Chapter 40
Heesu looked at it with a troubled expression. It was a tail. No doubt about it. No matter how she looked at it, it was a real tail. With trembling fingers, Heesu pointed at it and asked Izzen:
“Um, Izzen. Right now that…… there’s a tail, right?”
“Yes. It’s been there from the beginning…… I suppose you’ve only just noticed it.”
“Why is it there? Doesn’t it disappear when humanization occurs?”
“The affection seems to have been a bit lacking. While humanization did occur, traces remain, it seems.”
“Such cases exist too.”
Heesu muttered blankly as she stared at that tail. The tail, which was light gray overall with the tip white as if dipped in paint, was plump and smooth.
It was cute. Heesu, who originally liked furry animals, found her hands itching with the desire to touch Rufus’s tail as she looked at it. Earlier when that tail had brushed against her leg, the soft texture had felt quite nice too.
However, that wasn’t an ordinary tail. It was an erogenous zone. It wasn’t the kind of area she could casually touch. It was the kind of area she should avoid touching as much as possible.
Recalling the memories of that day brought disturbing emotions flooding back. She felt like she absolutely shouldn’t touch it.
Heesu quietly lifted her legs and put her feet on the sofa, sitting with her knees together. Rufus, whether aware of Heesu’s state or not, just hunched his back and sat there innocently.
“Time for breakfast.”
“Yeah!”
At Violen’s call, Heesu quickly ran to the dining table and sat in a chair. Rufus also followed awkwardly. The dining table was abundant as always, and today there was even a bowl for Rufus’s portion, making it look like even more was prepared.
But instead of sitting in a chair, Rufus went under the dining table and lay flat. Both Violen and Heesu looked at him with puzzled expressions.
“What are you doing right now?”
“What are you doing?”
Rufus looked up with expectant eyes, wagging his tail.
“I’m eating too!”
“Right. Come up and eat.”
“……Don’t I get separate dog food?”
Rufus said, tilting his head. Violen and Heesu looked at each other with confused expressions.
“Well, until recently he was just an animal…….”
“Wait. Why would a wild animal eat dog food? And a werewolf at that? Was he some kind of pet dog?”
“Werewolves are mainly kept as pets in the demon world. Mostly as fighting dogs.”
“Oh my.”
Heesu frowned with a serious expression. As she had felt with Button too, the demon world’s concept of animal protection seemed to be rock bottom. While her grudge against Rufus wasn’t completely resolved, thinking of the scene of these tail-wagging, human-loving creatures being made to bite and fight each other stirred up sympathy.
“Rufus. Don’t stay like that, sit here in this chair and eat with us.”
When Heesu tapped the chair seat, Rufus looked around in confusion.
“Eating? Together with humans?”
“Yeah. You’re human now too.”
“No dog food?”
“We’re not feeding you that stuff anymore. You’ll eat with us.”
“……But…….”
“Why. Don’t you want to?”
“It’s not that, but…….”
Rufus looked at Violen’s mood with a crestfallen face.
“The alpha will dislike it.”
“……What?”
“Alpha? Violen is the alpha?”
Heesu pointed at Violen with a dumbfounded expression and asked. Violen also had the same dumbfounded expression as Heesu.
“Since werewolves are hierarchical animals, he seems to have judged Violen as the alpha from the previous incident.”
Izzen explained while folding and organizing the newspaper he had been reading. At those words, Violen frowned slightly as if annoyed, but soon said calmly:
“It’s fine, so hurry and sit in the chair. You’re making Master uncomfortable, aren’t you?”
“Understood!”
As soon as permission was given, Rufus quickly climbed up and plopped down in the chair. His tail sticking out behind the chair wagged excitedly like a propeller. It seemed he had actually really wanted to eat together.
“Violen, a fork.”
“Yes.”
Judging that Rufus wouldn’t be able to use chopsticks or even a spoon well, Heesu asked Violen to bring a fork and handed it to him. Sure enough, Rufus couldn’t even hold the fork properly and fumbled around before quickly dropping it. Heesu had no choice but to overlap her hands over his and teach him how to grip it.
“Like this, yes. Hold your fingers like this.”
“I’m holding it well! I won’t drop it anymore!”
“Right, good job. Now use that to stab the food and eat it.”
As she praised Rufus like handling a child, she somehow felt stares. Heesu glanced at Violen’s mood. Contrary to her worries, rather than being angry, Violen was looking at her with an ambiguous smile. An expression that was both good and bad.
“It’s fine. Continue teaching him.”
“Uh…… yeah. Ah! Rufus, don’t stab like that…….”
At Violen’s words, who had quickly noticed that she was watching his mood, Heesu was flustered, but soon her attention was swept away as Rufus fiercely attacked the plate with his fork. Heesu ended up teaching him again by overlapping her hands over his. After such commotion, Rufus was finally able to eat somewhat like a human.
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