The Beloved New Daughter-In-Law of the Wolf Mansion Chapter 190 - Side story 3

I was led by the maids and thoroughly washed in clean water.

 

All the dirt from the orchard was washed away, and the grime and dust were swept into the bathwater.

 

Now, instead of the scent of apples or orchard dirt, my body smelled of the bath fragrance that Arsene bought every year. 

 

After changing into my pajamas, I sat on the comfortable bed and smelled the scent coming from my body.

 

‘It smells so nice…’

 

The bath fragrance that Arsene had bought was surprisingly to my taste.

 

I sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, and blinked my eyes.

 

Yeckhart Mansion. 

 

The place I had longed to return to.

 

How could I have forgotten?

 

‘I promised I would return…’

 

I’ve forgotten for so long… this is completely unworthy of being a daughter-in-law.

 

When I closed my eyes, countless events that had taken place in the Yeckhart mansion flashed before me like a racing carriage.

 

Among them, there were sad and frightening moments, but the joyful ones overwhelmingly outweighed them.

 

Except for the first time I came to the Yeckhart mansion, I don’t think I was ever afraid of the wolves.

 

Thanks to Kendrick and Arsene, who gave me the confidence that the wolves wouldn’t harm me.

 

And thanks to the other servants who tirelessly worked to ease my fear of the wolves.

 

As I grew older, they too aged alongside me, yet the servants remained just the same.

 

Their faces had changed slightly, but their eyes—and their hearts—remained the same, staying in this mansion.

 

‘And yet…’

 

How could I not like this place?

 

How could I have been carefree, picking apples in the orchard while leaving this place behind?

 

For some reason, I felt that even if I hadn’t met Arsene today, my memories would have returned before long.

 

What if that had happened? 

 

If my eyes had met Arsene’s, and instead of us recognizing each other, I had been the one to seek him out first.

 

Not with a face all covered in dirt, fresh from the orchard, but—

 

If I had gone to meet Arsene after a long time, freshly washed and dressed in fine clothes?

 

“He must have been incredibly surprised!”

 

I laughed as I imagined Arsene’s surprised expression.

 

At that moment…

 

Knock knock.

 

Someone knocked on the door.

 

“You can come in.”

 

I turned to the door and said.

 

It had been a long time since someone had knocked and allowed them in.

 

But none of it felt unfamiliar.

 

“Linsy.”

 

Arsene opened the door and came in.

 

Arsene didn’t come in right away but leaned against the door, watching me for a long while.

 

Naturally, I expected Arsene to come in and sit down, so I left a space beside the bed—but seeing him just stand there made me puzzled.

 

“…Why aren’t you coming in?”

 

I wondered if something was wrong?

 

I glanced around.

 

But there was nothing wrong with the room.

 

Then, could it be that the one with the problem was perhaps…

 

“You’ve got a look on your face like you’re imagining something strange?”

 

“That’s because you’re leaning against that wall and not coming in!”

 

“I was just taking a quick look.”

 

“For what?”

 

“You in your room…”

 

Arsene cautiously stepped into the room after speaking.

 

He strode into the room and collapsed onto my bed.

 

“Ah!”

 

“It still feels like a dream, you in your room.”

 

“Even though I’m here with you?”

 

“Of course, because…”

 

“Why?”

 

“I had this kind of dream so often, Linsy. I dreamed of you coming back again and again.” 

 

As Arsene continued speaking, he dropped his head heavily onto my shoulder.

 

This time, unlike in the carriage, his ears and tail didn’t appear.

 

‘If they had, his tail would surely have been wagging hard.’

 

From Arsene, who rested his head on my shoulder and held me tightly, I felt an affection whose depth I could not fathom.

 

I gently pulled Arsene into an embrace and fell back onto the bed.

 

Then Arsene, holding me in his arms, naturally lay down on the bed along with me.

 

“So?”

 

“So?”

 

“So what did you do? What did you do when I came back? Mhm?”

 

Lying face to face with Arsene, I could see his shimmering silver hair even more clearly.

 

I gently stroked Arsene’s curly hair that peeked out between my fingers.

 

“You hugged me?”

 

“Mhm.” 

 

“And?” 

 

“I asked you not to disappear again.”

 

Arsene met my gaze and continued.

 

Arsene’s eyes, as blue as the sea and as beautiful as the sky, gazed at me quietly.

 

“I held your hand and asked you, even when you wake from the dream, to stay by my side.” 

 

“Arsene.”

 

“Linsy, you won’t leave again, right?”

  

Arsene asked, rubbing his cheek against my hand. 

 

“If it had been another servant and not you, I would have thought you were dead.”

 

“…”

 

“You disappeared like that. Everyone except Yeckhart said you were dead.”

 

Arsene’s voice trembled slightly.

 

“But I didn’t believe it.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Mhm, because you said you’d come back.”

 

Arsene spoke as he pressed a kiss to my palm.

 

A tickling sensation touched and then lifted.

 

“Because there’s no way you’d lie to me.”

 

“You know, Arsene.”

 

I watched Arsene nuzzle my hand for a moment, then suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace.

 

Then, resting my cheek against Arsene’s forehead, I began to speak softly.

 

“You know, I have incredibly good intuition, don’t I?”

 

To be precise, ever since I returned.

 

So, it wasn’t just my intuition that was good, but my strong survival instinct.

 

The reason my intuition aligns so well is because I’ve died once before, and—

 

It’s because that experience taught me to observe my surroundings carefully and cautiously.

 

Arsene nodded.

 

“But you know, I never felt like I would part from you.”

 

First, God told me.

 

He would return Arsene to me.

 

He would give me back the life I had earned through my return, the life I had built with my own strength.

 

I believed those words.

 

It wasn’t a lying voice.

 

“Actually, you know…”

 

When I flapped my wings and reached the very top of the World Tree.

 

At the moment when I had to devote the phoenix’s enduring life force and the bird clan’s powerful healing ability.

 

“I was a little scared back then, wasn’t I?” 

 

I think I was a little afraid, too.

 

I couldn’t help it.

 

Death isn’t something you get used to, no matter how many times you experience it.

 

Saying that I’ve lived through many lives is the same as saying I’ve experienced many deaths.

 

Being a phoenix who has experienced more deaths than other beasts, I felt a bit afraid of facing death once again at that moment.

 

But…

 

“But I wasn’t lonely.”

 

“…”

 

“I thought about you. Because I thought I’d see you again…”

 

In a place where there were no humans chasing us or harassing us.

 

Where beastmen, lost in reason, didn’t bite or torment each other.

 

Where my family didn’t threaten me, and where Arsene and Kendrick didn’t have to fight for their lives.

 

Because I thought I’d see Arsene again.

 

“I wasn’t lonely at all.”

 

The divine beast Phoenix burned its remaining life, closing the passage to God.

 

My body and mind, burned to ashes, vanished.

 

The moment I locked eyes with that memory, I felt a deep loneliness within my past self.

 

The betrayed divine beast burned its life away, feeling a profound loneliness.

 

But…

 

“It may sound like a lie, but it’s true.”

 

This time, I didn’t feel lonely. Because I had Arsene.

 

That alone was enough.

 

It was much better than back then—a far improved life.

 

No, it was a much better life.

 

Arsene listened quietly to what I was saying.

 

“Ack!” 

 

He leapt into my arms and hugged me tightly.

 

Then, wrapping his arms around my waist, he buried his face in my chest and didn’t lift his head.

 

“Arsene?”

 

“Thank you for coming back.”

 

Arsene buried his head in my arms and mumbled.

 

“For thinking of my face, not someone else’s, in that moment.”

 

“….”

 

“For leaving me with hope by promising to return.”

 

“Ahaha.”

 

“And for truly keeping your promise.”

 

I hugged Arsene tightly.

 

Arsene smelled like me.

 

At the same time, I sensed a very warm and gentle scent.

 

I wouldn’t have an answer if asked what exactly I sensed from the scent, but somehow, that was how it felt.

 

“Never again, Arsene.”

 

I whispered, embracing Arsene.

 

“I won’t leave you again.”

 

I won’t go anywhere.

 

Moonlight poured in brightly through the uncurtained glass window.

 

The moonlight illuminated Arsene’s shadow.

 

The wolf, crouching and hiding in Arsene’s shadow, swished its tail wildly and disappeared into the moonlight.