Ebel would’ve helped Phoebe up and checked on Iniel and the horses, not just escape with her.
She could see the toppled, broken carriage on top of the road illuminated by the round streetlights. It looked like Iniel cut the white horses loose at the last second as they both stood there unharmed. But Iniel himself was lying face down on the ground, and Phoebe was finally starting to pull himself out from under the carriage.
Doubts rising fast, Rock fearfully looked up at the werewolf.
Unfortunately, werewolves were indistinguishable from each other.
So far, aside from Ebel, the only other werewolf she had seen was Guido Linus. There was almost no difference in their appearance, except for Guido looking a little bigger, which might’ve had more to do with their original physique.
And the werewolf holding her now was—
“Not him…”
Tailor Rock had measured Ebel in his werewolf form as well. So she was able to tell that the werewolf holding her wasn’t him. This one had narrower shoulders and was slightly shorter.
In other words—
“Father!” Rock screamed at the top of her lungs. “It’s not him!”
A terrifying look flashed across Phoebe’s face as he raised it to look at her.
“I’m coming for you right now!”
However, his reliable words were dashed by the werewolf abandoning its perch on the stone gate to hop over to one tree branch and then the next inside the garden.
“Let go! Let go of me, you mutt!”
Rock thrashed around, trying to free herself of the stranger’s furry arms. But the werewolf didn’t relax his hold on her even as she struggled with all her might. He stood perfectly still on top of what should’ve been an unsteady branch, despite it being a large tree.
“Would you mind not struggling so much?” it said in an unfamiliar voice. “I want to transport you safely. Please.”
A not-so-young male voice came from the fanged mouth.
“Who are you?! What do you want with me?!”
The werewolf jumped again without answering Rock’s questions. This time, he leaped on top of an off-fountain inside the garden. Then another branch. And then he sprung on top of a wooden gazebo roof that’d looked much farther away a moment ago at an unbelievable speed.
“Father! Father!” Rock screamed for Phoebe until her voice went hoarse, even though she couldn’t see him anymore.
The nighttime garden was rapidly growing more distant.
Rock knew she was being carried away—kidnapped. She couldn’t escape.
“Roxy! Damn you! GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTEEEEEEEER!”
Phoebe’s enraged shout echoed from a hopeless distance.
♚♚♚
THE werewolf bounded through the starlit imperial capital carrying Rock.
Compared to the overcrowded slums where poorly constructed dwellings were crammed into any open space, the use of land in the aristocrat district was luxurious, to say the least. The streets were wide and there was plenty of space between the houses. It must’ve been hard remembering where to go, Rock thought, with so few buildings to use as landmarks and just the streetlights to guide the way.
“Put me down!” Rock continued to shout as her last means of struggle. “Return me to my father!”
The werewolf shook his head as he lopped down the road.
“Quiet. I don’t want anyone else to see me.”
“Mmph…!”
A hairy werewolf hand covered Rock’s mouth. After that, she was carried off somewhere without even being able to scream.
How long was she stuck in that position?
A blinding light suddenly stung Rock’s eyes that’d grown accustomed to the dark. She inadvertently squeezed her eyes shut, just as she felt the werewolf land softly on something.
It appeared he’d descended on the balcony of some mansion. The large window leading indoors from the balcony was left open, and the dazzling light was spilling out from there.
The werewolf strolled inside through the opening with her in his arms.
Inside was blindingly bright. But Rock strained her eyes despite the pain because she wanted to know where he’d brought her.
It looked like someone’s bedroom.
She saw a canopy bed, an exquisitely carved dresser, and a round table decorated with a full bouquet—clearly a young lady’s room. All of the furnishings were made of finely polished, expensive wood, and the sheer silk hanging from the canopy and the bedding were unified by the same soft coral color. Given the furnishings’ splendor, she suspected it was a mansion in the aristocrat district.
“We’ve arrived, Roxy.”
The werewolf spoke Rock’s real name. Then he gently lowered her onto the plush rug.
Rock immediately jumped back and glared daggers at the werewolf looming in the coral pink bedroom.
“Who the hell are you?! Why’d you bring me here?!”
The werewolf stared back at Rock with his gold eyes. But the bedroom door quietly opened before he could answer.
Rock’s eyes swung toward the door, and she was rendered speechless by the person standing there.
“…Lady Alexis!!!”
It was Lauretta Alexis—the aunt who looked frighteningly like her mother.
She ran over to the werewolf, placed both hands on his broad chest, and cried out in a shaky voice.
“I’m so glad you’re safe, darling…”
The werewolf’s expression softened as he stared lovingly down at Lauretta.
“I was able to get the job done without a single injury, thanks to this power.” He looked over at Rock and continued in a satisfied tone, “And our precious child is safely with us now too.”
“H-HUUUUUUH?!” Rock raised her voice in utter disbelief over that.
Lauretta looked at Rock. Those gray eyes that were identical to her mother’s misted.
“Aaah, Roxy… You finally came back to us.”
Her voice sounded terribly gentle, loving, and even compassionate—the complete opposite of the frigidness that’d permeated it at Mateus Manor.
“W-Wait just a minute! I didn’t willingly come—”
“This is your home now. I had this room prepared just for you. Isn’t it lovely?”
Lauretta smiled, completely ignoring Rock’s protests.
Her smile was beautiful but deranged. Or perhaps it was Rock not knowing her true nature that made it seem that way.
Chilled, Rock shuddered.
“I will make you happy now that Valencia cannot.”
The werewolf nodded along with Lauretta’s seemingly kind words.
“You needn’t worry about a thing anymore. We will protect you.”
“Go to hell!” Rock was indignant. “You’re bloody insane, trying to act like my family after you attacked my carriage and kidnapped me! I’m not your damn child and I never will be! I’m the daughter of Fredericks Berwick and Vale Floria!!!” she snapped as loud as her voice allowed.
Lauretta gave the werewolf a confused look as if to say, “Why is she reacting like this?”
The werewolf placed his furry hand on her shoulder to soothe her.
“Roxy is still confused, it seems. It’s very late. We should let her rest.”
“You’re right, darling…”
They seemed to be husband and wife, but neither of them was in their right mind as far as Rock could tell. Not only did they seem to have no guilt over kidnapping Rock, but they actually acted as if they were in the right. As if they’d some sort of legal claim to bring her home as their child.
Who the hell is this werewolf anyway?
Thanks to her interaction with Ebel, she wasn’t scared in his presence, but werewolves were still oddities. Did this man also unleash the power of the statue and end up cursed?
And if this man truly was Lauretta’s husband, then that’d mean Lord Alexis was a werewolf.
First Ebel, then Guido, and now Lord Alexis—Rock was horrified that the werewolf curse was st
eadily taking hold of the imperial capital’s nobility.
“I don’t want to be here! Let me go back to my father…!” Rock shouted as she held a hand to her aching head. “Please let me go! This isn’t my home…!”
Lauretta looked pleadingly at the werewolf after hearing Rock’s complaint.
“Darling, Roxy is acting funny…”
“She is. She must be terribly confused.” The werewolf took a breath, then called outside the door. “Danilo, can you come in here?”
“Yes, my lord.”
The door opened and in stepped a short, middle-aged man. Judging by his well-kept attire, he might’ve been their butler, but Rock recognized him from elsewhere. He was the man she’d seen praying in the sanctuary when she’d visited the holy church district with Ebel.
“I want to let Roxy get some rest. She probably doesn’t know her way around yet, so please tell her what she needs to know,” the werewolf instructed, and the stubby man called Danilo swept into a respectful bow.
“As you command, my lord,” he said, then courteously suggested, “Perhaps you should change soon… The little miss probably can’t relax with you in that form.”
Being called “little miss” was the final straw that pushed Rock over the edge.
“That’s true. Although Roxy seems rather used to seeing a werewolf.”
Or so she thought until the werewolf said that. She was shaken to the core.
He saw through me.
He’d realized Rock had seen a werewolf before—not only that, but he seemed to notice she was so familiar with werewolves not to be scared out of her wits by one.
I can’t let them find out about Ebel.
Rock steadied her breathing and forced herself to calm down.
In the meantime, Lord and Lady Alexis seemed to have finished handing over control of the situation to Danilo.
“Take care of her, Danilo.”
“Please be extra careful with my daughter.”
The werewolf put a supportive arm around Lauretta’s shoulders and escorted her out of the coral pink room.
“Young Miss, I am Danilo,” the man gingerly introduced himself to her. “I hope we can get along—”
Obviously, Rock wasn’t interested in being friendly with him. She leveled him with a penetrating glare.
“You were the man I saw at the church.”
Danilo instantly paled.
“Y-Yes…I am.”
“According to the priest, you are a very devout believer who often attends Mass. Can you truly turn a blind eye to someone being kidnapped right in front of you…?”
Imitating her father’s way of threatening people with words had an immediate effect. Danilo instantly fell to his knees to beg forgiveness.
“Please forgive me…! I certainly do believe in God.”
“Then please bring me back home.”
“I…can’t do that.”
“Why not? Do you believe God won’t judge you for this sin?”
Finding Danilo particularly tractable, Rock doubled-down. She normally didn’t even like talking about God, but she was willing to do so to get out of this situation.
“Does God approve of kidnapping?”
All the color drained completely from Danilo’s pudgy face with that last remark.
“Please forgive me, Young Miss. I haven’t forsaken God. I just—” He paused, as if needing a moment to pick the right words. “Um…if you know about werewolves, then you should also know the kind of power His Lordship has acquired.”
Rock didn’t respond. She gnawed her inner lip in silence.
Of course she knew about werewolves. She had a good idea of their power too. She’d also seen the moment that power was acquired once before.
“We committed a grave sin,” Danilo continued to confess. “His Lordship turned his back on the natural order and offered himself up to the werewolf curse of his own volition.”
“Wh-Why would he do that?” Rock asked despite herself.
Danilo said it was of his own volition, but Guido had also acted like unleashing the curse was what he desired most in the world too. But once he’d regained his senses, it became apparent that he was being controlled by the werewolf statue.
With that in mind, wasn’t it also possible that Lord Alexis acted like it was what he wanted when that really wasn’t the case?
“It was all for his wife,” Danilo revealed, his voice shaking. “He did it to support and protect his dear wife.”
“Oh, come on. He didn’t need the werewolf power for that—”
“But he did,” Danilo vehemently interrupted Rock’s objection. “It is only with the werewolf’s power that His Lordship and Her Ladyship were able to obtain you, Young Miss.” He held up his hand to prevent Rock from arguing and deeply bowed his head. “I understand your side of things. I do. But it is my hope that you will at least hear them out. They were distressed and prepared enough to make this sacrifice,” he insisted, keeping his eyes on the ground to escape further questioning from her.
“It’s unreasonable to ask me to listen to a bloody thing they have to say when you guys KIDNAPPED me! I don’t give a damn about you people! Send me back! Let me go home to my father!”
No matter how much or how loud Rock complained—
“Please forgive me, Young Miss.”
Danilo just apologized without further explanation.
♚♚♚
AFTER Rock grew tired of questioning him, Danilo pulled out a nightgown for her to use before hastily leaving the room.
“Please let me know if you need anything. I will be in the room next door.”
In other words, he was letting her know he’d come running if he heard her making a break for it.
To make matters worse, he locked the door behind him, trapping Rock in the bedroom. She could open the window, but she learned she was on the third floor when she stepped out on the balcony. There weren’t any trees for her to climb down, and she wasn’t brave enough to jump for it just yet.
“I guess I could make a cloth escape rope…”
She raked her gaze over the room for anything she could use, but the only useable cloths were the sheer silk canopy, thin sheets, and the nightgown. She doubted silk could support her weight, and the nightgown wouldn’t get her past the third floor.
Rock stepped forward to see if there was anything else when her legs suddenly buckled. She fell back on her butt and hugged her quaking knees.
“What the hell…?”
Nothing made sense.
Her carriage was attacked, a werewolf kidnapped her, and her aunt was trying to force her into becoming her daughter. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the werewolf was her uncle—Lord Alexis.
He’d supposedly purposefully gotten himself cursed for his wife…
“He’s crazy… A curse is just a bloody curse!”
Rock was indignant. She’d seen Ebel’s suffering and Guido’s change up close.
There was no good reason in the world to rely on the power of those accursed statues.
On the other hand, Rock was becoming more aware of her current powerlessness.
She’d been ripped from her father without even getting a chance to make sure he was all right. The same went for Iniel. Had Ebel heard the news yet?
Will they find me?
She hated wanting someone to save her.
If only I’d the strength to escape on my own, I could get out of this situation without getting anyone else involved.
Maybe this is the kind of situation that makes people seek power. But I will NEVER rely on that curse to save me, no matter what comes my way, Rock vowed to herself as she tightened her arms around her knees on top of the floor.
♚♚♚
A new day dawned before she knew it. Apparently, she’d fallen asleep on the floor.
Rock cautiously raised her head from her knees and scanned her surroundings. What she saw was a warm, coral pink bedroom, which inevitably reminded her of the prior night’s ev
ents and her role as a prisoner in this gilded cage.
“Ow…”
Her head hurt. Maybe she was more worn out than she’d realized.
After all, a lot had happened yesterday. She’d visited the Mateus family mausoleum with Ebel, entered a church, met Lauretta for the first time, and then got kidnapped all before the day ended. It was hard to believe all that had happened in a day.
Rock staggered to her feet and started thinking of her next move with her aching head. Obviously, she didn’t want to stay there long. She needed to do whatever it took to escape.
She opened the window and stepped out onto the third-floor balcony again. The rising morning sun was unquestionably starting to illuminate the gorgeous aristocrat district townscape. The emperor’s palace was within sight, and Rock strained her eyes to see it and its surroundings.
Somewhere in this district was Mateus Manor, which she’d visited several times. All she had to do was make her way there. If she just knew where it was in relation to her current location…
But she heard a noise come from the hallway before she could pinpoint it. It sounded like a rolling cart and two pairs of feet approaching her room.
Rock quickly pulled back inside the bedroom, closed the window, and braced herself. There was a knock at the door seconds later.
“Good morning, Roxy. Are you awake?”
That voice belonged to Lord Alexis, the werewolf who’d kidnapped her.
Rock took a steadying breath and answered, “Yes.”
“I’m coming in then.”
The door opened.
But it was a man Rock didn’t recognize who stepped inside.
He looked older than her father with his deep gray hair. He was on the short side with a thin build and wore fine, black velvet clothing with gold thread embroidery. A smile lit his thin eyes, which stood in contrast with his stiff, thick eyebrows.
His eyes were gold.
“You already finished getting dressed? It isn’t proper to wear the same clothing you had on yesterday,” the man lightly scolded her in a familiar voice as he pointed to the chest of drawers beside the bed. “You’ll find several outfits inside. They all belong to you. Wear what you like.”
Rock didn’t respond. She cautiously assessed the man’s face, which finally made him realize what was wrong.
The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, Volume 2 Page 12