by Yu Sakurai
The beast girl and the big dog played together.
They make such a cute pair.
I quietly smiled to myself over their obvious bond, then turned to survey my surroundings.
The kingdom was full of pointy-roofed houses, beastfolk residents, and demons lurking along its borders. Everything about it felt like a fairy tale, but this place was to become my new home.
Something came to mind as I continued down the capital streets in my open carriage.
Most of the crowd consisted of just normal humans. There were hardly any beastfolk like the dog-eared girl I’d seen earlier, even though they were supposed to make up just under half of Wolfvarte’s population and nearly a third in the capital city alone.
And yet, almost every spectator who’d come to see my arrival appeared to be human.
There wasn’t even a single beastfolk for every ten humans I saw.
…Hmm.
I interpreted it as a sign of the troubled relationship between humans and beastfolk.
While it wasn’t as severe as in my homeland, there was tension between the two races even here.
The Silver Wolf King whom I was about to marry had previously rejected four candidates to be his wife, two of which were human, and two were beastfolk. I imagined that to the other beastfolk of the kingdom, I was the human who came in and broke the tie. Perhaps that was enough of a disappointment to dissuade them from coming out to welcome me.
As I toyed with this idea, the walls of the royal castle suddenly came into view.
My carriage passed through the outer gates.
Scattered buildings, each a royal villa by the looks of them, were surrounded by small patches of forest.
Wolfvarte’s royal castle was made up of two areas separated by border walls.
The outer region contained a spacious area of open land, and within the inner walls was the king’s main residential palace.
We drew closer, and there they were—the towering walls of the inner castle. It was the final destination of my journey.
The massive white stone structure stood out vividly against the sea of green trees that surrounded it.
The many castle spires loomed above me, as if to beckon me inside.
◇ ◇ ◇
ALMOST as soon as I made it into the main castle, I was whisked away and undressed by my maids. They swiftly helped me freshen up and change into my next outfit.
We’d arrived at the castle later than planned due to the detour, and before I had my first meeting with His Majesty, I needed to clean myself up the best I could.
The maids dusted my skin with pearl powder and painted my lips red. Once they finished styling my hair, it was already time to head straight to where the king was waiting for me.
I walked briskly, trying to be as quick as possible while still maintaining an elegant gait. The one thing I couldn’t do was look flustered.
As I took in the sights of this kingdom’s castle, I thought about King Glenreed, the man I was about to meet.
His Majesty was currently twenty-three years old. That was slightly older than myself, at seventeen, but such a gap wasn’t abnormal when it came to political marriages.
King Glenreed was known for both his brilliance and his hatred of women. My only duty was to become a placeholder queen. I had no intention of trying to force him to take to me, but even so, I was still going to be his wife. I hoped the two of us could be on friendly terms, at the very least.
Just as I was entertaining such ideas…
The door before me opened, and there he was. I was standing face-to-face with the king.
“……”
Silence.
Holding my tongue was just natural etiquette on my part, but at the same time, I was also at a loss for words.
A young man with silver hair sat before me on his throne.
His eyes were crystalline and blue-green like a winter lake. His masculine yet refined features looked as if they’d been carved from ice. He had a cold, beautiful face that was too striking to ever forget.
I’d heard the king hated women, but now, seeing him in person, I couldn’t help but imagine his good looks had gotten him into all kinds of unwanted trouble with the ladies—as rude a thought as that was.
I bowed my head politely to greet him. When I raised it, I thought I briefly saw his handsome lips move.
“…What a funny smell.”
…What?
Wait, what did he just say to me?
It was the quietest of whispers, but I couldn’t just pretend I hadn’t heard it.
Am I wrong, or were you looking at me when you said that, Your Majesty?
I’d just finished freshening myself up—with the help of my maids—and was even wearing perfume to give my body a nice scent. Was it really such a “funny smell”…?
Or maybe I still smelled like the dried meat and spices I prepared the night before? That seemed extremely unlikely, but what else could he have meant with that comment?
I set aside my confusion to give the king a pleasant smile, waiting for him to speak again. That moment was the ultimate display of my years of royal training.
“You’re Laetitia Gramwell, I presume?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s an honor to meet you.”
I took hold of my dress and curtsied before him. The king’s blue eyes slimmed into an unreadable expression.
“I’m sure you’re tired from your long journey. You’ll have your own villa to live in where you can take some time to rest.”
“I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see very much of you, but I’d like to help you be as comfortable here as I can. You should get going to the villa to see if there’s anything you’ll need.”
His Majesty shared words of kindness with me.
And yet, they were nothing but superficial.
“I’m giving you a house, so go take your place and don’t bother me again.”
His intentions were clear. I would be treated as nothing more than the figurehead queen that I was.
◆ ◆ ◆
ONCE Laetitia left for the villa, Glenreed stayed on his throne and took some time to think.
Laetitia had once been the fiancée of her kingdom’s crown prince, but after that man had rejected and banished her, she was now Glenreed’s wife.
Glenreed was worried about what kind of woman she’d turn out to be, but once she accepted her orders to stay put in the villa without complaint, he felt a bit of relief. Laetitia appeared to be a well-trained duchess, with flawless, elegant conduct. However…
Just what was that smell…?
It certainly wasn’t foul. It wasn’t unpleasant at all.
But there was no doubt in his mind that Laetitia gave off a strange scent.
Maybe it was because she hailed from a foreign land?
Or perhaps it had something to do with the strong magic he’d heard she possessed?
Glenreed didn’t know what that smell was, but as long as she was going to hold the title of queen, he couldn’t just ignore her forever. He also knew well from experience that his “nose” had a habit of leading him into trouble.
I want to investigate her, but I don’t know how…
He had many skilled servants at his disposal, but when it came to matters of his nose, almost no one would know what to do.
Of course, he could always take matters into his own hands.
Glenreed sat atop his throne and began to hatch a new plan.
◆ ◆ ◆
I excused myself from the throne room and left the castle in my carriage.
I was headed toward my new home.
Though it was still technically a part of the castle, that was only because the surrounding grounds were so spacious. The area inside the outer walls was big enough to hold an average-sized village on its own.
My carriage rattled and swayed from side to side as we traveled. I occupied my mind by listening to the sound of the hor
ses’ hooves.
We’ve been driving for so long. We’re still not at the house yet?
“This is pretty far from the main palace…”
Outside my window was a sea of dark evergreen trees. To all appearances, it looked exactly like I’d been cast out into the middle of a vast forest, even though I was actually still within the castle walls. It appeared we’d made our way to a small forest road in the sprawling castle property.
I felt the carriage start to slow until we came to a quiet stop.
Lucian took my hand and gently helped me exit the carriage.
“This is my villa…”
My new home, where I would live as the queen of Wolfvarte, stood before me. However…
As far as first impressions went, it felt more like a house hidden away in the forest than a royal villa. And it wasn’t just a “house” either. Calling it “deserted lodgings” would be more appropriate. The walls were formed with white plaster and dark wooden frames, all nestled underneath a reddish-brown roof.
It was certainly charming, but in the end, this house was nothing more than a simple two-story building. You wouldn’t think of it as part of a palace at all.
Shouldn’t a royal home at least have a fountain out front?
There was a decent front yard, but directly behind the building itself was the edge of the forest.
As for size, the house where I’d spent my life as a duke’s daughter was more than twice as big as this one.
It was still significantly larger than the average house in this world, and larger than the home my previous-life family lived in too, of course, but it was still a whole lot smaller than I had been imagining.
“Your Majesty, we are honored to receive you. All the staff here sincerely welcome you to your new home.”
The servants stood in a line in front of the house, waiting for my arrival.
One man seemed to speak for the rest of them. He bowed deeply as he greeted me.
As he leaned forward, I had a clear view of two soft, fuzzy ears sprouting from his head.
He wasn’t the only beastfolk among the crowd. I could see many other servants with large animal ears of their own.
One of the maids even had triangular ears like a cat’s. She was a young girl with a slim tail and was dressed in a maid’s uniform.
Many otaku in my previous life would buckle at the very thought of a cat maid, and in this world, they turned out to be as real as anything else.
“Please follow me and allow me to show you around the house.”
The dog-eared head servant led me inside the villa.
He wore a proper servant’s uniform and had a neatly trimmed, dark-brown mustache. For a middle-aged man, he looked like quite a fancy gentleman… And there atop his head was a pair of floppy dog ears, with a bushy tail down below.
Yeah, that’s pretty much the last thing you’d expect to see.
The dog-eared man, a.k.a. Borgan, smoothly explained aspects of the house as he led me around. He took each step with perfect pacing and offered me descriptions of every room, including their purpose.
As I’d thought from the outside, the house didn’t have many rooms inside it. It was a snug little building.
Too much space would require a pointless amount of upkeep, so actually, I appreciated the size. When I heard I would be staying in a royal villa, I’d been preparing myself to see a grand mansion. This was a bit of a relief. Maybe it was my past-life experience that made me feel a bit unnerved by giant manors like the one I grew up in.
When the general tour was over, I had nothing left on my schedule.
“Your long journey and the audience with His Majesty must have left you exhausted,” Borgan said to me, and he agreed to leave the rest of the introductions and details for tomorrow.
“I’m so tired…,” I said with a sigh.
I flopped myself down onto my new bed, thankful that no one was around to see me in this state.
This was my first time being alone in days.
The soft bed wrapped my body in a comfortable embrace.
Underneath me, the sheets felt completely smooth and clean. The house itself seemed a bit run-down with age, but I had no complaints about any of the furniture and accessories inside it.
King Glenreed’s blunt manner had taken me by surprise earlier…but overall, he seemed polite enough, if a bit distant, which was a relief.
Though, politeness was the very least I should expect as the queen, I supposed…
After I’d regained my memories, my ex-fiancé, Fritz, the dim-witted Elltorian crown prince, was the first member of royalty I shared interactions with. Perhaps I was still on guard after that whole experience.
“King Glenreed, huh…?”
When I closed my eyes, his face appeared vividly in my mind.
Those green eyes were tinged with blue—the same color of an icy lake.
His silver hair glimmered in the light.
The way his lips moved as he commented on a “funny smell.”
“…Just what did he mean by that?”
If I really did hear him correctly, I hadn’t the slightest clue how to interpret that statement.
I gave myself a sniff, just to be sure, but I couldn’t smell any cooking spices on my skin or clothes. All I could make out was the faint floral scent of the perfume my maids had prepared for me. It was very pleasant. I appreciated their smart choice.
As far as I knew, I didn’t have much body odor at all, but maybe His Majesty wasn’t referring to any one smell of mine.
“Is it just my natural scent he doesn’t like? And that’s why he sent me here?”
Even though it was my own theory, it was a little depressing to think about…
What if I had some kind of weird anti-pheromone he could smell? If I was unacceptable to His Majesty on a biological level, there was nothing I could do to fix it.
Sure, I was just a figurehead queen, but it seemed there were already more bumps in the road than I’d expected.
“…Thinking about that now won’t do me any good.”
I forced myself to sit up.
I’d been granted a free day to use to my own liking, and even though I was merely a placeholder, being queen still might keep me busy in the future. As much as I wanted to laze around in bed all day, the weather was nice and sunny.
I decided to step out and have a look at the surroundings.
Lucian, who had been standing outside the bedroom, followed me to the yard.
The early spring sunlight poured down from above. It was the perfect weather for a walk.
I took in the beautiful blooming flowers in the front yard, enjoying some calming time to myself.
Suddenly, a nearby shrub started to rustle, and a large shadow jumped out in front of me.
“…A wolf?”
Its ears perked up. The beast’s fur was gray and its tail stood at attention.
The wolf’s brown eyes, shining in the sunlight, were visible from where I stood.
“Your Majesty, just to be safe, I think you sh—”
Lucian was interrupted by a swarm of shadows emerging from the trees.
Each wolf was the size of a large dog, with sharp claws and a mix of gray and brown fur.
“What’s going on…?”
The wolves didn’t try to attack me—they just stood at a distance and stared straight at us.
They glared at me, seeming to be on guard…
Something about them reminded me of Jiro, my beloved dog from the life I lived before. With their perky ears and cute snouts, it was hard to call them anything but an adorable pack of fuzzy creatures.
“They don’t appear hostile… What should we do, my queen?”
“Right… They probably—”
“HEEEY!! Knock it off!! You guys can’t just go runnin’ off whenever you want!!”
Suddenly, a boy came dashing and shouting from the direction the wolves had emerged from. The creatures seemed to stand up straighter when they heard him
yell.
The boy had curly white hair, and he was beastfolk too. His animal ears perked up from behind his curls, and just when he spotted us…
“EEEEEEEEEEK!!” he screamed at the sight.
Was I mistaken, or did I not just see this kid yelling fearlessly at a pack of wolves?
I started to doubt my own eyes, now that he’d transformed so dramatically.
The white-haired beastfolk boy looked to be about my age.
His face twitched as he stared at Lucian and me. I could see his eyes darting all over the place behind his long bangs.
The wolves wagged their tails as they trotted up to the frightened boy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you scared of that lady?”
“Did she startle you? Is that it?”
The way the animals looked back and forth between the two of us, I could almost hear their questions for their apparent master.
“Um, excuse me…”
“Y-Yes?!”
The boy gave an instant response when I spoke.
His rigid stance hadn’t changed, but he at least appeared able to speak now.
“My name is Laetitia. I’ve come to this kingdom as King Glenreed’s wife, and I moved into the villa today. May I ask for your name and what you do here?”
“…Of course!! My name’s Edgar, a-and I take care of the wooolfs!!”
He tripped on his words. And so noticeably, too.
Edgar heard his own mistake. Both his ears and tail seemed to sink and deflate.
By the look on his face, he was obviously very upset. At the same time, I was learning that the ears and tails of beastfolk conveyed their emotions too.
“You’re a wolfkeeper? I’ve heard about you. That’s quite impressive work.” I continued on with the conversation, pretending I hadn’t heard his mistake.
The wolfkeeper.
The people of the Kingdom of Wolfvarte believe the royal family’s ancestors were wolf spirits. Each generation of royalty keeps wolves themselves, perhaps because of that legend.
I’d also learned that the expansive land surrounding the palace was originally used to keep and breed wild wolves.
But instead of the busy kings, it was wolfkeepers like Edgar who looked after the packs on a daily basis. These trained wolves were incredible specimens, from what I’d heard, possessing both sharp fangs and intense loyalty toward humans. Indeed, the wolves around us now made no attempt to bite us, and they seemed to follow Edgar’s every command.
