Prolog
The bluish moonlight poured down onto the winter forest.
Standing in the middle of a snow-covered forest, I pulled my hat down lower. It was obvious that my light silver hair would be clearly visible even in the darkness.
After putting the remaining herbs I had gathered into the basket, I stood up. When I looked up at the sky, the full moon was revealing itself beyond the clouds.
'It's really time to go back now.'
I quickly tidied up the basket. I had to hurry home, organize the herbs, and prepare for tomorrow's business.
'Besides, there is one more person to look after.'
If you keep walking and walking and walking through the dark forest, a small house appears. It was a shabby hut that wouldn't have been surprising if it had collapsed at any moment.
I clenched my fist slightly and lightly knocked on the door. Then, as if waiting for it, the door opened.
“Sister!”
Zion greeted me with a bright smile.
"Were you having fun by yourself? No strange people came, right?"
"Of course!"
"Good job."
I gently stroked Zion's head. As if my touch felt good, Zion closed his eyes tightly and smiled. His deep dimples were lovely.
I locked the house door tightly and took off my hat. Then Zion scurried over to my side and asked with a fluttering face.
"Did you sell a lot of herbs today?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you, I can make the meat stew that Zion likes today."
"Really?"
Zion opened his eyes wide. As if feeling better, his cheeks turned pink.
I gently stroked the head of my lovely younger sibling.
"By the way, is the girl still sleeping?"
I gestured to the child lying quietly on the bed and spoke. Zion nodded.
"Yeah, I guess she's still sleepy even after sleeping like that. It's already the third day."
"I know, right. This herb is actually pretty good, but it's not working."
I was at a loss. Even though I had given the child hard-to-find medicinal herbs, she did not open her eyes easily.
I let out a small sigh and approached the child.
The girl with long black hair was sound asleep on the bed.
This child was a girl I found by chance in the forest three days ago.
It was my rule never to get close to suspicious people, nor to make eye contact with them.
However, I couldn't just pass by that child who looked to be the same age as Zion, that little one groaning in pain.
"If you do good deeds, you will always be blessed."
Why did Mom’s words come to mind at that very moment?
I brought the child home, as if I had lost something. It was the first time I had let a stranger into my home.
'I guess I did something unnecessary.'
I frowned slightly.
However, amidst the raging snowstorm and freezing cold, I couldn't leave the collapsed child behind.
Because it was obvious that this child would die before waiting for someone else to save her.
But we couldn't take her to the hospital either. For us, living in complete seclusion, a hospital was a luxury.
Feeling sorry, I held the child's hand.
The fever that had been raging for several days had subsided a little, but the child's body was still like a boiling ball of fire.
I carefully held the child's hand and let the cold air flow out.
The cold flowing through my body might be able to reduce the boiling heat, even if only a little.
'Of course, I know this won't change anything, but.'
I've tried everything I could for days, and there has been no improvement.
'Should I really take her to a doctor? But the risks are too high...'
It was just when I was racking my brain, wondering what to do.
"Eung..."
A groan burst from the girl's mouth. Startled, I leaned my face close to the child.
"Are you okay? Are you awake?"
The child slowly lifted her eyelids. Red pupils visible through the long eyelashes. The child had a pretty face, but looking at them like this, her eyes were pretty too.
Vivid red, just like a ruby...
Uh, wait a minute.
Red eyes?
'There is only one race with red eyes in this world, you know?'
I recoiled and stepped back.
The fear that had been pooling beneath my feet, creeping up like the descending darkness, crept up my spine.
Probably. If my memory isn't mistaken, this child is definitely...!
The child blinked their big eyes. My shocked face was reflected in her red pupils.
"Crazy...!"
Swearing slipped out of my mouth without me realizing it.
This child was Little Red Riding Hood, the heroine who would eat my younger sibling after killing me!
***
To provide a more detailed explanation of this story, I would like to go back quite a long time.
Eve.
It is the name my late mother and father gave me.
I thought I would be called by that name for the rest of my life, but people called me by a different name.
Hybrid.
Dirty blood.
I first heard that title on a day just like any other.
"How dare you, lowly things, think you know where this place is!"
The werewolf shapeshifters particularly tormented our family. Even when I asked why, Mom and Dad remained silent and did not give me an answer.
I found that really strange. We were the same wolves, so I couldn't understand why they were tormenting us.
It was the same that day. The werewolf shapeshifters, who had arrived without fail, smashed our windows. Along with the pain, sharp shards dug into my skin.
Dad stepped forward in front of them. He protested earnestly, saying that this was unreasonable and telling them to stop bothering him.
"I'm living quietly! I'm living as if I'm dead, as if I don't exist, so why are you acting like this!"
"Are you asking because you don't know? That the child you bore has tarnished the name of the pure wolves!"
The wolves said that and pointed at me. Dad resisted, asking what they were saying in front of the child, but he couldn't beat the wolves.
'Ah. So this is it.'
I realized something as I watched my dad crumble.
A half-breed born to a werewolf mother and a poor ice-element wizard.
To borrow their words, a hybrid.
Something that is neither beastmen nor humans.
We were the only stain on this North, which was filled only with pure blood.
The purebred wolf shapeshifters who held tight control of the North looked down on us, calling us dirty blood.
Faced with the continuing violence, we had to hide deeper and deeper into the forest.
I even resented my parents. But my family was so precious to me. We were poor, but we were happy, and I felt secure having my parents by my side. That was what family meant to me.
However, what was precious left my side easily.
When Mom was pregnant with Zion, Dad passed away in an unexpected accident. It was a day when a particularly severe snowstorm was blowing.
Left all alone, my mother couldn't even cry properly. She just hugged me and comforted me, telling me it was okay. Watching her, I resolved to protect my family no matter what.
It was a few days later that the resolution changed in a slightly different direction.
The day the direction of my life was completely turned upside down, and the day I realized everything.
That day, I was diligently digging up medicinal herbs to give to my mother.
It was because I remembered my father mentioning in passing during his lifetime that there was a medicinal herb good for pregnant women.
Medicinal herbs were piled high inside the basket.
I gave a proud smile. I felt that if I took this to my mom, she would smile at least a little.
However, the quiet peace did not last long. Inevitably, they appeared. They were pure-blooded wolf shapeshifters.
After my father passed away, the harassment by the wolves intensified. They were clamoring for us to leave this North immediately.
"Look, it's a hybrid!"
"Filthy!"
"What kind of wolf is he when he can't even hide his ears properly?"
"Look at the color of his tail."
I flinched. Being inexperienced, I couldn't hide my ears and tail well.
"All filthy things must die!"
The pack leader threw a stone at me. With a dull thud, something hot trickled down.
Red liquid dripped onto the white snow. It was blood, something I had never seen before.
"Eek!"
The basket I was holding fell to the ground. As I got scared, they seemed to enjoy it even more.
The wolves snickered and approached me. The medicinal herbs I was going to give my mother were trampled under their feet.
"Is it because she's a hybrid? She must be a vegetarian."
"I told you the quality is just too low."
I bit my lip tightly as I looked at the trampled herbs.
What else can we do? Just how wrong did we get?
My clenched fist trembled. I vigorously wiped the tear-stained corners of my eyes and sprang to my feet.
“Get away from me!”
I attacked them for the first time. I just intended to swing my fist, but ice shot out of my hand.
I was startled and straightened my hands. It was a power that even I was using for the first time.
"What have you done!"
The wolves approached me, panting heavily.
"That's it. Don't come near me. If you come near, I'll use this ice..."
I reached out my hand as if threatening.
But that was all. Ice magic was a common ability even in the North. Besides, there was no way a child who had just realized their power could defeat those big guys.
In the end, I got beaten to death.
"How dare a filthy bastard like you!"
Someone roughly hit my shoulder. My body was pushed back helplessly, and I hit my head hard against a tree behind me.
It was then.
A never-before-seen afterimage flashed through my mind.
'Is this... me?'
I couldn't believe it.
The woman in that afterimage was 'me,' in the form of a complete human, completely unrelated to the wolf shapeshifter, hybrid, or name Eve that I have now.
It didn't take long for me to realize that the afterimage was my past life.
The place I was reincarnated into was a fairy tale for adults, the R-rated dark novel *Little Red Riding Hood*.
A novel set in the world of a past life, twisting the famous fairy tale 'Little Red Riding Hood' once again and adapting it to suit the tastes of adults.
It was a novel where the male protagonist, a wolf shapeshifter, goes through a lot of hardships and is eventually devoured sexually by the female protagonist, 'Little Red Riding Hood'.
If I were to describe it by tracing my memories of a past life, it’s a female-dominant, male-submissive novel heavily spiced up with MSG.
The name of the male protagonist in that novel, whose stimulating flavor had caused nosebleeds in countless readers, was seen.' Unless my memory is mistaken.
'Zion.'
As soon as I realized it, I sprang up from my seat. I didn't have time to stay like this.
Squeezing out every ounce of strength I had, I pushed them with all my might. Then, I ran home frantically.
"Hey! Catch that bastard!"
The shouting mixed with profanity coming from behind gradually faded away.
I was completely out of breath. The beads of sweat on my forehead did not cool easily, even in the cold of the north.
My body swayed precariously. However, I could not stop running. Because my mind was incredibly clear.
The conversation I had with Mom a few days ago kept swirling in my head.
"Mom, what is my little brother's name?"
At the conversation that came to mind automatically, I squeezed my eyes shut.
"It's Zion. That's the name Dad gave him."
The male protagonist in the novel was my younger brother, who hadn't even been born yet.
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