Man's Best Friends

"Do you really have to go?"

"I do. I am sorry, Collin, but this is for the sake of our family."

Nearby, Ned watched as the Bartfort boy said his farewell to his family. A part of his mind went back to Winterfell, to a hostage that had become a friend to his children, Theon Greyjoy. He still remembered when the Ironborn kid arrived in the North for the first time; he might put on a brave face, stating that he would one day return and made the Iron Islands prosper under his rule. Yet it was clear to everyone that he was scared of being taken away from the place that he called home.

The silver lining of this similar event was that Nicks Fou Bartfort was old enough to understand the situation.

"Your Highness," the prince turned his attention towards the approaching figure of Balcus. "I know that this…might be too much to ask, but I ask you to ensure the well-being of my son."

"You have no need to worry, Lord Bartfort." He replied. "On my honor, I swear that your son shall be safe within my care."

"Thank you, Your Highness." The man said before sighing. "You know, the kingdom would have been a better place if people are more like you, My Prince."

At that, the former Lord of Winterfell could do nothing except nod his head.

"Don't besmirch our house's name, OK?" Jenna spoke. "Saint knows just how low it has become thanks to that old hag."

"I doubt anything that I could do would be considered more noteworthy than that." The oldest of the Bartfort children sighed before looking at his younger brother. "Leon?"

"Y-Yes?" The boy replied.

"Watch your sisters in my place." He gave his request. "Who knows what kind of problem they could cause us?"

"I am standing right here!" The oldest daughter exclaimed with the younger one pouting.

Free. That was the word in the mind of Leon Fou Bartfort. Thanks to her stupidity, his stepmother – though it wouldn't be for long since his father was planning on divorcing her which would also allow her to officially marry his mother – assaulted the Crown Prince of Holfort, resulting in her immediate arrest and currently spending the "hospitality" of the brig of the royal ship.

Said ship was currently flying away from Bartfort island, bringing not just the old hag, but also his older brother Nicks.

This wouldn't be the first time he was away from home for quite a long time. He needed to acquire money not just to help the family's financial situation, but also for funds to court a potential wife. Due to the culture and customs of this land, Nicks had to gain a spouse with graduation from the Academy being the time limit.

However, this time, he was away due to being taken as a hostage to "ensure" the loyalty of House Bartfort. He would only be able to return home for a handful of time.

The arrival of Julius and his entourage also resulted in another change; namely, his mind. He really just couldn't see the person that his family had just hosted be the same person that would become the main capture target of the game. Sure, several years were enough to change a man, but even at its core, the Quiet Prince was very different from Julius Rapha Holfort whom he knew of.

It made him think; if such a fundamental change occurred, what else could be not the same? According to his memory – on which he could no longer completely rely on – to defeat the final boss, the Protagonist needed not only the Three Saint's Lost Items but also possessing deep enough bond with at least one of the capture targets.

If Julius remained as he was, then he was out; regardless of his feeling for Angelica Rapha Redgrave, he would not break their relationship for it was a duty for him to fulfill.

There was no other choice, he needed to acquire the Cheat Item: Luxion. Only then his safety and dream of peaceful life could be guaranteed.

"Oi, Leon! What are you doing there?" His sister shouted. "Get your ass over here!"

But first, he needed to deal with his spoiled sisters.

"Well," Nicks let out a sigh. "That's all I could tell."

Soon after the departure, the son of the baron was immediately taken to the office where Ned requested that he told him anything that he knew about the problems plaguing the kingdom, especially regarding the Forest of the Ladies. A scribe was ready to write them down.

Needless to say, the prince was not happy with what he had discovered. Apparently, Zola's behavior was considered to be the norm among the wives of the lords of the border houses. He knew that not all arranged marriages ended up happy like the one between him and Catelyn, but to think that something like the marriage between Robert and Cersei was not an exception here…

"Are these…vixens," Angelica shared the same opinion as his. "Really the only available options for the noblemen of the regions?"

"It depends on the rank." The Bartfort boy explained. "From what I gathered, many border noblemen often take mistresses from among the commoners to the baronet household. The females from baron and viscount ranks tend to be problematic. Things become normal again from counting households upward."

"And considering that a marriage is only considered valid if it's only one rank difference or none at all," Ned rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why do we even have all these ranks anyway?"

Things were much simpler back in the North and the Seven Kingdoms as a whole. There were only smallfolk, knights (rare in the North and non-existent in the Iron Islands), lords, and kings. Among the lords, some greater and some lesser, some sworn to others, but all with the same title; the only exception being the Prince of Dorne.

Anyway, with no extra titles like baron, count, duke, and so on, the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms could simply focus on the benefits of marriage between each other's houses without having to worry about whether or not their rank was sufficient for the marriage to be considered valid.

"Blame our ancestors for that." His fiancée said before shrugging. "In any case, the moment we return, we're going to be busy trying to gather all the evidence."

"Aye." He agreed. "You think Duke Redgrave would be willing to give us a hand?"

"F-Father? Sure, it would be easy to convince him to do that, selling it as a way to gain prestige," The blonde girl looked at him in confusion. "But, shouldn't you be asking Her Majesty first for support?"

The expression on his face was enough to answer the question, causing her to look at her fiancé in worry this time.

As they passed from one fief to another, the royal party always received letters of grievance. The simple fact that they always received them made them worried. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the border regions were slowly turning into hotbeds for rebellion; for all they knew, it was already one.

In the Wolfsbane, there was a room called gymnasium – "gym" for short – where the crew and passengers of the ship could exercise and work out their muscles. In a corner of the room, there was a row of punching bags; as the name suggested, they were bags made to be punched so that the users could train their punching skills.

And one of the bags just so happened to be used by a certain prince.

With gloves designed for punching on his hands, Ned wasted no time punching the bag in front of him as fast and as strongly as he could. It was a good thing that such a method to vent off frustration existed, or else he would have destroyed a training dummy with his sword…or sent a sparring partner straight into the infirmary.

He knew that he was quite sheltered as the crown prince of the kingdom which was another reason for his deciding to take this tour. He knew that things were more than meet the eye; that – for all its peace – Holfort was not without its own set of problems. He knew how hard his mother worked alongside several courtiers, sometimes to the point of waking up the entire night.

Yet how – in the name of the Old Gods and the New – could the situation escalate to the point that no border house could be described as "unquestionably loyal?" Robert Baratheon – his foster brother and best friend – was a self-described "shit king," yet the realm under him was much more prosperous and peaceful compared to the one that he would one day inherit. He wasn't even sure where Holfort went wrong; both realms had shit king, but the ones actually governing them were – by and large – people competent in their fields.

So, why?

"The only way that I could think of is…" Ned thought in his mind as he punched the bag as strongly as he could. "But then…that means…"

BOOM

His fist stopped midway to its target when he heard the sound of something exploding, causing the prince to sigh.

"What now?"

Due to the sudden explosion, the Wolfsbane decided to take a stop at a nearby island. Once they were docked, the crew went to inspect the vessel and – after finding the cause – informed the VIPs that they carried.

"A bird managed to get into the engine?!" Angelica exclaimed. "How does that even possible?"

"Milady, once you gain enough experience with birds," A sailor spoke. "You'll realize that they could do a lot of things thought to be impossible."

"How long it would take to fix it?" The blue-haired boy went straight to the heart of the matter.

"A few hours, Your Highness. Need to make sure that not only every inch is cleaned, but also ensuring that no contaminant remain."

"See to it that it is done," Ned stated. "Take all the time you need. Safety is paramount."

"Yes, Milord."

"You know, I am not the type who believes in luck; skill's all that matters," Greg commented. "But I can't help but think of how many bad omens we suffered during this tour."

The former Lord of Winterfell was about to reassure his friend when a headache suddenly hit him, causing him to grab his forehead in pain.

"Jul!" Jilk was the first to reach him. "Is something wrong?"

"N-Nothing…it's…" Slowly, the pain disappeared…and he realized that it was not a mere headache. "This island…is there anything special about it?"

"Not that I could think of." He replied. "I don't even remember the house who owns it; going to need to look it up."

"Jul, why do you ask that?" Angelica spoke.

"That…that headache…it's no mere headache…" The prince explained. "It feels as if…as if something…or someone…is sending me a message."

It didn't take long for Ned to assemble a search party and disembarked from the vessel. With the repairing of the engine still in progress and would be so for hours to come, many decided to follow him simply out of boredom.

As they were about to enter a forest, the blue-haired boy stopped, realizing something important.

"Say," He looked at Wolfsbane. "We've been in here for almost an hour, right?"

"Indeed, we have." Lady Trent replied. "What about it?"

"So, why nobody has approached us?"

Others appeared to be confused by the statement…before a certain green-haired boy realized what his foster brother meant.

"T-That's right! We're currently near the main continent, so this island must have an owner; a noble. And the landlord should've approached us because we intruded on their territory, even if it's not our intention." Jilk explained. "An hour should have been enough for our presence to be known, and yet…"

"Yet nobody comes." The duke's daughter finished the sentence.

By then, the rest of the party became worried as well. One of the duties of a feudal lord was to safeguard their territory from various threats with pirates being one of the most common. The presence of an "unknown" ship should have caused patrol ships to flock to their location…yet it didn't happen.

Ned wondered if the keep of the local noble was currently being attacked; that could explain the lack of anyone investigating the situation. Considering how quiet it was though, he doubted it.

"Let's keep going," He decided. "Maybe we could find an answer or something."

Others appeared to be rather unsure of his decision before finally agreeing by nodding their heads. Slowly, the party entered the forest, keeping their eyes peeled for anything suspicious.

The forest itself was nothing short of ordinary: trees as far as eyes could see, animals of various types and sizes moving around, the sound of water flowing in a stream followed by a gunshot…

Upon hearing the last one, the group stopped their movement. After waiting for a while and nothing happened, they relaxed. Must be a hunter, many of them thought. With no danger approaching, they decided to continue their journey.

After a quarter of an hour passed, there was finally another sound; this time, it was the sound of someone running toward their position. In anticipation, the members of the party readied their rifles, making sure that the firearms could be fired the moment a danger made its appearance.

When it emerged from the nearby bush, they aimed their rifles and…

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" A feminine voice immediately shouted.

"Weapons down!" Hearing it, Lady Trent gave the order, using her hand to signal it as well.

Standing in front of them was a petite blonde, out of breath after running for who knew how long. Her body was covered by a tattered cloak, a rifle – a bit too big for her size – slinging on her back.

The girl was about to say something when the bush that she emerged from moved, causing her to immediately run towards the party. When another appeared from it, the blood in the bodies of many became cold.

"By the Saint," Angelica tried her best to not panic. "That's the biggest wolf I've ever seen."

"Don't panic!" Greg shouted/whispered the words. "If we don't move suddenly, we won't agitate the beast."

"Can't we just shoot it?" Jilk suggested, cold sweats forming on his forehead.

"Considering its size," The mistress-at-arms stated. "One of us would be torn apart before it breathes its last. And that's the most optimistic scenario."

While others – unsurprisingly – observed the wolf in fear, Ned instead became curious upon seeing it, though he made sure that his finger was ready to pull the trigger at a moment's notice. The grey wolf in front of him was certainly not an ordinary one for – as his fiancée had mentioned – its size was much larger than ordinary wolves; it was at least slightly bigger than ponies.

The color of its fur might be quite common, but its size that made him remember his old home. He had read it in the tomes and heard the tales of Old Nan. It was an animal on the sigil of House Stark.

"Direwolf…" He muttered the name under his breath.

It appeared that the beast heard it and – not only that – was able to understand it. It looked at him, not as prey, but as a curiosity. It was clearly more intelligent than ordinary animals. An idea emerged from his mind, a very stupid and reckless one.

However, considering that his sons and daughters managed to succeed, there was no reason to not give it a try.

The prince relaxed his posture, his weapon pointing at the ground instead of the animal, and slowly walked towards it.

"Lad, what are you…?!" Lady Trent tried to scold him only to have her attention taken away when the wolf walked as well.

Slowly, the two living beings approached each other. As a sign of trust, the human extended his hand in spite of knowing that the beast could easily bit it off. The latter moved its head towards the hand and smelled it…before rubbing the appendage with its head. Seeing that he had earned its trust, Ned smiled a bit and scratched the wolf at one of its ears.

"Unbelievable…" Jilk spoke the thought that was in the mind of every single member of the party.

All of them looked at the sight in amazement, their weapons no longer aimed at the beast for it was now acting like a common dog yet one that was able to do so in a dignified manner.

GRROOOWL

The atmosphere was broken when the sound appeared, causing people to look at the little girl who blushed in embarrassment at the growling of her stomach.

"Forgive me, young lady, for ignoring you," The prince said, turning his attention from the wolf. "May I know your name?"

"I-It's Marie." She answered. "Marie Fou Lafan."

Had she been in the right state of mind, Marie Fou Lafan – a reincarnation of a Japanese woman – would have realized that she was currently meeting with three capture targets of an old otome game that she used to play along with the Villainess.

As of now, she was not in the right state of mind and was more focused on filling her stomach with the food offered by her rescuers. They might be just biscuits, cheese, and jerkies – the ones that they carried in their bags – but they were food and she had learned to waste not.

"Slow down, Milady," Jilk said, offering her a water bottle. "Don't get yourself chock."

"S-Sowwy…" She replied before gulping down the food in her mouth. "I am hungry."

As she accepted the offer, the blonde noticed that the blue-haired boy – Prince Julius Rapha Holfort – was looking at her with…concern, yes, that was a concern. At first, she thought that he was simply concerned about the fact that she hadn't eaten anything but then realized that it was more than that.

It was after she finished eating that he finally spoke.

"Excuse me, Lady Lafan." The boy had a worried look on his face. "But may I do some…inspection on you? There's something that I want to be sure of."

"O-Of course, Your Highness." She nodded. "It's fine for me."

The first place that he inspected was her arms; he was practically massaging them as if trying to find something. He then knelt and moved to her legs, doing the same thing as he did with her upper limbs. After he was done there, his hands moved to her ribs. When they were touched, she tried not to groan because it felt as if her bones were being touched directly.

"There's not enough meat…" He muttered before looking her in the eyes. "Lady Lafan, tell me. How much do you eat every day?"

"Jul," A fellow blonde, Angelica, looked at her fiancée in concern. "What's wrong?"

"If…my prediction is correct," The prince explained. "Then Lady Lafan here is suffering malnutrition. There's not enough meat on her body and I can feel her bones as if I am touching them directly."

Upon hearing the statement, the people around her started to look at her in a mix of horror and sympathy. She almost wanted to laugh at the reactions; they likely had no idea that a noble could live such an impoverished life thanks to their privileges.

"You're right about that, My Prince. Each day, I believe that I eat less than I should have. It's also why I am shorter than you despite the fact that my birthday is on the same year as you." Marie said. "I have to hunt and forage my own meals every day if I don't want to starve."

"By the Saint…" The duke's daughter put her hands over her mouth in shock. "D-Does something happen to your family?"

"Yep." At that, her tone became bitter. "My parents and older siblings basically borrow a lot of money so that they could live 'as nobles should be' while not giving me even a scrap."

"…I see," Ned said grimly.

Normally, he would refuse to believe that such a thing would happen. Even Tywin Lannister made sure that his imp son Tyrion was well-cared for and it was no secret to everyone how much the former Hand of King hated him. However, it seemed that "being worse than even the Old Lion" was something of a sport among the nobility here.

Unknown to anyone, the wolf – who decided to simply stand still in the back – almost growled.

"Hey, you said that your family borrows a lot, right?" Lady Trent suddenly said. "Could that be why there's nobody approaching us?"

"W-Well, to cut expenditure, my father laid off the people responsible for that." She explained. "Stating how they are 'unnecessary' due to our close proximity to the capital."

Ned was seriously considering applying the methods used by his ancestor Cregan Stark on these idiots.

"Damn," Greg commented. "Say, we have a ship nearby. Once it's fixed, why don't you just come with us?"

"E-Eh?" Marie certainly didn't expect that.

"Greg, we couldn't just do that," Angelica told him.

"So, what?" He retorted back. "You want us to just leave her with her…family?"

"Of course not." She replied. "What I am saying is that – unless we do it correctly – the Lafans could demand their daughter back and there's nothing that we could do about it beyond abuse of power."

"And how are we supposed to do it correctly?"

"That…that, I don't know…"

Marie looked at their faces, showing how all of them were now thinking about how to get her away from her abusive family permanently. Sensing the opportunity, she started to think as well, knowing that this might be once in a lifetime chance.

She got it. This would hurt a lot, but as they said: no pain, no gain.

"Say," She opened her mouth. "I have a plan."

"You ungrateful child!"

SLAP

It was hard enough to send Marie into the floor. As he rubbed her cheek, in front of her stood the man that would legally be called her father. Though if someone asked her, the former Japanese would use the term "sperm donor." He definitely didn't deserve to be called a "father," not when he slapped her the moment she entered the building.

"You bitch, I gave you that rifle, those bullets, all so that you could go hunting at your leisure." He spoke to her. "Yet when you come back, you tell me that you've spend all the money you acquire on clothes and food, not leaving even a coin for the family?"

"Yes, what about it?" She glared at him. "My clothes are in tatters and need to be replaced. Without food, I wouldn't be able to grow properly. So, of course, I spent the money that I earned with my blood and sweat on those essentials."

"And what about for the house, fool?" The man squinted his eyes. "We're close to the deadline to pay the debt!"

"Well, I am not the idiot who took a loan simply so that I could buy some stupid-ass painting to…!"

SLAP

The girl was unable to finish her sentence as she received yet another slap.

"Silence!" Lord Lafan yelled. "I don't know where you gain this insolence, but…!"

"Yeah, yeah," The blonde tried her best to hold back the pain. "All bark and no bite, that's what you have been. We don't even have a single soldier under our name."

"Bah! What about it?" He scoffed. "We're near the capital, fool. There's no need to have even one of them. They're nothing but a black hole in our finance."

"You know, maybe if you and mother are smarter with handling our money, then – ugh!"

This time, she was kicked in her stomach.

"What did I tell you…?!"

BAM

Without any warning, the door of the mansion was breached open. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, the man turned his attention towards the direction of the entrance…only to see a wolf jumping at him.

"GAAAHHH!"

As she tried to stand up, Marie watched as the beast who had been following her for days bite the person with whom she shared blood with at the hand. He was able to take his hand back, but at the cost of all of his fingers except the thumb.

"Easy, boy. Easy." The voice of the prince caused the wolf to stay in its place, though it kept its eyes on the man. "Lord Lafan, a pleasure to meet you."

"AAAAAHH!" Instead of replying, he screamed at the loss of his fingers.

"We have overheard how you willingly neglect your duty as a noble." Ned showed no care for his condition. "Anything you want to say in your defense?"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

"…pathetic." That was the last thing he said before knocking the man out by hitting him in the head with the butt of his rifle. "Are you alright, Marie?"

"N-No need to worry, Y-Your Highness." She assured him before using a certain spell on herself.

"That's healing magic." The former Lord of Winterfell observed in amazement. "It's very rare, so I have heard."

"Indeed." The little girl nodded in agreement. "Mine's nothing though. I am only strong enough to heal myself. That's how I remain unwounded during my hunts."

"It's not nothing. Just being able to heal oneself is nothing short of valuable." He told her. "Let's go now. Others are waiting."

"Of course." When she saw that he was about to carry her sperm donor, she stopped him. "Um, Your Highness? May I be the one who carries him?"

"Sure…?" Ned was a bit confused by the request, but nevertheless allowed her to do so.

His confusion turned into amusement as he watched Marie effortlessly pull the man by his leg, not caring if the body hit something along the way.

Initially, it was planned for the family to be gathered in front of the mansion alongside their servants to give them the opportunity to defend themselves. However, Lady Lafan and her children were unable to keep their mouths shut, and kept screaming for them to be released. Thus, Jilk ordered them to be taken straight into the ship's brig.

They were likely already halfway there and still he could hear their shrieks.

"Is this everyone?" His foster brother – recently returning alongside Marie and a man who was likely her father – gestured at the gathered servants. "There's barely a dozen of them."

"Cooks, gardeners, cleaners, and personal servants." He explained. "All of them also show signs of abuse."

On cue, those who worked for the Lafan household showed their arms, revealing the marks which indicated their abuses.

"If you don't mind me asking," Ned asked them. "Why did you decide to work for them?"

"Money, milord." A maid answered the question. "The pay is barely anything, but still better than nothing."

"As if they're not rotten enough," Angelica commented.

"So, what do we do now?" Greg asked. "Our ship is now full of unwanted passengers."

"The Atlee land is not too far from here," Jilk suggested. "We can go there and ask the Atlees to borrow their cells for a while until someone from the capital could arrive."

"Not a bad idea." The prince stated. "Might as well also visit that fiancée of yours, brother."

"Yes." He nodded. "I suppose you can say it's killing two birds with one stone."

"Hey," Marie realized something. "Where's the wolf?"

It was by then that others realized that the animal was nowhere near them. Some wondered whether it remained inside the mansion for an unknown reason, but the answer then came to them.

"Woof!"

"Woof!"

"Woof!"

"Woof!"

"That's…at least different woofs." The blonde stated before looking at the direction of the sounds.

As it turned out, while the humans were busy dealing with the aftermath of the plan that the Lafan girl made, the wolf went back to the forest to pick up its litter.

Seeing them, Ned couldn't help but remember that moment when he, his sons, and ward discovered the direwolf pups. This time, they had their mother alongside them.

"I suppose that explains why you're always following me, huh," Marie commented as the wolf approached her.

"It – she followed you?" The prince asked in curiosity.

"Yes. She kept following me, demanding that I gave her the meat that I managed to acquire. I was quite frustrated, obviously." The blonde said before frowning. "Though I wonder why you couldn't just hunt on your own."

Maybe she was trying to answer the question in her own way or simply following her instinct, but the wolf decided to lick the girl's face, causing the latter to grumble for a bit before sighing and scratching the former's ear.

Meanwhile, the wolf pups went towards the prince and his entourage, excitedly jumping around them. Ned picked one up by the scruff, looking at it in consideration.

"What do you have in mind?" Jilk recognized the look on his foster brother's face.

"Before we departed, Eri asked that I return with a…souvenir for her." He explained.

"W-What? Jul, you can't be serious!" His fiancée immediately realized his intention. "You can't just give a girl a wolf pup! A dog is one thing, but something as wild as a wolf…"

"Wooow…"

Angelica froze upon hearing it and looked below, finding a pup staring at her; it was obvious that it was the one that made the whining sound. While it was questionable at first, it was clear by now that the wolves were able to understand human speech.

"You made it sad, Angie." The prince chuckled. "Take responsibility."

"W-What?!" She was about to refuse the idea when…

"Wooow…"

"…oh, fine." The blonde sighed before picking up the wolf.

"Woof!" It became happy in an instant. "Woof!"

"I suppose there could be a worse gift than a wolf pup." She smiled. "At least you're cute."

"Woof!"