It was the eternal night of stars and moon that would never dawn.
The only difference from Juushii as I usually saw her was that she was in sleepwear.
Juushii's sleepwear consisted of just a shirt and a white negligee.
She was properly wearing something like shorts underneath, though.
Or maybe it was because it was the dead of night.
Or maybe it was because we were on the castle balcony admiring the magnificent starry sky, artificial as it was.
Either way, she wasn't her usual self.
At least, that's how she seemed to me.
"Um, Lord Wof...?"
"Good evening."
"Um, um, good evening."
She greeted me with a radiant smile. That expression was the Juushii I knew.
She gazed up at the sky from the balcony. I looked up too.
The silver full moon and its sisters floating in the purple-blue glow of the sky.
That nightscape was hard to believe to be artificial.
But I could also sense that it wasn't something natural.
That eternal night sky had once existed somewhere up above the surface.
Where had it been, I wondered.
"You must be tired today."
"Um, I had so much fun! It's been so long since I got to go on a dungeon stroll with Wof. We even got to form an improvised wolf party. I got to eat dried meat too. And I got lots of exercise! I'm satisfied!"
"That's... good. I'm happy I got to explore with Juicy and the others again too."
A dungeon stroll. A stroll, or was it exercise.
It was kind of both, and kind of neither.
"How about Narcissus?"
I was a little curious.
No, wait—Juicy. She'd been giving Narcissus a pretty cold shoulder.
Given Juicy's personality, that kind of cold treatment was odd.
"Wof? Um, her. I'd heard that 'The Second Coming of Generous' was scary. In Edda, and a god too. But when I actually met her, she was kind and funny, and she reminded me a little of my younger sisters."
"Ah... I see."
I sort of understood. And she wasn't her older sister, apparently.
So that cold shoulder was just how she usually treated her younger sisters.
Well, I wouldn't push it any further. After that, we talked about today's events.
Juicy seemed to already know a bit about the various rumors surrounding me.
Since they were true and she didn't see them in a bad light, she actually seemed proud, if anything.
Well... when she put it that way, I couldn't really argue.
Maybe I was the only one who minded.
But still. Having weird ones show up at Hiyān was plenty enough.
So please, Cerberustan.
"Um, um, but, woof. There's just one thing I'm not satisfied with."
Suddenly, Jushii pressed her head softly against my chest.
She moved her big wolf ears and sniffed at me, sniff sniff.
"Jushii...?"
"Um, well, after all... Master Wof. You smell like other females. And a lot of them."
"That's because—"
"A whole lot. Master Wof."
She looked up at me with those half-lidded eyes.
Rubbing her head against my chest like she was groping me under some pretext or another.
It was like she was marking me with her scent.
Then she glared at me. She repeated that over and over, and her tail slapped at my leg, pat pat.
Through the thin negligee, the fullness of her chest pressed clearly against me.
Jushii wasn't quite in Mineha's league, but she was definitely on the larger side.
On the fourth time, I surrendered.
"I—was sending these as tokens of gratitude."
"Um, woof. Gratitude?"
"Yes. The reason I was able to beat Aruveld was because everyone supported and cooperated with me. So, with those feelings of daily gratitude, Jushii—could you hold out your hand?"
"Um, um, um, y-yes...?"
I fastened the bracelet onto the arm she obediently held out.
A thin black band with a jet-black gemstone.
Jushii's mood shot up in an instant.
Her tail was wagging furiously and her eyes were sparkling.
Jushii kept gazing at the bracelet.
"Oh, and Jushii. Your birthday was—"
"Um, it already passed."
"Is that so?"
"Um, bark. Birthday present. Bark. I'm happy."
"That's not what this is. That bracelet is a token of my gratitude."
"Waf?"
"Your birthday present is this."
I handed Jushii the blue ribbon.
I'd spotted it at the same accessory shop where I bought the knife.
Something about it just seemed like it would look nice against her black hair.
When she saw the ribbon, Jushii tilted her head slightly.
"Um, wafn… This isn't a… collar, is it?"
"Huh?"
"Um um, I'm really happy! Thank you!"
Well… okay, I'm glad she's pleased. Yeah.
I stepped back, and Jushii immediately put on the blue ribbon.
She spun around and struck a pose. Cute.
"It suits you."
So she's fourteen now. One year older than me.
Hmm. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have mixed feelings about that. But she'll catch up eventually.
"Um, woof. Master Wof…"
Jushii gazed up at me with shimmering eyes. And there I was, reflected in them.
It reminded me of that night before the festival.
Jushii had been dazzling, cute, and beautiful from the moment we first met.
Bright, sun-like personality—just like the dog I remembered from my family back in my past life.
She was so much like that dog I almost wondered if it had been reincarnated.
"Woof! Woof-woof. Woo-oof!"
She let out a string of barks and suddenly threw her arms around me.
Like a dog that couldn't hold back any longer, she lunged in, and I nearly toppled over.
Jushii held on tight and stared at me from up close, unblinking.
"J-Jushii…?"
"Um, um, um, woof… Master Wof… …Mwah, slurp."
She kissed my left cheek and licked it. Slurp, slurp.
"Jushii…?"
"Um, Master Wof… slurp, mwah."
She licked my right cheek and planted a kiss. Slurp, slurp.
I felt the warm, sweet touch of her tongue.
And then she slowly pulled away.
"Um, I want more... woof. I want to do it, but, um, that would be... improper."
She smiled faintly, somehow bewitchingly. I was surprised.
It wasn't her usual sun-like smile.
It was a quiet, moonlike smile.
Not a girl anymore. The smile of a woman who belonged to the night, enough to make my heart skip a beat.
I thought she was about to become a Fenrir again.
The reason she didn't was probably because Juicy had her composure now.
Well, doing it here would be a problem in many ways.
We were inside a dungeon.
Something might come up tomorrow.
If that happened, we might run into an unexpected enemy and end up having to deal with it.
Without doing that, we might not win.
I was practically a novice when it came to dungeon exploration.
Even so, I understood that dungeons were dangerous.
Dungeons were incomprehensibly mysterious.
I knew all too well that you never knew what could happen.
But still, if Juicy turned into a Fenrir...
I would become Generous without hesitation.
Just like that time, I would accept her with everything I had.
"Juicy..."
"W-Wof?"
I stepped close and lightly pressed my lips to her forehead.
Juicy's eyes went wide, her ears and tail bristling.
Up close, I smiled.
"Happy birthday."
"Ah, thank... thank you very much."
Juicy was flushed all the way to the tips of her ears.
I murmured, almost without thinking.
"The stars are beautiful tonight."
Juicy, gazing upward, gave a small nod.
Even if they were artificial, that night sky flickering with purple and blue light was beautiful.
"Um, um um um, Wof. I... I'm so happy!"
After saying that — there's a scent here too.
She whispered and pressed her lips to mine.
Our lips overlapped for just a moment, her tongue tracing softly before she pulled away, reluctant to let go.
"...Juicy...?"
"Woof. Good night, Wof."
Juicy smiled, gave a small wave, and stepped off the balcony.
I watched her go, then stood there for a while.
A world of stars and moon and night that would never see dawn.
I thought quietly to myself.
An unforgettable night of stars and moon.