In Eastport, there was a clinic. Many people were acquainted with the main doctor, a wise, intellectual woman named Felicia. Lucille knew who she was too, but she had never seen the petite woman with the newspaper boy cap ever. She wasn’t even aware that there was an animal doctor who shared the same clinic as Felicia.

Felicia was a bespectacled woman with dark brown hair tied in a bun and donned a white coat. “Janet, what is going on? Why is there an injured boy and an injured dog?”

“I’ll explain later. I’m going to tend this dog upstairs. Go check up on the injured boy and don’t concern yourself with me.” The petite doctor, Janet, turned to Lucille. “Follow me.”

Lucille did as she was told. She gently ascended the steps in order to not irritate Ange’s wounds. When she reached the upper level, she slowly walked towards Janet who reached her hands out. “Give her to me.”

Ange was now in Janet’s hands and the two entered a room and closed the door. Lucille did not follow in. She knew better than to disturb a doctor at work. All she could do was take a few steps back, press her back against the nearest wall and slowly lowered herself to the point that she sat down on the floor. She could feel herself trembling.

Noir approached her and gave her a nudge, signaling for headpats; she did so. Everything that had transpired earlier flashed into her mind. “N-Noir, just who are you?”

The headpats stopped. Noir stared at her. “I am what you call a faerie.”

“A faerie? I’ve heard that they’re usually human-like. I’ve never heard of them being canine-like.”

“We faeries have always been canines. People like to be biased and distort the truth. If people really learn that dogs are actually faeries, who knows how many canines would die by human hands?”

“What makes you different from an ordinary dog?”

“I’ve got wings.” He showed off his light blue wings that she saw earlier.

“But you can control them.” She grabbed Noir to examine him. “You don’t look any different from an ordinary curly-coated dog.”

Noir squealed. “Stop that. I’m ticklish!”

It was hard to get accustomed to the fact that Noir could talk. This meant that Ange could do so too. Why were these canine faeries out in the human world? She needed to know.

“If you and Ange are faeries, why are you out here in the human world acting like ordinary dogs?”

“Ange and I ran away from the faerie kingdom.”

“Ran…ran away?” She visualized Ange and Noir running away like normal dogs.“Why?”

“Ange’s parents wouldn’t accept our marriage, so we ran off.”

Elopement? Lucille couldn’t help but to be even more shocked.

“Why couldn’t they accept it?”

“It’s because of class differences.”

What use do those have to dogs? Wait, they’re not dogs. They’re faeries!

“Class differences?”

“She may not look it, but Ange is the princess of the faerie kingdom. Her real name is Fae Canis Angelique, fourth princess in line to the throne.” Hearing that name made Lucille’s eyebrows furrow.

“What about you? If you two couldn’t be together due to class differences, what were you before you ran off? Some kind of peasant boy?”

“I was a merchant who sold all sorts of knick-knacks. My name is Fae Onyx, by the way.”

An image of Noir floating while selling something was both adorable and hilarious. An urge to laugh came, but she turned her head and covered her mouth. When she composed herself, Lucille asked, “How did you two meet?”

“Well, Angelique–Ange–came to my shop one day as she was interested in a collar I was selling. It was just an ordinary pink collar, but she wanted it so much. She heard about my wares from her servants so she snuck out at night to purchase it. She had the audacity to haggle my prices for such a cheap collar that I just gave it to her out of annoyance. She thanked me and then kept coming back to my shop to buy more stuff. One day, she bought out my entire inventory and said she’d take responsibility by marriage…and that’s how we got engaged.”

Lucille couldn’t believe Ange was that assertive. The Ange she knew was a bit aloof but was affectionate to Noir occasionally. Noir was the one who was more affectionate to her. She always had an assumption they were bonded dogs, but she wasn’t aware that their bond was this deep. Wait, do faeries even have bonding? Maybe I shouldn’t assume things just because they look like dogs. They’re not dogs, after all,

“What an interesting story.”

“Ange was very eccentric, but that’s why I like her so much. I don’t care if she’s the princess of the faerie kingdom or whatever. I just like her for who she is. She likes me for who I am too. When the king and queen refused to acknowledge our marriage, we ran off because we knew we’d be happier without the customs of our society chaining us down. And we are happy now. We met you, after all.”

“I’m glad I met you two too.”

“That dog who attacked Ange was once her betrothed. He must’ve been hired by the king and queen to target us. I think they hate Ange for abandoning the kingdom and her people while Cooper hates us for his own personal reasons. It’s not the first time we were attacked. The day you found us injured was actually the day we had been attacked by a group of faerie mercenaries hired by the royal family. We were about to die until you saved us. I’m sure that they’ll keep lobbing them at us until either one of us is dead or if Ange finally returns to the faerie kingdom.”

“What happens if Ange returns to the faerie kingdom?”

“Well, she’ll have to renounce her title as princess and be disowned by the family for good. However, I think that’s what she truly wants. She looks much happier here compared to how she was back then.”

Lucille’s grip on Noir tightened. She closed her eyes as she recalled the moments of happiness she shared with her dogs. Even if they were now faeries, it did not change the fact that they brought happiness to her. They shone a light on her that she never knew existed. They were everything to her. 

All she wanted was to live with her dogs in peace, yet they weren’t allowed that. She hated that rogue dog for attacking Ange, but the fact that there would be more dangerous canines coming after them in the future angered her. Such sweet dogs did not deserve such fate. An amalgamating determination brewed within her. She was determined to find this faerie kingdom and demand for these two to live in peace without the thought of being in danger anymore.

“Lucille?”

“Let’s do that then…”

“Huh?” Noir sounded confused.

“Let’s go to the faerie kingdom. Whether you get accepted by the royal family or if Ange gets disowned doesn’t matter. I’ll do whatever I can to convince the king and queen to end their resentment towards you two. That way, you both won’t have to get harmed by other dogs and you guys can live the rest of your lives with me in peace!” Her eyes glistened at the idea. It was a crazy idea, but she felt it was possible.

Noir just looked at her baffled.