After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: The Wolf and the Whip-Wielder

◎ Your heat period seems to be approaching ◎

It was only at this moment that Jiao Qingyin realized she had been completely mistaken about Al’s species all this time.

She had previously assumed Al was a Samoyed, but having been in this world for a while and seeing many types of canines, she had never encountered one like Al—a puppy… no, a little wolf—so white that there wasn’t a single stray dark hair on her body.

Jiao Qingyin’s expression was slightly dazed. So… I’ve been raising a wolf cub as a puppy?

She recalled Al’s early “criminal record”—biting her the moment they met, constantly baring her teeth, being utterly defiant—and her heart felt heavy for a moment.

Back when she was repeatedly frustrated by Al’s behavior, Jiao Qingyin had even suspected that the “online pet-raising” videos from her past life were all faked. After all, once the zombie era began, those pet channel videos were practically ancient historical records; maybe those dogs were actually disobedient in private too.

As it turned out, there was a reason for everything. Other people’s “puppies” were well-behaved because they were actually raising dogs. Al was difficult to tame because she was a wild, predatory wolf. It wasn’t that her parenting methods were wrong; it was that her “child” was a different species!

Her mind wandered back to the mysterious hooded demi-human she had encountered a few days ago. She had thought they were a Samoyed-type dog person, but now she realized… that person was probably a wolf, too.

Having dreamed of raising a dog for lifetimes only to end up with a wolf, Jiao Qingyin’s mood was complicated. Al’s mood, however, was even more so.

When she first met Jiao Qingyin in beast form and the woman called her a puppy, Al had actually started to believe she was a dog. To avoid exposure, she had even mimicked canine behavior, cooperating with commands like “shake” and “fetch.” As these memories surfaced, Al desperately wanted to travel back in time and beat her past self up. She was a solitary, noble wolf; following orders and acting cute was completely out of character!

In a fit of embarrassed rebellion, Al decided: From now on, the more Jiao Qingyin forbade her from doing something, the more she would do it! For example, if Jiao Qingyin told her not to eat too much beast meat at once, she would eat three days’ worth of jerky in one go. If Jiao Qingyin wanted her to run and exercise more, she would demand to be carried everywhere. And…

“Al, get down and walk by yourself.”

Midway through her rebellious fantasy, Al felt herself being set down. She squirmed uncooperatively, stretching out her paws to climb back onto Jiao Qingyin’s shoulder. Jiao Qingyin had expected this; she lightly scratched Al’s chin, and the cub immediately squinted her eyes in bliss, forgetting everything.

By the time Al realized she was back on all fours, Jiao Qingyin had already walked toward the arguing Butler and Liz without waiting for her. Al puffed out her fur into an angry ball.

“Stop fighting.”

Jiao Qingyin’s voice wasn’t loud, but its habitual flatness acted like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the anger of the two women around the corner.

“Your Highness.” Seeing the familiar figure, the Butler stiffened and immediately knelt. Although Jiao Qingyin had been trying to break the manor’s habit of constant kneeling, the Butler couldn’t convince herself to stand after such a loud argument.

Jiao Qingyin ignored the Butler and looked at Liz. Though she briefly felt like Liz’s insults toward the Butler’s eyesight were a personal attack on her own failure to recognize a wolf, she knew Liz didn’t mean it that way—after all, Liz didn’t know that she, the pet owner, didn’t actually know what pet she owned.

Al caught up and rubbed against Jiao Qingyin’s leg, tugging at her trouser cuff. Her behavior was childishly attention-seeking, but Jiao Qingyin found it endearing. Her lips curved slightly. Liz, catching a glimpse of this, was stunned. She had never seen the Prince look so… so gentle. It felt like smelling spring flowers.

No one noticed Liz’s daze except for Al. With her sharp senses, Al immediately realized something was wrong with the way Liz was looking at Jiao Qingyin. That look was not the look a knight should give a master. Al knew that look well—whenever she peeked at Jiao Qingyin through a reflective surface, she saw the same thing in her own eyes.

Except Al’s gaze was fiercer, filled with a longing she didn’t quite understand. She just knew she wanted to own Jiao Qingyin. Driven by instinct, her hackles rose, and she stared Liz down with cold hostility. Liz felt a chill and quickly looked away.

Jiao Qingyin, oblivious to the silent drama, asked, “Where is the regressed demi-human?”

The Butler explained that the gray wolf was being kept in the backyard but was becoming dangerous, breaking fences and nearly biting servants. Jiao Qingyin decided to see it. She had a year of “rest” before Main Quest 5 (sending Al to the Colosseum), and she wanted to use that time to heal human Al and watch the cub grow, while treating those around her a bit better.

At the backyard, a large, lean gray wolf with bloodshot eyes was squaring off against several knights. The atmosphere was tense.

“Your Highness, don’t get too close,” Liz whispered.

“Is he always like this?” Jiao Qingyin asked.

“Yes… no, well, he was calm during the full moon.”

Jiao Qingyin remembered her meeting with the mysterious person on the full moon. She stepped closer to the high fence. Suddenly, the gray wolf lunged, leaping over the fence with a savage burst of speed straight at Jiao Qingyin.

The knights froze, unable to react in time. But in that split second, a white ball leaped onto Jiao Qingyin’s shoulder.

“Awoo—!”

Al’s roar, though still sounding a bit “milky” to Jiao Qingyin, was accompanied by fur standing on end and blue eyes that glowed like burning moons. The gray wolf froze mid-air as if a pause button had been hit, then crashed straight to the ground.

The knights snapped out of it and pinned the wolf down. Jiao Qingyin, feeling protected, rubbed Al’s head. “Al, you’re amazing.”

Al habitually rubbed back against Jiao Qingyin’s palm. Seeing no one was looking, Jiao Qingyin leaned down and kissed Al’s forehead. The pinned gray wolf looked up and went visibly slack-jawed with shock at the sight.

Al twitched her ears. She realized she could understand what the gray wolf was saying. Was it because they were both wolves, or because he was a demi-human? Hearing the gray wolf start to curse Jiao Qingyin in “Wolf,” Al let out a low growl of warning. The gray wolf immediately tucked his tail and looked at Al with pure terror.

Jiao Qingyin noticed the exchange and wondered if Al needed a friend. She asked Al if she wanted to keep the wolf around. Al shook her head with extreme disdain.

Jiao Qingyin felt she should encourage the contact anyway, to prevent Al from developing an identity crisis—like thinking she was a dog. But as she asked again, the gray wolf howled:

“Little Highness, are you… are you close with this human?”

Little Highness? Al looked at the wolf. He was pinned to the ground but desperate to reach her. She told him to be quiet and that she would find him tonight.

That night, after Jiao Qingyin fell asleep, Al opened her eyes. She noticed Jiao Qingyin was having a nightmare. A single tear rolled down Jiao Qingyin’s cheek.

Al was stunned. She had never seen this vulnerable side of Jiao Qingyin before. Her heart felt tight, but also… strangely excited. Before she left to see the gray wolf, she couldn’t resist licking the tear off Jiao Qingyin’s face.

She sprinted to the backyard and jumped into the enclosure. The gray wolf was overjoyed.

“Little Highness!!” the wolf howled, waking the guards. Al swiped at him to make him shut up.

Once the guards left, Al asked, “Why do you call me ‘Little Highness’? Are we from the same tribe?”

The gray wolf seemed dim-witted. “I don’t know about tribes, I’m uneducated. But I can smell it. Your scent is different from regular wolves. You are the Little Highness.”

Al realized she wouldn’t get much from him, but at least she had a lead on her identity. “What else do you know about me?”

The gray wolf thought hard for ten minutes. Suddenly his eyes lit up. “I remembered!”

“Speak”, Al commanded.

The gray wolf grinned. “I think your heat period is almost here.”

Al: “?”