Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! 471

She and the Watchdog 4

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“Your Highness, may I?”

After we returned to our room, and I had tea with Freed, the soldier in charge of guarding the room knocked on the door and asked to interrupt us.
Freed replied and the soldier gingerly entered.

“What is it?”
“Excuse me, Your Highnesses. Stableman Moore contacted me. He said that there were no problems, and if possible, he respectfully requested the presence of both Your Highnesses.”
“I see.”
“Excuse me then.”

Having conveyed the message from Moore, the soldier left the room.
‘No problems’ meant that Grau was without any strange illnesses.
Excited over the long-awaited physical contact, I said to Freed.

“Freed! I want to go!”

I got up from the sofa we were sitting on and grabbed Freed’s hand.
I went to the stables with Freed, and we were greeted by Moore, who was accompanied by Grau happily wagging his tail.
He hadn’t looked particularly dirty before, but he must’ve been quite dusty, even so. After being washed by Moore, his fur was glossy and beautiful.

“Amazing! You’ve become so beautiful!”

Despite my own surprise, I eagerly ran up to him. Moore said with a grin.

“He was willing to do everything I asked of him, so it was really easy. He doesn’t seem to have any diseases. Just in case, I vaccinated him with a preventative shot. You may touch him now, if you wish, Your Highness.”
“Really?”

The whole check-up process was surprisingly fast.
I’d previously wondered if it was that simple, but, apparently, he used a special magical art for veterinarians to check for diseases and infections. Moore had mastered all of them for the sake of taking care of Freed’s horse.

 “I couldn’t let anything happen to His Highness’s favorite horse.”

Moore said it like it was obvious, and looked proud of his work. Freed nodded to him.

“If Moore says so, I can rest easy. Lidi, you may pet him.”
“Yay!”

I received permission to pet Grau! With a pounding heart, I stepped closer to him and crouched to meet his eyes.
I started off by sticking out my fist, as if to ask for his permission first.

“Could I touch you?”
“Woof.”

After sniffing the back of my hand, Grau lowered his head as if to say it was okay. It looked to me like he was asking me to pat his head, so I put my hand on his head. I felt as if it made a soft, fluffy sound as I did so.

“…”

I looked at him.
It didn’t seem like Grau disliked it.
I judged that it was all right to continue, and slowly stroked his head.

“Mrr.”

Grau growled pleasantly. With his eyes partially closed, he looked really adorable.

“Ah, his hair is stiffer than I had expected.”
“He’s been eating off of what he could forage and find, after all. If he eats nutritious meals regularly, his coat will change for the better.”
“Ooh… It’s the same as with cats. Has he eaten yet?”
“Yes. He devoured it with incredible enthusiasm.”
“I see. I had hoped to see that for myself!”

It must’ve been cute.
I listened to Moore while stroking Grau. As expected, he had hated the injection. Other than that, however, he’d been relatively docile.

“He understands what I say, so as I’ve said, it’s been easy. It’s the first time I’ve had such an effortless time with an animal. Ventisca and the rest don’t listen to me at all…”
“Is that so?”

The name of Freed’s beloved horse came up.
I’d met him several times and even ridden him together with Freed. He was a beautiful white horse.
In other words, Freed was a man who could actually pull off the fantasy of a ‘prince on a white horse’.
Freed reaching out his hand to me from horseback had, to put it mildly, devastating effects and it always made my heart throb.
It was a strikingly attractive sight, after all. He was so dashing that I was eagerly awaiting to someday get a picture of him on his horse.
Honestly, I hadn’t thought that I was the type to be attracted to the ‘prince on a white horse’, but upon seeing the real thing, that changed in an instant.
A prince on a white horse. What a frighteningly powerful thing.

— Ah, I long for that. I’m smitten.

My chest squeezed when I reached that conclusion. I felt like an arrow pierced straight through my heart. Basically, I was a simple woman. I was incredibly weak to cliched attacks such as those.
And that’s why his horse, Ventisca, made Freed look five to ten times more gallant.
According to Freed, he was a hard-to-please horse who was particular in who he allowed to take care of him.
Sure enough, Ventisca was very smart. He was most certainly magnificent on the battlefield as he seemed to move freely in accordance with Freed’s will.

“Ventisca isn’t attached to anyone except His Highness. He’s a proud one, so he barely allows me to take care of him… somehow. He seems to take exception to the Princess Consort though.”
“Ahaha…”

I unconsciously laughed dryly remembering that one time.
When I was still unmarried to Freed, I happened to accidentally visit the stables during my walk and met Ventisca for the first time. Ever since then, he strangely seemed to like me.
What’s more, it had entirely been a surprise to Freed.

“Lidi is Ventisca’s favorite, after all. It benefits me that he doesn’t get upset when I put Lidi on him, but I sometimes feel that he’s forgotten that Lidi is my wife. I need to find him a mare soon…”

I could only smile wryly when Freed sighed at the end of that.

“Isn’t Ventisca relaxed around me because I smell like you, Freed?”

Basically, I always clung to Freed.
I was embraced every day, and most of the time, he was by my side. From an animal’s point of view, I most likely had his smell.
And since he knew that smell belonged to his owner, it made befriending him slightly easier.

“Ventisca wouldn’t be fooled by that. He’s not just smart for a horse; he’s truly an intelligent being. I believe he’s simply taken a liking to you, Lidi.”
“I’m grateful for that.”

I loved animals, so I was happy to be liked by them. Or rather, I’ve always had a disposition animals liked. It was no wonder that he took to me.

“Woof! Woof!”

Grau whined as if to remind us he was still there. I found it really cute how obviously he sulked.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. We should be talking about you now, right?”
‘Woof!”

Grau barked as if to say “Exactly.”
Really, he was such a friendly child.
The angry look that he had at the circus had completely disappeared, and Grau had a sparkle in his eyes.
His appearance as he waggled his tail was no different from a domestic dog.
Of course, I knew he was a wolf.

“He’s an obedient, good boy.”
“Yes, he truly is.”

Moore nodded earnestly. Once again, I stroked Grau, but this time I petted his back.
As expected, Grau was obedient and continued to happily wag his tail.

“Freed, do you want to touch him too?”
“No, I’ll pass on that.”
“Really?”

I felt guilty to be the only one indulging in Grau. With that in mind I had tried to invite Freed to take over, but he refused.

“Grau allows contact because it’s you, Lidi. He thinks of you as his master. That’s why I’m refusing. I think he’d allow it because you’re here, but I don’t want to force him.”
“Eh, he thinks of me as his master?”

I was puzzled, but both Freed and Moore nodded.

“It’s common for both humans and animals to regard their lifesavers as masters. And Grau is particularly smart. It’s certainly as His Highness says. I believe that the reason he quietly accepted me taking care of him earlier was also because Princess Consort asked for it.”
“So that’s how it is…”
“Woof!”

Grau barked as if to affirm Moore’s words.
Apparently, I was recognized as Grau’s master before I knew it. I was surprised because I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I was honestly happy he looked up to me that way.

“I see… Then, Grau. Let’s get along.”
“Woof!”

Grau responded energetically. He was so cute that I never imagined he would cause a huge incident immediately the next day.

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Editors: Alexis, CoastalService

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