The Beast of the Albard Mansion - Chapter 28
A little later, Ellie returned with a steak of beef foreleg. But the amount of meat she brought was less than I expected. It wouldn’t be nearly enough for Desi.
I sent Ellie on another errand and gave the meat to Desi under the bed.
“Desi, are you still hungry? I’ll sneak into the storeroom and steal some more food later.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay! You eat a lot.”
“I can manage. We just need to be cautious for a while. I’ll find my own food when it’s safe to roam around.”
“What if you starve to death?”
“I won’t starve to death just by missing a few meals.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So, please stay put and don’t move around. It’s dangerous out there with everyone on edge.”
I was touched by Desi’s concern for me. Seeing him cramped under the dark bed made my fingers itch. I wanted to keep looking at his slightly pouty side profile.
“Cute Desi.”
“You’re the only one who would call me cute.”
“Ellie only comes in the morning for a bit. You can come out later. And in the evening, just hide when she comes.”
“What does your maid do all day if she’s not looking after you? No wonder you were wandering around the mansion like a lost child.”
Desi seemed not to like Ellie. I reached under the bed and poked his cheek.
“You’re being grumpy.”
“……”
Desi always made a face like he couldn’t stand it when I did that, but his cheeks would turn slightly red, unable to hide his embarrassment. He quickly turned his head to the other side, his neck flushed with patches of red. Seeing his reaction made me laugh.
Ellie quickly handed me the large blanket I had asked for and hurried out of the room, probably to avoid being pestered by me.
Ellie liked me, but she was always too busy to spend much time with me. I used to hate that, but now I didn’t mind. Desi was filling the empty space. My room, which was always lonely, now had Desi in it.
Just yesterday, I felt so lonely and bored that I wanted to go out. But now, I found my room fun and enjoyable. I wanted to stay inside all the time.
As soon as Ellie left, Desi crawled out from under the bed, stretching his long limbs to relieve his stiffness. I thought about how to entertain Desi and remembered a toy I had put in the cabinet.
“Desi, do you know what this is?”
“A doll?”
“Yes. I used to play with it with my sister. Isn’t it pretty? Let’s play with dolls.”
“……”
Desi looked at me with a weary expression, as if to say, “Are you serious?” Ignoring his look, I steadfastly met his gaze. In the end, Desi raised his hands in surrender.
We sat on the bed and played with the dolls. Desi held the doll very carefully, his face contorted as if he were facing something dreadful.
I played the role of the mother, and Desi played the baby.
“Where do you see a baby cry like that? You need to cry cutely. It sounds like you’re threatening your mother.”
Desi’s “wah” sound was so rough that I scolded him. He furrowed his brows and played along with the doll, looking like he was solving a difficult problem.
Regardless of Desi’s struggles, I thoroughly enjoyed the doll play, as it had been a long time since I’d done it.
“What does a baby do anyway? Just cry and demand food? What an easy life.”
Desi grumbled as he tossed the baby doll onto the bed.
“Hey! You’re going to break it. That’s what babies do. And mothers take care of them.”
“Siblings of my kind compete with each other to grow quickly.”
“…I prefer a mother who takes care of her child.”
Because my mother couldn’t do that for me. Even though I knew she was too ill to care for me, I still wished for a nurturing mother.
Suddenly, Desi pulled me into his arms.
“Is this how you want to be taken care of?”
He placed me on his lap and patted my head. I usually patted Desi’s head, but now the roles were reversed. Desi, much larger than me, enveloped me completely. His warm embrace felt comforting.
“Yes.”
I leaned comfortably against him and closed my eyes. I could hear the steady rhythm of our hearts.
I was no longer alone. Desi lived under my bed. Desi, with his bright yellow eyes and fierce fangs, made me feel safer than anything in the world.
***
“What am I supposed to do now?!”
The hunter left the mansion after three days of searching. He shook off my father’s grasp and hurriedly fled across the garden.
The hunter decided it was safer to leave the mansion quickly, fearing that the werewolf would return with its kind at any moment.
He promised to find a way to deal with the werewolves and return, but my father didn’t believe him. He cursed at the retreating hunter.
“Famous hunter? Ha! Just a coward! You useless fool who caused more trouble and solved nothing!”
Father, with a nervous look, paced in front of the gate and then returned to the mansion.
“I’ll call another hunter.”
He entered the mansion, loudly declaring that he would find a more capable and skilled hunter. He seemed to shout to forget the unease wriggling inside him. He shouted that there were many better hunters and that calling them would solve all the problems. He looked at Mother and the servants as if seeking reassurance.
But no one responded to Father’s words. They all just stared at him with anxious faces. Seeing that no one was reassured, Father grew more uneasy and locked himself in his study.
He left instructions not to be disturbed and stayed in his study from morning till evening, which only made the mansion’s inhabitants more anxious.
