/
Did he do this because he wanted to know what I would do?
If he was not testing me, why did he do this?
Even though it was complicated in my head, I decided to bring Cadis, who was bleeding, into the mansion first. This was what Herman wanted, and I could not help but feel that I was playing right into the palm of his hand.
‘There is a life bleeding right before my eyes like this, I can’t just let it go.’
I could not be that cold, and I did not have the temper to be calm at the sight of blood.
“Derek, bring me some medicine and bandages.”
The butler, who came running late, promptly brought me a treatment tool at my order before I closed the drawing room door. I pretended to treat him with medicine while I was secretly using my healing powers. I was planning to treat Cadis only a little bit so that no one would suspect it.
‘They’d think I used good medicine.’
I hoped that they would think so.
However, when I used my powers, Cadis suddenly shuddered and glanced at me.
“Just now
 It felt uncomfortable, Eunsoo.”
“
Huh?”
“Are you using black magic?”
I did not know if what I possessed was black magic. Still, I was trying to do something like he said regardless so I could not answer him, flustered.
“Uh
”
Did my power not work against Cadis?
‘I’ve only used it on humans and cat shapeshifters.’
When I couldn’t say anything, Cadis uttered with kind eyes.
“I’ll hold it in no matter what Eunsoo does. So, do whatever you please.”
It felt as if I had been hit in the back of the head by those words.
“You said it was uncomfortable, but you’re going to hold on without knowing what I’m doing?”
“Because Eunsoo is a good person.”
Somehow, I could not help but feel strange at the blind trust. Were dog shapeshifters like this in the first place
?
“Did you hold back those thoughts when they threw stones at you earlier?”
“That’s not true. We’re trained to persevere in any situation unless we’re ordered to attack someone.”
It meant that no matter what they did to him, he would just have to endure it.
I know that the Emperor’s hounds were engraved with a curse that would lead to death if they did not obey their master’s orders because the main plot of the novel was that the original female protagonist got rid of it and saved Cadiz.
Nonetheless
 I was still upset even though I knew it.
“There’s no such stupid training. If someone harasses you, you have to resist.”
“We’re strong.”
“Huh?”
“Humans are weak. If we resist and attack, they could be hurt or killed.”
“Then, what if you get hurt.”
“I can stand it. In order to live in harmony with the master in the human world, we have to endure the things we hate.”
‘
Oh, I’m going to die of anger.’
Why is he so inflexible? It was difficult to understand when I saw the dog shapeshifter, who was so inflexible and blindly loyal, after only seeing the unruly cat shapeshifters.
‘Dogs and cats are so different.’
Again, feeling the difference, I asked him.
“If your owner makes you suffer and hurt, why do you have to live together?”
Cadis could not answer. At first, it seemed as though he did not have any concept of living without the existence of a ‘master’ in his head.
I asked once again.
“Even if you could choose freedom, would you go back to His Majesty?”
“
.”
Cadis silently gazed into my eyes. I thought I understood the meaning of that silence.
I once saw a broadcast about a dog left alone in a country house whose guardian had passed away. The dog, not understanding why the guardian suddenly disappeared, waited for them in the same place for years and years without following anyone.
The veterinarian who analyzed the dog’s behavior said, “For dogs, the owner is the world and everything. I think dogs are happy when they are with their owners in any adverse conditions.”
As the contents of the broadcast crossed my mind, I was very sad and furious.
The Emperor did not trust the dog shapeshifters, so he put a curse on their hearts. However, were the dog shapeshifters not blindly loyal to their owners as they were their owners
?
‘Later, the heroine will change Cadis’ mind and become his new owner and lover.’
I do not know how much it comforts me at this moment that I know the future. How frustrating and heartbreaking it would have been if I did not know Cadis’ future.
‘If I do anything more here, it’s simply nosy
 I can’t save Cadis.’
In the end, I sighed briefly and opened my mouth again.
“Please keep it a secret that I tried to use unknown powers on you.”
“Yes.”
“It only makes you feel uncomfortable even though there’s nothing wrong with your body, right?”
“It was a little awkward because it collided with the mana I had, but
”
He showed me his wounds.
“Fascinatingly, I’m no longer in pain. Did you heal me?”
Hearing these words, I noticed that his wound had stopped bleeding, and new flesh had sprouted from it.
‘It’s working.’
Even if the mana of each kind of shapeshifter were different, the effect seemed to be applied as it was.
“If anyone asks, don’t say anything and just say that I used very expensive and good medicine.”
“Yes. I will.”
Then, I applied a plaster to his wound and carefully wrapped him with bandages. I had to send him back to Herman.
As I was about to get up, Cadis spoke to me one last time.
“Thank you, Eunsoo.”
I could see the infinite trust and gratitude in his eyes. There was a resounding sincerity that took my breath away. It was too straight and strong for me to bear, and I was rather tormented by the regret that I could not get him out of the pain.
In the end, I could not bear it anymore and turned my head away.
· : * ✧ * :· 
As I went out to the front door with Cadis, Herman, who had already packed up and was preparing to return to the Imperial Palace, welcomed me.
“Good morning, Duchess.”
I felt like punching at the grinning face, but I preserved and handed Cadis over to his servant.
“As you must have heard from the servants, it was noisy outside, and when I went out, your servants were harassing this shapeshifter.”
“Oh, dear. My people have been behaving rudely and disrespecting the Duchess. I don’t know how to apologize. Please forgive me. I’ll also make sure to keep them under control.”
After he shamelessly apologized, Herman shuddered at the sight of the badges on Cadis.
“Did you treat that hound yourself?”
While I did not know why he was testing me, I was equally brazen in his face.
“Since we had a very satisfactory deal with His Majesty, we’re only doing our due diligence to the Emperor’s hounds in consideration of our trust. It’s not a big deal, so there’s nothing to be thankful for.”
“Is that so?”
Herman smiled softly before uttering meaningfully.
“You’ve changed a lot.”
I did not panic and responded with a smile, pretending to be pleasant.
“Let’s take that as a compliment.”
“Of course. As the Duchess said, it must be thanks to a happy marriage.”
I nodded as I watched Dimitri gracefully descending the stairs in perfect shape just in time.
“My husband has changed me a lot. Thanks to that, I deeply realized how wrong I was in the past and reflected deeply. In the past, I used to be such a shameful person.”
It meant that Dimitri had changed my perception of the shapeshifters considerably.
‘If you say this, he wouldn’t think of me as weird.’
If he perhaps thought that I was acting strange after seeing me being nice to Cadis, this would nip off the seeds of doubt.
“Aha
 I see.”
Herman nodded his head with a peculiar face.
As Dimitri approached with an expressionless expression and asked, “Have you not gone yet? How long are you going to be crushing me?” and threatened him, our conversation ended just like that. Herman had no choice but to leave as if he had been kicked out of the mansion.
Staring at the carriage for a while, he then looked back at me and coughed.
“Good morning, Rowaine.”
His complexion looked so bright that I could not help but ask about his sleep last night.
“You must’ve had a good night’s sleep, Dimitri. Your complexion looks good. Did you have a good dream?”
However, he suddenly blushed in surprise.
“It, it’s not like that.”
Soon, he disappeared as if he was running away. Looking at his back as he was heading up the stairs, I tilted my head.
“Is Blue still in the room? Should I take him to the annex and have a morning hunting game together?”
I felt at peace after a long time.
The problem with the Emperor was resolved very satisfactorily, and all the hounds he had taken hostage were sent back. Although I had a sad feeling about Cadis’ situation, I was about to establish a good relationship with him anyway, so I thought I might have escaped the fate of being executed as a villain.
Now, all I have left to do is enjoy a peaceful time with my lovely cats.

But after a few hours, I realized that I had been mistaken.