CH 28

But I didn’t care. I changed to a whisper so that Hanu could not hear it and continued the conversation with Iprus.

“Iprus, does he really have a problem with his head because you misregulated your strength when you hit him with your parasol?”

“Ugh! Then what shall I do?”

“…Even if you go to prison, I will take good care of you. Thank you for everything.”

“You know that since you are my master, you cannot avoid responsibility, right?”

“Damn it. Is it too late to cut it off?”

I gradually stopped joking around with Iprus and muttered.

“Anyway, what really happened?”

“Tomorrow, a succession ceremony banquet will be held at the Igle mansion. If he doesn’t appear at an official event, one really has to assume that there is something. It’s a difficult spot to fall into, isn’t it?”

“Yes… Well, it’s questionable, but I don’t have to worry about it because I have a lot of things to do.”

Iprus grabbed my hands and whispered with sparkling eyes.

“Lady Lia. Actually, I haven’t given up yet.”

“What?”

“The wolf imprint.”

“Ah.”

When I put on an expression of boredom, Iprus spoke in her usual voice, perhaps because she thought there was no need to whisper anymore.

“Seeing the imprint of a wolf demibeast up close has been my dream ever since I was little.”

“You just like everything romance-related.”

Iprus covered her mouth with an open fan, which I didn’t know where it came from, and blinked coyly.

“Huh, that’s true, but the lady has never heard of the origin of demibeasts, so I don’t think you have any fantasies about wolves.”

“Origin of demibeasts?”

“This famous story, the demibeasts living on the continent have heard it at least once as a child. It’s a tale claiming that the first demibeast was a wolf.”

Perhaps wanting to join our conversation, Hanu interrupted Iprus.

“There are many stories of the origins of demibeasts, but the wolf demibest theory is the most popular and famous.”

‘The wolf is the first demibeast.’

Does it have anything to do with the original novel? I was interested.

“What is it about?”

When I showed interest, Hanu quickly explained with a slightly brightened expression.

“In summary, it’s about a black wolf who fell in love with a human and signed a contract with the devil to become a human. That wolf is the first demibeast.”

Immediately after Hanu finished those two sentences, Iprus took over.

“How charming the black wolf was in his human form, it’s said the woman fell in love as soon as she saw him.”

Naturally taking the lead in reciting the story, Iprus closed the fan.

In an instant, my gaze was focused on her.

“But the contract with the devil had a price.”

She raised her eyebrows as if she felt sorry for him.

“The black wolf, firmly in love, accepted the price straight away without even hearing what it was.”

—Foolishly.

She softly sighed out the last word, then shrugged her shoulders.

“On the day the black wolf became a human and connected hearts with the woman he loved, the devil demanded a payment from the black wolf.”

“Even on the day itself he asked for payment…”

“It’s the devil after all. Only then did the black wolf get scared and regret the contract. Only then did he realize that he had made a mistake.”

Iprus slowly blinked.

“What if the devil asked for the life of his beloved?”

Ah…

If so, it would have been better for the black wolf to not become a human and fail in his love.

What could be more horrific than if you became a human because you wanted to be with the person you love, and that act caused the death of that very one?

“Fortunately, what the devil demanded was not the death of his lover.”

“Oh, really?”

If it was the death of his lover, the story would have ended at ‘Be sure to check the contents carefully when signing a contract…!’

I tilted my head.

“So what was it the devil wanted?”

“The price is that her offspring feel the same way the black wolf felt for her.”

Iprus smiled, unfolded the fan she had earlier folded, and gently fanned her face.

“That’s the imprinting that appears only in wolf demibeasts with the black wolf’s blood.”

As if the mere thought of that thrilled her, she chattered excitedly, placing her hand on her heart.

“When he sees the person he’s imprinted on, his heart will beat like crazy… That feeling that overflows uncontrollably with just one gesture or even one eye smile!”

Unlike Iprus, who fell into sentimentality, I spoke with empathy for the victim.

“Such trouble for the offspring…”

“Well. But the black wolf did not see this as a price. Rather, he thought it was a blessing.”

“Why?”

“That would be because… love brought a great happiness to the black wolf that cannot be described in words.”

“Did he think that if his descendants felt the same way they would be happy?”

“Isn’t it?”

The black wolf’s way of thinking was completely incomprehensible.

‘What if you imprint on someone you don’t love? Rather than love, won’t it be a curse?’

His descendants were deprived of the right to love someone from birth.

While I pondered the injustice with a pouty expression, Iprus continued the story.

“This is how the imprint started. The part that comes after this is the true origin of the demibeast.”

“What else is there? Isn’t it ‘They got married and lived happily ever after’? The end?”

“Mhm. This story doesn’t have a fairy tale ending.”

“A sad ending?”

“You’ll know when you hear it. Anyway, after becoming a human and marrying his love, the black wolf sees the fruits of love over time.”

“Yes.”

“Three children were born between the black wolf and his lover. They were all wolf demibeasts.”

“It still is the case. If a pure-blooded human and a demibeast had a child, a demibeast would be born.”

The reason why the word ‘pureblood’ was used when calling a human was because not a single drop of beast blood had been mixed in them.

Literally, a ‘pure-blooded man’.

“Yes, that is correct. The problem arose because of that part.”

Nodding her head in affirmation, Iprus continued speaking with a slightly bitter expression.

“Humans persecuted the black wolves and their families, calling them monsters because they were different from themselves.”

I got goosebumps from the feeling of déjà vu.

‘Isn’t it similar to the present day demibeasts persecuting pure-blooded humans?’

“Their hatred of the black wolf family grew stronger with each passing day…”

She took a few deep breaths before parting her lips.

“One day, an incident happened.”

Her expression hardened.

“Unlike usual, the youngest child didn’t come home even though it’s late, so the black wolf and his family went all over town looking for him.”

“Did they find the child?”

“No. They searched till the next morning, but they were unable to find the child. The next day too. Then another day. The child did not return.”

Suddenly, my father, who was still looking for me anxiously, came into my mind.

I forced myself to focus on the story, trying not to think of it.

“How many days did they look for him? One day, the black wolf found something in a field far from the village and cried…”

He sobbed… ah.

Even without hearing the next words, I could guess what had happened to the child.

“The body of a cold wolf cub was surrounded by crows… Ah, this part is hard to put into words, so I’ll just stop here.”

Iprus added an explanation with a much darkened visage.

“It’s said that the quickly recovered corpse had traces of artificial violence.”

It meant that he was killed by humans, not wild animals.

Just for the reason that he was born as a wolf demibeast.

“The black wolf, in pain over the death of the child, eventually got his hands on a contract with the devil again.”

“Did he ask for the dead child to be revived?”

“No.”

“Then… revenge on the humans who killed the child?”

Iprus shook her head and slowly uttered the answer.

“No. It’s, ‘Please let the continent be filled with demibeasts’.”

The black wolf thought that if there were more people like him, he would be able to live without discrimination.

Since… Even if the child was brought back to life, there was no guarantee that the same disaster would not happen again.

Revenge could lead to other revenge… 

“It’s said that from then on, even ordinary animals began to become human beings.”

“So, the first demibeast and the reason why there are many demibeasts on the continent was because the black wolf made a contract with the devil.”

“Yes. Nowadays, it’s really rare to be born as an animal and turn into a human like you, right?”

“Right.”

“At that time, it seemed that there were so many demibeasts that there was a food shortage due to rapid population change.”

“If it’s true, it would have been chaos.”

“Well, the confusion must have been short-lived. Later, more and more demibeasts married humans…”

“Are their children demibeasts?”

“Yes. After a very long time, the number of pure-blooded humans decreased.”

“Hmm.”

I tilted my head to one side. There was still something I hadn’t heard.

“Iprus, you said that the devil’s contract comes with a price. Then what was the price for the wish that the continent be filled with demibeasts?”

The bigger the wish, the bigger the price.

What was the big price the black wolf paid?