'Ooh, ooh, I'm so excited! Hehehe. Not only is my cub not afraid of wolves, she actually likes them! And she's getting along so well with the little wolf pups. Hehehe~'
Holly Wyatt's eyes were shut tight, her brow smoothed over with a sense of peace.
Then, she rolled over and covered one ear with a pillow.
'I was so worried my cub would be scared if she found out I was a wolf. I never thought she'd accept it so quickly. If I'd known, I would have told her I was a wolf two years ago and left a few wolves to look after her.'
'Sigh... I carefully selected a human nanny, and she turned out to be completely unreliable! She even let my cub get bullied! Hmph, hmph, hmph! I'm so mad, so mad!'
'Oh, right, Quinn Zeller seems to have found that nanny. I have to remember to deal with this tomorrow. I should get up and set an alarm!'
'Should I bring my cub along? I'll ask her tomorrow. If she wants to go, I'll take her. If not, I'll let her stay home and play a little longer? Yeah, yeah, that works. I'm such an enlightened parent, hahahaha!'
Holly Wyatt pressed her lips together, raised a hand, and plugged her other ear as well.
A smile graced her lips as she gradually drifted off to sleep.
*
At dawn, the sun peeked over the horizon, casting an orange glow across the land.
Blurred figures of wolves zipped through the manor grounds.
The sounds weren't loud, but they were quite disruptive.
The crackle of crushed leaves and branches mixed with the startled chirps of birds, filling the air with a vibrant sense of life.
Holly Wyatt slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Two dark circles hung under the eyes on her fair little face.
It was quiet in her head; Silas Thornton's inner voice was gone.
She snuggled deeper into the blankets for a moment, then, once her mind was clear, she struggled out of bed.
*
In the bathroom, Holly Wyatt stared at her reflection in the mirror. A corner of her thick bangs was sticking up.
She raised a hand and pressed it down.
WHOOSH~
It popped right back up.
For some reason, her mind drifted to the tip of Silas Thornton's tail as he looked down upon his pack. It was probably just as stubborn, refusing to be pressed down.
The corners of Holly Wyatt's mouth curved up slightly.
She didn't even realize it herself, but despite not sleeping well with the constant accompaniment of Silas Thornton's disruptive inner monologue, she wasn't the least bit annoyed. In fact, she quite liked it.
After all, it was the only sound she could hear.
*
When Holly Wyatt came downstairs, all the wolves in the villa were already up, bustling in and out of the kitchen.
They carried out a pot of meat, just like yesterday, and placed it on the table.
At the spot where she had sat the day before, an array of exquisite human dishes was already laid out.
Unlike the meal Quinn Zeller had whipped up on the spot yesterday, today's spread was clearly more refined.
"Holly's up!"
"Holly's awake!"
"Holly, come eat!"
"Holly! Holly! Time to eat."
Several wolves in aprons twitched their ears and wagged their tails happily, warmly inviting Holly Wyatt over.
Holly Wyatt pressed her lips together and gave an awkward smile.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was only six in the morning!
She had thought she was up quite early, but she never expected this pack of wolves to be up even earlier.
They had even finished making breakfast.
All she had done was show up with an empty stomach.
She felt a little awkward and embarrassed.
Seeing Holly Wyatt just standing there in a daze, Snowy scrambled over on her short little legs, grabbed her hand, and started pulling her toward the dining table. "Hurry, hurry, Holly! Snowy's starving!"
Holly Wyatt licked her lips, watching Snowy's feet, afraid she might fall.
But her worry was unnecessary.
Perhaps wolves were different from humans. Even though Snowy was only three, she was perfectly steady when running and jumping, not wobbly at all.
Standing in the dining hall, she glanced around but didn't see Silas Thornton.
She rubbed her fingertips together and took down the drawing board hanging from the back of her chair. "Where's Silas Thornton?"
The wolves all shook their heads.
Mia Thornton took Holly Wyatt's wrist and gently pushed her into a chair. "The Lord of the Wolves is probably in his study handling company business. You eat first. He said he'll be down in a little while."
Annie stared at the plate in front of Holly Wyatt and swallowed. "Holly, today's breakfast was made by Quinn's mom, Mrs. Archer! Uncle Lord of the Wolves said Quinn's cooking wasn't very good since you didn't finish it all. Quick, try today's and see how it is!"
Holly Wyatt paused, a warmth spreading through her heart.
'Silas Thornton is truly observant.'
She nodded and hung the drawing board back on the chair.
Her gaze fell upon the drawing boards hanging from the back of every chair, and she sighed internally. 'This is... really convenient.'
*
After breakfast, Silas Thornton left with Holly Wyatt.
A black Rolls-Royce pulled away from the main villa, drove out of the manor, and headed for the city center.
「Top floor of Thornton Tower.」
Silas Thornton sat at his desk, flipping through documents. Holly Wyatt sat on a nearby sofa, a pile of snacks and a carton of milk placed in front of her.
Holly Wyatt held the milk and took a small sip.
She blinked in a daze, her eyes drifting to the two ostentatious words on the office wall: Thornton Group.
After she had finished breakfast this morning, Silas Thornton had also finished his work. He said he was going to deal with the nanny situation today and asked if she wanted to come along.
She had nodded in agreement.
In her mind, she had expected they would go to the police station to file a report.
'How did we end up here?'
'And... this is the headquarters of the Thornton Group, one of Bervenia's most powerful corporations.'
'And Silas Thornton was currently sitting at the desk belonging to the CEO of Thornton Corporation.'
If not for the nameplate on the desk, clearly engraved with the name "Silas Thornton," she would have seriously suspected that he'd brought her to trespass in someone else's company.
Holly Wyatt swallowed hard, her gaze falling on Silas Thornton once more.
'So... Silas Thornton is *that* Silas Thornton? The supposedly decisive and ruthless one, the mysterious prince of Bervenia's elite who never attends any public banquets or appears in public?'
'The same Silas Thornton who took over the Thornton Family just two years ago, purged all the corruption from Thornton Corporation, whose word is law in the business world, and who is absolutely merciless to his rivals?'
Holly Wyatt gave an awkward twitch of her lips. She had always assumed that Silas Thornton the wolf just happened to share a name with the so-called "prince of Bervenia's elite." She never imagined they were the same person.
She had always thought Silas Thornton was just an ordinary businessman.
She thought he had entered human society to do business simply because he had to support his entire pack.
'Who would have thought?'
'The center of power in Bervenia... is a wolf?'
'The King of Wolves, yes, but still...'
'Huh? Is my cub secretly looking at me? Does she think I'm not working hard?! Hmph, hmph, I have to work hard and earn money for my cub's formula! My cub was worried yesterday morning that one breakfast was too expensive. It must be because I'm not earning enough, making her think I can't support her. Let's go! Let's go! I'm the best! I'm the best at raising cubs!'
But... this King of Wolves, with his cold, stern expression, so tall and handsome on the outside, but actually a hyperactive husky on the inside...
'...is really the prince of Bervenia's elite...'
'Actually... all the signs were there.'
'The massive mountainside manor, the huge, dense pack, the thousands of pounds of fresh beef and mutton delivered every few days, the tens of thousands of drawing boards bought on a whim...'
'...none of that was something an ordinary businessman could afford.'
Holly Wyatt shot a look, full of complex emotions, at the black ears on top of Silas Thornton's head that were cheerfully fanning the air, and at his ramrod-straight tail.
The very tip of the tail had a faint pinkish hue, the color of blood vessels swelling with excitement.
Speechless, she rubbed her fingertips together, then slid her hand into her pocket. Her fingers toyed with the tuft of black fur she had collected at the breakfast shop yesterday.
She constantly remembered: only a mate was allowed to touch a wolf's ears and tail.
'I can't touch the real ears and tail.'
'So touching a piece of fur that fell off his tail isn't going too far, right?'