성황의 아이들 [2]

206

206. Louise (9)

-When the year is unusually warmer than usual, flowers sometimes bloom even in the harshest cold. It is said that the rare and captivating scent of the flower drives wolves and lycanslopes crazy. Therefore, if the scent of flowers is permeated by the wind flowing from the demonic landscape, the hunting dogs should be controlled and they should not leave the house at all.

Even with her grandmother's threatening stories, young Louise always snorted.

That was until one day, when I smelled an unfamiliar and sweet scent while taking a walk.

-... Max.

Even though she was busy taking care of her nursing baby, she was a loyal friend who followed her around whenever it was time for a walk.

That is, until I saw the death clearly reflected in the eyes of that faithful dog.

* * *

"Max."

Louise, who came to the breeding farm early in the morning, tried shaking the unseasoned beef jerky.

But the arrogant wolf-dog only glanced at her face and turned his head away.

Max's cub, unlike his mother, never opened his heart to her.

Louise couldn't tell whether it was the distance that came from the forced master-slave relationship, or the smell of her mother's blood that she smelled as a cub.

In the end, she had to trudge back home, as always, without any results.

"Sniff. Did you see that dog again? "It seems like they haven't been to the kennel lately."

Her father, who happened to be eating a quick meal by himself, asked. He must have smelled the scent of dogs in the air.

Louise, who was rummaging through her portion of the cold stew for a moment, answered half-heartedly.

"Max has not been at the estate for the past few days."

"okay? Old Man Ben wouldn't have been so lax in cracking down on the kennels, but he's pretty good at escaping from us. "We have an important guest coming today, and I don't know if it's okay to leave him wandering around like that."

Her father, Sebastian Vatel, is the commander of the estate's guards.

Originally, he would have patrolled the Guard's guard posts with the Margrave on behalf of Knight Commander Wolf, who was late returning home.

However, he received a message that the Grand Duke was bringing an important guest, and now, unusually, he is sitting in the estate.

Instead, Vincent Sigismund, the former Margrave, used this as an excuse to expel him to the Demon Lord.

It was under the pretext of protecting the Margrave, who was not particularly distinguished by military force, but no one knew that it was actually just an excuse to avoid the prince. Because he has always been uncomfortable with people from the Seonghwang family.

"Should we return to the magic room immediately after Mom arrives?"

In response to Louise's question, he picked up the sword and shrugged.

"I guess so. Aren't the temperatures unusually warm this year? "The behavior of the Lycan Slopes is unusual."

From time to time, the faint scent of flowers blows through the warm wind.

Trying to hide the creeping anxiety, Louise stuffed the bland stew into her mouth.

"By the way, Louise."