The Emperor's Dog

Translator: shiko
Proofreader: asuramaru

The Emperor called out to me. Back in the day, I used to be able to do one or two bows, but this time I felt my torso plunge into pain.

Yeah, I didn"t think of that. I used to be human. This is like the evolution of Australopithecus*, the first one who was able to walk. 

This method of walking is difficult.

"Huk huk…"

I don"t have an apt.i.tude for walking on four legs. As I cried over my inability to walk, the Emperor lifted me up. At the same time, a shocked Boris came up to me and gave me a magical boost.

The pain soon faded away, but my sorrow couldn"t be vanquished. I want to walk on two legs, too.

"I envy you, everyone…"

My envious glare alternated between the Emperor and Boris. You don"t know the torment of the four-legged walk.

All of a sudden, I decided I wanted to be alone.

“Your Majesty, I have a favour to ask of you…”

I looked at him sternly as he narrowed his eyes at me.

“What do you want?”

“I want to be alone, so please leave.”

"……"

I could feel Boris go still in shock. But, since I was feeling disheartened in that moment, I didn"t want to be around people who could walk on two legs. Huhuk. The Emperor was also speechless for a moment, finding my words absurd.

"Alright, if that"s your request."

It was when the Emperor tried to put me down on the floor that I hurriedly pointed to an area.

"Put me down there!"

"There" was the dressing table which I"d magnificently failed to climb up. He looked like he"d given up on everything as he placed me on top of it.

"Farewell, then!"

"Rest well, doggy."

"Okay!"

Waving my front paw, I saw the two men off. They left the room without erasing that bitter expression off their faces.

"Phew…"

I mourned so much I nearly died. Those humans would never understand the sorrow of walking on all fours. Heung, while we were on the subject of people….

(PN: she"s so dramatic ahahahahah f.o.o.k me)

I asked him to put me in front of the dressing table because I was curious about my appearance. I"d tried to take a look the first time, but it was too tall and impossible for me to climb so I gave up. Only now would I be able to see myself.

I excitedly swung my head in the direction of the mirror. And then I walked one step closer, and another step. Bthump bthump… my heart was beating so fast.

Since I"m a puppy, I must be cute, right? Then, an odd feeling suddenly overcame me. Is this deja vu? I think I did something like this before…

When I opened my eyes a.s.suming I"d be an important figure, I discovered I was a puppy of all things. It felt similar to that. The mirror, which was the right size for humans, was huge for a young puppy.

High expectations lead to great disappointment. I stood in front of the gla.s.s with my eyes tightly shut, trying to empty my mind.

"Please let me be the cutest and most lovable puppy in the universe…!"

I opened my eyes with a flash. In the mirror was a puppy that looked exactly like me. To describe me as merely another animal, how humiliating… [1] Anyway, let"s continue with the story.

Reflected in the mirror was a puppy with fluffy white fur, with a body too small to be noticed at first glance. The miniature ears drooped weakly.

Perhaps it was because of Boris" magical boost that my fur was glossy and my eyes were twinkling. I gazed back at my black eyes and lifted a paw.

"Uwak. So small!"

The colour of my footpads was pink. It was awfully cute. A lot cuter than the puppy I"d envisioned. Since I look like this, I"m pretty satisfied. But that doesn"t mean I don"t want to become human.

"Hold on…"

But there was something strange about it.

I didn"t notice it because I always thought I was human. Usually, dogs had great hearing., and I expected my vision to be poor because of my advanced sense of smell.

But not only could I see clearly, but I also wasn"t colourblind, meaning I could see the same colours that I did as a human. What"s even more puzzling was that the keen sense of hearing and smell of dogs normally possess didn"t seem to apply to me. This wasn"t any different from being human.

It"s also unusual that my first steps were taken rather quickly. No matter how much I think about it, I"m different from regular dogs.

[T/N: she"s not like the other girls dogs]

[P/N: special snowflake (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻]

"Uum…"

Anyway, it"s a mystery… I felt strange about this.

"Being unique feels good."

I gave myself a clear answer as I turned away from the mirror. Having achieved my desired goal, I no longer needed to be there.

But as I tried to get down from the dressing table, I froze up. Looking at the ground beneath me, I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff.

Ah, how do I get down?

"I"m screwed…"

It"s been about two weeks since I"d first opened my eyes. I didn"t know the exact time, but I believed I was around a month old. In the meantime, I focused on staying in the room the Emperor gave me and worked hard on growing up.

To be honest, that was a superficial excuse. Ever since I saw myself in the mirror, I found it difficult to go out. It"s because I was so small and insignificant that I thought I"d die instantly if someone pa.s.sed by me.

The only way to go outside was to wait for the Emperor to come or have Boris escort me. These days, I was only able to catch a brief glimpse of the Emperor since he"s often busy… and Boris still shudders away from me.

As expected, he doesn"t know how to adapt. Though, I wasn"t expecting him to have a dog trauma.

Still, I"d become accustomed to living in this world. Living in a dog"s body also gave me some acknowledgement, so it was worth it. But that wasn"t the problem.

Haa, I sighed deeply whilst lying on my bed.

"Bored…"

There was nothing to do. I didn"t have my computer, I didn"t have my cell phone. Perhaps something interesting to eat? Nothing. Every day, Boris would visit three times to energize me and then disappear.

It was my daily routine to do nothing all day, stuck inside a room that only had basic furniture.

Even prisoners don"t live like this! Although not all white rooms were the same, they were similar in their own ways.

"It would be better to go and see Abel once I get bigger…"

I was so small that I couldn"t get anything done. Huu, puppies are so helpless. What a pitiful thing it is to have to rely on one"s master.

Truthfully, I wasn"t without someone to talk to. Some maids stopped by regularly to clean the room. But every time someone else came, I couldn"t find it in me to open my mouth. So, I"d always wag my tail and follow them around as if I were a real dog.

"Haa… I"m so bored!"

It"s time to lie down and talk about how tiring life is. But, then I felt some unfamiliar gazes that shouldn"t have existed. I looked up, trembling. The maid, who I"d seen a couple times before, looked at me with wide eyes.

"Oh my, did I hear wrong?"

She tilted her head. But there was still a hint of doubt in her eyes.

It"s going to be awkward if I get caught again. Back in the Emperor"s office, I was told that I could talk, but I just a.s.sumed that meant I could only make noises. I felt cold sweat running down my back.

In the end, I decided to play my trump card.

"Bark bark!"

I barked as loud as I could. Then, the surprised maid"s expression softened to an extent.

"I must have misheard."

She hummed before starting to clean. Phew. I sighed, relieved.

That was the result of practicing barking like a dog for two weeks straight.

"The more I look at it, the cuter it is."

The maid finished with her work, came up to me and scratched my chin. Somehow, I felt drowsy and closed my eyes. The maid laughed happily.

"Oh dear, look at that wagging tail."

…Me, wagging my tail? I tried to stop it as soon as I became conscious, but it refused to bend to my will. It"s my body yet I can"t control it; this is despair…

"I"ll see you later, then."

The maid girl said goodbye and left the room brightly. Kw.a.n.g. I fell down on my bed, sighing as I stared at the closed door. Because of the maid, I"d temporarily forgotten my boredom, but now that I was alone, I had nothing to do.

I started counting the wood texture on the bed just like I did before. One, two, three…

"What, it"s cut off? Tch."

I couldn"t continue because part of the wood pattern was cut off. Since I"d lost my source of entertainment, I rolled over the rough bed. Alas, it wasn"t easy rolling over as I was in a dog"s body.

When will Boris come? I wish someone would come and talk to me. This is driving me crazy.

"I"m booooooooooored."

I attempted to roll all the way to the end of the bed. I tried to stop just before I fell, but it wasn"t easy since I was accelerating. Uwak, I"m falling! My eyes closed tightly, antic.i.p.ating the pain of my body crashing to the floor.

"Uwong…?"

But I didn"t feel any pain. Rather, I felt very comfortable. What? When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar shade of red. I grinned and waved my front paw.

"Your Majesty!"

He didn"t visit for a while because of his busy schedule but it was nice seeing his face like this. Hehehe. I threw myself into his arms and gave him a silly smile.

“It"s dangerous, doggy. You have to be careful."

“Mm, I"ll be more careful next time! But when did you come in?”

His attention switched to the bed"s head that I was observing earlier.

"When you were staring at that."

"Some time has pa.s.sed, then."

The Emperor smiled and placed me back on the bed. My paws landed on the fluffy covers. I like the bed because it"s fluffy. The Emperorghini is the best. Not fluffy, but there"s this sense of stability.

I looked up at him. He gazed back at me, the same as usual. Um, I can"t believe you"re a tyrant. His office didn"t give off a bad atmosphere either. Indeed, a tyrant who kills people without a second thought definitely couldn"t get along with his aides so amicably.

I blinked and tapped the Emperor"s thigh with my paw.

(PR: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

“Your Majesty, what do you usually do when you have time to spare?”

"Horseback riding, hunting… sometimes I read."

"Hm, I see."

They"re very wholesome hobbies. But considering we didn"t have cell phones or computers here, that was normal. I sighed suddenly when I was reminded of my days spent playing games.

“I envy you for being able to enjoy such relaxing hobbies.”

"…What?"

"I"m so bored. There"s honestly nothing to do here. Nothing but lying down. Your Majesty, you can get on a horse, but I can"t. Hiing."

I tried to restrain myself but I still ended up getting mad, yet also sad, at the same time. I could feel my tail drooping. I looked down sullenly and kicked the bedsheets with my back paws.

In fact, it was not the Emperor"s problem. Objectively speaking, my treatment here was fairly special. I"m the Emperor"s dog, but I"m still just a dog.

I would"ve spent my time at the stable if he didn"t give me a room when I asked him to take me in.

I knew I should be satisfied with this alone, but my greed grew. I felt sullen thinking of Abel, who"d asked me to be more conscious of my situation.

The Emperor seemed troubled and turned his gaze to me. 

"Well, why don"t you go outside?"

"Go outside?"

“Yes. I don"t remember telling you that you weren"t allowed to go outside.”

Of course you never said that, but I was too scared to leave. It"s still dangerous for me to go out, since I"m so young. I raised my head and my eyes twinkled.

"Can I really go out?"

"Just don"t go outside of the palace garden; it"s dangerous. It doesn"t matter unless you go too far."

"Got it!"

The Emperor"s permission fell upon me. Only now could I legally take a tour of the Imperial Palace! Though, it was still scary to see the huge humans.

Though, I"m a bit bigger than I was two weeks ago, so I won"t be kicked anymore. I am now a fully-fledged puppy… But still small.

I was given permission to leave. However, there was still one problem.

"Can I talk in front of others?"

"Suit yourself. I"ll tell my secretary in advance."

"Uwaa. Thank you, Your Majesty! You"re a lifesaver."

I rubbed my face against his thigh and wagged my tail. He smiled while stroking my fur.

Who said he was a tyrant? It"s clear those are all false rumours. Let them see this gentle tyrant!

[1] Originally translated to "a counting animal": the original word was 마리, which is a counting particle for animals. Ex. 1[마리] sheep

[2] Australopithecus is a genus of hominids – aka the Latin, scientific name for early humans/apes