TGDWDS 32

Chapter 32 

Crack.

The cracks spread deeper and wider across the egg. Pieces of the shell could be seen falling to the ground with little thuds.

“Ah. This is troublesome. If it hatches here…”

Even the Grand Duke looked quite troubled, apparently having not expected this. He tried to move the egg, but it was useless. The egg was kicking violently from inside, breaking through its shell.

“Just stay still…!”

“Waa!”

At last, the egg shattered, and something tiny burst out from inside. The little white creature twisted its whole body and escaped from the Grand Duke’s grasp.

“Uh… huh?!”

Then it landed directly in Anais’s arms.

Plop.

The tiny, snow-white wyvern’s pitch-black eyes met Anais’s violet ones. Anais looked bewildered for a moment, then gently lifted the corners of her lips.

“Hmm… Hello? Little one?”

“Ppyak?”

The wyvern tilted its white head to the side. Then it gave its tiny wings a little flap before looking at Anais again.

Just then, a gust of wind flew in from afar and made Anais’s robe flutter. Seeing the fabric billowing behind Anais, the wyvern cried out happily.

“Ppyak!”

“…?”

Anais, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on and gave an awkward smile.

“Little one? But could you get down now?”

“Ppyak!”

It was a surprisingly firm cry. The wyvern clung tightly to Anais and burrowed into her arms, just like a child searching for warmth.

“Um… I think this wyvern has imprinted on Madam as its mother.”

At Sarah’s words, everyone nodded as though they agreed. Strangely enough, even the Grand Duke looked relieved.

The only one who was flustered was Anais.

“Imprinted?”

“Because they recognize the first creature they see after hatching from the egg as their mother.”

“……!”

“Once they imprint, they’re much easier to tame. That’s why there are even hunting groups that specialize in collecting monster eggs.”

Only then did Anais understand what had happened, leaving her momentarily speechless.

Meanwhile, the wyvern seemed to like Anais’s arms and had settled comfortably there.

Watching it, the Grand Duke asked once more.

“What do you think, Anais? Although it looks like a dragon, a wyvern is a monster without much intelligence. Once tamed, it will continue to obey you.”

“Pardon?”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. Since it has just hatched, we can also send it to a monster tamer.”

At the Grand Duke’s words, Anais looked down at the snow-white wyvern in her arms.

“Ppyak.”

For some reason, the wyvern’s cry sounded sad. It felt almost as though it were asking her not to abandon it.

“……”

The once-cold wyvern was gradually warming up in Anais’s arms. Feeling its warmth, Anais began to think.

If I tame this child now, won’t it become a problem when I leave the Grand Duchy?

As she pondered this, the Grand Duke spoke.

“If you tame it, it recognizes you as its mother, so it won’t attack you.”

“That’s right, Madam. If you ride it and fly around, you’ll be able to go anywhere! There’s an open area behind the Grand Duke’s residence, and the forest is quite large, too. Once it becomes an adult, you could raise it there!”

“There are also cases where monsters are kept in the forests within a mansion’s grounds for protection. You can do whatever you wish, Madam.”

Both Sarah and Anne, her escort and attendant, nodded as if to reassure her. They were telling her that the wyvern was worth raising.

But there was something else bothering Anais more than that.

For some reason, the wyvern that had lost its mother reminded Anais of herself when she was young.

Because of that, she found it difficult to separate herself from the wyvern.

Finally, Anais raised her head and spoke.

“If that’s all right… I’ll give it a try. Let’s take it with us.”

She didn’t dislike the way the wyvern affectionately clung to her, either. This was the first time she had ever received such obvious, unconditional love.

Anais carefully stroked the wyvern’s back.

“Grrr…”

The wyvern seemed pleased. It let out a soft growl, then slowly closed its eyes and fell asleep.

Watching it, Anais smiled and said,

“Since I’m your owner and family now, I’ll give you a name. Hmm…”

As Anais pondered, everyone around her began offering suggestions.

“Max? Doesn’t it sound rather dignified?”

“No. How about Tail? Its tail is cute.”

“What’s cute about that? Its tail is as sharp as a blade. Parker would be better! Somehow, it looks like it’ll grow up to be quite aggressive.”

Anais shook her head after hearing their suggestions. Then, as though she had finally made up her mind, she announced,

“Hayangi! It needs to be an easy name so I can call it often. Since it’s white, let’s call it Hayangi.”

“……”

Everyone fell silent.

Only Sarah clapped her hands happily.

“Wow! Hayangi is so cute! It suits him perfectly!”

The Grand Duke, who had been quietly watching them, smiled and said,

“Then Hayangi will come with us to the Grand Duchy as well.”

Sleeping Hayangi had tightly grabbed onto Anais’s clothes with its front paws and refused to let go.

With no other choice, Anais continued holding Hayangi in her arms. She sat around the campfire in that state and began eating.

The Grand Duke, who had been watching Anais from beside her, suddenly raised his head.

“Ah. I haven’t introduced you to the others. I’ll introduce everyone one by one.”

“No! You already did that earlier.”

Everyone nodded and spoke up.

“That’s right. We already greeted Madam, Your Grace.”

“…I see. Ahem. Then I suppose you’ve also become acquainted with Sarah and Anne.”

Anais met the eyes of her personal maid and escort knight, then answered with a faint smile.

“Yes. I remember them all.”

“In the Grand Duchy, you should always have the two of them with you. They will be of great help.”

Apparently, the Grand Duke had assigned them to her partly to keep an eye on her. Anais paused for a moment, but without showing it, she slightly lifted the corners of her lips.

“Yes. I will. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Anais was about to continue eating when the Grand Duke casually added,

“Of course. You are the Grand Duchess and a Lisandro.”

“……”

“Once you finish eating, go to the carriage and rest. I’ll look around the area one more time and come back.”

Having said that, he hurriedly stood up. Somehow, his retreating figure looked as precarious as it had before they departed.

Anais almost called out to him, but stopped herself and simply watched him.

She thought she could faintly hear a groan carried on the wind, as though someone were painfully scratching at his throat.

…Is he in pain somewhere?

Anais frowned. By then, the Grand Duke had disappeared into the dark forest. Only the steady sound of his footsteps remained.

Listening to it, Anais shook her head.

I must have imagined it.

Then, suddenly, the Grand Duke’s voice echoed in her ears, sounding as though she had heard it somewhere before.

“You must remember that everything you wear and eat, as well as the treatment you receive from the chief physician, must be the same as mine.”

Unlike the Grand Duke she had just spoken to, the voice had been extremely cold.

Yet the meaning behind his words was not all that different.

He had accepted her as a Lisandro and was treating her as a member of the Grand Duchy.

It was something Anais had dreamed of while living in the Viscount Orelsian household, yet had never once been given.

And he was offering it to her as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Like a drop of water falling onto a previously still surface, the small ripple that had formed in Anais’s heart continued to spread.

…So where did I hear those words? Was it in a dream?

She tried to retrace where those sudden words had come from, but she couldn’t find an answer.

Anais stiffened her lips. It felt as though the heart she had kept tightly shut was being shaken helplessly by a single sentence from the Grand Duke. This wasn’t the situation she had wanted.

What does it matter? I should just stop thinking about it.

Anais vigorously shook her head. She stopped herself from thinking any further and stroked the peacefully sleeping Hayangi.

That was all she could do to settle her restless heart once again.

The next day.

It was evening, just as the sunset was fading away and twilight was descending.

At last, the carriage carrying Anais entered the territory of the Grand Duchy.

During the journey, the air had gradually grown colder. The moment they arrived in the north, however, it became cold as ice.

Fortunately, thanks to the clothes the Grand Duke had prepared in advance and the temperature-regulating artifact necklace, the unfamiliar cold was bearable.

And more than anything, thanks to Hayangi, the wyvern that had remained nestled in her arms throughout the entire carriage ride, Anais was able to keep herself reasonably warm.

“Hayangi. Hey. We’re here. This is the Grand Duchy.”

Anais whispered to the sleeping Hayangi before looking outside the carriage at the darkening surroundings.

“The Grand Duchy is coldest when blizzards sweep through. For now, it’s still a relatively warm season.”

“That’s why we usually go out to hunt monsters around this time.”

“Once the sun goes down, there won’t be anyone in the square, so it would be better to go and look around during the day.”

Anais remembered what the knights had told her over dinner the previous day and nodded.

“It really is quiet.”

In the viscount’s territory, even after evening came, lanterns were lit and people remained in the busy streets until late at night.

Unlike there, the streets of the Grand Duchy were deserted.

The carriage continued traveling without stopping, passing through a densely wooded road before eventually entering a huge estate.

Beneath the sky, now dyed a deep, dark blue after the last traces of sunset had completely disappeared, stood a massive mansion of dark gray stone.

It looked more like a sturdy fortress built to protect against monsters than an ordinary residence.

“Wow. It’s huge. It looks even bigger than it did on the map. I really should stay with Anne and Sarah so I don’t get lost.”

The map of the Grand Duchy that Anais had torn from the viscount’s household showed the Grand Duke’s residence as a tiny mark.

Because of that, Anais had imagined a small mansion like the one belonging to the viscount’s family. Seeing the actual residence, she was once again amazed.

The Grand Duke’s residence was almost as large as the Imperial Palace.

“Hayangi. You should be careful not to get lost, too. Okay?”

“Ppyak.”

The sleeping Hayangi made a sound as though answering her.

Anais let out a small chuckle.

A short while later, just as the carriage came to a stop, darkness had already fallen over the sky.

Knock, knock.

Along with the sound of knocking came the Grand Duke’s voice, which was somehow as cold as the weather of the Grand Duchy.

“We’ve arrived, Anais.”