Cecily was heading to the Lavande mansion that wasn't far from the castle with a large dog following not even a foot behind. If he had a tail, it'd be wagging.
Oh wait, he did have a tail and it was wagging.
His furry black ears were twitching as the wind gently blew past the two figures.
Throughout their walk, neither of them said a word after their initial talk at the garden was over. Cecily was treating the wolf as air while Hugh was watching her back mirthfully. Figuring that Hugh might not have finished his business with her grandfather before rushing to the castle to complete his mission, she allowed him to follow her back albeit grudgingly. Yes, she was still bitter over losing those 1500 points.
Thankfully, her main mission probably clashed with his since it wanted her to become the "Ruler of the Night," and Cecily would use that to get back at him - he better hope he completes enough side tasks and missions before their lives end because his soul would be obliterated otherwise by losing 10,000 points.
But in the original timeline, Hugh was crowned the title as the sole king of the werewolves. Clearly, Cecily wasn't a werewolf and she had no plans to become one, either. Fortunately the hunters were the humans who lived in the night along with their nemeses. In the end, one shouldn't have to be a bloody wolf to rule the night. As a huntress who'd killed countless wolves even before she transmigrated into the world, Cecily more than qualified for the title.
Some may be ridiculing her in their minds, "Cecily, aren't you being too overconfident?" but losing never even crossed her mind. Hugh would be a problematic obstacle but it wouldn't be impossible. As for Valentine, she had yet to meet him personally. Nevertheless, no matter what kind of opponent he turned out to be, with Hugh there to bear the brunt of his aggro Cecily wouldn't have much to worry about anyway. From the world information, Valentine certainly looked down upon every human - Cecily was no exception since he played her like a fiddle and just let her run wild afterwards.
Let's just focus on the side shit ah. This world has too many people to kill. The main mission will come sooner or later after everyone's dead.
001 who just returned from surveilling Valentine tried his best to warn her, [...Host, that isn't a wise choice. Valentine is--]
'001, you're back. You were silent for, like, three entire chapters. Anyway, doesn't matter what Valentine chooses to do. In the end, his real enemy is Hugh. You got me?' Cecily continued walking with a deadpan expression pasted onto her face.
(;￣ー￣川 Seriously, host? Why do you never take the main mission seriously?!?! Clearly, your 2 luck is so worrisome that it's awesome, but you never seem to learn. I bet something completely out of your imagination will happen and throw all of your plans out the window! Just don't blame me for not warning you! I tried my best! Hmph!
Then 001 thought about all of the things that he did to help his host in the current and previous worlds. He didn't take very long because he didn't do much at all. Of course, except in this world where he was used as a CCTV but the other two worlds were seriously not even worth the effort. This world was different. Even though Wen Ren gave his host the tyrannical sword but...ARGH WHATEVER. His host was a lost cause. She would have been the perfect host if it wasn't for that damnable luck ah!
[Fine, host. But just to clarify, I tried.] Then 001 promptly left her to continue "surveilling." Actually, since his host didn't care enough to even listen to the fruits of his efforts, the little system decided to just explore the world while tuning her out. He didn't have a physical body like Zero but as an almighty system, scanning the entire globe from the host's mind was a simple task.
When they arrived at the tall gates of the mansion, there was already a tall and old butler waiting. He wore a regal and formal black suit with a horizontal stripe vest underneath to distinguish his position. It was the head butler who was always with Cecily's grandfather and therefore managed to escape the Lavande family massacre back then, Mathias Warner (A/N: pffft yeah only the nobles and above be getting that fancy French colors last name smh).
Upon seeing the young lady of the house who had been gone for more than two years, Mathias's eyes softened as he respectfully performed a ninety-degree bow, "Lady Cecily. Welcome back. Master Urian will certainly be happy upon seeing you again."
Then he turned to Hugh with a colder expression, as the wolf was now a man standing beside Cecily with a sturdy arm shamelessly enclosing her thin and exposed waist, "Sir Hugh. I have been instructed that to wait here for you to return. Let us all enter together." Otherwise, I'd have left you out here to rot alone. If only the master was here to see this...
The Lavande family's wealth had been accumulated for many generations with the most coming from Urian's era so even with the death of her father, the deceased Master of the house, the estate's affairs was handled by Urian himself who immediately took back the position as head. Since Cecily had left shortly after the massacre, the only expenses he had to worry about was the maintenance of the mansion as well as hiring new servants to clean it every once in a while. Of course, even if Cecily had denounced her name and status in a fit of rage he still dedicated more than half of the Lavande family assets to her while the rest went into the development of the Hunter's Association (weapons, headquarters, branches, equipment, etc). Mathias had stayed with him throughout the entire ordeal and was even an executive member in the Hunter's Association alongside himself.
Stepping back into the estate, Cecily found that it had been repaired to the state it was before the bloodbath. The bushes were free from the tangled mess of long black hair, and the roses themselves were no longer the ominous shade of red. The grand fountain in the middle of their garden full of the white roses that her mother favored was no longer filled with blood and her mother's detached limbs. A statue of an angel carved from white marble with her arms raised above her head and her wings spread open was standing at the center of the large fountain. Her left hand no longer head the severed head of her beloved mother. The white wooden bench was empty, devoid of the rest of her corpse.
Noticing the somewhat gloomy air around the woman in his arms, Hugh tightened his hold around her as if comforting her even though he knew that she didn't need it. It wasn't her memory.
Unbeknownst to him, upon recalling the original body's family, Cecily inadvertently ended up thinking about her original world which was why she was slightly out of it. No, there was no disastrous tragedy like the original Cecily's. In fact, even if there were, she would not have thought much of it. She didn't hate her parents. She knew them, and they were normal parents - they loved her sufficiently and as she was their only child she was pampered and spoiled just enough. However, she always felt that something inside her was missing. She certainly loved them, but when they died in a plane crash together she felt nothing which was why to her there was no real tragedy. When her boyfriend went gay on her she was disappointed, but that was it. Even accepting death was nothing to her.
Of course, she wasn't simply bored like the man beside her. She tried her best to enjoy every ounce of her life and didn't care for anything more than that. She was indifferent. Too indifferent to the point that it sometimes made her uneasy. When she was trying her best to think about just one thing that she became attached to in her life - anything at all - and failed to, that was when Hugh had suddenly hardened his grip on her waist bringing her back to her senses.
For the second time, Cecily gratefully flashed him a genuine smile though less perceptible than the first. Nonetheless, the meticulously observant man who never let even the smallest changes within his wife pass him by noticed it and was temporarily dazed for a few seconds.
Did she really let those visions affect her? That didn't seem like something that would affect her to that extent no matter how deeply engraved into the body those memories and emotions were. He noticed from before how she allowed the original's hatred for werewolves overtake her own awareness in order to adapt to the world, but since it'd been two months already she no longer needed to do that and shut those feelings out by will. Hugh's curiosity was piqued as he raised a brow, "What was my little fox thinking about just now?"
He wasn't expecting an answer. At least, not a truthful one.
Cecily's usual detached expression was restored as she faced the front again but her voice was quiet and indistinctly shook, "Absolutely nothing."
Hugh tightened his already vice-like hold on her, but this time he pulled her much closer to himself, ignoring the silver buckles and buttons that couldn't be felt through his coat anyway and enveloping the entire half of her body in his warmth. His soft and fluffy tail caressed her fingers lightly.