Chapter 1. The Beginning of Everything (1)

A narrow alley lined with shabby houses packed tightly together.

The rain that had fallen from last night until midday left traces everywhere.

Small feet moved busily over tiny puddles that had formed across the uneven ground.

“This should be enough……”

The sound of footsteps pattering on the wet ground stopped.

The girl crouched down and examined her face in a broken mirror, turning it this way and that. After studying her reflection intently, her expression quickly turned glum.

“What is this.”

A whining sound escaped involuntarily.

Her cheeks were gaunt from years of living on the streets, and dark shadows had formed under her eyes from a sleepless night due to the noisy sky.

To make matters worse, her forcibly cut hair remained unkempt and looked unsightly.

The girl clutched her jaggedly and messily cut hair.

She felt upset that even her somewhat girlish features seemed to have completely disappeared.

“I hate it.”

Displeased with her appearance, the girl rested her chin between her knees and heaved a deep sigh. As she lowered her gaze, the state of her body looked even more pitiful.

The ragged clothes covering her skinny frame were filthy, and what covered her small feet could hardly be called shoes without embarrassment.

‘I’m so ugly.’

Beyond what was currently reflected in the mirror and visible to her eyes, the girl felt there were many more ugly things about herself.

Her body showed almost no signs of secondary sexual characteristics despite being seventeen years old due to malnutrition, her short stature, and her behavior and voice that seemed somehow stunted—all these things made her feel inadequate.

As she recalled how different she was from her peers, how immature she was in every way, the voice of the pickpocket den boss floated in her mind.

‘You’re perfect just as you are now. You shouldn’t grow any bigger. People will take pity on you and give you more money if you look young. Act more childish. Copy exactly what that child is doing.’

A moderately small height, an appearance that made it difficult to guess her age, childlike behavior.

‘Right. This appearance is better for gaining sympathy.’

This was better for survival.

Even while thinking this, the girl bit her chapped lips firmly before clenching her teeth.

Every day, the desire for a better life and growth battled within her against the fear of the boss and the impulse to follow his orders.

In the face of her miserable reality, the latter always gained the upper hand.

Feeling frustrated at having to submit to reality, the girl felt terribly wronged and sad. Her unusually large eyes welled up with tears.

But knowing that crying with her current appearance would only make her look worse, she forcibly swallowed her tears and energetically got up to move.

“Ugh! It’s cold.”

The girl extended her overlapped hands under the eaves where rainwater was dripping and shuddered. Though the rainwater felt quite cold on her dry hands, she didn’t withdraw them despite trembling from the chill.

She stubbornly collected water and splashed it on her face.

“Uuugh.”

A pained sound escaped through her teeth, and her dry cheeks and small, prominent nose turned red from the cold.

People tended to avoid her if she looked too dirty, so the girl diligently continued without stopping.

After scrubbing her face to her satisfaction, she looked down at the broken mirror again.

“Is this a bit better than before?”

Perhaps because her skin had reddened, she seemed to have a bit more color than before.

As she turned her face this way and that to compare with earlier, the sound of bells tolling came from afar.

The bell that announced the time rang through the cold air of Abelon in the northern part of the Empire of Aserion, where winter was approaching.

Four bell rings. It was already 4 PM.

“I can’t be wasting time here. I don’t even have hair left to cut and sell, so I need to hurry.”

Though the girl had grown up in a pickpocket den all her life, she had no talent for pickpocketing.

But with nowhere else to go, she clung to life in the pickpocket den, meeting her quota through begging.

The pickpocket boss always berated her, “Useless thing with nothing but bloodshot eyes to show for yourself! I’ll sell you off!”

Though she thought, ‘Who would buy someone as plain as me?’ she still rushed out of the shabby alley in a panic, afraid of falling into an even worse place than her current situation.

“It rained until just now, so it would be nice if they cut me some slack today.”

The girl sighed and clutched her hungry stomach as she picked up her pace.

She was already late, so she needed to move as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, not only would she be scolded by the boss, but she wouldn’t even get a piece of dry bread to eat.

The girl’s face showed no trace of the disappointment in her appearance from earlier. Only a desperate will to survive remained.

‘A little faster. Faster.’

Her tiny body skillfully weaved through crowds of people.

White breath escaped between her small lips, creating a hazy trail before disappearing.

“Haa. Haa.”

As white mist continued to form at her dry lips, and her tattered shoes tore a bit more, the girl who had been running vigorously suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

“Oh!”

Her already large eyes grew even wider.

A boy crossing the road suddenly transformed into a puppy with a pop! and froze in place.

“This is bad. I need to avoid this.”

The girl’s head shook repeatedly from side to side.

She alternately looked at the white puppy and the black car racing toward it, stamping her feet anxiously before finally making up her mind.

“Ah, whatever.”

Her anxiously stamping feet moved faster than anyone else on the street.

The girl stretched out her skinny arm toward the puppy that was whimpering and unable to move.

And at that moment.

Screeech!

A sharp noise erupted in the busy street.

⁕⁕⁕

Rapellian, the young duke of the Mosteros Duchy, the leader of the North, walked through the long corridor of the school.

As befitting a direct descendant of Mosteros, a white wolf beastman, he was the epitome of nobility, possessing both elegance and lofty dignity.

At the edges of his refined appearance lay a sharp keenness, with cold and chilling energy filling the spaces between the flowing lines that formed his face.

The biting wind rushed in through the windows opened for ventilation, stirring his silver hair.

Rapellian lowered his eyes slightly as he brushed back his slightly disheveled hair.

His already sharp atmosphere became even more pronounced, highlighting a nobility that no one could approach.

“Oh, he’s coming. He’s coming.”

“Is he still far? Hurry and get ready.”

Today again, countless desires clung to him with each straight and proper step he took.

Though his face appeared quite indifferent, he inwardly heaved a low sigh.

The multitude of sounds stimulating his hearing made it unbearable to endure.

‘Just for one day, please!’

Rapellian wished to be in a quiet world, even if just for a moment.

Originally, beastmen had senses several times more acute than humans, but among them, he was exceptionally sensitive. His hearing, in particular, had developed to such a high degree that all sorts of sounds tormented him.

Though things had improved somewhat now that he could control his senses, he still couldn’t block them completely.

In places with many people, like school today, Rapellian’s nerves became very sharp.

The pheromones of immature young beastmen and all kinds of noise tangled together, becoming a heavy fatigue that washed over him. His icy expression became precariously close to cracking under the fatigue that enveloped his entire body.

“Now, now’s the time.”

A small commotion arose not far from him.

It was a disturbance noticeable to everyone, but Rapellian didn’t even glance in that direction.

He wasn’t the type to waste energy getting involved in trivial matters.

“Um, Rapellian, sir.”

However, the situation changed when the cause of this commotion was Rapellian himself, and when someone emerged from the midst of the disturbance to block his path when it seemed no one could stop him.

Forced to halt his steps, Rapellian slowly lowered his gaze. His long eyelashes cast dark shadows around his eyes.

Though his gaze was frighteningly bland, the girl’s cheeks flushed red just from receiving his attention.

“Um, Rapell……”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to use my name.”

The surroundings instantly fell silent at his cool voice.

Though it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the word ‘beauty’ existed for him, he was a beautiful person with rather sharp thorns.

The old saying that beauty comes with thorns seemed to be true.

The girl’s complexion rapidly deteriorated at his cold response, despite being from a fairly decent family herself, though not as prestigious as Mosteros, and having received quite a few marriage proposals.

“I’m, I’m sorry. Young Duke Mosteros.”

The girl’s voice trembled as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

Her delicate trembling aroused protective instincts in the hearts of many men watching.

Unfortunately, it failed to evoke any particular emotion in him.

Rather, finding the situation bothersome, Rapellian had already removed his indifferent gaze from the girl.

He was staring at his destination with bored eyes.

This was a roundabout expression telling her to state her business and disappear.

This much courtesy was only because the person before him was of the opposite s*x; had it been someone of the same gender, he would have passed by without mercy.

Glancing furtively at Rapellian, the girl moistened her lips with her tongue and continued speaking.

“S-soon it will be vacation, and the Duke is also returning……”

“I wonder if that’s a valid reason to block my way.”

A voice colder than frozen ice cut off the girl’s words.

He wasn’t a particularly affectionate person to anyone outside his own blood relatives.

He rarely showed interest in others.

Most people intended to use him for something when they became involved with him, so there was no need to be kind.

Yet people admired and envied even this frosty attitude of his.

His haughty and lofty demeanor was something only he could possess.

And many girls firmly believed that if they could have him, they too could become like that.

Numerous families and their daughters were desperate to claim the position of the future Duchess.

This applied regardless of species, whether beastman or human families.

This girl today also had big dreams.

If she could have the noble young lord of the North, she wouldn’t mind suffering any humiliation.

The girl, with an increasingly pale face, refused to back down.

“I l-like you, Young Duke.”

Rapellian’s eyebrow, which had been still, twitched momentarily.

“I would like you to accept this.”

The girl held out an elegant box and an envelope.

Rapellian’s gaze briefly touched the box before falling away.

As always, it wasn’t a simple romantic feeling but had plenty of impure intentions.

‘If she truly liked me, she wouldn’t offer something like this. She’s just coveting the position of the future Duchess. How dare she do such a thing……’

At the myrtle pattern decorating the box, his blue eyes, which had been indifferent, sank into a chilling, murderous aura.

The myrtle, with its small white petals and long, abundant stamens, was the flower symbolizing the Duke of Mosteros, and only the Duke and Duchess could exchange it as gifts.

For someone with no connection to the ducal family to offer a gift that only the Duke and Duchess would exchange.

Rapellian’s displeasure reached its peak at the girl’s boundary-crossing behavior.

However, he was accustomed to containing his emotions and decided to overlook it generously, remembering that his opponent was a much younger beastman.

Rapellian suppressed his rising emotions and acted quite gentlemanly.

“I see no reason why I should accept this.”

After rejecting her concisely, Rapellian walked past the girl.

The girl felt like crying at his merciless attitude that left no room for hope, but she was prepared for him not to yield easily, so it was fine.

Rather, it was because he wasn’t someone who would easily yield to anyone that she wanted him more.

The girl swallowed her tears and turned to grab him.

“Young Du……”

But by the time the girl turned around, Rapellian was already far away.

⁕⁕⁕

Rapellian, who had left the building, got into the waiting car.

The vehicle carrying him smoothly exited the school gates.

While most central nobles were reluctant to ride in automobiles, citing tradition, the Mosteros family was one that prioritized efficiency and actively embraced them as soon as they were released.

Now accustomed to the swaying, Rapellian gazed at the scenery rapidly passing by outside the window.

‘I suppose today marks the end of this pointless activity.’

Unlike other beastmen in similar growth phases, Rapellian had no reason to attend school since he could control his power.

Nevertheless, the reason he consistently attended school, albeit periodically, was to show his loyalty to the imperial family.

“Tail, we should hurry.”

Rapellian, who would soon come of age, urged the driver, thinking this would be his last time going to school.

“Yes, Young Master. What shall we do about the dessert street?”

“Briel and Riello like it, so let’s stop by quickly.”

“The young masters are quite excited since the Master is returning after a long time.”

“Then we should hurry. I have an ominous feeling.”

Rapellian found the faded landscape of the North, with winter approaching, particularly bleak today. When a place with its own winter charm and elegance felt this way, there was surely a reason.

He had an especially good intuition for such things, so it was best to be vigilant and prepared in all aspects.

The driver, well aware of the young master’s developed intuition, increased the speed with a grave expression. The scenery outside the window changed more rapidly than before, and soon the car entered the city and headed toward the dessert street.

“We’ll arrive soon……”

“Stop the car!”

The driver, who was reporting their imminent arrival, couldn’t finish his sentence.

At Rapellian’s shout, the driver urgently applied the brakes.

Rapellian and the driver saw a black car coming to an urgent stop from the opposite direction and a small figure narrowly avoiding collision with that car, falling to the ground.