Chapter 32: Special Side Story Chapter 3
- Reira ☾⋆⁺₊✧ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
- Dec 8, 2025
- 10 min read
Updated: Feb 20
Book Chapter 3
Time passed in an instant, and another month went by.
As the full moon approached, Alto began to show signs of restlessness once again, fidgeting nervously.
‘He must have been like this before, too.’
Things she hadn’t seen back when she was unaware now came into view.
Narrowing her eyes as she watched Alto, Viviana decided she had to drive in a wedge so he couldn’t escape.
So, on the morning of the fifteenth day, she mentioned it openly at the dining table.
“You’ll be coming to my bedroom tonight, won’t you, Alto?”
Alto, who would normally be pleased by Viviana’s seduction, now glanced around with a reluctant expression.
“Tonight…”
Seeing him act so obviously made Viviana’s blood boil. She slammed her cup onto the table with a sharp clack and blocked his escape with a cold voice.
“I’ve already confirmed with Franz that you don’t have any plans this afternoon. Surely you’re not making up excuses to avoid me just because you dislike me, are you?”
“That’s impossible, Vivi. How could I possibly dislike you?”
Startled, Alto shot up from his seat, grabbed Viviana’s hand, and met her gaze.
At his exceptionally tender gesture, a surge of emotion welled up in a corner of Viviana’s heart. Soon, tears gathered in her beautiful eyes.
“But lately, you feel distant. I can’t help but suspect that you might be hiding something from me.”
“Viviana.”
Alto pulled Viviana into his arms. With his large hands, he gently wiped the corners of her eyes, his touch as delicate as if handling thin glass. At such careful tenderness, tears welled up in her eyes again
‘And yet, you love me like this.’
He responded immediately to even her smallest grumbles and tears, yet when it came to what really mattered, he wouldn’t tell her. She found it maddening.
Viviana grabbed Alto’s hand and spoke in a firm tone.
“Come to my bedroom tonight. Don’t make any excuses.”
The flicker of unease on Alto’s face didn’t disappear. Hesitating for a moment, he lowered his gaze.
“I understand.”
“Alto!”
Had her words persuaded him? Viviana smiled brightly, only for her expression to stiffen at what he said next.
“It’s fine if we’re just talking. The body is not well today. So it’s better if we don’t have intimacy...”
“You — are you feeling unwell?”
Viviana gasped in surprise. Alto furrowed his brow. He was far too sturdy a man to claim illness, even as a lie.
“Not me, but your body. I heard you kept nodding off at the table even during yesterday’s meal.”
“Ah, so you were worried about me?”
“Viviana.”
Was it because the conversation seemed to be getting heated? Franz knocked on the dining room door and poked his head in.
“Your Grace, I believe you should step out for a moment.”
“I understand.”
Normally, Alto would prioritise time with his wife above all else, but today, the moment Franz called, he bolted from his seat as if a lifeline had been thrown to him.
As he stepped out of the dining hall, Alto added, as if making an excuse:
“I’ll see you this evening…”
At least he didn’t say he wouldn’t come. Viviana didn’t know whether she should be happy or irritated, which left her feeling confused.
✦ ✦ ✦
After Alto ran off like that, Viviana, taking out her frustration, cut the innocent sausage into pieces with her fork.
“To think he’d run off like that! It really feels like I’m the only one suffering.”
“In truth, it really is only you, Your Grace, who’s suffering.”
"Leta, whose side are you on?!"
“Of course I’m on your side, Your Grace. After all, if the facts are conveyed as they are, won’t you be able to plan your next move too?”
“...”
Frustrating as it was, Leta was right. Viviana puckered her lips.
‘That’s right. Right now, I’m the only one worn out over the child issue.’
At first, it wasn’t that she absolutely wanted a child, nor did she think she had to have one right away. But as Alto kept avoiding it like that, she grew increasingly obsessed.
'I can’t get thoughts like these out of my head.'
‘Why doesn’t Alto want a child?’
‘Why does he make decisions on his own without even consulting me?’
‘Does he not want to have a child with me?’
Hearing Viviana’s worries, Leta frowned in exasperation
"No, is there really any need to think so negatively? As I’ve told you before, His Grace is just acting out due to a strong sense of responsibility."
“But still…”
“What do you mean, 'but still'? Just take a deep breath and shake it off."
"Sniffle sniffle."
Even as she whined, Viviana obediently let out a deep breath as Leta instructed. It felt as if the negative emotions filling her up were being swept away.
Viviana threw herself into Leta’s arms.
“Leta, I love you.”
"If you truly love me, please don’t confess. His Grace is the type to get jealous even of me."
"Alto? That’s not true."
“Why don't you realise he's more than capable of that… Could it be that your negative thoughts are keeping you from truly recognising how much His Grace loves you?”
At Leta’s words, Viviana couldn’t help but burst into laughter. And because of that, her heart felt lighter.
‘That’s right. Alto loves me.’
She didn’t know why he wasn’t talking, but…
‘Let’s not forget the most important fact.’
Alto loved her. When that fact was shaken, her thoughts inevitably started to stray in strange directions, just like they did a moment ago.
As Viviana steeled her mind with that thought, Leta handed her the valerian root and spoke.
“Later, when you have your conversation, you need to stay calm and focus on figuring out the cause. You mustn’t rush or pressure him. From the start, what you want to say isn’t that you want to have a child, right?”
"That’s right, that’s right."
Viviana had even thought she would seriously consider it if Alto said he would never have children.
The problem was that Alto would never say it outright.
"I’ll speak to him properly tonight."
She wouldn't allow any more misunderstandings. Viviana steadied her wavering heart.
She didn’t know why Alto was uneasy, but today she would definitely get an answer.
‘For that to happen, I can’t let him run away!’
If he tried to make up some excuse about repairing the castle walls or something like that again... she wouldn't just stand by quietly.
✦ ✦ ✦
That morning, Viviana resolved to find out from Alto exactly what was troubling him.
Alto glanced anxiously at Viviana, who was hovering around him as if monitoring him.
Worried that Alto might leave the ducal estate and not return, Viviana initially placed a chair by the main entrance and sat down.
Perhaps wary of the servants’ watchful eyes, she eventually moved her chair completely to just outside Alto’s study door.
‘Cute.’
The thought of Viviana sitting outside the door, keeping watch, made his heart race. At the same time, a corner of his mind stirred with unease.
‘Has Viviana noticed something?’
For years, she hadn’t shown the slightest sign of finding it strange that they didn’t have relations on the full moon…
But after dozens of such days had passed, it was only natural that Viviana might notice something.
'Judging by the way she talked about a baby, it seems she's figured out that the full moon and a baby are connected.'
Even if she wasn’t completely certain, it was clear that she suspected there was some connection.
‘A baby…’
Alto rubbed his face, feeling conflicted.
After his grandfather’s funeral, thanks to his father suddenly showing up, he learned the secret of how a werewolf could have a baby.
‘Back then, I just thought that simply avoiding intimacy on the full moon was enough to prevent pregnancy.’
Gradually, even among the retainers, talk of children began, and since Viviana no longer showed any aversion to werewolves, Alto thought it would be fine to have a child.
Before telling Viviana the conditions for conceiving a child, he quietly sought out the midwife who had assisted him before.
‘If she has experience with a werewolf’s child, it should be easier afterwards.’
To Alto, Viviana was irreplaceably precious. If he couldn’t provide her with a completely safe environment during childbirth, he never intended to have a child in the first place. That was why he had sought the midwife first.
And as a result, he discovered that what his father had told him was only half the truth.
[To conceive a child, sexual intercourse must occur in your complete wolf form.]
[The former Lady Fortuna suffered terribly because of this, since she had to mate with a man who was practically no different from a beast.]
His father had said that if he wanted a child, he just needed to have intercourse on the full moon, when a werewolf’s strength was at its peak. But he hadn’t mentioned that he would completely lose control and become no different from a real wolf.
After learning this, Alto was glad he had sought out the midwife first.
‘I’d have to turn into a real wolf. That’s out of the question.’
Even now, when aroused, parts of his body took on wolf-like traits, but he had never lost his reason.
‘If I become a wolf, I might end up hurting Viviana.’
If, in his excitement, he were to rake her body with his coarse fur and sharp claws… it was horrifying even to imagine.
‘It’s not even worth considering.’
If anything, after learning the truth, the approach of the full moon became frightening. That was why Alto chose to stay away from home entirely on the nights of the full moon.
But today, it didn’t seem like that would be possible.
“Huu.”
Flinch.
As Alto let out a long sigh, he could sense Viviana flinch from outside the door. He narrowed his eyes and smiled.
‘It seems she’s not going to back down until she’s convinced.’
His beloved wife had a strong-willed personality that didn’t match her small, delicate frame. Sometimes, she moved with sudden determination that caught him off guard.
Against her, there was no way he could win.
‘I have to tell her everything today. That I’m afraid I might hurt her, and that it would be better not to have a child.’
If she said she wanted a child…
What on earth should he say to persuade her? His heart ached, and his face twisted of its own accord. Being unable to give the one he loved what she wanted was an immense agony.
Still, he couldn’t nod in agreement. Viviana was more precious to him than anything else.
‘Today, I’ll tell her everything. Then I’ll leave the decision to her.’
Not knowing what might happen, Alto nodded and steeled his heart.
Time passed, and night fell.
Dressed with his shirt buttoned up to the collar, Alto entered Viviana’s bedroom.
‘It’s hot.’
A huge full moon hung outside the window. Heat seemed to surge from every fibre of his body. Alto bit his lip. He could endure this. After all, he had spent years living under the same roof as Viviana, restraining his desire for her, so what was a single day of restraint compared to that? His self-control was far greater than Viviana could have imagined.
“Alto.”
When he entered, Viviana showed a relieved expression.
On the table in the centre of the room, there were more things than usual: liquor, sweet snacks, a teapot, and even a small incense burner.
‘So she intends to have a conversation with me as well.’
Her determination to speak honestly came through. At the same time, he felt a pang of gloom, realising he had caused her so much emotional distress.
Alto sat across from Viviana. He then lowered his head solemnly.
“Firstly, I’m sorry for making you anxious.”
“There’s no need to apologise.”
“To begin with…”
He had to talk about it today.
Why his mother gave birth to him and then tried to strangle him...
Why it was such a tremendous shock...
“I...”
But when he actually tried to speak, it was as if a thorn were lodged in his throat, and his lips wouldn't part.
Alto parted his lips a few times, only to shut them again, unable to speak. Watching him like that, Viviana, who had been waiting, gradually began to grow weary.
Brushing her lustrous golden hair back, she said.
"Alto, I’m tired of being left in the dark. No matter how dreadful the secret is, I want to know it and make my own choice. You promised to do the same, didn’t you?"
“Vivi, I...”
“I’m ready to hear it. Go ahead and tell me. Are you really using contraception behind my back? You’re not planning to have an heir with another woman, are you?”
“Th‑that could never be! You’re the only woman in my life.”
"Then what exactly is it? Why do you avoid being intimate only on the nights of the full moon?!"
“It’s…”
No matter whether she pressed him or coaxed him, Alto could hardly bring himself to speak.
As Viviana watched him like that, what Leta had said came to mind.
‘The valerian root.’
It was clear that now was the moment he needed the herb’s calming effect.
“Alto, wait a moment.”
Viviana, after briefly wondering what to do with the dried valerian root, shoved it into the incense burner. As soon as the dried herb went in, thick black smoke suddenly rose.
"Gasp! Cough! Cough!"
“Are you alright?”
Caught off guard, Viviana inhaled the smoke and burst into a cough, only for Alto to hastily clap his hand over her lips. Then, reaching to extinguish the incense burner in her stead, he lifted the lid but…
“Ugh!”
“Alto?”
His face flushed crimson, and he hunched over. Taken aback by the sudden change, Viviana grabbed Alto’s shoulders. Alto parted his trembling lips.
“Th‑that smell… what on earth did you burn?”
“It’s valerian root. I heard it’s very helpful for calming the minds and bodies of animals in the canine family.”
“Ghh!”
“Alto, are you okay?”
The herb was meant to help him relax, but instead of easing his tension, his face only flushed redder. Veins stood out prominently along the back of his neck.
“Du-during the full moon, a werewolf’s power… grows stronger…”
It was clear that his reaction was far from normal. Viviana froze, staring at Alto’s face as thick fur began to spread across it.
“Viviana, run…”
With those words, Alto’s human form vanished completely.
And what remained in his place was a massive werewolf.
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