Chương 3: WOLF IT DOWN
"STUDENT Yvo, you may apply for the early graduation program offered by the academy to outstanding students like you."
Yvo already expected what his professor, Lord Joaquin Davies, would say after he summoned him to the teacher's private lounge.
"You have the best grade among your batch," Lord Davies, who was sitting on the chair across from while having tea, said. Burgundy shoulder-length hair tied in a low ponytail, round eyeglasses, and neatly tailored suit– his appearance suited his title as a professor at the Royal Sun Academy. This man was already in his late thirties, but he looked younger than his age. "I also offered this to you last year, but you turned it down. Will you reject the program again this year?"
Yvo sipped his tea before he opened his mouth to speak. "Professor, do you want me gone from the academy that much?"
It was meant to be a joke.
But his stoic face and unfriendly voice didn't help lighten up the mood. In fact, his words sounded like he was threatening his professor.
"You know I don't mean it that way, Student Yvo," Lord Davies said. As expected, his face and voice made his joke sound serious. "I'm just worried about you since the Crown Prince seems to stick to you like glue these days."
His professor could mention the Crown Prince freely because of the soundproof barrier that he had set up in the lounge. Lord Davies would always put a barrier when summoning him because they would often discuss important things that someone else shouldn't hear.
Just like the matter regarding the heir to the throne.
The Crown Prince was a grade lower than him, but for some reason, His Royal Highness would always find a reason to cling to him.
"Professor, do you think the Crown Prince knows something?"
Lord Davies, a count in the Royal Capital, wasn't a Wolf.
In fact, Lord Davies was his mother's adoptive brother. It turned out that the Davies family had been protecting the Wolf Clan since time immemorial. Her mother, the last Wolf Queen, received the protection of House Davies by being adopted into their family.
[The Wolves, on the other hand, served the Davies as their private army.]
"Many know the Crown Prince as an easy-going person," Lord Davies said carefully. "Sometimes, he even acts dumb."
He scoffed after hearing that. "What kind of "dumb" Crown Prince would successfully push his younger siblings out of the succession line without shedding blood?"
"Correct," his professor said while nodding his head. "The Crown Prince is only seventeen years old, but he already has enough support from the nobles for him to be declared the official heir to the throne this early." He sipped his tea before he continued. "That's why I want you to be more careful, Yvo."
Lord Davies dropped the 'student' honorific before his name and was now speaking as his uncle.
"Just apply for the early graduation program this year," Lord Davies said. "Is it that hard to do?"
"It's not that it's hard, but…"
"You don't want to see your fake sister, do you?"
He just nodded, then he sipped his tea.
"Does your fake sister still send you letters and gifts?"
"Yes," he said, then he sighed and shook his head. "I don't know why she's trying hard to get close to me when we don't share the same blood, anyway."
"Maybe you'll know if you read her letters?"
"I don't have time for that," he said bluntly. "I asked Killian to read the letters for me. If my fake sister wrote something important regarding the duchy, then Killian would have reported it to me. But according to him, the letters were just pure nonsense."
"You really hate her, huh?"
"I don't hate her," he denied. "Hate is a powerful emotion that I don't plan to waste on anyone other than the man-eating wolves."
"Yvo, I know that you're not comfortable with your fake sister because she's someone who was handpicked by your father to replace Yvette," his professor said carefully. "But you can't be away from the duchy for too long. We already know that Eugenio Woolsey, your greedy uncle, approached her last year. That old man wouldn't approach your fake sister without an ulterior motive. You should return home and solidify your position as the heir."
"I'll think about it, Professor."
"You can still call me 'Uncle,' you know," Lord Davies complained. "Everyone in the academy knows I'm your maternal uncle, anyway."
"I'll feel uncomfortable if I call you 'uncle,' Professor."
"Why would you feel uncomfortable if I'm the one insisting, anyway?"
[Because I'm older than you?]
But he couldn't say that.
His birth, or should he say "rebirth," was a secret that only he knew. He hadn't shared it with anyone else, not even with his mother, who was the closest person to him in the past.
[It won't hurt to be careful.]
"You're an ice wall, Yvo," Lord Davies complained lightly. "I know you put your guard up all the time to protect your secret. But as your uncle, I wish you'd act your age sometimes. It's alright if you have fun from time to time."
He was already past the age of having fun, though. And he also didn't have friends in the academy. Most of the students were wary of him because the reputation of the Woolseys wasn't necessarily good.
[We're known as the "Beasts of the North" all because it's our duty to guard the border from the monsters.]
How could they do that if they didn't use violence? It wasn't like monsters would listen to them if they just told them to stop attacking the empire. The nobles in the Royal Capital were making it too obvious that they were living luxurious lives away from real danger.
"Yvo, I know your responsibilities as the Crown Wolf but…" Lord Davies let out a sigh. "I just want you to be happy."
"Don't worry, Professor," Yvo assured him. "I'll be happy once my clan is free."
***
"YVO!"
[Ah, I might be hearing things.]
Yvo pretended not to hear the Crown Prince calling him in a friendly manner. He walked faster, swiftly avoiding bumping into his schoolmates. He also ignored the greetings that he received along the way. But before he could even step out of the building, he still got caught.
Damn, he almost elbowed the Crown Prince, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
Thank goodness he controlled himself. If not, the Crown Prince's secret guards would definitely appear and apprehend him on the spot.
"Yvo, you didn't hear me call you?"
He turned to the annoying guy clinging to him as if they were close.
Platinum blond hair that almost looked metallic, bright green eyes that resembled emeralds, and sun-kissed skin– those were the three physical traits the Crown Prince Cyrus Helion was known and praised for.
"I heard Your Royal Highness," Yvo said bluntly. "I just ignored you."
Cyrus Helion just laughed at his bluntness. "Where are you going?"
"I'm on my way to the dorm, Your Royal Highness."
"You don't have to address me formally," the Crown Prince complained. "Just call me by my name."
"I'm sorry, but my life is precious, Your Royal Highness."
"Hey, I won't ask you to be executed just because you call me by my name."
"Your Royal Highness won't, but the law will surely do."
"You're so upright, Yvo."
"I just don't like Your Royal Highness that much."
Once again, the Crown Prince laughed. "Too bad I like you," he said shamelessly. "Yvo, since you're older than me, can I call you 'hyung?'"
'Hyung' was an honorary title used by younger males to address their older brothers or males older than them.
"Then I'll be your dongsaeng!" the Crown Prince added.
'Dongsaeng' meant 'younger sibling.'
"No, thanks," he said, rejecting the Crown Prince's offer without missing a beat. "Being Your Royal Highness's hyung sounds bothersome."
Cyrus Helion laughed again. "Yvo, you're probably the only noble in the empire who would turn down a chance to have a close relationship with the future sun of the empire. Even my enemies would smile and accept my hand in this kind of situation."
"Well, if I'm going to be honest, I don't see the need to have a close relationship with the future sun of the empire," he said lazily. Dealing with the loud and energetic Crown Prince drained his energy. "The Winterbone Duchy has its own governance, anyway. We, the Woolseys, just have to continue guarding the border from the monsters."
In exchange for the independence of the Winterbone Duchy granted by the empire, the Woolseys took an oath to protect the empire from monster invasion.
"Yvo."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness?"
The Crown Prince smiled brightly at him. "That's a pretty eloquent way to say you don't give a damn about me."
He just remained silent.
"You're really interesting, Yvo," Cyrus Helion said cheerfully, ignoring the fact that Yvo just plainly admitted that he didn't give a damn about the Crown Prince. "I organized an outing for tomorrow. Please come and play with me!"
"I'm sorry, but I have to decline Your Royal Highness's invitation," he said. "I'm actually on my way to the dorm to pack my bags since I'll be going away for the weekend."
He had to because tonight–
"Full moon," Cyrus Helion said while staring at the sky. "That's right. Tomorrow night, the full moon will occur."
He felt a shiver down his spine after hearing that.
[I'll be leaving the academy because I turn into my wolf form every full moon…]
For the first time since the Crown Prince attached himself to him, he turned to him. He once again felt the chills when his eyes met Cyrus Helion's smiling green eyes.
[Does he really know something?]
"Ah, I'm just talking to myself," Cyrus Helion said playfully, the mischief in his sparkling green eyes was clear. "I actually organized an outing to watch the full moon. Even though my family is blessed by the sun, I somehow feel drawn to the moon as well."
What a sly bastard.
The Crown Prince was obviously watching his reaction.
Thankfully, his poker face didn't betray him.
"Yvo, you remind me of the moon."
"That's a pretty eloquent way to say that Your Royal Highness is drawn to me."
Cyrus Helion looked surprised by his remark, then he laughed. "I can't deny that, so stop turning me down," he said playfully, then he finally removed his arm around his shoulders. "Don't break my heart too much, Yvo Woolsey."
"I'll think about it once Your Royal Highness stops being clingy," Yvo said cheekily, then he bowed to the Crown Prince before he left. [Should I kill the "future sun" before he "melts" the snow in the North?]
***
YVO had pale blond hair, but his coat as a Wolf was close to silver. But he kept his jeweled blue eyes in his wolf form.
The thing that differentiated him from the rest of his pack, and the normal wolves, was the stupid crown on his (wolf) head that he couldn't remove. No thanks to that stupid crown, he couldn't even pretend as an ordinary wolf.
Thus, here he was now, alone on the cliff while staring at the full moon.
He didn't have to worry about being seen by hunters or other people because he was in one of the Restricted Areas of the Winterbone Duchy. It was called the 'Lizard Nest,' but it was actually a forest that served as a lair for wyverns.
[The Crown Prince Cyrus Helion is really suspicious.]
Even in his previous life, the Helion Royal Family had always been a threat to the Wolf Clan.
In his first life, he was born as a Wolf in a time when his clan peacefully co-existed with the people of the empire. But that peace didn't last long.
One day, the appearance of the man-eating wolf-like creatures that came from the mysterious dungeons terrorized the empire. Since those man-eating monsters resembled the Wolves greatly, the people of the empire had quickly shunned their clan. Nobody believed the Wolves, even though they denied the accusations with pieces of evidence.
Eventually, the Royal Family of that time branded the Wolf Clan as traitors for killing and eating the people of the empire.
Like a cruel joke of fate, the man-eating wolf-like creatures disappeared along with the mysterious dungeons the moment the Royal Family banished the Wolf Clan from the empire. Because of that, the few people who believed that the Wolves were innocent finally turned their backs on them.
And then, at age twenty-seven, his first life ended at the hands of the royal knights while he was protecting the Wolf Village.
[Based on my calculation, it has been sixty-three years since then. I was reincarnated as a different person after sixty-three years. And yet, the empire still believes that the Wolves and the man-eating wolves are the same beings. I have to prove our clan's innocence this time.]
"Young Master!"
Killian, his right-hand man in his wolf form, appeared and interrupted his thoughts.
"What happened?" Yvo asked, sensing the urgency in Killian's voice and movement. "Did something happen at the duchy?"
Killian, silver coat and a build smaller than Yvo in his wolf form despite being older in age (in this lifetime), nodded before he answered. "The master and the madam came back cold."
The grand duke and the grand duchess... died?
***
THE GRAND Duke Evan Woolsey, Yvo's father, was a despicable human being that deserved to die a gruesome death.
[He deserved it.]
That was Yvo's first thought after hearing that his father died gruesomely.
He didn't feel sorry for the bastard who forced himself on his mother. According to Lord Davies, Evan Woolsey accidentally discovered his mother's secret during a hunting season where the grand duke hunted his mother in her wolf form. His mother accidentally turned back to her human form in front of the grand duke because of her injury.
After that, Evan Woolsey forced his mother to be his mistress in exchange for his silence.
When he was a child, he remembered the grand duke visiting the annex, where he locked her up with his mother. But Evan Woolsey would only visit every full moon to watch him and his mother transform into wolves because it was entertaining for him.
[I don't hate Rosette Woolsey. She just acted like my mother and I didn't exist. But it's better off that way.]
The Grand Duchess, Rosette Woolsey, only showed a speck of interest in him after Yvette fell into a comatose state. After all, the grand duchess cared deeply about the duchy. She would rather make Yvo, her husband's illegitimate son, inherit the duchy instead of their greedy relatives and vassals.
[I feel bad for Yvette for losing her parents while she's in a coma, though.]
The only person in the family who treated him and his mother like humans was his "older" half-sister Yvette. Thus, his chest was heavy with guilt, knowing that he was the reason Yvette fell into a comatose state.
[If only she didn't protect me then…]
"Young Master Yvo, what are you thinking?"
"Yvette," Yvo said while looking outside the window while he was on the carriage headed to the grand mansion. All he saw was white and trees covered with snow, though. "We have to find the cure for her as soon as possible."
"That's right– we can't let the duchy fall in the hands of your fake sister."
He turned to Killian, his right-hand man, who was sitting on the couch across from him.
Killian's coat as a wolf was silver. But in his human form, he had jet-black hair. But his eye color– gray– remained the same, whether he was in his human or wolf form.
"Killian, you can't show your hostility to Noonim later."
"'Noonim?'" Killian scowled, then he crossed his arms over his chest. "Young Master Yvo, have you warmed up to that fake just because she sends you letters and gibberish gifts?"
[Killian really hates Noonim, huh?]
"Noonim has the authority now that the grand duke and the grand duchess are both gone," Yvo said firmly. "I have to at least act like a caring brother in front of our relatives."
***
YVO who knew that he needed to behave in front of his Noonim, volunteered to bring her to the drawing room when he noticed she was pale.
To be honest, he didn't plan to scare or threaten Miss Gypsy.
He heard from Killian's report that Count Eugenio Woolsey, his greedy paternal uncle, approached his Noonim and was currently controlling her like a marionette. It wasn't like he didn't trust Killian, but he wanted to observe his fake sister's actions with his own eyes.
[But why does she look at me like she's afraid I'm going to kill her?]
He checked if his observation was correct by reaching for her neck. To be honest, he was just supposed to "fix" the collar of her mourning dress. But suddenly, he saw fear cross his Noonim's eyes.
[Did she think I'm going to strangle her?]
That seemed to be the case because his Noonim suddenly kneeled and begged him to listen to her.
Hah!
[This is interesting.]
He pulled out a dagger from the secret pocket of his blazer. Then he squatted down in front of her. He put the blade under Miss Gypsy's chin, then he lifted her head so he could see her amber eyes filled with fear.
[She really thinks I'm going to kill her, huh?]
He used that opportunity to satisfy his curiosity regarding the report that he heard from Killian recently.
"Noonim," Yvo called her in his usual icy voice. Even without looking at his reflection, he could tell that his jeweled blue eyes were glowing. That would explain his Noonim's shaking pupils. "Are you going to marry Ethan Woolsey, my cousin, and appoint him as the next duke instead of me?"
"What nonsense are you saying?" Gypsy asked. She looked shocked when she realized she spoke informally to him. But his Noonim quickly fixed it by talking politely again. "I'm afraid I don't know what Young Master Yvo is talking about. I won't marry Young Master Ethan, much less appoint her as the next duke."
"How can I trust Noonim's words alone?"
"Young Master Ethan isn't my style," she said defensively. "Moreover, Young Master Ethan already lost whatever speck of interest he had in me after he realized I'm a "broken doll.""
"What do you mean by that, Noonim?"
"Can you please move the dagger away from my neck first?"
Since he was curious about what his Noonim would do, he put the dagger away.
But much to his shock, Miss Gypsy stood up and removed his mourning dress. It startled him to see his fake sister in a thin undergarment.
"Noonim, what do you think you're doing…"
His voice soon trailed off when he saw the bruises and scars– both old and new– on his Noonim's exposed skin.
[What the hell happened to her?]
Gypsy turned around while tying her hair as if she wanted to show him the bruises and scars on her back, and the back of her legs. "Young Master Yvo, I made a fake allegiance with Count Woolsey to survive," she confessed in a shaking voice. "I had to because you ignored my SOS– I mean, call for help, all this time."
Yvo was confused as hell. "Those letters were to call for help?"
[But Killian told me the letters only contained nonsense…]
Ah, right.
He shouldn't have trusted the person who hated his Noonim for no reason at all.
"I'll listen to Noonim's story later," Yvo said while organizing his thoughts. "For now, don't we have to visit my Noona first?"
By 'Noona,' he meant Yvette– his actual sister.
"I understand, Young Master Yvo," Gypsy said, then she picked up her dress and wore it again while she had her back on him. "I will fulfill my duty before we face the duchy's vassal families."
Yvo clenched his hands while looking at the back of his Noonim's legs– there were whip marks on them.
[Killian, explain yourself later.]
***
YVO stood quietly next to the bed while observing Gypsy closely.
His Noonim was kneeling on the floor while holding Yvette's right hand carefully. His fake sister looked scared, but her amber eyes also showed determination.
"Young Master Yvo, I will now remove Lady Yvette's Mana Core from her body," Gypsy explained carefully, then she looked up at him with her sparkling amber eyes as if she wanted to impress him. "Don't worry, Young Master Yvo. This process won't put Lady Yvette's life in danger."
"I know," Yvo said bluntly. "Father explained your ability to me in the past."
Her face beamed. "As expected, Young Master Yvo is truly wise."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't think I said something that warrants praise from Noonim."
She smiled brightly at him. "I don't need a reason to praise my younger brother, do I?"
"I only call you 'noonim' to help you play your role as my fake sister, but I never saw you like family."
She looked disappointed, but she hid her hurt by laughing awkwardly. "I-I see…"
[Why is she trying hard to become my sister?]
"Noonim, just focus on your job," he said bluntly. "What will you do after you remove my noona's Mana Core?"
"Oh, I'll eat it."
Yvo was taken aback because he heard nothing like that from his father. "Excuse me?"
Gypsy smiled at him. "I'll wolf it down, Young Master Yvo."
***
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sola_cola Crown Prince sus.
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