life.
Adele, who had been watching, smiled faintly.
“Good. Your hands are big and warm.”
***
“But what happened to Stone?”
Christine asked as he put on the clothes Adele had brought him.
Adele’s expression hardened when he mentioned Stone. She took a moment to catch her breath and spoke as calmly as possible.
“I shot his head with my pistol. It hit the mark.”
“Really you?”
“Yes. I did.”
Adele felt relieved, as if she had done homework that had been pending for a long time.
However, she was not entirely happy when she thought of Stone dying horribly from the pistol she had shot. If the same situation had come up, she would have made the same choice over and over again.
“Good job.”
Christine patted her head as if praising her.
Adele felt relieved at those words, as if she had been granted an absolution.
“But somehow, I feel a little empty. What had sustained me all this time was my desire for revenge against the man who killed my mother.”
“I think you’ve pulled out a big thorn stuck in your heart. It’ll heal soon.”
“A thorn... That’s right. You’ll help it heal soon, right?”
“Wouldn’t our child be able to do it better than I?”
“Our child?”
He nodded as he looked at Adele’s wide-eyed face.
“Yeah, now we have to have our own child.”
Adele’s face turned red as she looked at Christine, who was so calm.
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