Chapter 23: Chapter 23

“Did this happen when you were protecting me?”

What should I do? Because of me… With his ability, he probably would have taken care of it all by himself, but I ended up getting in his way. Even though I wasn’t of much help, I was disturbed by the fact that I was dead asleep and only noticed the dire situation after hearing the sound of his barks.

‘I am unqualified to be an owner.’

I swallowed back a sigh and stroked Shasha’s cheek.

“Thank you.”

Then Shasha licked my cheek. I felt a sharp pain in my cheek. I didn’t know because I was distracted, but I guess I got a cut.

“It stings.”

I pushed Shasha away but for some reason, he stuck to my face and didn’t let go.

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time Shasha has licked my face.’

Was he scared? Misunderstanding him, I looked into his eyes and whispered,

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

I hugged Shasha’s neck and buried my face in his fur.

“…What?”

“…?”

Why was a strange man’s voice coming from my arms? But Shasha was the only one in my arms…?

*Push*

I quickly pulled Shasha out of my arms. A soft, fluffy fur, two thick ears, and a long snout came into my sight. Surely, it was my dog, Shasha.

I looked around, but I couldn’t feel anyone’s presence. I had confirmed that all the assassins were dead, so the voice definitely didn’t come from the pile of corpses.

‘What? Am I having some auditory hallucinations because I was so surprised?’

I tilted my head and hugged Shasha again.

I wanted to heal myself by burying my face in Shasha’s soft fur.

However, unlike before, when I hugged him, he kept wiggling his butt and moving back.

Something was weird.

“Shasha, is it because of the Empress? It’s okay, I’ll protect you.”

“How do you know that it was the Empress’ doing?”

“Oh, what the f*ck!”

I pushed Shasha hard.

I couldn’t control my strength and pushed him too hard, because of which Shasha fell to the side.

Shasha, who was thrown out, opened his mouth and blinked his eyes in surprise.

No matter how surprised you are, you can’t be more surprised than me!

“…Speak… The dog can speak…”

I raised my right hand and slapped myself hard on the face.

Slap!

My right cheek tingled.

“I must be dreaming- no wait I’m not dreaming. What on earth… Shasha can talk? This dog?!”

“I’m not a dog, but a wolf.”

“This is crazy…”

How, how was he talking? Didn’t the story mention that he couldn’t speak? When he became a wolf, he turned into a real beast, so he did not have either reason or consciousness!

He couldn’t speak anything even after imprinting on Liliana!

“This is crazy. This world really is insane…”

It was already stupid of me to raise Sihael, who was no different from a time bomb, after possessing the body of the villain, but now he could talk.

I thought it would be all over if I sent Sihael to Liliana. Of course, after that, he wouldn’t remember me!

‘But what is this?  No matter how I look at it, it seems he has regained his consciousness!!’

I’m doomed. I’m screwed.

Suddenly my shoulders drooped and the silver fur fluttered in my sight.

His large front paws pressed against my shoulder. I was on my knees, so I lost my balance and fell backward.

“I’ll ask you again. How do you know that it was the Empress’ doing?”

Sihael sat on top of me and asked lowly.

It was completely different from when he lost his temper and ran towards me.

He didn’t attack me like that day, nor did he show any aggression. He only asked me calmly with his unwavering, firm eyes.

The problem was me. When I saw him on top of me, the scene reminded me of that day.

The head, which instinctively perceived the situation as dangerous, swung freely.

Bang!

“Arghh!”

“Oh, uh, oh, my God! I’m sorry! I was surprised. I didn’t know… It hurts a lot, doesn’t it? I’m so sorry.”

I jumped to my feet in surprise at the sight of Sihael rolling on the floor. But since I was too startled, I stumbled and ended up hugging him.

When I saw his face distorted in pain, I felt guilt flooding me like a tidal wave.

‘Shasha got hurt while protecting me, and I just made the wound worse. What are you doing, you idiot?’

“I’m a bad owner…”

“You’re treating me like a dog.”

Ah, that’s right. He was not a dog anymore!

I let go of the hand that was stroking Sihael’s back and slowly backed away.

Sihael looked at me persistently.

‘I can’t breathe. How long do I have to stay like this? ‘

Finally, unable to bear the tense atmosphere, I opened my mouth first.

“Well, how are you able to talk?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“Oh… Okay.”

“I’ll ask you this again. It’s already the third time I’m asking you, so I want you to answer this time. How did you know it was the Empress’ doing?”

What should I say? That I had read about it? I have to give a plausible excuse…

As I forcibly tried to work my brain, I saw a gun lying on the floor.

It naturally led me to think about the crow I killed.

“Because of the crow.”

“The crow?”

“I heard the Empress raises crows, that’s how I came to know…”

I led Sihael and showed him the dead crow outside the window.

“It has stalked us before. I thought it was weird back then, but I didn’t expect her to send an assassin like this.”

Of course, I thought it was weird then, but I didn’t think too much about it.

The thought naturally led to the crow I killed.