Chapter 1: The Wolf Prince and I are like Dogs and Monkeys 1

Chapter 1: The Wolf Prince and I are like Dogs and Monkeys 1

Claudia Rosenheim checked her reflection in the mirror.

Her pale platinum hair was arranged half up and adorned with sapphire hair ornaments. Since she disliked gaudy accessories, these were only moderately sized but matched her eyes and were her favourite.
Claudia, who had finished carefully dressing up, finally practiced smiling in front of the mirror.

Today was the first time in about a fortnight she would be able to see her fiancé. She wanted to show him her best smile.

（Okay……!）

Suppressing her throbbing heart, Claudia left her room and headed towards the parlour.

After knocking and entering, she found her father, Theodore, already inside and sitting on the sofa.

「Ah, Claudia, there you are……」

Theodore’s facial expression stiffened as he examined Claudia’s appearance. He is acting different than usual, Claudia thought and her feet unconsciously stopped moving.

「Please, sit down.」

Her father urged her with a strained voice, and Claudia obeyed for the time being. She then looked at her father in confusion.

「……Father, what’s wrong?」

When asked, Theodore only muttered 「Ah」and 「Eh」, while avoiding Claudia’s gaze.

「Father.」

Her voice was strong and tinged with reproach, and Theodore released a huge sigh as if in resignation. Theodore briefly glanced at Claudia to confirm her state before he gave a short announcement.

「……Alexis has...disappeared.」

Claudia could not understand.

「……What did you just say?」

Theodore looked away as he continued to stroke his beard.

「……So, Alexis ―― your fiancé has… disappeared.」
「…………」

After a long period of silence, Claudia finally understood the meaning of Theodore’s words. She stood petrified as the colour drained from her face.

「Alexis-sama’s body... What happened to it?」

Claudia’s voice trembled.

Her fiance, Alexis Kirsch, was on an expedition on a different continent, because of a mission given by this country.
The mission was dangerous, so Alexis could have disappeared due to any number of dangers involved.

（I have to go and look for him.）

Claudia decided in an instant, but immediately realized it was a mistake. Theodore’s eyes, filled with pity, watched Claudia intently.

「……Father?」

Claudia knit her brows.

「I didn’t mean that something happened at the expedition site.」
「……Then, what was it?」
「…………」
「Please, explain it clearly!」

Claudia had run out of patience and raised her voice. Her father, once again, heaved a big sigh and told her more unbelievable things.

「Alexis was…with a woman.」
「…… Ha?」
「With a saint dispatched by the Cathedral...to accompany them on the expedition...their whereabouts are unknown.」
「…………」

The room went silent again. Claudia then stood up violently from the sofa.

「…… Haa!?」

A magical energy wave surged up from Claudia’s body the moment she raised her voice. A pale blue light accompanied by a loud sound rattled the room.

「W-wait, Claudia! Please calm down!」
「……So then that...what society commonly calls ‘eloping’...isn’t that it?」

Because she asked in a low voice, Theodore also rose from the sofa, nodding vigorously at Claudia while taking distance.

After confirming her thoughts, Claudia cast her eyes downwards. She attempted to suppress her worked up emotions by clenching her fists.

「Claudia. A-anyway, please calm down.」

There was desperation in Theodore’s voice, and, after a while, the light that wrapped around Claudia weakened.
Theodore took a breath of relief and continued talking.

「Don’t worry. The engagement – it has been cancelled because of this. 」
「…………」

Claudia was desperately trying to hold back her tears which were about to spill over. Then, Theodore added the final straw.

「A new engagement has been arranged.」

Theodore probably had good intentions.
Claudia looked up and her tears suddenly stopped, not because she was pleased, but because the news was just too surprising.

「Your new fiancé is – it’s Isaak. You also know him well, right?」

Theodore grinned and smiled as if he had presented a great idea.

（Now, who? Isaak? Isaak……）

For a moment, her thoughts stopped. Then, a figure came to mind, and Claudia began to raise her voice.

「Haa!?」

Sensing her anger, Theodore’s face froze. They were then interrupted by the sound of knocking that resounded throughout the room.

The door opened and Theodore felt gratitude towards the person being guided in.

「Greetings, Theodore-sama.」
「Oh, oohh. Isaak! You’ve arrived just in time! I was just talking about you! Since I have already mentioned your engagement, I’ll let you two talk about it slowly.」

As soon as he said that, Theodore hurriedly turned to leave while saying shameless things like「I remembered I had things to do.」.

「Father!」

Theodore, pretending to not have heard Claudia’s shout, disappeared beyond the door.

「…………」

Claudia stood dumbfounded as the man who exchanged places with Theodore spoke with astonishment.

「You scared off your father.」
「…………」
「In the meantime, control the huge leakage of your magical power.」

Claudia glared at that man ―― Isaak Lambertz.

Ash grey hair and golden eyes that reminded one of the moon... The people around here say he looked like a wolf. He had heavy eyelids that made his eyes narrow and gaze sharp -- these features added to the strong impression he gave people.
It could also be said that Isaak was a man who had a personality that didn’t betray his looks; he was ill-tempered and unkind, at least, towards Claudia.

「……That rough way of speaking... you haven’t changed, huh?」
「You as well; that look in your eyes hasn’t changed. Aren’t you being rude towards your fiancé?」
「My fiancé is Alexis-sama.」
「You heard from Theodore-sama, right? The engagement between you and Alexis has been dissolved. Your fiancé, from now on, is me.」
「Why is it Isaak!?」
「Hey, you! Why is there a ‘-sama’ attached to Alex’s name, but there’s no honorific for me?!」
「Because Alexis-sama is older!」
「Alex and I are both nineteen and you are seventeen, ne? Somehow, you should understand, right?」
「Ah, enough! Shut up! What the heck is this?! This is all because Father ran away!」
「No, because the one who ran away was Alex.」
「…………」

Scowling at Isaak with all her strength, Claudia threatened him.

「Stop saying meaningless things and explain this situation already. Didn’t you two go on the expedition together?」

Claudia closed the distance between her and Isaak and grabbed him by the collar. She saw herself reflected in Isaak’s eyes as she looked up at him.

「Calm down. Control your magical power.」

Isaak took Claudia’s hands and gently removed them from himself. He then let out a sigh and muttered, ‘good grief’.

「What kind of lady would grab someone’s collar? You’re really not cute. No wonder Alexis wanted to run away――」

Claudia paled when she realized what he was about to say and cut him off.

「Well, I’m sooo-rryyyy!!」

Claudia’s magical powers accidentally discharged and a violent roar echoed through the Rosenheim estate on that early afternoon.

---

This chapter was worked on with Rin.

TN/EN:

• As we noted previously on the project page, the term "like dogs and monkeys" that you see in the title is pretty synonymous with the western "like cats and dogs"; basically it indicates a very, er, tumultuous relationship between people.
• Isaak ⇒ We spelled it this way instead of Isaac because were looking at German spellings.