Chapter 120
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“Did the proposal really pass?”
Ruby, still groaning from a hangover, perked up at Ivan’s words and lifted her head. She crunched the carrot he offered her with practiced ease.
“It did. I’d already started looking into the location anyway. Even if we end up clashing with the Lion Tribe, our clan will back you.”
“…Truly, thank you. Thank you so much.”
Ruby murmured, dazed. A flicker of urgency stirred in her chest, but she swallowed it down. There was only so much she could uncover without the help of the wolves.
“So, anyway, we’re stuck here for now, aren’t we?”
“Yeah.”
“Even if we find the location soon, we’ll need to figure out how to secure it depending on where it is. That means you’ll be here longer than expected.”
“Yes, I suppose that makes sense.”
“So, I was thinking… how about making your position official?”
“…What kind of position?”
It was, in truth, exactly what she had hoped for. Remembering the subtle scorn from those who treated her as nothing more than a guest, she realized all the more how necessary a clear status was.
“Well, considering the clothes I had made for you, wouldn’t it suit you to become my personal maid?”
Ivan had, to some extent, accepted Count Morado’s suggestion. But when he presented it to Ruby, he made it sound like entirely his own decision. Even if the man was his vassal, Ivan didn’t like that someone had presumed to define her place without his say.
Still, the thought of Ruby trailing behind him everywhere, tied to him as his personal maid, didn’t sit poorly with him at all.
“Your personal maid?”
“Yes. I may have freedom within the estate, but outside of it, things are different. Naturally, you should be by my side.”
“But if it’s about keeping spirits away, I can handle that just by leaving a bit of my energy on you.”
Of course, he was fully aware of that. But he still wanted Ruby close — glued to his side, if possible. The moment he looked away, she was bound to stir up some kind of trouble. How could he not worry?
He still intended to summon Count Weaver for a proper reprimand, but the fact that he hadn’t been able to expel Leslie continued to nag at him.
Even so, Count Morado hadn’t been wrong.
If Leslie were cast out, the wolves — so deeply bound by loyalty and kinship — might turn their resentment on Ruby, blaming her for something that wasn’t her fault. And even if Leslie was removed, there was no guarantee someone else wouldn’t harbor the same malice. It wasn’t realistic to keep casting wolves out from their own lands every time it happened.
No, it was better to keep Ruby within arm’s reach where he could protect her himself. Better to make an example of anyone who dared cross her, and to do so openly, so no one would ever mistake her standing again.
Ruby glanced up at his eyes, shadowed briefly with thought, and gave a small nod before he could say anything.
“All right. Well, I’m sure the Duke has his reasons.”
Her voice was light, but inwardly, she recalled the tension in the banquet hall the night before — just before she’d drowned it all in wine. None of the wolves had looked at her with warmth. Not one.
The feeling sat strangely in her chest. She’d told herself from the beginning not to grow attached. This place was only ever supposed to be a brief stop on her journey.
But maybe she had. Maybe somewhere along the way, she’d begun to care. She kept involving herself, unasked. And now — without even realizing it — she’d started to want their recognition.
“…Once you’ve saved your clan, you might leave this place,” he said softly. “But while you’re here, even if just for a little while, I hope you’ll think of it as home, Ruby.”
At that word — home — something twisted gently inside her.
How could he say that to someone who had lost both her clan and her land? To someone who had nowhere left to return to? The idea of calling any place home again felt both distant and delicate, like trying to hold smoke in her hands. If their roles had been reversed, could he have done it so easily?
Maybe it made sense that the wolves didn’t welcome her. Maybe it wasn’t just petty hostility — it was instinct. She couldn’t blame them, not entirely.
For now, she would adjust. Settle in. At the very least, it would ease the Duke’s mind. He was helping her without hesitation. It was only fair she lessen the weight of his concern, if she could.
And more than any of that, it was the look in his eyes that swayed her. The quiet earnestness that made her want to believe him, just for a moment.
“…All right. I will.”
She answered easily, but the knot in her chest remained. Because last night still lingered in the back of her mind.
He had a fiancée, so why did he treat her like this? So gentle. So warm.
Then again, in her own clan, polyandry wasn’t uncommon. She hadn’t thought much of it before.
Maybe as rabbits were polyandrous, the wolves were also polygamous in some form.
Thinking that she should ask the doctor about it the next time she saw him, Ruby nibbled on the carrot tapping against her lips.
Ivan, who had been quietly watching her absentmindedly chewing, set down his fork and pulled her into his arms. Liking the gentle patting on her lower back far more than she expected, Ruby relaxed and leaned into him naturally. Even so, she couldn’t help but think of Isabelle.
Still, no female could easily reject the courtship-like gestures of a strong male brimming with vitality. Feeling the strange emotions that had sprouted inside her, Ruby let out a small sigh and held her pounding, hangover-ridden head.
In many ways, Ivan was such a troublesome male.
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