Chapter 2
Melissa and Blake promised to release all the rabbits they had caught.
Only after swearing that they would never eat rabbit meat again were they able to stop Chloe from crying.
“It seems our child is going through adolescence, huh, brother?”
“Yeah. You remember when you were her age, you suddenly wanted to raise a bear and even trespassed into the bear clan’s territory. Compared to that, she’s still relatively calm—ugh!”
Blake groaned as he was punched in the side by Melissa’s fist.
At that moment:
“All done, Lady!”
The cheerful shout of the maid in charge of clothing made Melissa and Blake look up from the corner.
“My goodness…”
“Dear God…”
They saw Chloe in a dress covered in ribbons and, as if in unison, pressed their fists to their mouths and stomped their feet.
“An angel! An angel has appeared!”
“I thought it was an angel too when I first saw her. She looks exactly like Lady Melissa in her childhood!”
The maids joined in the commotion, and Chloe turned her head to look at the large mirror opposite her.
In the mirror, a lovely child with long, silver-threaded hair was reflected.
Eyes shining turquoise, like diamonds in a summer forest.
Cheeks plump and red like a ripe apple.
A child so cute that anyone would want to pinch her cheeks—but her expression was surprisingly gloomy.
“Chloe, don’t you like the dress?”
Seeing the child look sullen, Melissa gently lifted her up.
“Our little mischief-maker, why are you so unhappy today?”
Chloe quietly watched her mother, who kissed her on the cheek.
Her mother—Melissa Arus.
Proving she was the treasured daughter of the Wolf Clan, Melissa was beautiful.
Her silver-gray hair, as if strands of moonlight had been sewn in, cascaded down to her waist, and her bright yellow eyes, reminiscent of topaz, sparkled with transparency.
Her lips, holding a gentle smile, were breathtakingly beautiful.
Her soft, freshly-made cream-like skin radiated a glow.
Not just because she was her mother, but anyone would be stunned by her radiance.
A person who seemed to exist in a fairy tale or a myth, sparkling and surreal.
“Chloe?”
Chloe rolled her eyes at her mother’s puzzled question and turned to look at her uncle.
With her newly refined perception, he was no less striking.
Silver hair, only differing in length, golden-yellow eyes like her mother’s, a strong jawline, and a physique that could intimidate anyone, befitting the head of the Wolf Clan.
Tracing back memories from her past life made it all the more certain.
‘These faces weren’t just made to look this way for nothing. I shouldn’t have ignored it…!’
“Chloe. You’re not hurt, right?”
Melissa touched Chloe’s forehead with concern.
Chloe noticed Blake and the maids behind her also looking worried, and she quickly shook her head.
She had caused enough trouble today; she didn’t want to worry them further.
“No, I’m fine. I just wanted to look at you and uncle for a long time.”
Chloe said this with a hint of charm and quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, uncle, how many dresses do I have in total?”
“Hmm, I haven’t counted, so I don’t know!”
Blake laughed heartily and boldly turned around.
The maids triumphantly came carrying piles of elaborate dresses in their arms.
“Wow! They’re so pretty!”
Though Chloe wasn’t particularly fond of such heavily decorated dresses, she clapped her hands and jumped with exaggerated excitement.
“Next week I’m wearing this to my birthday party? Wow, so exciting!”
She knew this would make her mother and uncle happy.
Just as Chloe pretended to be overly joyful to soothe the worried adults:
“It’s too early to be happy yet.”
Blake, looking proud, rubbed his nose and glanced back again.
Rows of mobile racks filled with colorful dresses streamed in endlessly.
Each dress was adorned with ribbons or frills the size of watermelons.
“This isn’t nearly enough, Chloe! We’re going to show everyone how amazing the youngest of the Wolf Clan is!”
Yellow, red, purple, green…
Seeing the endless cascade of dresses and jewels, Chloe barely managed a smile.
“Wow… so exciting…”
“But brother, we can’t just ignore them. They even brought the right to negotiate interviews. At this rate, a real war could break out as the council warned. And the defensive magic stones we need to supply to the knights are nearly depleted.”
“I still can’t allow it. We might as well sell the heirloom artifacts. Melissa, have you forgotten how hard it was for you among them?”
Chloe, exhausted from trying on dresses and falling asleep, stirred at the faint voices.
She saw dim light seeping from her mother’s bedroom door connected to her room.
“When you returned, full-term, insisting on a divorce, even with a swollen face from crying, you tried to smile.”
“…”
“I regretted it so much. What was that prophecy worth, what was that oracle worth, that I sent my precious sister to that lion?”
“Brother…”
“I don’t care if a war breaks out. On the contrary, I hope it does. I want to take revenge on those cat brats who made you suffer. Then the magic stone issue that tormented us will also be resolved.”
Chloe quietly got up and tiptoed toward the door.
“Leaving Melissa in pain is my biggest regret. But how can you tell me, your only niece, to repeat the same mistake?”
“But brother, maybe they just want to see Chloe. Even in the letter, they said they wouldn’t mind if she only saw them once a month…”
“Melissa, still don’t understand? How can you protect Chloe being so naïve?”
Through the crack of the door, Chloe saw her uncle’s clenched teeth and tense expression.
“Those lions throw their cubs off a cliff, only acknowledging the ones who survive as their children. The ones who fail their standards are used as test subjects.”
“…”
“Do you think such cruel beings would want to see Chloe for no reason? They must want her as material, nothing more.”
Blake’s frown was twisted in disgust.
“We can’t send Chloe to them. At least until she awakens as a wolf or lion and can fight and win…”
‘Wolf or lion…’
Chloe turned away, shoulders slumped, as she overheard her uncle.
‘Thrown off a cliff?’
She clenched her tiny fist and pouted.
‘A rabbit could never climb a cliff!’
Imagining herself as a rabbit jumping beneath a cliff while crying, Chloe scrunched her face like a walnut.
‘Some father I don’t even know will use me as a magic stone experiment! I’ll be trapped in a lab tube and die!’
Hiding her face in her small hands, she cried, then suddenly lifted her head.
‘No. Wait a minute.’
A flash of the novel’s title crossed her mind:
<Prejudice and Prejudice and Prejudice>
The repeated words in the title had a reason: the novel’s world was indeed full of prejudice.
Chloe quickly wiped her tears on her sleeve and recalled the novel’s setting.
The continent in the novel, where beastmen lived, was divided into four regions.
The first was ruled by the male protagonist’s Tai Pan Serpent Clan.
The second was ruled by the female protagonist’s Golden Eagle Clan.
The third, her father—though a bit ambiguous for now, legally the Lion Clan.
And finally, her own Gray Wolf Clan region.
Each region had reptilian, avian, marine, and feline species living there.
‘And each species lived isolated in their region for hundreds of years.’
That’s where the problem started.
After so long in separation, misunderstandings that began as prejudice had become fact.
‘The first meeting between the male and female leads ended disastrously because of that prejudice.’
At least that part, she remembered clearly after many replays.
“Damn, if things went wrong, Chloe could have ended up like the other children in the secret letters. Those disgusting cat brats. What are they doing to those young, weak kids?”
“…I agree. If that’s really true, we can’t send Chloe there.”
‘Then maybe the stories about the lion are also all misunderstandings?’
Chloe’s eyes sparkled with hope.
‘Maybe my father isn’t as bad as uncle thinks!’
“Most importantly, Melissa, remember the last moment. You saw it yourself. His hidden… true self.”
‘What?’
Chloe’s mouth fell open in shock.
‘He… saw it directly?’
