Chapter 6 –– Caninus Research Facility

Dawoud entered my room in his pyjamas. He was wearing a loose white tank top with a pair of gray shorts, so short that they barely reached his knees. He seemed to be someone who exercised regularly judging from his body. He had broad shoulders and muscular biceps. That was another fun fact I just realised about him.

“Sorry about the conversation earlier. I hope we didn’t make you uncomfortable,” he said, apologizing on behalf of his family.

E–eh? What is he apologizing for? Although I admit that I was a bit awkward at that table when they complimented me, but it wasn’t something to make such a big deal out of.

“Don’t worry. I know they meant no harm. It was quite fun, actually,” I smiled at him.

He looked relieved that I didn’t take it personally. I mean, most of the questions came from the kids so of course I wouldn’t take them personally. They were just asking harmless questions, anyway.

“Get some rest. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow,” he told me.

“Eh? Where are we going?” I asked him.

“You’ll see.”

Trying to be mysterious, huh. It got me pumped up just thinking where he would take me tomorrow.

He then walked to the door to leave my room. Before he left, he spoke softly to me.

“Good night, Noam.”

He then closed the door and left me alone in my room.

What an exhausting day.

The next day, my handmaiden woke me up early in the morning. It was around 8 in the morning when she woke me up.

“Good day, Lord Noam. I brought you the attire for today’s rendezvous with Lord Dawoud.”

She put a costume on the table. I don’t know why I have to keep wearing what they give me. I know they told me that I didn’t need to bring anything since they will provide everything for me, what’s the point of me bringing a luggage then?

“Thank you, Syifra. Just leave it there.”

I got up from bed to get to the bathroom and to get ready. Suddenly, she followed me from behind and almost entered the bathroom with me.

“Uhh....what are you doing?” I asked her with suspicions in my eyes.

“Lady Rochlin ordered me to bathe you, Lord Noam.”

Wh––

What am I? A baby?

“There is no need for that!! You can leave, now,” I told her, being so uncomfortable by how they were treating me here.

Is this a normal thing in Caninus Tribe culture? Servants helping their masters take a bath? What an odd tradition, coming from someone from Hyaena Tribe.

“Are you sure, Lord Noam?”

“Yes!!! I’m sorry, but please leave!”

I don’t want to sound rude, but I have to draw a line here. I highly value my privacy and I don’t want this type of thing to become a habit.

She then bowed at me and left my room. Fyuh. Finally. Now I can get ready without having to worry about exposing myself in front of someone.

I took a warm bath to get myself relaxed. Even though I got enough sleep last night, my body was still aching from hours of sitting inside the palanquin on my way here. I can’t imagine how they felt when they had to come to my village and leave on the same day. That must have been exhausting. Well, considering them, they might just be used to it already, assuming that they traveled to different villages a lot for all kinds of purposes.

After I was done taking a bath, I put on the clothes that Lady Rochlin offered to me. It was a different outfit this time around. She gave me a long-sleeved gray shirt and a blue vest, along with a pair of matching blue trousers. I rolled up the sleeves up to my elbows in order to make my outfit look less formal. She also gave me some comfortable white shoes.

Right after I opened the door, I was shocked to see my handmaiden waiting at the door. I wasn’t expecting her to be standing in front of the door that she almost made me scream.

“Lord Dawoud is waiting for you downstairs,” she said with a poker face.

This woman......she really had no sense of delicacy.

She then led me downstairs to meet my suitor. I really didn’t need her to accompany me since I already knew the way, but at this point there really was no point in talking some sense into her anymore.

I met Dawoud by the entrance of the mansion. He was standing by, waiting for me. The moment our eyes met, we stared at each other.

He was wearing a navy blue shirt with a darker shade of blue suit. He unbuttoned several upper buttons of his shirt, exposing some visible area of his chest. He also wore a pair of black trousers and some sneakers. He slicked his blue hair back, making him look like some kind of delinquent. He looked tough and masculine.

“Dawoud?”

I noticed him keep staring at me for quite some time and decided to call out his name. He looked like he was frozen in place or something, like he was stunned. After I called out his name, he immediately returned to his senses.

“Shall we go now?”

He smiled at me and offered his arm to walk together with me, being gentlemanly and courteous. Even though I was still embarrassed about it, I took on his offer and linked my arms with his and walked out of the mansion together with him.

I wonder where he’ll take me?

After wandering about the village, we finally arrived at our destination. It was a building with multiple stories. People in white coats came in and out of the building, looking busy. They looked like they worked here.

I never saw this kind of building before. We don’t have anything remotely as big as this. This is interesting.

“Here we are,” Dawoud excitedly exclaimed.

“What is this?” I asked him.

“This is Caninus Research Facility. It’s where I work. Come, I’ll show you around.”

Oh. That’s unexpected of him. I never would have expected him to be some kind of researcher.

He then entered the building along with me. On the way in, there were a lot of people greeting him and bowing to him. Seems like he’s someone well known in this building. The more I got to know him, the more interesting he seemed to be.

I looked around the building while following his lead. On our way, I saw some of the workers tinkering with tools and gadgets. Some of them looked like parts for structure planning and construction purposes. This village seemed to know a lot about subterranean structure planning and construction.

We finally reached a certain laboratory. Unlike the ones that I saw previously, this one required some kind of permission to get into. I wasn’t supposed to be able to come in, but after Dawoud talked them into it, they allowed me to look around under his supervision.

Before we entered the lab, Dawoud changed his suit into a white coat and put on some goggles. He also offered me the same things for me to wear before we entered the lab. After the two of us wore the required accessories, we were allowed to enter the lab.

“Oh, Dawoud! What are you doing here?” said one of the workers inside the room.

Upon entering the lab, one of the people from inside talked to Dawoud. There were only few people in the room, around 7 people including me, all wearing the same thing we did. All of them looked older than the both of us, probably 10 years older or so.

“Just checking in. How is the progress?” Dawoud asked him.

“It’s going well. We might actually be able to finish it before the festival,” the man answered, feeling optimistic about the project.

I stood by and listened to them talking. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I wish he could tell me what was going on.

“Who’s this? New guy?” another person in the room asked.

“Oh, no no. He’s my intended.”

“Ooooh!!!”

Everyone in the lab was genuinely surprised. They looked like they didn’t expect him to bring his intended here, to his workplace. They seemed very curious about me.

“Those ears and tail...are you perhaps from Hyaena Village?” one person asked.

“Y–yes! I’m Noam Dabau from Hyaena Village. Nice to meet you!” I bowed to them clumsily.

They all chuckled at my awkward attitude. Urgh. Caninus Tribe literally has zero social anxiety.

“Hahahahah. He’s cute. Dawoud, be nice to him!” another person added, teasing him.

“Of course! Isn’t this place a perfect dating spot?” he answered, going along with the joke.

“If you think that, you must be really bad at dating,” that person said to him, roasting him.

Everyone in the lab chuckled, including me. That was kind of funny. I don’t think this is a common place to have a date, but as someone who never saw anything like this, it still looked interesting to me.

“Be careful, Dawoud is known to be a playboy in this village,” the person who asked me where I was from warned me about his reputation.

Hmmm.......I see. That’s interesting to know.

“Hey! Don’t scare him like that! Noam, don’t listen to them,” he said, jokingly trying to defend himself.

Everyone in the lab laughed at the interaction. They all seemed to be getting along with each other. They looked more like a family than coworkers.

“Well, we don’t want to bother any more of your date. Please, have a look around. We’ll continue our work.”

After they said that, they continued the work they were doing prior to us entering the lab. Dawoud then led me to a space far back in the lab, to the project he was working on.