Open Secret

By the time Hyreona got back to her house, the dark night sky had already settled in.

There was a large snow wolf the size of an adult man waiting in front of her home with game he caught in his mouth.

His fur was almost pure white with the exception of the little frozen blood droplets on him.

This snow wolf was the one that brought Hyreona meat every other day. Because of this, they developed a close bond.

When he heard her feet crunching in the snow several meters away, he turned his head in her direction.

Seeing him, Hyreona immediately broke into a dash towards him. Her target? His soft fur. "[BONNNNNNNNNNNNY!]"

[A/N: When she's speaking the ancient language, I'll just put [] in the dialogue.]

Shouting his name that she made up for him, she ran and jumped onto his back. Causing him to grunt.

She cuddled him and brushed away the frozen blood on his fur. After a few minutes she finally got off to bring in the game that he caught for her.

Taking the game from his mouth, she opened the door and beckoned him in.

Normally Bonny would have just left right after giving her the meat, but she seemed to be in a very good mood today so he stayed a bit.

He saw Hyreona motioning him inside her house and this greatly confused him.

He then walked in slowly after Hyreona into her home.

Once they got inside, she closed the door behind them. Bonny went to the lounge area and laid down, putting his head on top of his front legs.

Hyreona placed the meat into a hollow block of ice before going into the bathroom to clean herself up.

She came out about 15 minutes later wearing another thin, white dress and knee-high socks.

This dress wasn't as simple as her previous one though.

It was given to her by Damien after he realized that she only wore one set of clothes.

The lining of the dress was embroidered with a simple silver pattern, and the material of the dress was also extremely smooth and soft. Though, it was also thinner than her old dress.

The socks that he gave her were made out of the softest cotton she had ever felt, making her feel as if she was walking on a cloud every time she took a step.

Going to where Bonny was, Hyreona sat down next to the snow wolf.

She caressed his fur while telling him what she experienced earlier that day when she visited the town.

He grunted softly every so often to let her know that he was still listening.

After she finished her story, Hyreona got up to make food for the both of them. She ate a rabbit stew while Bonny ate a raw whole rabbit that she placed in front of him.

When they finished, she cleaned up the food before asking Bonny to do a favor for her.

Hyreona wanted to thank the villagers for being kind to her by bringing them some gifts.

The wolf agreed to her request and then went out of the house to go back to his pack.

When he left, Hyreona went to bed, excited for tomorrow when she'll visit the town again.

The next day came quickly. Hyreona woke up at dawn and met up with Bonny.

He helped carry the fruits, vegetables, and herbs that she picked for the villagers.

They walked together to the edge of the forest and into the town.

It was about an hour till noon when they arrived at the edge.

Just like yesterday, she was spotted by Reyland and Ballard before she even got to the town.

Ballard, putting down his farm tools first, waved at Hyreona.

"Good morn--" he stopped midway when he saw the huge snow wolf walking along side her. Reyland did the same.

Hyreona waved back to them and quickened her pace, reached them not long after.

She introduced them to Bonny. "This is Bonny... he... is friend! We... bring gift."

"I-Is he f-from the f-f-forest too?" Reyland managed to ask.

"Mhm!" Hyreona answered. "He... not dangerous. No... worry." She stroked Bonny's head.

Both men looked at each other and let out a huge sigh. "A-Alright..." They both knew that she wasn't normal anyway.

"We bring... town gifts from... forest." Hyreona picked out a fruit that she had picked earlier that morning in the the forest and handed it to Reyland.

Recognizing the fruit in his hand, he became completely shocked.

It was hard to acquire anything from the forest so the things that came from there were considered to be a rarity/luxury item.

What he was holding was a fruit that resembled an apple, but was much larger and covered in a thin layer or frost.

Eating this fruit would help a sick person recover in half of the time it would normally take. It also tasted very sweet and was very juicy.

Looking at the other things that Bonny was carrying, both Reyland and Ballard blanked out. The gifts were worth more than anything the entire town could give ever her.

"A-Are these r-really for the town?" they stuttered.

"Yes! They... are gift." Hyreona said once again.

She did not understand why these people were so surprised. Aren't the things she brought just regular plants from the forest?

'There's no need to get so excited over a few common gifts...'

After unloading the "few common gifts" from Bonny into a cart, the snow wolf went back to the forest right away.

He looked back and growled at the two men as if giving them a warning before walking in the forest.

Forest frost beasts did not like humans. Hyreona was an exception because she did not have the same life force.

Seeing the big, ferocious looking snow wolf finally go away, Ballard and Reyland heaved our a huge sigh of relief.

It was extremely nerve-racking having it stand so close to them.

They brought the cart into the town to get the gifts sorted out with Hyreona walking behind it.

The cart attracted a lot of stares which all quickly became shocked once they identified what was inside it.

Bringing it to the center of the town, the two men began handing out the gifts to the townsfolk while the Baron, who heard about it, watched over them.

When Hyreona left to go play with Damien, the Baron and townsfolk discussed and unanimously agreed that Hyreona's existence would become the town's open secret.

It would be dangerous for her if other, more powerful people than the kind Baron knew about her.

This was made in place for Hyreona's safety.

Walking together hand-in-hand the two kids went back to the garden they were in yesterday.

Damien saw that she was already wearing the new dress the gave her and his heart jumped in happiness.

'Maybe she's interested in me also?'

If it were true, Damien wouldn't hesitate to ask her to be his, even if they were still kids and even though they only met a day ago.

To him, Hyreona was someone special. He just knew that if he could make her his, then he's be the luckiest man —cough— boy in the continent.

She was much different than the Clarissa from the orphanage who would act coquettishly with him and mean with others.

Sadly, Hyreona did not feel anything other than friendship towards Damien.

She didn't know about any relationship things. She just thought that the stuff they did was a normal action for the people of the town.

Both of them talked for a few hours before going to the orphanage to meet the other kids and for Hyreona to be taught more about their language.

Afterwards, he took her around town while the people were looking at them with warm eyes.

They had come to like Hyreona and they knew that the Baron's son really liked her also.

Everyone who looked at them had the same thought. 'Oh how it is to be young!'

Finally, when the sky turned orange, Damien escorted Hyreona to the edge of the forest.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

This went on for several months. The town got used to her visiting everyday, Damien became closer with her (not in the way that he wanted though), Clarissa was as hostile as ever, and Hyreona quickly became fluent in the Wayforian language.

Some of the townsfolk had also given her gifts in return.

She received quilts, new pillows, towels, new white dresses and socks, basically housewarming gifts and clothes.

Then on one random day, the Baron received a letter from the capital of the kingdom.

The king will come to the territory for a routine check in 4 days.