Taming Her Highness the Princess

41 – Werewolf (3)

Did he know that he couldn’t fool Jenial? The werewolf’s body began to slowly change. A thin layer of smoke rises from the skin, then the muscle is lost and the skeleton changes.

After waiting for a while, the being standing in front of me was no longer a ferocious werewolf, but Ronyere, whom I had been talking about while eating a meal with me earlier.

Ronière exhaled lightly and looked up. A feeble question arises from his resigned expression.

“How did you know I was a werewolf? I was taken aback by the sudden visit, but I thought I handled it well.”

“Sorry, but I knew you were a werewolf from the beginning.”

“From the beginning…… Say?”

“Yes. You said you were dispatched from the cathedral as an apprentice priest. However, there are no priests whose faces are scorched in the cathedral.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because every month the cathedral’s personnel records are delivered to the Malaig family.”

Ronière let out a mischievous laugh. He didn’t know that and told a lie that didn’t work, so he felt like an idiot.

“Then how did you know I was hiding children here?”

“Looking at the size of the pot you brought, I got a rough idea. It was strangely big and spacious to cook alone. In addition, seeing the unusually small size of the spoons that are said to be carried around, I just guessed that children were using them.”

There was nothing wrong with Jeniel’s words. If I had known that Jenial was coming even a day earlier, I wouldn’t have made such a mistake, but it was because he came so suddenly that I didn’t have time to prepare.

“Then I have no excuses. I can’t beat Gongja with my own skills, so I’ll be like a rat in a poison. If you are going to take me to Jedo and ask me for my crime, I will obediently respond. But could you give me just one day before that?”

“A day?”

“Yes. I plan to buy clothes and food with the money I have and give it to my children. In addition, I want to let you know that I cannot protect you guys now.”

Although he thought he would be arrested soon, Ronyere’s attitude was very aloof. He probably knew to some extent. That this unstable life cannot continue.

But Jenial didn’t want to blindly take Ronyere. Because I was curious about why he was dangerously revealing his true face in such a remote forest.

“Let me ask you one question before sending you away. Why are you, a werewolf, not in the realm of demons, but in the empire, turning into a werewolf on the outskirts of the islands and driving people away?”

“It is… ….”

Ronière hesitated for a moment before answering, so he decided to speak frankly. It was because he couldn’t escape anyway.

“I was not born in the Demon Realm. I was born in a small village in the south of the Empire. One of my parents is a demon, so I was just born with the disposition of a werewolf.”

His father, who loved his human mother, hid his identity and confessed his love to live in the village.

The father belatedly told him that he was a werewolf, but the caring mother embraced her father and decided to keep her secret forever.

But there are no eternal secrets. On the day of the full moon, Ronyere, who could not overcome the tickling all over his body, turned into a werewolf.

Returning to his original form for the first time in his life, Ronyere was so excited that he disobeyed his father’s words that he should never leave his room on a full moon day.

Thanks to this, Ronyere was discovered by one of the villagers, and after a meeting, the villagers decided to kill Ronyere’s family.

The next night, the villagers gathered with torches and set fire to Ronyere’s house. In the process, his parents died, and Ronyere barely managed to escape with burns on his face.

“There were incidents like this and that, but even so, I never thought of myself as a non-emperor. After a long wandering, I came into contact with theology and became a priest who sees all people as equal, trying to prevent victims like me from occurring.”

However, Ronyere could not become a priest. Because half of his face was distorted by burns, he was denied entry to the seminary even though he had good grades.

No matter how many times he knocked on the door of the seminary, the answer was no. However, Ronyere was not heartbroken. He thought that even if he could not become a priest, he could serve God alone.

“Then it was one day.”

Ronière, who went to pray at the cathedral as usual, happened to hear that one of the cathedral’s priests was looking after the slave trader.

Unbearably uncomfortable with that, Ronyere threatened the priest to find out where the slave trader was secretly managing the slaves.

Ronière, who ran straight into the forest where the slave trader had settled, turned into a werewolf, made the slave trader run away, and freed all the slaves.

However, the problem was the young children who could not live without their guardians. To protect his children, Ronyere had no choice but to live in this forest.

“I… ….”

My throat is choking just trying to explain the situation. As Ronyere clenched his fists, the children hiding behind the trees ran out one after another.

All three children were demons with small horns on their foreheads. The children blocked Ronyere’s way and looked up fiercely at Jeniel.

“Don’t bully my uncle! If you harass me more, I won’t let you go!”

“Yes, yes! Yo, I won’t forgive you!”

Looking at the children, Ronyere understood the situation without further explanation. Ronyere was active as a werewolf to prevent the villagers from finding children and harming them.

He thought that if he drove the villagers out with enough scares, he would never come back into the woods. It’s such a foolish and foolish idea that it feels pathetic at first glance.

Human beings are the law to seek help from others when they encounter a being they cannot resist. Ronyere, who had only given help throughout his life but had never received it, did not even know that simple fact.

“What a miserable life. You are not even worthy of pity.”

“I know. You will be punished, so please give me one day.”

“You are saying something strange. What crime have you committed?”

Startled, Ronyere raised his head. Jenial looked at Ronyere and said something very natural.

“I didn’t commit a crime, so I don’t have to pay the penalty.”

“But…… I hid my identity and lived in the system until now, and now I pose threats to the villagers and to Young master.”

“If struggling and trying to survive is a sin, there must be no one in this world who is not a sinner. So pretend you haven’t seen it. However, I don’t like the fact that you continue to remain in the system.”

After saying that, Jeniel pulled out the brooch attached to his coat and held it out to Ronyere.

“Take this and go to the north. This brooch represents the goodwill of the Malaig family, so if you show it to the guards, there will be no fear of being interrogated. Conducting a checkup itself is the same as distrusting the Malaig family.”

If they can get out of the system and go to the north, they can survive. This is because the handling of mines in the north, which borders the border area, was relatively relaxed compared to the system.

But Ronyere didn’t understand why Jenial was helping him. What advantage does he have that he helps himself?

There is no good will without a reward. It was a realization that Ronyere felt with his skin while living in the system. Nevertheless, Jeniel Malaig in front of him was doing good without any cost.

“I’d better get it before I change my mind.”

Ronière, who suddenly came to his senses, carefully took over the brooch that Jenial was handing over. A brooch engraved with an eagle’s pattern sparkles brilliantly on Ronyere’s hand.

Ronière, who was staring at the brooch blankly, suddenly gnawed his teeth and sobbed. Ironically, Jeniel’s good intentions overcame the wounds of the past.

After being betrayed by the villagers, Ronyere has been called a monster for the rest of his life. With half his face scorched from the burns, who would look good on Ronyere?

He lived his life as an object that everyone shunned and hated. Then, at some point, he wondered if he was a real monster or not.

He came to think that since he is actually a werewolf who preys on humans, it might be more convenient to live as a monster according to their wishes.

But each time, Ronyere believed the verses of theology. In the beginning, Manmin relied on the phrase that there should be no discrimination because all people are born equal.

He lived his whole life with the hope that he would be able to meet someone who would treat him without discrimination.

“My belief is…… You are not wrong.”

Muttering, Ronyere looked up at Jeniel while holding the brooch dearly. Ronyere opened his mouth with an expression as if he would cry at any moment.

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“I will not forget this grace for the rest of my life. When I successfully reach the north, I will repay Young master’ favor no matter what. Thank you so much.”

Ronyere bows his head deeply. Jeniel spoke rather coldly, as it was unfamiliar to him for no reason, and there would be nothing good in wasting time.

“There is no need to repay the favor, so take the children and disappear from my sight. If the villagers ever came here, it would be a headache.”

“Oh, I see.”

Ronière, who had wiped away tears, thanked them again and held the children’s hands. The children didn’t know why, but they followed Ronyere’s words to go quickly.

After sending Ronière away, Jeniel walked towards Radne, who was lying on the floor. Radne, who was watching the whole scene from the side, looked at Jenial as if it was unexpected.

“…… Did you come here with this in mind from the beginning?”

“It wasn’t from the beginning. As we talked, I changed my mind. Rather…….”

Jeniel meets Ladne’s eyes with a look of pride.

“Looks like you didn’t pee this time.”

Her face suddenly turns red because she wonders what crazy things she’s talking about. But soon, realizing that it was a joke that Jeniel wanted to ease tension, he sighed.

“A madman is really… ….”

Radne muttered in an awkward way, but frowned at her before trying to get up from her seat. A sharp pain rose from her ankle. Seeing that, Jenny Earl turned to him and sat down on one knee.

“You look like you sprained your leg, so get on me.”

“…… I can move this much by myself.”

“You’d better be stubborn.”

Radne hesitated for a while, but eventually decided to be carried by Jenial. It is true that her ankle is in poor condition, so I intend to get help from her when I can.

As Ladne sat on his back, Jeniel got up and walked. Radne quietly opened her mouth, feeling that Jeniel’s back was quite wide.

“…… But are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“The chief will be suspicious if there is no evidence that the werewolf was dealt with.”

“Even if you doubt it, there is nothing he can do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The chief of this village did not report the appearance of werewolves to the guards, and instead entrusted the request to the adventurer’s guild at high cost. It must be that the back is doing something stupid.”

The expensive furniture prepared in the village chief’s house was proving it.

“In the forests on the outskirts of these islands, the most common thing to do is to grow and sell medicinal herbs illegally designated by the empire. If you take this as a weakness, the village chief will raise doubts about where the werewolves have gone.”

Jeniel had a plan. He gets fancy because he thinks he’s the only fool. Ladne, who stayed still for a while while sitting on Jeniel’s back, conveyed her thoughts in a crawling voice.

“Thank you… ….”

I couldn’t tell if this gratitude was for protecting my people from selling them to the system or for carrying me, who had sprained my ankle.

It was true, however, that the grudge against Jeniel had been washed away for a while because of yesterday and today. However, Jenial was concentrating only on moving his steps, as if he hadn’t heard Ladne’s voice.

I felt ashamed of that fact, but I didn’t have the courage to express my gratitude twice. So, Ladne just sat on Jenial’s back and was silent.

‘I’m still not lucky… ….’

I felt like Irea knew a little why she liked this man.