Chapter 13

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I wake up.

"Huff, puff, hmm, hmm"

The puppy is lying next to me.

I spend my days like this.

The puppy is always taken away by someone whenever it's found, but when I wake up, it's always in my bed.

It's a mysterious puppy.

I thought maybe my older brother or sister brought it in,

"Oh, Leonardo is in Luria's bed!"

"Did Mother put it there?"

But both my brother and sister were surprised, so it's probably not them.

If it's not my brother or sister, maybe Mother put the puppy in my bed.

"Oh, Leonardo, when did you get here?"

But Mother is always surprised when she comes to feed me, so it seems she didn't do it either.

"Lu-ria, you're so cute today."

"Ruuu"

Mother is beautiful today too.

She smells good, and her milk is delicious.

While Mother is here, the puppy can stay with me.

It seems the puppy understands this, as it gets very excited when Mother comes.

The puppy is very attached to Mother, snuggling up to her happily.

The puppy is also attached to my brother and sister.

My brother even played fetch with the puppy in my room and got scolded by the nursemaid.

My brother and sister both seem to enjoy taking the puppy for walks.

They often take it to the garden.

I want to grow up quickly and take walks in the garden too.

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One day, I was playing a game called "spirit throwing" with the puppy.

In this game, I grab the floating spirits with my hands and throw them to the puppy.

Of course, spirits are not physical, so normally they can't be grabbed.

However, by covering my hands with magic, I can throw them.

I used to play this game a lot in my past life.

When I throw a spirit, the puppy gently catches it with its mouth and brings it back to me.

Indeed, the puppy is a special dog, as it can see and catch spirits.

We repeat this. It's simple but fun.

In my past life, the spirits were always very happy when I threw them.

According to the Spirit King Loa, for young spirits without self-awareness, being thrown is a good stimulus that helps their development and makes them gain self-awareness faster.

While I was enjoying the spirit throwing,

*Crash*

The sound of a window breaking. It was a surprisingly quiet sound for a broken window.

Two men in black entered through the broken window.

"What! Who are you! How rude!"

The nursemaid, who was reading a book a little away, was panicking.

They don't seem to be known to the nursemaid, so they are intruders.

I'm scared.

But I'm just a baby, so I can't run away.

"Someone! Help—"

The nursemaid tried to call for help but was knocked down and fell to the floor.

The intruder who knocked down the nursemaid walked straight toward me.

Kidnapping?

My father is apparently royalty, so I, as a child, might be worth kidnapping.

While I was thinking this calmly, out of fear,

"Ruuu!"

I screamed.

But I'm just a baby.

I don't think I screamed very well.

"Ruuuuu!"

So, I cried as hard as I could.

But the intruders, or rather the thieves, approached without hesitation.

"Grrrrr"

The puppy noticed the thieves and was barking fiercely, but it's just a puppy, so it's not scary.

"Annoying dog."

The thief muttered and reached out to the puppy.

He was probably going to grab it and throw it or kill it.

"Ruuuuu (Run!)"

"Grrrrr! Grrrrr! Grrrrr!"

The puppy, trembling with its small body, barked as hard as it could and jumped at the thief.

"Annoying!"

The thief, with trained movements, pulled out a knife and tried to stab the puppy.

But with astonishing agility, the puppy dodged the knife and bit the thief's face through the mask.

The knife grazed the puppy's fur, turning it red, but the puppy didn't flinch.

"Ruuuuu! (Someone, help!)"

I cried as hard as I could, believing that someone would notice the commotion and come to help.

"Argh! Let go!"

"Grrrrr!"

The thief struggled to pull the puppy off, but the puppy held on, digging its claws and teeth into the thief's face.

"Damn dog!"

The other thief raised his hand toward the puppy.

Young spirits without self-awareness gathered in his hand.

A fire spell was cast!

"Ruuu! (No!)"

The spirits that were gathering in the thief's hand scattered.

"Hurry up! Burn this damn dog!"

"It's not working? The spell isn't working!"

"What? What are you talking about? Then stab it with the knife!"

For some reason, the thief couldn't use magic.

The thief who was bitten by the puppy yelled.

The other thief pulled out a knife and tried to stab the puppy.

"Ruuu! (Stop!)"

Thinking the puppy was about to be stabbed, I almost unconsciously screamed.

I wished with all my heart to stop it.

*Bang*

The next moment, a loud noise rang out, and the thief who was about to stab the puppy was thrown against the wall.

"Huh?"

The thief who was being bitten by the puppy was so surprised that he froze.

I was also surprised.

At almost the same time, the door opened with a loud noise,

"What...?"

The thief's lower body froze.

"I will not allow anyone to touch my daughter."

The one who opened the door was my father.

He was apparently an excellent mage, with beautiful magical energy.

The thief whose lower body was frozen and the one who was thrown against the wall were easily captured by my father's retainers.

Once the thieves were restrained, the puppy immediately ran over and jumped onto the bed.

"Ruuu (There's an injured person!)"

I stopped crying and called out, wanting to help the puppy and the nursemaid.

I thought that if I cried, everyone would gather around me, and the nursemaid's treatment would be delayed.

"Lu-ria, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

But my father ran straight to me.

"Ruu (I'm not hurt!)"

I strongly conveyed that I was unharmed.

Meanwhile, the nursemaid was being tended to by the retainers.

They had started arranging for a healer, so she would be fine.

"Quuun"

The puppy came to sniff me on the bed.

"Ruuu... Ruu? (Are you okay?)"

"Kuun"

The puppy licked my cheek.

Its cute, fluffy fur was stained red.

"Ruu... (I hope the puppy gets better soon)"

I wished from the bottom of my heart.

"Ruu... (I hope the nursemaid gets better soon)"

"I'm sorry you had to go through this. It's okay now."

I felt reassured by my father's gentle pat and soon fell asleep.

---

Just before Luria fell asleep,

Graf, her father, felt a faint healing magic from Luria for a moment.

It must have been a mistake. He asked his retainer.

"How is the nursemaid's injury?"

"Thank you. I'm fine. I don't feel any pain now."

The nursemaid, who was almost unconscious, answered clearly, surprising Graf.

Not only that, but the nursemaid, who was being tended to by the retainers, tried to stand up.

"Don't move. You hit your head."

"No, really..."

There's no way she could be fine. She was bleeding from the head, and a blood-stained blunt object was nearby.

"Thank you for protecting Luria. I, Graf, will never forget your loyalty."

"Such kind words..."

The healer who arrived said,

"The injury... is gone."

"There's no way..."

"But, Your Highness, there are no injuries or wounds anywhere."

"Even if there's an internal injury?"

"Of course, I checked. The blood is definitely from the attacker."

"Right. I'm glad there are no injuries."

There's no way. But the nursemaid was completely unharmed.

After that, the healer examined Luria and the puppy and confirmed they were also unharmed.

"Thank you. I'm glad there are no injuries."

Graf felt relieved but also puzzled by the inexplicable events.

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