HMC 19

~Chapter 19~

“You Deserve 100 Times the Praise”

That evening, Rosedale arrived at Lukas’s office looking like a mess.

“What happened to you?”

“I just worked really hard.”

She shook herself like a wet puppy, flinging off dirt. Thankfully, Lukas had cleared the room beforehand—if Cain or any other humans had seen her, they’d have been shocked.

Lukas approached, smiling as he dusted off her hair.

“Did you play in the dirt or something?”

“I told you, I was working!”

Rosedale threw him a sharp glare, her cat-like eyes both fierce and triumphant.

“But it was fun.”

“So… it was playing in the dirt?”

Rosedale ignored his teasing and flopped onto the sofa, motioning for him to come over.

“I got a small unused garden near the North Palace from the chief steward.”

“I heard. Why did you need a garden?”

Instead of sitting across from her, Lukas sat beside her, turning his body toward her.

“To grow magic herbs.”

The magic research team had failed for two reasons:

1. Spells and magic circles didn’t work—because they had no mana.

2. They used ordinary herbs from the human world.

So Rosedale had a plan: to grow actual magical herbs, charged with mana.

“If this works, I’d like a bigger plot of land next. Think that’s possible?”

“Of course. I’ll tell the steward to start preparing.”

Lukas leaned in closer.

“So, how do you grow magic herbs?”

His emerald eyes focused completely on her. His ears perked, lips slightly parted—it was clear he was totally absorbed in her words.

Rosedale couldn’t help but smile.

Has anyone ever listened to me like this before? Not even Elpis or those nagging fairies…

This human—her Lukas—was giving her a kind of comfort she had never known, even from her own kind.

“You use ether from the earth.”

“Ether?”

“Yes. It’s a base power—found in the ground, in the air, all around us. Except in the demon realm.”

She explained how she’d draw a magic circle in the garden, transforming the land’s ether into mana. This would let the herbs absorb magic directly.

“I even planted test seeds today. I used fast-growing magic too, so we’ll know in a week if it worked.”

“I’m excited.”

“Me too!”

She sparkled like morning dew. A sign that dawn had arrived after a long night.

Lukas reached over to brush off more dirt from her sleeve.

“So… how are the research team members? Anyone you don’t like?”

“Not really. One’s a bit mouthy—but not a bad kid.”

That was probably Todd. He refused to touch dirt, picked fights with Phillippe, but still lit up when Rosedale used magic.

Whenever she caught him watching, he’d blush and turn away.

“I like Liamson and Phillippe best. They understand what I say, they’re smart, and they’re not afraid of me.”

“Well, it’s only the first day.”

“True. But Phillippe even gave me cookies today. She’s sweet.”

Lukas paused, suddenly squinting suspiciously.

“I bought you cookies too, remember.”

“Huh? Oh… yeah?”

“Praise me. I want praise too.”

Rosedale blinked, confused. What did he want?

He leaned closer, eyes wide and hungry for attention—like a wolf disguised as a puppy.

“You’re not going to praise me?”

“Huh?”

“I gave you a hundred more cookies than her. I deserve a hundred times the praise.”

“You want me to pat your head?”

“Yes.”

When you hugged me before, I really liked it…

His soft voice made her heart flutter. His gaze, that mix of innocence and predator, made it hard to resist.

With a small, shaky breath, she slowly reached out.

Her pale hand landed on his soft black hair. Lukas closed his eyes like a big cat, purring with contentment.

“It’s so soft…”

His hair was shinier than fairy-silver threads. She couldn’t stop stroking it.

“It’s oddly calming…”

“If it’s you, Rozi, you can touch it forever.”

Lukas leaned into her, resting his cheek on her neck, letting her pat him freely.

“Actually, let me stay like this forever.”

He realized something that day—he was incomplete. Only when her hand touched him did he feel whole.
One gentle hug… and he was hooked.

“Humans really are like kids, even when grown.”

Rosedale giggled, pulling him into a hug and petting his hair even more.

Even if his body was tall and strong—not small and soft like a child—Lukas was still adorable.

As if reading her thoughts, Lukas burrowed deeper into her arms.

“I love this…”

A soft whisper, unclear whose voice it was, filled the quiet room.

Meanwhile, in a dark alley that night…

Two men cloaked in black whispered under the moonlight.

“A monster was caught in the fountain plaza.”

“A beast with a dragon’s head and lion’s body. It must’ve escaped from a summoning ritual.”

The taller man with terrifying all-black eyes listened quietly—his eyes had no pupils, no whites, just solid black voids.

“I heard a man and a woman defeated it. Probably from the imperial family.”

“Imperial family?”

“Yes. Right after the fight, imperial knights arrived and took the monster’s corpse.”

“Did anyone see their faces?”

“No. Some said they had black hair. Others said it was two men. The stories are all mixed up.”

That means no reliable witnesses…

The smaller man gulped as he continued.

“Also… our shop in the capital was hit the same day. Strangers attacked and took the black leopard statue… and our workers too—AH!”

CRACK!

The ground beneath him split open into a gaping mouth-like crevice. He stumbled back in horror.

But the ground under the tall man remained perfectly still.

Of course—it was his doing.

His black, pupil-less eyes stared into the void.

“So… both the statue thieves and the monster-slayers are mystery men…”

“What should we do, Lord Solio?”

Solio—young in appearance but ancient in speech—finally spoke.

“Where are the workers now?”

“In the Imperial Prison.”

“Make sure they don’t speak. Eliminate them all.”

“Yes, sir.”

The short man bowed deeply. But his eyes shook with fear when he looked back up.

“Do you think the statue thieves and the monster-slayers are the same people?”

There was no way to be sure. But all signs pointed in one direction: the Imperial Palace.

“The palace, huh…”

Solio smiled darkly toward the palace walls.

“I’m very curious who these people are.”

The cracked earth sealed up—but left behind a strange, dead energy.

It felt like no grass would ever grow there again.