Time passed quickly with Argen. He was being tamed by Elise and becoming the loyal dog she had hoped he would be.

Elise taught him a few phrases, as if she were training a dog. He quickly learned her commands and could now make simple expressions.

Yes, like, dislike, no.

“Argen, wait here, I’ll be back as soon as I finish eating.”

Elise said, tightening her grip on Argen’s leash. The Duke was home today, and it had been a long time since she had eaten with her parents. Elise’s head swam just thinking about how she was going to get through that stifling time.

“Hah…….”

Elise sighed and stroked Argen’s cheek. He looked up at her with a slightly thinner face, but his eyes were still as adorable as ever. The look in those dark eyes, the reflection that was only her.

Even the way he still fidgeted when she left the room was endearing, knowing that when she returned, Argen would be waiting for her, leash tight and chain short. The thought made everything a little more bearable.

Elise forced her unsteady footing and turned away.

“I don’t like it, no, Elder.”

Argen clung to Elise with the short words he’d learned.

‘You must have wanted to say that every time I went out.’

Somehow, she laughed. He was a little cute, the way he clung to her, but Elise knew better than to spoil her dog.

“Be a good boy and wait, Argen.”

Elise gave him a stern look and pushed him away. The short chain clanked, signaling his limitations, and Argen nodded weakly, looking as if he might cry at any moment.

*

There were only three people at the long table, the Duke, the Duchess, and Elise, waiting as if they could not see each other’s faces. Elise sat in the center of the room, and there was a stifling silence throughout the meal. As always, it was Duke Bernhard who broke the silence.

“Elise, do you like your present?”

Elise’s eyes widened.

This was the first time the Duke had ever directly mentioned the gift. Until now, no gift had ever been officially presented to her, so the Duchess could tear it to shreds if she didn’t like it.

“…….”

Elise met her mother’s eyes. The Duchess’s eyes were sharp, and she stopped eating immediately, afraid to open her mouth. Silence fell between them again. Enduring her mother’s icy gaze, Elise nodded with difficulty.

“Yes, I like it.”

“I heard you named it.”

“It’s Argen.”

“Argen?”

Duke Bernhardt tapped his long fingers on the table, a look on his face as if he was thinking of a name he’d heard somewhere.

No, actually, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Elise had always found it harder to read her moody father’s expressions than her stoic mother’s.

“You have given him an unsuitable name.”

The Duke’s nonchalant tone made Elise’s face flush with shame, and she felt as if the maid standing beside her was laughing at her. Elise wiped her mouth and glared fiercely at the innocent maid.

Meanwhile, the Duke, who had finished his meal, turned to the maid.

“Bring him to me when you’re done eating.”

At this unexpected remark, Eliezer became angry and shouted.

“Father, he’s a gift for me.”

“I am the master of this house, Elise.”

Duke Bernhardt set his jaw in a graceful motion and looked down at Elise.

“But…….”

Elise blinked back tears of frustration and anger, but Duke Bernhardt was right. Argen was her dog, but Elise was not his master. For everything in the house belonged to the Duke.

*

After being summoned by Duke Bernhardt, Argen did not return until late at night.

Elise could not go to bed and waited anxiously for him. After a long time, with no sign of his return, he came back just as the moonlight was breaking through the glass.

“Argen!”

Elise ran to him and hugged him. Argen shivered in Elise’s arms, feeling very tired. The sight of him sagging in her arms filled her with anxiety. Without giving him a chance to answer, Elise bombarded him with questions.

“What did you do? What did my father say to you? Tell me, will you?”

“…….”

Argen said nothing. His empty eyes held nothing, as if he had forgotten even the simple expressions Elise had taught him. He simply burrowed into her arms, calling out to her.

“……Elder, Elder.”

“Father isn’t asking about me from you, is he?”

Elise bit her lip until it bled as she hugged Argen.

“That would never do.”

“Elder, no, I don’t want to.”

Argen shook his head in absolute no, too. He burrowed deeper into Elise’s embrace, rubbing his head as if he needed to be petted.

Seeing that, Elise’s heart sank a little. She was afraid that her father would take him away from her, but she was even more afraid that Argen would follow him and think of him as his master.

“You like me, don’t you, Argen? I’m all you have, aren’t I?”

“I like Elder.”

“And Father?”

“…….”

Argen’s dark eyes quickly filled with fear. He even looked like he was panicking. Fear breeds anxiety, and an agitated Elise grabbed hold of the frozen Argen and rocked him back and forth.

“What’s wrong, did Father do something to you, huh? Tell me.”

“…….”

Argen didn’t say a word and tried to hug Elise again. In frustration, Elise grabbed Argen by the nape of his neck and pulled him roughly away. In the dim moonlight, she thought she saw a little more red on his neck, but it wasn’t her mark.

‘You can’t be telling me that my father…….’

Madness flashed in Elise’s eyes.

“Let me see.”

Elise pulled down Argen’s top.

The red spot at the nape of his neck was stained a slightly darker color, and when she saw it, her eyes widened. A maniacal rage washed over her.

A scene flashed through her mind that she didn’t want to think about.

Argen stuck out his soft tongue.

Father catches it, entwines it, and sucks it into his red lips and sweet saliva.

His lips slide down to the nape of his neck, nibbling and piercing the delicate flesh, breathing in her scent. Red spots appear where they pass.

And then he, my father, my father, to Argen…….

Unable to bear it any longer, her mind went black. Elise stretched out her hands, trembling with extreme anger. She wanted to kill him, so that he would never be called to her father again.

“You must be all mine.”

Elise wrapped her hands around Argen’s neck, and where her fingers met, red spots overlapped. Without realizing it, her grip tightened. Suddenly, Elise remembered the saccharine dot on the white flesh, and how she had crushed it.

“Ah!”

“Ugh, ughh, heup!”

He pulled away from her grasp and saw her face, gasping for breath. A saccharine mark was embedded in the center of an unfamiliar red mark. Elise turned to the wheezing Argen and muttered to herself like a madman.

“No, it’s not, is it? No, it can’t be.”

Despite the repetition, Elise was not reassured. In her mind’s eye, Argen was still being held by her father.

At some point, the clothes that Elise couldn’t dare to strip off were effortlessly removed by her father’s hands.

His white shoulders are exposed, and Argen moans softly. His father bends his head over him.

And, soon…….

At the thought of it, Elise shudders involuntarily. Her eyes widened again as she realized she could see red spots dotting the nape of his neck.

“Come here!”

Elise laid Argen down and pulled off his robe.

“Hmph, Elder…….”

Argen squirmed for a moment in protest, but to no avail. His clothes were ripped from his body by Elise’s hands. Elise’s grip on Argen’s wrists tightened, and she straddled his waist.

Her body cast a black shadow over him. Argen let out a small sob, closing his eyes and turning his head to the side. Elise sat on his waist, breathing heavily as she looked down at his naked body.

“…….”

The cold moonlight washed over the smooth flesh. There were no marks, not even the ones she’d envisioned in her head, and Elise was a little relieved, but at the same time, she bit her lip, still suspicious.

“Did he touch you?”

Argen remained stiff and unresponsive. The long lashes fluttered beneath his closed eyelids. As if that were an answer, Elyse’s cheeks flushed red with jealousy and suspicion.

“Answer me!”

Argen shook his head slightly in response. But it wasn’t enough to ease Elise’s mind. She reached out and touched his smooth body. As her palm brushed across his bare chest and pink nipples, Argen’s body jumped.