The puppy, its fear palpable, fought desperately to escape the human hands that had encircled it. But Rika's grip only tightened, determined to keep it safe.
She was afraid that the puppy would somehow aggregate its injury and did not want that.
"Madam, do you need help with that? Please leave it to us to deal with. You should not bring a dangerous wild animal to your home this late at night. Who knows what diseases it might carry."
The man who looked like the oldest servant bowed to Rika apologetically.
But occasionally, his eyes moved to check up on the puppy in Rika's embrace. It was clear that this man was much more concerned about the puppy than he was about Rika.
Not that it mattered or offended Rika.
"It's okay! I will take good care of this puppy. You can pretend this encounter never happened if it makes you feel better."
Rika proposed, and the man opened his mouth before closing it again. He wanted to say something but had no idea how to express himself.
In the end, the man backed down without much of a fight.
The puppy also exhausted its energy, and it finally settled down. It realised that Rika would not hurt it, and all its energy left its body.
Rika cradled the small sleeping body as she got into her car.
The driver should have asked Rika where she wanted to go. This man's lack of respect was evident in everything he did for Rika.
But Rika ignored the driver.
Just before they entered the final block before her home, Rika decided to stop the car and get out.
"You can drop me here. I will go out from here on my own."
Rika assured the driver.
If anyone else had been in that car except Rika, she was sure the driver would have insisted on dropping them inside to make a solid impression.
But since he was driving Rika around, the driver could not even bother to pretend.
He knew there was no point in trying to impress Rika and gain her favour when better candidates existed.
Rika was thankful for this neglect, as it helped her do things she would not have been able to do otherwise.
For example - bring a puppy home and not be questioned.
But first, Rika needed to go to a vet and get the poor puppy treated. She also wanted to get shots and proper paperwork.
Once that was sorted out, she would look into adopting this poor thing.
"I should message and ask my dorm lady if I can keep a puppy. If not, then I might have to move out."
Rika sighed at how her priorities had changed in minutes, but that was what happened when you took responsibility for someone else's life.
Thankfully, the dorm lady seemed to have no problems with Rika bringing in a puppy.
That dorm was pet-friendly, and other animals often came over. This puppy would be able to make friends.
Rika's luck must be pretty decent today since she managed to catch the vet just as he was closing.
The vet looked exhausted, but the amount of money Rika offered made him change his mind about her, and he decided to look at the puppy.
"Apart from all its injuries, there is nothing wrong with this young one. But none of them will have a lasting effect. I also did a quick blood test that came out clean, but I will do another one tomorrow and send you the results. I assume that you want to adopt this puppy?"
The vet asked in a calm voice. He was a professional and was not in a hurry. He ran Rika through all the procedures she needed to fill out.
The puppy slept through all this, and Rika felt glad it was enjoying its leisure life.
Despite all this, Rika somehow managed to return home first.
None of the servants came out to greet her, and Rika knew it was because she had no pheromones.
Even the servants relied on those pheromones to know what someone was feeling and what they should do for them.
It made it easy for Rika to snuggle the puppy into her room and hide its existence.
Rika knew her parents would not say anything to her or discourage her from keeping a pet. The main problem was Suzie and her obsession with cute things.
There was a high chance that Suzie would like this pup but get bored soon enough. Rika was not sadistic enough to wish for such a fate anymore.
"I should wake up this little thing and give it something to eat. The poor thing looked famished. I am sure I have a feeding bottle lying somewhere because of all my voluntary work."
It was another thing Rika did to impress her family and gain recognition. But one day, Rika returned with cat fur on her, and Suzie sneezed up a storm.
Rika had not gone to a volunteer shelter since then but sent constant donations for help.
Heating the unique milk formula for the puppy was not a hassle. But getting that small thing to drink from its bottle sure was one.
The puppy was stubborn, so it continued to growl at Rika every time she tried to feed it from the bottle.
It even tried to bite her a few times during that process.
But in the end, the hunger won over the brave pup, and it decided to drink a little milk.
As soon as it was fed, the pup fell asleep. Rika put the pup on the couch in her room instead of her bed.
The couch was unused, so the chances of it having any irritating scent were negligible. Rika comfortably put the puppy down and went to sleep.
It was a quiet night for her, and Rika woke up the next day before her alarm went off.
Somehow, the pup had managed to sleep through the night without much fanfare, and it was still asleep when Rika picked it up and walked out of the house.
There was not much that Rika wanted to take with her, so it was easy for her to carry the puppy.
Due to the early morning hours, there was no traffic that Rika needed to worry about. She could easily travel with a puppy on the public train, and no one questioned her.
Charon was waiting for Rika when she reached the station.
Until now, Rika did not even know that Charon had a car, much less a license to drive it.
"Don't look at me as if you are seeing me for the first time. I might look lazy on the surface, but I do know how to drive. I promise I will not crash this car…hopefully."
Charon was joking, and Rika knew that. But something about Charon's tone did not sit well with Rika, and it made her heart skip a beat.
"Sit tight. We will be back home before we know it."
Charon promised before she stepped on the gas pedal.
The ride was halfway between thrilling and horror for Rika.
She had never seen someone drive that fast and accurately before in her life. She was sure that Charon had what it takes to become a professional stunt racer if she wanted to.
"Phew! That was fun. It's been a minute since I got to drive this freely. Maybe I should start driving during these early hours when no one is around."
Charon did not even look affected by the near-death experiences she had given Rika.
"Or, how about we leave driving to someone more careful? You might send someone to an early grave while driving."
Rika warned while reaching for her heart.
Charon poured at Rika's indirect insult, but she did not seem offended.
"My driving is not that bad. And one of these days, you will need me to drive when you want to get somewhere urgently. Just wait and watch! I perfected my skills for that very day."
Rika shook her head and headed inside. The pup was starting to wake up, and Rika wanted to put it down comfortably when it gained consciousness.
As soon as the pup was put down, it became alert and growled at Rika. The next second, it drove under Rika's bed to hide from her.
"Looks like you ended up picking a skittish puppy. It will take time and patience to put it at ease. Good luck dealing with that puppy."
Charon wished Rika the best of luck before she picked up her stuff and went to the bathroom. The puppy continued to hide until breakfast time.
It came out to eat when hungry and returned as soon as someone neared it. It was going to be tough for Rika to be able to tame it.
But with enough time and patience, Rika was sure she would soften the puppy and make it behave.
And time was something that Rika had on her side now.