“You came?”

When I arrived at the dining room, Lanoa, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, welcomed me.

“When did you get here?”

“Today.”

It was the first time we were together since the day I was forced to take care of Sihael.

“What are you doing here so often? I have never seen you stay at home for so long.”

“Hey, I always returned home.”

Well, Lanoa was a wandering soul.

Lanoa, the second son of Duke Katzel, lived freely without anyone’s interference because he was far from succeeding the title.

He was a free spirit in a different sense from Rosetta.

He wandered from place to place and went wherever his feet took him. Because of that, he did not appear much in the original book.

“Did you name it?”

“Name it?”

“I meant the wolf.”

My hands that were cutting the meat came to a stop. Come to think of it, I had always called him “Hey” or “Wolf.” I didn’t even think of naming him.

“Wow, that’s too much. You have to name it.”

“What should I name it?”

“Well since it’s your dog, you should come up with it yourself.”

I asked Lanoa for help, but he just distanced himself from the matter.

He laughed wildly as if it was entertaining to see me get embarrassed over Sihael.

The sound of his laughter was awfully annoying. I fisted my hand and as a result, the fork bent.

“Are you having fun?”

“Of course it’s fun. Who knew the great Rosetta Katzel would get embarrassed because of a wolf one day.”

“You’re the one who brought the wolf!”

“Then shall I take him away?”

Take Sihael away? Lanoa was as bad-tempered as Rosetta. If he took Sihael away, he’d bully and abuse him, just like what Rosetta did in the book.

And Sihael, who would eventually return to his original form, would never let this go.

I wonder if he would make up an excuse to get Lanoa kicked out of the family and then take his life without anyone noticing…

The family would surely be safe, but Lanoa would eventually face a terrible end.

“No, I’m going to raise it, so don’t even think about touching it. Understood? If you touch it, I’ll kill you.”

“Okay, okay. I got it.”

Seeing him pretending to listen to my threats, I leaned over the table and shoved the steak into Lanoa’s mouth. Then I reached out my hand, grabbed his cup of water, and finished it all.

I ignored Lanoa’s comments about how it was an attempted murder.

What was so good about this shameless bastard?

Ugh, I’m just way too nice.

* * *

Throughout the meal, I kept thinking about what nice name I should give Sihael. I couldn’t even recall if the food went through my nose or mouth.

As soon as I finished eating, I went straight down to the basement.

Sihael’s ears perked up in wariness at the sound of my footsteps. He looked at my face, then lied down as if the question “It’s you again?” was scrawled all over his face. He lazily put his chin on his foreleg.

I dragged a chair towards the front of the cage and sat down.

“Hey Wolf, I’m going to call out a few potential names for you, so respond if you like any of it.”

I couldn’t call him Your Highness or Sihael.

“Whitey?”

“Grrrrrrrrrrr”

“Ah, I see you don’t like it.”

I don’t think this was suitable for the Little Sun of the Empire…

“Mochi?”

He didn’t even reply. I guess that was not a good name either. Then, Sihael… Sihael… Sihael… Shahel… Shasha?

“Shasha?”

Sihael, who wasn’t moving before, looked up and tilted his head. Maybe I was hallucinating, but it seemed like his eyes were shining.

“Do you like it?”

“Grreung.”

“Okay. From now on, your name is Shasha.”

“Woof!”

“Shasha, from now on, can you please listen to me?”

“Awoo?”

I only gave him a name, yet it felt like we were getting closer.

Well, Sihael just snorted at my words and rested his chin on his leg again. But it didn’t seem like he hated the name.

Later that afternoon, I received the news that Sihael’s room had been prepared. It was all thanks to the efforts of my faithful henchman Marina.

Finally, the big, sturdy and perfect cage was completed.

* * *