The Emperor's Dog Chapter 5

Translator: s.h.i.+ko
Proofreader: asuramaru

Since I was a newborn puppy, I was constantly falling asleep. I didn't have enough energy to climb over to my bed so I laid down on the rug and slept next to Boris. He crouched down in the corner, looking at me with wariness.

"Sigh, life is so tiring…"

I can't believe I have to live a life like this. I yawned and buried my face in my arms. It wasn't long before I fell asleep. The rug was soft, so it was nice and easy to fall asleep on.

I woke up from a dream where I was able beat up Ju Haru to my heart's content. It was midday when I opened my eyes so the sun was out, glowing brightly. Unconsciously, I scratched my ear with my hind leg. Realizing this was a dog-like move, I froze.

"No, Ju Hari. Stay with me. You're a life-threatening dog."

Oh yeah, I have food. [1] I was going to kick off the day full of energy, but Boris was nowhere to be seen. Don't tell me he already ran away? He ran away from his master?

I waited for a while, but no one entered the room. I strolled around and walked over to the door by habit and found it slightly open.

"Oh…"

I swiped the door with my front paw and it opened with a creak. I was. .h.i.t by an unbearable temptation.

n.o.body told me I can't go out. They just said this is where I'll be staying.

So can I go out?

I peeked out of the room and looked down the hallway. In a timely matter, there was no one in the hallway.

"I'm gonna leave!"

I stormed out of the room, shouting vigorously. Then, I began walking around the empty palace. I didn't notice when I was riding the Emperorghini (abbreviation of the emperor + a lamborghini). The hall was extremely wide.

"That's probably because I'm a dog…"

The feeling of being human was different from the feeling of being a dog. Every time I realized that, I felt sad. Walking around gloomily, I came to a noisy area. Hmm, I'm not ready to meet other people yet.

"Ran away?"

While I was worrying, the whispers were gradually growing closer. Then, I saw dozens of people walking down the stairs. I tried to run away, but it was too late.

"…A dog?"

"Why is there a dog here?"

"It's too young to be allowed to walk around."

"It's a dog!"

They were all eyeing me down, saying 'dog! dog!'. I stood on my four paws and stared at them with my head raised. I felt very uncomfortable.

Judging from priest boy's reaction, it's probably better to not open my mouth. 

I kept my mouth shut but they didn't stop looking at me.

"This dog…"

"The captain…"

"The dog…"

The only word that ever came out of their mouth was 'dog'. I was sad to admit it, but having people look at me and point out 'it's a dog' made me feel more and more uncomfortable. Looking up at them with a glare, I accidentally opened my mouth.

"A dog. What are you going to do?" [Hari]

Silence.

Then, they started screaming in panic. The same reaction as Boris. I stood still, pretending like I didn't see anything.

"A monster!"

"Uwaak! T-That's not normal! Run away!"

They started panicking and running away. 

No, but- h.e.l.l! What the h.e.l.l are you talking about? What's wrong with me talking? It was a nice sight seeing humans jump and panic because of one dog.

"Haa."

This is pretty fun. I'm gonna conquer the world.

There wasn't anybody in front of me right now since they all ran away. This is unfair, I didn't do anything!

"Tch."

To my surprise, I, the greatest genius in the whole universe, knew my way back to my room. If I go back and wait, someone was sure to come. I wanted to travel more but it'd be a pain if I were to get lost.

And there was no way back to the room. It wasn't a place with many people in the first place. Did he put me somewhere out of everyone's sight?

"Huk, this isn't good."

If that were the case, it might've been an accident. I would also be very surprised if I was a normal human being and saw a talking dog. Hmm, I began to worry as I trudged back before shaking my head.

"Because I wasn't told to leave…"

If I was told not to go out, I wouldn't have.

I didn't realize, but the more I walked, the farther I went. You've gone a long way, me. The road back was pretty tiring. I didn't even get to feel barley rice's power, so I was exhausted. 

I'm gonna sleep till someone comes. I finally saw the room from afar. With my last bit of energy, I tried to run towards the door. But my feet didn't touch the ground.

"Eh?"

My feet were in the air. Hok, am I flying?

But it didn't take much time to realize that I wasn't.

"Where are you going, walking around like a rat?"

What, you…

My head was full of '???'s. I heard a familiar voice coming from above. But I didn't see who it was because I was in the air.

"Abel?"

"I don't remember allowing you to call me by my name." [2]

This unpleasant and irritating voice turned out to belong to Abel! Realizing that, I hurriedly examined my situation. I wasn't flying but held by the nape by Abel.

I didn't even realize it that it hurt! I'm a pretty cool dog, huh? Ah, no…!

"Let go of me, fool!"

[T/N: I've been getting into fate these days, was very tempted to put mongrel]

[PR/N: u little addict]

I struggled to get out of his grip. Why is he so strong, no… It's because I'm a dog!

"If I let go of you, will you die?"

"Did you just say you're going to kill me? Someone save this hu…  No, someone save this dog! This dog right here's gonna die! It's the opposite of dog abuse!"

But there was no Emperor to save me. Huu, he's trying to kill me. What can I even do if he tries to kill me? I cried and struggled.

I became even more depressed when I heard him laughing from above me. I can't believe I got caught by a dog murderer.

"Boohoo… Huh, aren't you going to kill me now?"

Abel unexpectedly let me down on the floor. I let out a sigh of relief as soon as my feet touched the floor.

"Why, do you want to die?"

"Eeek!"

I feel like I became barley rice, who was terrified of me. I moved my head around, contemplating my situation. Abel looked down at me with a sinister smile. In the eyes of a small puppy, he looked like an evil demon. 

Where is he going to kill me? Slowly backing away, I turned around and booked it. If I get caught, I'll die! Tears blocked my vision.

But my escape was like a bunny running from a predator. [3] With only a few steps, Abel stood in front of me and stopped me. Is he too powerful to run away from? Keug, I'm angry! I looked at Abel with vigilant eyes.

"What are you doing here?" [Hari]

"Does it concern you if I turn around and do somersaults whilst dancing?" [Hari]

"Do you know what situation you're in right now?" [Abel]

"Me? I'm a cute puppy."

A dog already has a meaning when it's a baby, but it doesn't matter if it's cute. I haven't seen myself in the mirror yet but I expect to be cute. But Abel frowned and reacted like he wasn't supposed to hear that. Why are you reacting like that?

"If you don't want to die, you should pipe down."

That line makes you sound like a bully. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I've lost my admiration for you.

I didn't want to answer but I remembered that he could kill me. Actually, I was scared of that sword hanging from his waist.

"I woke up and there was no one there, plus the door was open… So, I left and started walking around."

Somehow, I felt like I was in a hurry to make excuses. I didn't mention that I met a bunch of people and scared them away. I felt like I'd get murdered if I got caught.

Unable to answer, I stealthily lifted my head and looked at Abel. When I realized he was very handsome, I became unable to move my mouth.

The world is unfair. G.o.d is really evil. I can't believe you gave that b.a.s.t.a.r.d everything except for a good personality. You made me a dog.

I remembered back to when I couldn't open my eyes. I thought about Abel, who the mister [4] was talking about.

Abel Sylvester.

The man with soft, warm platinum hair and sharp red eyes, who was a friend and servant to the Emperor. He was the Emperor's cousin and a member of the royal family.

He's also the Duke of the Sylvester estate and had the formidable t.i.tle of the youngest Knight Commander of the Royal Guards. Of course, he was the most powerful man in the Empire and no one was able to match up to him in the field of swordsmans.h.i.+p.

He's a total fraudulent character! Believe it or not, all of that is true. G.o.d is not fair.

"I don't know what you are but if you make a fool out of yourself, I'll kill you immediately, so don't even dream about it."

Abel warned me. I couldn't get myself to move in the stiff and sharp air. His red pupils, which were said to be proof of the Imperial Family's blood, glared at me intensely, as if trying to tie me up.

I realized all that att.i.tude he was giving me was a joke. If he really wanted to, he could actually kill me. But he probably didn't because of the Emperor's orders.

I was overwhelmed. There was no other explanation than that. I couldn't move because I felt like he was holding me on the spot. I couldn't even tell whether I was breathing or not.

"Go back to where you were."

After hearing Abel's words, the tension eased down, free from its ropes. Abel walked off. I stood nailed to the spot with a blank look on my face.

For just a moment, I wasn't able to do anything. His words made me feel like an outcast. He looked down on me like he was the one in the right.

"What did I do wrong…"

I fell flat on my back. Before I died, I had always tried hard not to be hated, so no one showed hostility towards me.

I didn't know what they were thinking on the inside, but on the outside, they were nice to me. I'd never met someone who revealed their true nature like Abel did.

Having lived such a life, Abel's feelings scared me. It was understandable to be wary of me as a friend of the Emperor, but it's also wrong.

If there was a sin, the sin was being born as a talking dog. The more Abel was wary of me, the more depressed I became, knowing I was nothing in this world. 

After laying down for a while, I turned around thinking I'd better get back. I saw a familiar face above me.

"What are you doing here?"

It was the Emperor. I layed down and shook my front paws. The Emperor lifted me up with a gentle touch.

As expected, the Emperorghini is comfortable. I rubbed my face against him, drooping over his arms. The Emperor smelled good.

[1] she refers to boris as her food

[2] referencing to when hari told him that

[3] the original line was something along 'a fly running in paris' which i think might also be a pun. It's a bit too hard for me to translate so i replaced it with an expression with the same meaning.

[4] The guy who took care of Hari before