No, I don’t think that’s the case. Wasn’t it a problem if you felt something like this for a dog in the first place?

But it annoyed me when that person said things like that, because it really got on my nerves.

“If Your Highness needs blood next time, just bite my finger. Don’t drench my lips with your saliva! It feels unpleasant.”

“I was being considerate and not to make you feel unpleasant.”

Sihael mumbled with his tail drooping as if he was hurt by my words.

‘Ugh! If you do this with Shasha’s face, I can’t help but care about you!’

If it were Sihael’s main body, I would have ignored his pretense of acting cute, but since it was done by the dog I raised I couldn’t ignore him like that.

Seeing his shoulders continue to droop, I had no choice but to comfort him with a gentle voice.

“Do you still need more?”

“It would be nice if I can have some more.”

Then, his eyes twinkled as if the gloomy eyes before were just an illusion.

I’m a fool for getting deceived like this. I glanced at Sihael and stabbed my index finger with a dagger.

Red blood dripped down from my finger.

Was this less? I cut my fingers a little bit more.

When I reached out my hand, Sihael stuck his face in my finger.

Was my blood that good? He licked my hand hard as if he was eating something delicious.

Um, this felt weird. It tickled.

“Can’t you just stay still?”

“It tickles.”

When I flinched a few times, Sihael immediately complained.

He didn’t even care about the feelings of his owner who was serving him for free.

“What do you plan to do in the future?”

“First of all, I’ll contact Leonard.”

In the current situation, the only person he could trust was Leonard, who knew of Sihael’s curse and also had a blood relationship with me.

“How?”

Sihael just kept sucking my finger without answering. Reading his intentions in his dull eyes, I smiled a blank smile.

So you want me to take care of you? This punk!

“Do you think I’m your servant?”

“When the work is finished, I’ll listen to whatever My Lady wants.”

“Then please act like a dog.”

While I agreed to it, I decided to write a letter to my brother right away. I took a piece of paper from the desk and wrote down as Sihael told me to.

The letter was brief.

The message was mainly: Come quickly to the duchy since Sihael happened to be staying there.

<Sihael Von Idris>

In the end, I wrote his name and put a period, but it felt like it was missing something.

I put the letter on the floor and grabbed Sihael’s front paw.

“What are you doing?”

“We have to leave a mark so that it’s clear it is a letter from Your Highness.”

I carefully applied the ink all over Sihael’s feet and then pressed it down on the corner of the letter. A large footprint was clearly stamped on the paper.

It was perfect.

“Is this okay?”

“Well, it’s not bad.”

I grabbed Sihael’s paw and shook it.

“Your Highness, now that we are in the same boat, call me Rosetta.”

As long as we have a connection, let’s build up our friendship.

* * *

“Butler, send it to Brother Leonard. It’s urgent, so please hurry up.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

The butler who put the letter in his arms looked at me.

“What’s the matter?”

“Your complexion looks bad.”

“I guess it’s because I’m a little busy these days.”

I swept my face down with my hands. But what I felt was rough skin. The skin that used to be as smooth as a peeled egg was ruined in less than a month.

I bit my lip in anger and frowned at the stinging pain. The butler also frowned at the same time as if he was the one who was hurting more.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Last night, the young master was very angry because My Lady got injured from that unpleasant incident.”

“My brother?”

“You can hear the knights’ dying sounds all the way here.”

No wonder it’s been so noisy since morning. I remembered hearing cheers and screams all this morning.

“My Lady, we’ve got a lot of good medicinal herbs today. I know you always refuse to take a tonic, but this time, can’t you just follow this old man’s advice?”

“A tonic? Okay, I’ll take it. I’ll definitely eat it. Then please prepare it”

The butler was worried about my refusal. So when I agreed to take the tonic, his face lit up. The look on his face was that of an old man looking at his grown-up granddaughter.

“I’ll then prepare it every day.”

Of course, of course. One’s health should be taken care of from a young age.

I drank the medicine the butler gave me and walked to the training ground.

‘This Lanoa! How could he not show his face when he says he’s worried about my injuries?!’

As I entered the training grounds, I saw the knights dying, just as the butler said.

No one was fine.

They were all struggling and were covered in dust and dirt. Though they were breathing, they looked more like a zombie. I approached Lanoa, who was resting in the shade.

“Hey Brother, I heard you were worried about me?  But then why didn’t you come to see me?”

I patted his shoulder which had a light bruise.

When Lanoa saw my face, he clicked his tongue.

“What a mess.”

“It’s nothing.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said it was not a big deal, but Lanoa’s distorted expression showed no sign of easing up.

He was clearly angry, but he couldn’t get angry at me as I was the victim. So it was the poor knights who had to bear the brunt of his anger.

“Who told you to rest?! Why aren’t you all running? Keep on running!” (Lanoa)

“Yes!!!” (Knights)

After the roaring reply, the knights ran across the training ground, dragging their exhausted bodies.

I felt pity, seeing their miserable appearance.

“Why are you making them suffer like this?”

“Even though a rat sneaked in, they were sleeping peacefully, so of course they should suffer. Also, it bothers me that you had to get rid of all those rats who stealthily crawled out from behind. It’s embarrassing that these careless people are the Knights of the Katzel Duchy.”

Lanoa, who had scolded the knights hard, looked at the empty space next to me and asked.

“Is Shasha seriously hurt?”