CH 16

“Ouch! Leone!”

The voice rose from the wind in the morning. Leone was about to leave the room as soon as he opened his eyes so she headed for the door as if it were natural. But the sudden scream was because Leone naturally tried to jump from the second floor using the window.

“What should I do if you go there!”

“Sniff.”

The short sound seemed to ask what the problem was. Leone looked at her with an infinitely innocent face. She rushed over to him who was already sitting on the window sill and preparing to jump down.

“Come down. This is the second floor! It’s dangerous!”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t understand.”

“Yes.”

Putting on a face of not knowing what she was talking about, Leone came down from the window frame meekly as she pulled him down. Even on the day he cried at the full moon on the roof, he did not come down too soon…

“Do you go down like that every morning?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t know if he understood her question or not. It would have been easier to deal with a real puppy. 

No emotional expression, a human-like answer that comes back casually whenever she was in doubt.

“Ok… Let’s go down.”

Didn’t Adler take care of Leone every morning? She didn’t think she could just watch Leone jump out the window with that unarmed personality. She seemed to have to ask Adler.

“Good morning, Trixie.”

“Yeah. Adler.”

As soon as she thought about whether the nobleman was not good enough, the strongest knight appeared right away. He spoke with a complicated face.

“Sir Leone is using the stairs… He is coming down normally.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a good thing… ”

The bitterness on Adler’s face as he watched Leone followed them.

Well. Apparently, he usually just jumped out of the window, and Adler seems to be in awe because he couldn’t stop it anytime. She was speechless so she kept her mouth shut.

“Did Leone sleep well last night? Trixie slept next to him. Isn’t he too sensitive?”

“He seemed to have some nightmares at night, but he slept well.”

“Okay… ”

Adler nodded slowly and stumbled to the study.

‘Poor father…’

“Oh, Trixie. Aren’t you sick, is your stomach ok?”

As he was about to enter, he turned around and asked again. She shook her head.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“There must have been a problem with the mushrooms served in the kitchen yesterday, and the workers in the annex complained of stomach aches… Trixie looks pretty sturdy.”

“Yeah? The mushrooms?”

The one that Leone threw yesterday?

“Anyway, it was fine.”

Yesterday, he didn’t let her eat the mushrooms, did he help her?

‘Aww, nice.’

She patted Leone with a happy face and walked out the front door together. The morning sun was very bright. Leone seemed to like being in the sunlight. She picked up a useful twig from next to Leone, who was lying face down in the sunniest spot, and wrote a letter on the floor.

“Leone. Try it. T-ri-xie.”

She couldn’t teach complicated things, but she thought she could at least teach him pronounce her name.

“Tr…?”

“Yes. Trixie.”

“… ”

As she pointed to the letter and continued, Leone quickly turned his head away. He wanted to be by her side, but he hated learning.

She could discipline a puppy, but she didn’t know how to teach a child how to speak. She was the same age as her cousins, and had no acquaintances who had children nearby, so she had never taught children.

“It’s a mountain beyond a mountain.”

She was sighing for no reason when she heard a voice calling her from afar.

“Teacher!”

“Gourden. Good morning.”

She smiled brightly and said hello. Standing at a distance, Gourden looked as nice and docile today as he did yesterday. It must have been a very peaceful sight, except that blood was seeping from the hilt he was carrying, and that he was holding a pocket knife for what he was doing.

“I received the bones of the cow that was slaughtered today. Sir Leone will like it, right?”

A clear smile, a pocket knife, and a bloodstained hilt… It was a little creepy. Didn’t he look like a serial killer?

“Yeah. I hope he likes it.”

Gourden was the nicest person in that mansion, a really nice person. She tried to drive away the fear.

“Kreu, keng!”

Leone, who was peacefully sunbathing next to her, suddenly started barking violently. It didn’t happen once or twice, so she naturally blocked Leone’s view.

“Oops, I’m sorry. Don’t worry, I won’t come close!”

“Yes.”

“Teacher, do not come this way! I think I need to do some bone trimming, so uh-uh, I’ll be outside!”

Gourden’s voice shouted as he walked away, echoing faintly like an echo.

Then, Leone stepped in front of her. Since he was on all fours, he must have been smaller than her, but his huge physique gave off a considerable presence.

“Crr…”

Leone pulled his body back as far as he could. His muscles swelled and tightened. He was ready to leap and run. His sudden surge of aggression was very embarrassing.

“Leone! No.”

She hurriedly grabbed Leone by the back and stood in front of him.

“Gourden is leaving. Calm down.”

Even though she stood in front of him, he stepped forward again, extending his arms around her as if to protect me. He wrapped his arms around her with his thick, muscular arms that looked like they were about to split apart, so she couldn’t move. Again, in the same situation. Wasn’t it unfair that he used his arms?

“What’s the matter? It’s okay, Mr. Gourden is a good person. You have seen him often.”

She feared that even what she had taught him seemed to have been restored. She calmed him down and stroked his head with the softest voice she could.

Even though Gourden had already disappeared behind the mansion, his excitement did not subside easily. Of course, Gourden’s appearance was bloody. Did Leone reach for the blood in Gourden’s knife?

Leone couldn’t have seen a movie about a serial killer… She was puzzled. Leone’s vigilance did not subside, as her aspirations to teach him her name and morning greetings were overshadowed.

He whirled around her as if trying to immobilize her. Every time he heard the sound of the wind or the sound of small animals coming and going, his eyes were filled with life.

Looking back on his previous life, Gourden was a person to be wary of, but today the distance was far, and recently, if she was by his side, it wasn’t so severe. Even if he didn’t know… 

“Leone. Why are you not listening?”

She asked in a tone of lamentation, but Leone, as if he were a general on the front line, moved his eyes towards the loud wind. Could it be that Leone just liked her too much? Separation, anxiety or…

“Ugh.”

She suddenly realized the fact that she needed to be a little more assertive. He was stubborn, so they even slept in the same room… !

They said that too much useless contact with a dog was not good. The more you want to be together, the more you say you need some alone time.

She sighed as she vaguely recalled the information she had seen before.

A child must be raised alternately with carrots and sticks… It was as if she had forgotten the truth of eternity and handed him only carrots. Didn’t it just make it worse? That was a big mistake.

* * *

“No.”

Even if Leone pulled her by the skirt, sat in front of her with round eyes and dozed off, and even rubbed his hair, she kept repeating that he couldn’t do it consistently. If even she got swayed by Leone, there would be no one who can hold and calm Leone in that mansion.

Embracing a daunting mission, she gently pushed Leone’s shoulder toward her. She almost thought ‘this is a person’ for a moment at the hard and broad shoulder that touched her hand, but she overcame it well.

“Tree.”

“No. Leone, listen to me today. Lie down quietly. Get down.”

At her firm words, Leone put his face down at a distance.

“Well done.”

She handed him the bone. He just looked at her with the bone in his mouth.

“You can eat it.”

She gave him permission. Then he suddenly put the bone on the floor.

“Uh huh.”

He wasn’t going to her. When an overly handsome and shiny face was pushed in, she suddenly became weak and soft.

She just wanted to hug him, praise him, and love him. Human desire was terrifying. Especially in front of pretty things. Deoksoon was also scolded by the veterinarian while living, but she wanted to hug him to death…

“Let’s go to bed now.”

She pushed Leone away and headed for the mansion. He still followed me

“Leone. You will sleep alone today. Got it?”

As she made her way to the bedroom, she told him over and over again that she wasn’t going to sleep with him tonight. Whether Leone understood or not, there was no expression or reaction.

After entering the room, she stood in front of the door and did not go in further. Leone waited for her.

“Leone. I’m going now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With a relaxed attitude, she reassured him as calmly as possible.

“Understand? Get some rest here and see you tomorrow.”

She had been looking at him face to face for a long time, how long had it been? She thought it was time, so she opened the door and backed out.

Leone’s expression through the crack in the door didn’t look good, but he wasn’t excited either.

‘Good work, Trixie!’

She closed the door and quickly came down to the first floor.

“It goes surprisingly well.”

Separation, anxiety, training. Even the wolf Leone could be teach. It felt good.

“Trixie.”

“Yeah?!”

As soon as she reached the first floor, Adler jumped out and spoke to her. Did he know right away that she was coming down? The study was well soundproofed… How good was that man’s ears?

“Where are you going?”

“To the annex.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to sleep with Sir Leone?”

“Ah. It’s not good if we stick too much. They say that if you keep chasing after them, they will become emotionally unstable if you keep loving them.”

“He is chasing you… ”

Adler pondered her words with a serious face, then came closer and put his hand next to her ear and whispered. It seemed he wanted to tell her a secret.

“The secret, what is it?”

He asked with gritted teeth. It was a voice filled with sadness and anger.

“Yeah?”

“Healing Sir Leone was like magic, but for me, Sir Leone following Trixie around is even more amazing. I tried not to ask because my pride was hurt, but…”

He whispered something, but his pride was hurt and he asked a small question.

“A bit envious… ”

“Damn knight.”

Adler’s words were not carried on to the end.

“Leone?”

It was because Leone jumped down from the stairs on the second floor all at once.

She was crazy, when did he come out?