The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 196

I want to train a puppy.

I’ve developed a small but strong desire that I must fulfill.

However, neither Judas nor Eliza knows how to reach that desire.

Eliza sifted through Judas’s stored memories.

There was no helpful information.

While there were pleasant memories of obedient puppies, there wasn’t a single memory about how to carry out the training.

“Hmmm.”

From the very beginning, they hit a roadblock.

The method for gathering the puppies running around wasn’t hard to come up with.

There was no need to gather them forcefully.

When it’s time to rest, they naturally return to the barn together.

For now, Judas and Eliza decided to raid the kitchen.

They were looking for some treats to tempt the puppies.

“What do you think they like?”

“…I wonder?”

Unlike the world Judas lived in, there were no prepared treats or food specifically for pets in this world.

Currently, the spotted puppies’ meals are provided from the kitchen.

Unlike most dogs in this world, who receive leftovers from their human companions, the palace dogs are treated with great care.

They are provided with fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.

Of course, the puppies aren’t eating solid food yet, as they haven’t fully weaned.

“Though they haven’t completely weaned…”

“Still, sometimes the mother dog shares a few bites of what she’s eating.”

“So, it’s not like we can’t give them anything at all…”

Judas and Eliza exchanged their thoughts and picked out the food they would take.

The chosen foods were as follows:

Boiled chicken breast without salt.

Cooked sweet potatoes. Some fruits and vegetables.

“This should be enough.”

“They might even learn by watching us train Hwangjeom , so it shouldn’t be a big issue if the puppies can’t eat it.”

Just thinking about the puppies following their commands, such as raising their front paws or sitting down, made their hearts swell with warmth.

The couple, with matching smiles—pleasant yet a little mischievous—gathered the food and moved.

When Judas and Eliza returned, the puppies had just finished their walk and returned to the barn.

Although they aren’t covered in spots as much as one would expect from a “spotted dog,” Judas kept calling them that, and it eventually stuck in Eliza’s mouth as well.

Yuel, who had played with them, was drinking water with his head in the bowl.

“After a walk, when they’re thirsty and a bit hungry…”

“It’s the perfect time to use the treats.”

The two quietly approached the water-drinking dog and crouched down beside it.

The large mother dog and four puppies, sitting like rice cakes on either side, were drinking water.

The puppies, still with short tails and fur not fully grown, wiggled their little tails as they drank.

For a moment, they forgot the reason they were here and simply stared, mesmerized by the sight.

They snapped out of it when the mother dog tilted her head and looked at them.

After a brief tilt, she began wagging her tail and smiling.

Judas gently patted her head.

“Come to think of it, Hwangjeom might already be trained. Back then, she was always moving between different homes, so I never checked.”

Judas remembered that they had taken a walk with her a few times and that she seemed to understand commands like “come.”

“Let’s check.”

At Eliza’s suggestion, Judas nodded.

“Alright, shake.”

Judas extended his hand.

Hwangjeom simply stared at him blankly.

“……”

When Judas stayed still, Hwangjeom just sniffed his hand but didn’t do anything expected.

“Hmmm. Looks like I’ll have to teach her myself.”

Judas’s attitude was firm, as if making a guarantee.

Eliza, crouching beside him, decided to watch and see what Judas would do.

A few minutes after Judas’s confident words.

The two were lying on the floor of the barn with a cloth spread out, rolling around with the puppies.

Training was the least of their concerns; they couldn’t resist playing with the cute puppies.

Eliza picked up one squirming puppy and sniffed it.

“So savory…”

The soft and warm puppy gave off a unique, nutty scent.

It was strangely addictive.

Judas sniffed the puppy’s paw pads.

It smelled of earth mixed with a savory aroma.

Anyway, it wasn’t unpleasant.

Moreover, the soft, jelly-like paw pads.

It felt calming to touch them.

I also gently touched Hwangjeom’s paw pads, but they were somewhat rough and firm, almost as if calluses had formed.

Anyway, it felt good.

Lying down with soft puppies on me, petting them, and smelling them.

It was just lazily wonderful.

The scene was almost like two people high on drugs, lethargically sprawled out.

I’d never touched any drugs, though.

“It’s nice…”

Judas muttered absentmindedly, and Eliza nodded in agreement.

“Mm…”

Suddenly, she turned over and crawled toward Judas.

Then, she lay down, resting her head on his arm.

Judas chuckled and gently stroked Eliza’s cheek.

“What’s this all of a sudden? Are you being cute, trying to be adorable?”

“…No.”

Eliza hid her face in his arms.

“I’m just happy, and I thought I’d be even happier if I cuddled like this…”

She mumbled, embarrassed.

Judas smiled and shook his head.

There was simply no way to handle this cuteness.

No matter how much she resembled a puppy, she was still no match for Eliza.

In the end, all he could do was kiss her forehead.

Eliza was nestled in his arms, and the warm puppies were waddling around nearby.

By his head, Yuel was curled up, and Hwangjeom was lying comfortably nearby.

It was an extremely peaceful afternoon.

Gradually, their breaths became calm.

At that moment, as they were on the verge of falling asleep…

-Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the stable door.

-Your Majesty. Are you inside? It’s May. May I come in?

Eliza immediately sat up.

She became incredibly soft around Judas, but not when others were around.

“Yeah. Come in.”

As if she hadn’t been close to falling asleep, Eliza said in a calm voice.

Judas slowly sat up and offered his finger to a puppy to bite.

The pups didn’t have their teeth fully grown yet, so it didn’t hurt.

Mei entered with Bradley, the stable manager.

“We’re here to weigh the puppies and check their size.”

“I came to check the water buckets and hay.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

May sat down on the floor and used a tape measure on the puppies, lifting them up to feel their weight.

“Oops. They’ve grown a bit…. Hm? What’s in that basket?”

“Oh.”

It was a basket of treats Eliza had brought for training.

She had placed it on a shelf, out of reach of the puppies, but May had noticed it.

Eliza averted her gaze and pretended not to notice.

For some reason, Judas felt it was his job to explain, though awkwardly.

“Well… it’s nothing special. I brought it to try training them.”

“Training?”

“Yeah, well… at first, that was the plan, but it didn’t work out.”

It wasn’t that it didn’t work—it was more like Judas got distracted by the cuteness and gave up.

But it was too embarrassing to say that.

Besides, there was Eliza’s dignity as an Empress to consider.

“Should I help?”

It was then that Judas and Eliza both remembered.

May was quite knowledgeable about animals.

That part was truly important advice for the two of them, so they took it to heart.

At that moment, Wang Jeom-gi lightly tapped his hand with his front paw.

“Now you just need to open your fist and let them eat.”

May opened her hand, revealing the treat.

“We’ll repeat this action a few times, and combine it with the voice command ‘hand.’ Then, eventually, when you say ‘hand,’ the dog will offer its paw. Simple, right?”

May finished her explanation while petting the dog’s head.

“Would you like to try it yourself?”

Eliza and Judas exchanged looks.

Eliza seemed a bit hesitant.

Judas stepped forward first.

“I’ll give it a try.”

“…You don’t have to be so serious about it.”

May stepped back, and Judas stood in front of the dog.

He carefully retraced her steps and tried to replicate her actions.

He tore the chicken breast into small pieces and held them in his hand.

He gently extended his fist toward the dog.

“Hand.”

The dog, who had been sniffing, placed its front paw on his hand.

Rather than placing it, it was more like it gave it a small tap.

But that was enough for both Judas and Eliza to be thrilled.

“Oh!”

“Wow!”

Judas immediately opened his hand and gave the dog the treat.

They repeated the same actions a few more times.

Whenever Wang Jeom-gi tapped his paw on Judas’s hand, the treat was given.

“Good, good, you’re doing well.”

“Smart.”

The smiles never left their faces.

From a step away, May watched Eliza.

Her expression was one of pure wonder, smiling like a child.

It was a side of her that only appeared when she was with Judas, a side that never showed otherwise.

‘…Eight years, huh.’

Since Eliza boldly left her family home, May had been assigned as her personal doctor.

It had been about eight years since then.

They weren’t exactly close or well-acquainted.

They had regular health check-ups, but their interactions weren’t frequent.

In fact, meaningful interaction had been impossible.

At the time, Eliza had surrounded herself with high, thick walls.

May still couldn’t forget the thick venom in the eyes of that child.

She had felt pity for Eliza.

Life had been far too harsh for one so young to bear.

But, she had been a bystander.

She couldn’t have done otherwise.

Her adversary had been Bevel.

And no one could face Bevel directly, except a madman.

And, perhaps a bit rudely, that madman was the one standing next to her now.

If it hadn’t been for Judas, Eliza wouldn’t have been able to smile like this.

He had been a madman who didn’t care whether he lived or died, and ironically, that was why he had stayed by her side and been able to change her.

Five years ago, when both Eliza and Judas were still children.

Judas had been a famous figure in the mansion.

“Some crazy guy entered the mansion.”

When the news had broken, they had been so shocked.

They had expected him to either die soon or collapse from his own madness.

But he had been stronger and even crazier than they thought.

And, well, that had been a good thing.

That Eliza could now be pure like a child.

That she could be so happy.

May knew it was hypocritical to say this, but still…

“Hand.”

Before long, the dog had perfectly followed the command when she said “hand.”

There was no need to do exactly as May had shown.

Now, just extending an empty hand would suffice.

“I want to try too!”

Eliza, excited, shouted like a child.

“Hand!”

Then the dog placed its front paw gently on her hand.

“Good job.”

Eliza gave the dog a treat, and Judas petted the dog next to her.

When they first brought Yuel into their home, Eliza had been reluctant to feed the dog herself because of the saliva.

But now, not only did she feed Yuel directly, but if the puppy licked her face, she would just smile and accept it.

It was amazing to see how much Eliza had changed, and Judas couldn’t help but watch her with a smile, lost in thought.

Then their eyes met.

As Eliza, who had been sniffing the dog, looked at him, she returned her usual bright, clear smile.

***

“Mom?”

Eliza opened the door to the dining room.

“Huh? Elly.”

Maria, who had been looking after the spotted puppies and Yuel inside, turned her head.

“So you were here.”

“What’s up? All alone without Judas?”

Judas and Eliza are like each other’s shadows.

Wherever they go, they always stick together.

Though, very rarely, they do act separately.

“Judas’s working out.”

“Ah, I see.”

“They’ve become friends with the animals.”

Eliza usually speaks right to the point if she has something to say.

She doesn’t waste time with small talk or pleasantries. It’s not her way of speaking.

If she ever drags out a conversation or brings up an unrelated topic, it’s usually a setup to catch the other person off guard.

Maria thought to herself.

She figured Eliza wouldn’t be doing that to her, so she must be bringing up something she finds hard to say directly.

She decided to wait, allowing her daughter to speak freely and comfortably.

“Yeah. While you’re out working, I come here often to take care of them. They’re so cute. Just watching them makes me feel happy.”

Especially Yuel, who shares memories from the afterlife.

Because of that, they quickly became close.

Before that, there was no real connection between them and Yuel.

“Also, the puppies understand what we say. It’s so amazing. You and Judas trained them, right?”

“Yeah. We did get some help from Mei.”

“Wow… it’s amazing how smart they are, just like their owners. Yuel’s the same.”

“Thanks to you taking good care of them, Judas and I can go out a little more comfortably.”

“I’m grateful you think so, my proud Elly.”

Eliza smiled gently and cautiously began to speak.

“Mom, you know…”

“Yeah? What is it?”

The topic her daughter brought up was something Maria never expected to hear from her.

“I want to learn how to cook… Can you help me, Mom?”

“…Huh?”

Eliza and Judas sometimes.

Actually, honestly, they often spend time in their cage.

It’s not that they stay for days due to external commitments, but they visit frequently.

That place is their private space.

Therefore, there’s no one to handle the little chores, like cooking.

Eliza doesn’t know how to cook.

She’s never once attempted to cook in her life.

So, preparing food is entirely Judas’s responsibility.

Sometimes, she feels guilty about it.

When Eliza looks at him with concern, Judas smiles faintly and kisses her forehead, saying this:

“I’m doing it because I like it, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

She knows it’s not just something he says.

That makes her even more grateful and happy.

But because of that, she also wanted to cook for him, just once.

She also remembers something he said before.

When he asked if she wanted him to cook for her, she replied:

“I don’t expect it, but I’d feel happy if you did.”

It was a considerate yet honest answer.

She likes that about him.

How he doesn’t hide or lower his desires just out of consideration.

Anyway.

She wants to see him happy.

She wants to see him enjoy the food she made for him.

If it means making him happy, Eliza could do anything.

…Although she wasn’t confident she could do it well.

For these reasons, Eliza went to Maria and asked for cooking lessons.

And so, mother and daughter went to the kitchen together.

Maria spoke in a slightly strict and firm tone.

“Cooking is more dangerous than you might think, Elly. You’ll be handling sharp knives, hot water, oil, and working near fire. That means you have to be careful. Understand?”

Though Eliza is her daughter, she’s objectively a remarkable, almost miraculous person.

A grand sorceress.

The Empress and Pope of the New Order. A saint, and more.

Even so, since this was her first time cooking, Maria needed to give her strict warnings about safety.

“Yeah. I understand.”

Maria nodded and smiled.

“Alright, then shall we try?”

Eliza nodded gravely.

Imagining Judas happily eating the food she made.