Silas Thornton had even special-ordered a drawing board for her, transferring stock from the next city over.
If she wasn't going to live in the penthouse after school started, she shouldn't be letting Silas go to all this trouble.
She was already so grateful for everything Silas did for her. She couldn't take advantage of the fact that he saw her as a cub and start acting like one.
Running to Silas for every little thing would only make him see her as more and more of a nuisance.
The penthouse was relatively close to the university, but it was still a ten-minute trip to get to campus.
Besides... if she were to live in the penthouse all by herself, she would actually prefer the slightly stifling atmosphere of a dormitory.
Living alone in such a vast, quiet place would honestly be pretty scary.
But if Silas was living in the penthouse too... one person and one wolf... that would be rather inconvenient.
'Aww, so the cub really is going to live in the dorms. But I looked at the dorms at Bervenia University yesterday, and they're so tiny... And she has to live with four people!! Won't my cub feel uncomfortable? In such a small space, it feels like you'd bump into someone just by turning around. Sigh...'
The corner of Holly Wyatt's mouth twitched. 'The dorms aren't small, actually. They're quite large, and they're loft-style with desks underneath the beds.'
'The living conditions are already excellent.'
Holly lowered her gaze, glancing at the ears on Silas's head, which were drooped listlessly, and at his long, black, furry tail hanging down to the floor.
For some reason, she could read dejection in his drooping tail.
'How bizarre!!'
She'd never even had a cat or a dog, let alone a wolf.
'How could she possibly know what emotions a wolf's tail expressed?!'
It must be Silas's inner voice influencing her judgment of his emotions.
'Yes! That must be it!!!'
'AWOO~ AWOO~'
The howls in Silas's mind turned mournful and frustrated, and his big black tail began to thrash against the floor.
Holly bit her lower lip and looked at Silas uncertainly. 'Maybe she should just live in the penthouse after all?'
'Sigh... I should just go with what the cub wants. I remember that the process of raising a human cub involves satisfying their requests as much as possible. What's it called? Respecting the cub's right to choose! That's it! Sigh...'
"Mm," Silas nodded lightly. "Understood."
The tip of the stylus in Holly's hand hovered hesitantly over the magnetic drawing board.
'Looks like... she didn't need to change her mind. Silas had managed to talk himself around.'
'But I'll leave the drawing board at the penthouse for now. Just in case the cub changes her mind and doesn't want to live in the dorms anymore, she can go back right away! Hehehe~ I'm so smart~ Lalala~ And the cub can go to the penthouse during her school breaks, too.'
"Leave it at the penthouse for now." He lifted his gaze, gave Quinn Zeller a cool glance, and waved his hand dismissively.
Holly blinked, staring as Silas's tail, which had been drooping on the floor, suddenly perked up. The tip curled into a small heart shape and bounced back and forth in her direction, like a heart-shaped marble.
'How about that? How about that? Come on, cub, praise me! I'm the most open-minded guardian, lalala~ I'm not one of those guardians who asks their cub a question they already have an answer for!! I'm a guardian who truly listens to my cub's opinion! Hehe!'
Holly lowered her eyes and hugged the drawing board to her chest.
Out of Silas's line of sight, she secretly gave him a thumbs-up.
'Yep, Silas is pretty great!'
Aside from her adoptive parents, he was the only one who truly took her written words to heart without any question.
Because she was deaf and mute, her classmates, teachers, and even strangers would often object to her decisions.
They would claim it was for her own good, pressuring her to change her mind and make decisions that were more convenient for them.
Silas was different. Silas wasn't a wolf who came to her with the answer already decided.
After Silas finished speaking, Quinn Zeller bowed respectfully and backed out of the room.
The moment the office door closed, the tail behind Silas wagged even more joyfully.
Holly saw loose hairs from his tail floating in the air, and a few even landed on her thumb.
Her lovely face froze for a moment before she quickly snatched the strands of hair and clenched them in her fist.
When Silas's cool gaze shifted to her, she quickly hid the hand holding the tail hairs behind her back.
Meeting Silas's dark eyes, she offered a well-behaved smile. The faint dimples on her cheeks appeared, her fair skin looking like a soft, tender mochi ball under the lights.
Sweet and soft.
'Oh my god!! So cute!! Hahaha! It worked! She's in a much better mood after I granted her request. Those parenting books weren't a waste of money after all!! Hahaha! I need to buy more! And study them carefully!'
Holly's eyes paused as she suddenly noticed the drawer under Silas's desk was open.
Inside was a stack of flashy-looking books.
The Parenting Sutra, Infant Sleep Tests, A Hundred Solutions for Your Baby's Diet, How to Communicate Effectively with Your Child...
Holly: ...
BANG!
Silas kicked the drawer shut with his leg.
And just like that, the flashy books were gone.
'AAAAAH! Did the cub see the textbooks in my drawer? Aaaah! Is she going to think I'm unprofessional? Aaaah!! This is so frustrating! So frustrating! Why do I keep making these stupid mistakes in front of my cub!! This won't do! I have to establish the image of a dignified yet open-minded guardian! What did the book say again? Oh! I should be friends with the cub. But if I do that, do I still need to maintain a dignified image? Aren't being friends and being dignified contradictory? Argh...'
Holly twitched her nose, tilted her head slightly, and pulled the hair from behind her ear forward to cover it.
She had been hiding her face with her hair all morning, precisely because Silas's mental activity was just too much.
She hadn't slept well last night and had been really sleepy in the car, just wanting to rest for a bit.
Now, for the first time, she seriously considered something.
'As a deaf and mute person, maybe she should buy a pair of headphones? To use as earplugs?'
The thought had just popped into her head when her gaze landed on Silas's black ears, one twitching up and the other folding down, and she forcefully suppressed the idea.
'I'll just pretend I'm listening to an audiobook,' she thought. 'It's pretty interesting, anyway.'
Silas's long fingers tapped on the desk. TAP... TAP... TAP...
He discreetly glanced at the untouched snacks on the coffee table. "Quinn Zeller brought some snacks to the manor yesterday. I picked out a few of the best-selling ones and put them on the table. Eat them if you're hungry. I have about an hour of work left, and then I'll take you to lunch."
As soon as he finished speaking, Silas picked up a stack of documents from his desk, opened a file, and went back to handling his business.
Holly glanced at the untouched snacks on the table, a dozen question marks popping up over her head.
'But I just had breakfast,' she thought. 'I'm not hungry at all.'
She had assumed those snacks were for guests.
'Hahahaha! I'm not about to tell the cub that I was just jealous Evie gave her snacks yesterday. I'm her guardian wolf, and I hadn't even given her any yet! How could I let that stinky little wolf cub Evie beat me to it!! Hmph hmph hmph~ That cub only knows how to pick pink packaging, without even thinking about whether the snacks taste good. The ones I chose today are all popular best-sellers. The cub will definitely love them!!'
Holly pursed her lips, looking hesitantly at the snacks on the table.
'Didn't they say you're only supposed to give food when you're courting someone?'
'Does this... count as courting?'