TFM 247

Thalia calls Varkas with 'Your father' in front of Khan 😭😭

Chapter 247

Act IV. The Wolf Recites Poetry Every Night

At the damp sensation touching her face, she barely managed to lift eyelids that felt stiff, as though glued shut.

The first thing that entered her hazy vision was a pair of pale blue-gray eyes.

She stared blankly at those blue eyes, sparkling like jewels above a tiny face covered in uneven tufts of downy fur.

Then a small pink tongue touched the corner of her eye again.

Only then did she realize that her face was damp with cold sweat.

It seemed the painkiller had worn off, leaving her to suffer through the night.

She carefully drew the grayish bundle of fur, which kept licking her face, toward her chest and slowly pushed herself upright.

Early morning sunlight was slanting in through the window.

She narrowed her eyes against the glare and rubbed her throbbing forehead. Then, when she pulled the cord beside the bed, Yvonne immediately opened the door and entered.

“Did you sleep well last night, Your Grace?”

“Prepare something Khan can eat.”

Thalia gave the order indifferently as she lowered her legs from the bed.

The maid’s troubled gaze fell on the young wolf in her arms.

“Shall I prepare goat’s milk, like last time?”

“Do I have to tell you every little—”

Thalia, who had been about to snap at her, suddenly closed her mouth.

Her thoughtful gaze lowered to the gray wolf staring quietly up at her.

Only a little over two weeks had passed, and yet the wolf had already grown nearly twice as large.

Considering that, when she first took him in, he had barely been able to walk properly, it was an astonishing speed of growth.

Was it because he was no ordinary beast?

She carefully examined the young creature still nestled in her arms, then gently pried open his long muzzle. She could see tiny teeth beginning to break through his gums.

“I think it should be all right to start feeding him meat. Mince some lamb finely and bring it. Prepare some lukewarm milk as well.”

“Understood. I will prepare it at once.”

After the maid left, Thalia set the wolf down on the floor and rose from the bed.

Then, as she walked behind the screen to wash, the wolf promptly followed after her.

Thalia looked down at him with laughter in her eyes.

Khan truly was a strange magical beast.

For nearly a week, he had done nothing but sleep like the dead, making everyone worry themselves sick. Yet whenever he was awake, he refused to leave her side for even a moment. At times, he even forced himself to stay awake against the sleepiness washing over him, just so he would not have to take his eyes off her.

Perhaps he was afraid she would abandon him.

Looking at him with pity, Thalia soon bent at the waist and gently stroked the fluffy head covered in soft gray fur.

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you anywhere. Once we eat, let’s go for a walk in the garden together.”

As if he understood her words, the wolf pricked up his pointed triangular ears.

She scratched the ears of the beast sitting quietly on the floor, then went behind the screen, took off her nightclothes, and washed herself.

After changing into clean new clothes, Brisa and Yvonne entered the bedroom carrying trays of food.

After she had changed into clean new clothes, Brisa and Yvonne entered the bedroom carrying trays of food.

“Good morning, Your Grace. We have prepared food for Khan, as well as Your Grace’s breakfast.”

Brisa spoke briskly, then began setting the food on the table.

Meanwhile, Yvonne carefully placed the finely minced lamb into Khan’s bowl.

Although he must have been quite hungry, Khan did not even glance at his meal. He was staring only at her.

The wolf’s blue eyes never once left Thalia.

Thalia crouched beside Khan and gently pushed the bowl of food toward him.

“Here, hurry and eat. You need to eat a lot if you want to grow big and strong.”

The wolf, who had not moved for a while, finally lowered his head toward the bowl.

Thalia looked down with curious eyes at Khan as he ate quietly, unlike what one would expect from the young of a magical beast.

The young wolf emptied his bowl very calmly, without rushing at all.

Perhaps she was not the only one who found the sight fascinating, because a small sound of admiration slipped from the maid’s lips.

“He really eats so well-behaved.”

“Doesn’t he?”

Pleased by the praise for Khan, Thalia showed a faint smile at the corners of her lips.

“Khan seems a little special. Even though he’s still young, he behaves so maturely. He doesn’t make noise or dirty the room either.”

“That’s true. He must be very intelligent.”

Brisa agreed brightly.

At first, the maids had looked worried about raising a magical beast, but in the end, Khan’s clever and lovable behavior seemed to have won their hearts.

At some point, they had begun actively cooperating in caring for Khan. Sometimes, when they saw Khan nestled in Thalia’s arms, they even wore pleased smiles.

However, not everyone accepted her eccentricity so generously.

Thalia’s face darkened in an instant as she recalled how Raina had flown into a rage the moment she saw Khan.

Her sister-in-law’s sarcastic words still seemed to ring vividly in her ears.

“How truly impressive. After driving your husband out of the castle with all manner of outrageous behavior, the best you can do is live while clutching a magical beast to your chest!”

Thalia bit her lower lip against the pain that seemed to gouge through her chest.

It was not only her young sister-in-law who disapproved of her actions.

Though they did not reveal it openly, most of the vassals living in Laedgo Castle held hostility toward her.

It was only natural.

An illegitimate imperial princess who had taken the position of grand duchess in place of the legitimate First Princess.

That alone would have been enough to make her unwelcome. On top of that, she had failed to bear a proper heir.

She had even blamed the grand duke for it, causing all manner of trouble until she finally drove him to leave for the campaign.

And as if that were not enough, she had turned the entire castle upside down by insisting on raising a magical beast.

In the eyes of the easterners, she must be no different from the worst wife under heaven.

Even so...

Thalia met the blue eyes looking up at her after he had finished eating, and a smile rose to her lips.

At that gaze, as though he were looking at the most special and precious thing in the world, joy welled up inside her chest.

The wolf’s eyes were filled with the beautiful light that had placed an inescapable curse upon her eight-year-old self.

Counting the pale silver flecks shining over those blue irises, Thalia could no longer hold back the emotion rising within her and pulled the wolf tightly into her arms.

Perhaps she really had gone completely mad, just as everyone whispered behind her back.

A dead child returning as a wolf.

She knew in her head that such an absurd thing could never happen in reality.

But her heart was saying something entirely different.

Thalia kissed Khan’s face and murmured inwardly.

Khan is my child.

Anyone would understand if they looked quietly into this child’s eyes.

They would know that this small life she had pulled from the muddy water loved her more than anything else in the world.

---

As she stepped slowly out through the castle’s rear door, the bright light of late spring poured into his pupils.

For an instant, he felt his vision bleach white, and he slowly blinked.

Within a field of vision far wider than any human’s, the garden, dyed in pale colors, spread before him.

The outlines of everything were blurred, as though wrapped in thin mist, but because his viewing angle had widened nearly twice over, he could take in everything around him at a glance without even turning his head.

He noticed the servants whispering behind her back and bared his teeth without realizing it.

Before he could restrain himself, an animalistic growl slipped from his distorted muzzle.

“Why? What is it, Khan?”

Thalia, who had been carefully stepping along the garden path, asked in a worried tone.

He felt the murderous intent coiling around his body vanish in an instant, and he sharply tilted his head back.

Then a delicate face shining like pearl, radiant golden hair, and jewel-like deep blue eyes filled his vision.

Why was it that, even through the eyes of a beast, only her figure appeared this clear?

Everything was full of things he could not understand.

“Are you scared because it’s been so long since you came outside?”

As he stared at her without even blinking, her dreamlike, gentle voice tickled his ears.

He had known her for many long years, but he had never known before that she could speak in such a soft and sweet tone.

The woman, stroking the nape of his neck with a tender hand as though soothing him, stopped in front of the flower bed.

“Do you see this flower?”

The woman set him down on the ground and pointed to an armful of flowers blooming thickly.

“Your father gave me these flowers before he left the castle. They’re supposed to help calm the mind and body.”

He quietly stared at her profile, darkened with sorrow.

Indescribable emotions welled up from the bottom of his chest.

It felt as though he were dreaming a very sad, cruel, and beautiful dream.