Curiously, since the day he had taught the cub a lesson not to mess with the older ones, the mother wolf had been shortening her distance from him even more.
Until, one day, Cassiel woke up and realized that she was sleeping next to him.
He wondered if the she-wolf, seeing what he had done, saw him as a father or a responsible male and had somehow given him her approval or something.....
'she made me her husband?....hahaha~ this really is funny'.
Cassiel just thought it was funny. He didn't know anymore if he was reverting to his old habits of laughing at the ironic and silly, twists and turns that life takes, or if, truly, he found the she-wolf's actions amusing.
Obviously he would reject the ida of even being the mate of a beast, after all he had no such tastes, but he let her do as she pleased.
Besides, he had to admit that it was comfortable and cool to lie on her fur, so he took it as if he had won a comfortable and cool pillow.
..
.
Time passed, though Cassiel wasn't even trying to measure it. For one thing, there was no reference other than the lights in the room, which flickered on and off according to whatever cycle the humans had set up.
Cassiel thought it was useless to count the days, so he didn't.
Lately Cassiel began to take a liking to teasing and playing with the Cub, or taking naps on the she-wolf's fur.
He wondered if it would have been good to have pets in his previous life, as it somehow relaxed him.
Another thing he noticed was that the Cub was growing. It wasn't obvious to the naked eye, but Cassiel felt it in the weight every time the puppy climbed on top of him.
Despite the monotony of the situation, it felt peaceful. In fact, it was the most peaceful time he'd had in years.
Sure, he didn't forget where he was, but oddly enough, playing with that ball of fur and reminding him of his place every time he gained too much confidence, as well as lying on the she-wolf, relaxed him.
During this time he gave up a lot of obsessions and things he wasn't even attached to anymore. This little peace helped him settle his current thoughts and resolutions.
"You know Cass, sometimes, the key is not in doing more, but in learning to stop doing, so you can see clearly what really matters."
"Tsk...stop talking nonsense and help me clean up. This is your fault to begin with."
Lately, he was remembering many things that had been hidden in his memory.
Words from a person who, at the time, he thought was just talking nonsense and with whom he argued for fun.
Those memories were coming back more frequently, and strangely enough, only now that he wasn't tied to anything, his words were starting to make sense.
'Hee~ well, seeing as how because of him I often had to eat only bread and water because of his bottomless stomach, the least acceptable thing is that his words were true.'
He wondered why he even tried to bury those memories deep in the back of his mind.
They weren't bad memories. In fact, you could say they were his most peaceful and possibly happy times.
No, now that he thought about it, that was precisely why he didn't want to get lost in them or get too attached to them, so he chose to ignore them and bury them so they wouldn't interfere with his actions, which he now regrets a little.
But now that they were coming back out, though, they gave him a bittersweet feeling... and he even found them amusing.
Somehow, in this bizarre hell, Cassiel had found peace.
Peace that whether good or bad for Cassiel would not last long.
...
In a dark room, illuminated only by multiple screens showing different scenarios in which scientists were experimenting with different creatures.
A silhouette shadowed by the dim light watched the screens intently, not looking away even when another shadow began to speak.
"Sir, since the experiment began a total of twenty beasts have received the go-ahead from Area 4, but during this last period, many of those that seemed to follow orders reverted to their previous state and died as they followed their instincts and rebelled."
"Hmm... That's a problem we wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact that the experiment had to be temporarily halted until Area 5 was created."
"You're right Sir, but oddly enough, there seems to be a pattern. All the beasts that maintained intelligence have a relationship with ice or water."
"there was only one exception, right?"
"yes, sir A black wolf, a of a species linked to darkness. Also, he is the one who understands the most complex commands among all."
"There were other species with this affinity, right?"
"Yes, sir. They all lost their advances and inevitably died from the inscriptions on their heads."
"That exception aside, we need to investigate specifically what allowed these water and ice bound species, to retain reasoning."
"Yes, sir. Areas 2 and 3 are already in the process of discovering the causes."
"Oh, I see they want to right their wrong."
"In fact, sir, Area 3 has made a breakthrough. If their hypotheses are true, there will be no recurrence of what happened, and they could expand the range of species ."
"Hmm..., that's good, but it will take time to see if it's true."
"So, sir, how do we proceed?"
"We go as we originally planned. Take everyone who passed Area 4 to Area 5?...Hmm, no, wait. Leave the mother and her puppy where they are, I'm also interested in the outcome of that investigation."
"Sir, with respect to that experiment, area 3 is asking for the black wolf to test their hypothesis."
"to the black wolf, hmm...., so he is required in three places eh?...he was the smartest wasn't he, let area 3 repair his mistake alone, it is better to use him to advance the research Take him like the rest to area 5".
"Yes, sir."
"How is Area 5 now?"
" We already have everything ready and the nobles even sent knights to support our tower, hoping to get their hands on the first successes."
"hum..., that's good. Consider those knights as our guests. After all, the next phases are dangerous. If that's all, you can go."
"Yes, sir... With your permission."
Click.
Closing the door, the man giving the report left the room, leaving only the figure who did not take his eyes off the screen.
"Tsk, those ignorant nobles.... They think I'm just doing this so they can have cute, fancy pets."
Now that he was alone, he began to complain and talk to himself without taking his eyes off the screens.
"Tsk..., the potential of this goes beyond that. Hue~ when this experiment is completed, everyone will regret it... huehuehue."
The man laughed maniacally in the dark eagerly awaiting the fruit of his labor.
He was definitely planning to take revenge on all those who belittled him all his life and called him crazy.
Looking expectantly at what those beasts, including the black wolf, would bring to his promising future.
...
"Come out now and enter the cage."
'So the day finally came, eh?'
The days had passed quietly for him, but it looked like it was going to end today.
Two men with the same old electric batons entered the room and gave him orders, which Cassiel didn't resist and obeyed without problems.
But first he looked at the pair of wolves he had lived with and then at the guys with batons, and they didn't look like they were going to take them with him.
It was something Cassiel expected, he had plenty of time to think calmly about many things.
He knew that the experiments would continue and that this period was a secondary experiment because of that hairball.
But it was taking so long that he was beginning to wonder if they would not come for him until the hairball grew.
While he didn't deny now that this time of peace had been a good thing, his goal was to escape and smash all those guys in white coats.
All this time, he thought about what might come next. The beasts that passed Area 4, as they called it, were already smart enough to follow orders.
So, one could say that the experiment was already a success.
But he knew human greed better than anyone else.
And he thought: 'what could be better than a beast that obeys? '
A powerful beast that obeys.
When he came to this conclusion, he honestly hoped that he would not be kept as a secondary experiment.
Luckily for him, that was not the case.
When he entered the cage and the man closed the door, through the bars he saw the cub wanting to follow him, but the mother stopped him.
It was likely that the mother wolf would be left with the cub until it grew up.
'It wasn't a bad thing... if I get the chance, I'll release them too.'
He had actually developed something of an attachment to these two. He believed that if he could, he would release them. It was a short time, but it felt good to have them around.
'Maybe I should have had pets in my previous life. They're better than I thought.'
With that last idle thought, Cassiel prepared his mindset for whatever was to come.
He had to become strong if he was to have even the slightest chance of escaping this place.