I Received the Beast Male Lead as a Birthday Present

“… Did you just say wolf?”

Father asked in a bewildered tone.

His face showed an expression that couldn’t have imagined I would ask for a wolf as a gift.

“Yes. I want that wolf as a birthday present.”

I casually pointed at Michael trapped behind the bars, confirming my request.

“Huh…”

Shocked by my audacious demand, Father remained speechless for a while.

I glanced at Father, whose expression had become serious in an instant, and shrugged lightly.

“You said you would buy me anything I wanted, right?”

“Even so, it’s…unexpected to ask for a wolf as a gift.”

Regaining his composure belatedly, Father narrowed his eyes and glanced at Mikael.

When their gazes met, Mikael growled again, revealing his hostility. Father’s expression turned somewhat serious in response to his threatening demeanor.

“No matter how I think about it, that wolf seems too dangerous. If you want to raise an animal, it would be better to find a gentler one…”

“No. I like that wolf.”

I firmly nodded and pointed at Michael. Perhaps he didn’t expect me to be so stubborn, as deep wrinkles formed between Father’s eyebrows.

And that was the moment.

“Honey, Cynthia. Are both of you here?”

Mother’s voice was heard from outside the tent, and in an instant, Father’s complexion brightened.

Soon after, the tent flap opened again, revealing Mother.

“I wondered where you went, but it seems everyone is here.”

Mother walked gracefully and stood next to Father. As they got closer, Father stepped forward, extending his arm to Mother as if he had been waiting.

“Be careful, you might trip.”

“Oh, come on. If someone sees us, they might think I’m your young lover.”

Mother grumbled softly but gently placed her hand on Father’s arm. It seemed she didn’t mind his overprotectiveness.

“So, have you chosen our daughter’s gift?”

“Yes. Actually, I asked Father to buy me that child.”

I pretended not to notice my parents’ affectionate behavior and gestured towards Michael trapped behind the bars.

“Oh… That’s not a wolf, is it?”

Finally, noticing Michael, Mother covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes widening.

“I happened to come across him and grew fond of him. If you permit, Mother, I want to receive him as a birthday present.”

I observed Mother’s reaction with a slight tension.

If I were to rank the highest among the members of the Evergreen Ducal Family in terms of authority, it would undoubtedly be Mother.

If it was about my mother, there was a high possibility that Father would pretend to be unable to beat her and give his permission.

On the contrary, if Mother said no, it was clear that Father would not give his permission.

“Well, it’s beautiful, but… Can we handle such a big child?”

As Mother muttered with a hesitant expression, Father responded as if he had been waiting for her words.

In a doubtful tone, Mother said, “I don’t think the wolf is suitable as a birthday gift. Look at those rebellious eyes. They seem like they could devour a person.”

“Hmm… Indeed, it doesn’t seem to have a gentle temperament.”

Father displayed a relieved expression at Mother’s agreement. Seeing that, I quietly clicked my tongue in my mind.

‘… Should I secretly take him away, even if it means using my personal funds?’

At that moment, when I was seriously contemplating how to take Michael to the territory without getting caught by my parents, my mother, who had been quietly observing Michael, smiled lightly.

“Still, we can’t just leave the injured child like that. It would be better for us to take him.”

“…!”

Father’s eyes filled with despair at Mother’s words.

“That settles it!”

I called out with delight in my mind and turned to Father.

“So, is it decided?”

With Mother, the most influential person in our family, giving her permission, all that remained was to win the auction and take Michael back to the territory.

“Well, we don’t have a choice.”

Father let out a deep sigh and called the knight who had been guarding outside the tent back inside.

There was no use in opposing any further; that seemed to be the acceptance in Father’s eyes.

“Go and call the steward.”

‘Yes!’

After that, the auction proceeded swiftly.

The steward, who had been summoned by the knight, recognized Father immediately and hurriedly scurried around.

With that, the steward opened his mouth, saying that it wasn’t originally intended for auction, but if they wanted it, he would give it at a reasonable price.

As someone who knew the original work, it was a somewhat absurd statement, but Father didn’t pay much attention to it.

After all the calculations were done, several hours later

I climbed up the secluded path with the patient disguised as a birthday gift.

* * *

On the way back to the territory, I worried about what would happen if he caused a commotion, but fortunately, Michael behaved quietly throughout the journey.

‘I hope he’s okay.’

To take a break, I took advantage of the moment the carriage stopped and headed towards where Michael’s iron bars were.

The carriage with Michael’s iron bars was positioned at the very end of the procession. Because of that, it was difficult to check on his condition except when the carriage was stopped, like now.

“My Lady.”

As I approached Michael’s iron bars, the knights guarding around greeted me politely.

“It might be dangerous, so please don’t get too close.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.

I observed Michael while keeping a reasonable distance from the iron bars. Fortunately, his condition seemed better than I had worried about.

‘He could endure this much because he’s a werewolf. If he were an ordinary animal or human, he might have died by now.’

In this world, werewolves referred to people who could transform into beasts.

They had physical abilities that were twice as strong as ordinary humans, and their habits differed slightly depending on the type of beast they transformed into.

Occasionally, there were individuals with abilities, but it was an extremely rare case even among werewolves.

‘According to the original, Michael had incredible strength.’

I glanced at Michael with a sidelong glance.

According to the original work, Michael possessed such immense strength that he could break rocks with his bare hands.

In other words, it meant that if he set his mind to it, he could easily break through iron bars like these.

‘Of course, that’s assuming the body is in good condition.’

No matter how much of a werewolf one was, sustaining injuries of that degree would naturally restrict movement.

They would recover faster than humans, but still, it would take some time to fully heal.

‘… Anyway, since a while ago, Michael’s gaze has been quite intense.’

I slowly closed and opened my eyes. For some reason, Michael had been staring at me as if piercing through me.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

Since there was no particular reason to avoid his gaze, I smiled softly at Mikael. In response, Mikael quickly turned his head as if he couldn’t bear to look.

‘How prickly.’

I sighed, wiping away the smile at the corners of my mouth.

I had a strong feeling that this would be a challenging journey.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time.

Michael glanced at Cynthia standing in front of me with a sidelong glance.

‘… That woman doesn’t seem intimidating to me.’

It was the same when they first met at the auction house.

It was fascinating how she approached me with such a nonchalant expression.

‘Her name was Cynthia, right?’

Cynthia Evergreen.

She was a well-known figure that anyone in the nobility would have heard of at least once.

Even those who had no interest in others knew her name, so it was a done deal.

‘… As rumored, she has a beautiful face.’

Michael observed Cynthia with an indifferent gaze.

Platinum blonde hair shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight, fair and translucent skin, mysterious gray eyes, and delicate facial features harmoniously arranged.

Objectively speaking, the woman in front of him was incredibly beautiful.

‘So what? She’s a strange woman who asks for a wolf as a birthday present.’

Michael sneered softly.

He had heard that occasionally among the nobility, there were those who brought in rare beasts and raised them like pets.

It was clear that Cynthia Evergreen was one of those peculiar individuals with such a nasty hobby.

‘Unlucky. Not only was I targeted by an assassin, but I ended up being sold to a woman like her.’

Michael chuckled wryly as he recalled the events of the past few days.

About two days ago. He received a summons from the Emperor and visited the palace after a long time.

The reason the Emperor called him was simple. It was to see each other’s faces after a long time and have a meal together as a family.

After an uncomfortable meal, Michael declined the Emperor’s suggestion to stay a little longer and immediately left the palace.

He had experienced firsthand that there was nothing good about staying in the palace for a long time.

And as luck would have it.

Somehow, the assassins discovered his travel route and there was a terrifying ambush outside the capital.

Since he had frequently faced assassination threats in the past, it wasn’t difficult to deal with assassins.

However, in the process of trying to save his subordinates, he fell victim to a poisoned arrow.

No matter how much of a werewolf he was, being poisoned weakened him. He recovered faster than humans, but he didn’t have any specific resistance to toxins.

However, the real problem started after that.

‘Of all things, I had to transform into a wolf there.’

When my body weakened, there were occasional times when I involuntarily returned to the form of a beast.

It rarely happened, but for some reason, on that day, my body didn’t listen to me.

Luckily, it happened in a place far away from my subordinates. If it hadn’t, the fact that I was a lowly werewolf would have been known throughout the world by now.

It would have been nice if it ended there, but unfortunately, his ordeal didn’t end there.

Shortly after transforming into a wolf, he was discovered by a demon hunter passing by.

After going through various hardships since then, he ended up in his current state, trapped behind bars as a beast.

‘Although I wish I could break these bars right now…’

Michael looked at the bars surrounding him and clicked his tongue.

In reality, breaking these bars was not his concern. But the problem was what would happen afterward.

‘Engaging the Evergreen knights in my current condition would be a reckless move.’

Michael calmly assessed the situation.

The Evergreen Knights were by no means opponents to be taken lightly. If I rashly confronted them in my injured state, I would be more likely to be harmed.

‘It’s better to stay quiet until I fully recover.’

At the current rate, it seemed like it would take about a week for his body to fully heal.

By that time, he would be able to return to his territory without any problems.

‘It’s frustrating for now, but I have to endure it.’

With that in mind, Michael slowly closed his eyes.

I received the beast male lead as a birthday present.