As I heaved my shoulders and gasped, that jerk of a wolf wagged his tail and scrunched his eyes.

This punk! You’re enjoying this now, aren’t you?

“Then I’m relieved because the rumors about the princess are quite horrendous.”

Woah, so this was your personality? I thought you were the serious and scary type.

‘Where did my cute puppy go? I can’t believe this sly wolf jerk is pulling my leg!’

Realizing that I had been teased by him, I wetted my lips.

“Do you want to be kicked out?”

“I didn’t think you would be this petty…”

“My Lady! Are you alright?”

I suddenly blocked Sihael’s mouth with my hand. Surprised, he blinked. I put my index finger on my lips, gesturing to him to stay quiet.

“Shh, I think the maid is here.”

Sihael, who understood what I meant, nodded his head. Seeing that he was quiet, I went ahead and opened the door.

“You’re just in time. I was just about to call you.”

“Haa!”

“My Lady!”

Marina and an unknown knight gasped as they peered at the devastation that was spread behind my back.

“As you can see, it’s a mess. I know it’s quite troublesome at night, but please clean this up.”

I stepped aside and let them in.

Then Marina came straight up to me, while the knight rummaged through the dead bodies to check whether there was anyone breathing.

“You don’t have to check. They’re all dead.”

“…Yes.”

The knight gulped nervously while seeing the mutilated and dismembered corpses.

In the meantime, Marina scoured my entire body, looking for even a small scar with hawk-like eyes.

“I’m fine. Rather, Shasha got hurt trying to protect me. Get him a doctor.”

“So that bastard Shasha can do something worthwhile, huh uhh!”

I hastily closed Marina’s mouth.

‘Shit, he must have heard everything right now!’

As I slowly turned back, I saw Sihael raise his eyebrows.

Oh, I guess he heard it.

“Hang on, My Lady. Your cheek.”

After seeing the scar on my cheek, Marina jumped up like a freshly caught live fish.

“A scar on such a national treasure-like face! We need to get it treated right now!”

“What national treasure? Don’t say stuff like that.”

“Actually, national treasure isn’t enough to describe it. You must be content with holy artifact-level, right?”

“Pfft!”

“What was that sound?”

I covered my face as if I hadn’t heard the knight’s question.

‘Oh, come on. This is so embarrassing. This kind of face would be all over the capital for being notorious, so what’s with saying it’s at some national treasure level?’

It felt funny to be called a national treasure-like beauty from Marina’s mouth. My face turned hot.

“I feel a little icky now. I wanna wash up.”

“I’ll get your bath ready right away!”

As I was almost being dragged by Marina’s hand, Sihael followed me.

* * *

I was tired. Maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep well.

My head was blank and my body felt like it was floating.

Even Rosetta who had an iron stamina would be out of breath after taking care of the baron, a deadly assassin attack, and a talking Sihael in a row.

After washing up and getting treated, I stumbled and straight-up collapsed on my new bed.

I’m not kidding. I really fell down.

“You must be very tired. There are dark circles under your eyes.”

As I lay on the bed and stared into the air, I rubbed my ears at the low-pitched voice coming from my side.

‘Oh, I can’t get used to it.’

After getting accustomed to the growls of a wolf, I was having a hard time getting used to the low-pitched man’s voice.

The voice was really good.

It was soft but not light, and it was a serious and strong voice suitable for someone like the Crown Prince.

The problem was that it was not the human Sihael, but the wolf Shasha, who had that voice, so there was a huge sense of alienation.

The Shasha I know was a cute little puppy who would often throw a fit. When did he grow up like this?

Was this how a mother feels when sending away her youngling? My heart felt empty.

“May I ask you a few more questions, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure.”

As soon as my answer came, Sihael jumped up on the bed and asked his questions.

From how many days he’d been here to the situation in the capital after he disappeared, he asked about everything.

After answering the first one or two with utmost sincerity, I gradually got tired of it.

I knew he was frustrated because he didn’t remember anything, but I really felt like I was going to die.

“You know what, Your Highness?”

“What?”

“You are my dog now. As you may not know, you are wearing a cute collar. So Your Highness is now under my ownership.”

“It’s difficult to claim ownership at the first meeting.”

“I have been raising Your Highness for almost a month, so I think I am qualified. So, as the owner, I command you.”

Wasn’t it said that people talk nonsense when they feel sleepy?

When my brain lost its filter function due to lack of sleep, my mouth began to run rampant and gave away all my inner thoughts.

“Please, I’ll do the rest tomorrow…”

After that, my vision turned black.

* * *

She really fell asleep.

Sihael looked down at Rosetta, who had fallen asleep.

Contrary to her cold impression, she looked like an angel when she was sleeping.

‘That’s not what I’ve heard.’

The rumors said she had a vicious temper, was beyond redemption, and she had even killed someone.

All the rumors that Sihael had heard so far were really terrible. He had even heard about them on the battlefield, so he could see how severe it was.

The Duke seemed to be trying his best to stop these rumors, but it wouldn’t have spread if he could simply block them.

Even after the Duke and his wife had come to the capital, the people kept on murmuring about how they left Rosetta alone in the duchy.

Sihael wondered if she was imprisoned in the Duchy because of what she had done in the past. Since it was a rumor, it was bound to be exaggerated, but when he saw his friend, Leonard’s face hardening whenever someone mentioned about his younger sister, it didn’t seem like the rumors were completely nonsense.

But far from being vicious…

‘Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.’

Her voice was so gentle and her arms were so warm that Sihael didn’t even think of overpowering her, who might possibly turn out to be his enemy.