"Young lord! Finally, you awaken."

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Marcy with tears in her eyes.

"What happened?" I asked, seeing her so worried.

"Sniff… I was so worried. You've been asleep for four days since the Lord brought you back from the forest." Now I remember, my father took me to sign the contract to awaken my bloodline, which resulted in a very horrible experience.

But it's nice to know that I'm still alive; I thought I was going to die.

"I'm fine." I said as I looked at the palm of my hand. There didn't seem to be any wounds at all. Did my father use a potion? Marcy had told me that potions were too expensive when I asked her how people usually treated the injured.

"How can you be fine? Even your brothers didn't take so long to wake up. I thought you were dead; your heartbeat was barely noticeable, and your body was very cold despite being bathed in hot water… Sniff."

"Sorry for worrying you," I said with a bit of melancholy. It had been a long time since I felt that someone cared about me, although much of this feeling came from my previous life.

"Young Lord, sniff… you don't need to apologize to a servant like me… sniff."

"It's true, I should inform your family that you've woken up." She left the room, wiping away her tears.

When I saw Marcy leave the room, I remembered something very important. So, I began to look around for the reason I had to go through that nightmare and couldn't find it anywhere until I started to feel its presence vaguely behind me. When I turned around, I saw the cutest thing in the world. A little furball was sleeping peacefully, resting its head on my pillow.

I began to gently stroke my little white wolf. Its fur was very soft to the touch and as white as snow, making it look even cuter.

It's very small, so it can't be more than a month old. I kept petting it until I saw it start to open its eyes, which were a beautiful shade of red.

"So cute."

"Howl." It howled softly when I held and lifted it gently to give it a hug.

"I think I should give you a name." I lifted it to the height of my head and checked if it had eggs or not; I didn't want to confuse its gender and give it an unsuitable name.

Seeing that it didn't have any meant it was female.

Should I call her Princess? It's the first name that comes to mind when I think of a big dog. Besides, the name Princess was given to many dogs of dangerous breeds whose bites could tear a chunk of flesh from a person's body.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"From now on, your name will be…" When I was about to say the name, I remembered something very important. I'm in a feudal kingdom, which means there must be a king, and if I'm not mistaken, I've heard that there are several princesses in this kingdom. If I give her that name, wouldn't it be considered disrespectful and treasonous to the royal family? Better not get into unnecessary trouble.

"Artic Sky." I think it'll be a good name. Who am I kidding? It's an amazing name.

"Howl." It seemed to like it because it started trying to bite my hand gently.

As I was enjoying my moment with Artic Sky, the door to my room swung open. My father entered, followed by my mother and all my siblings. They looked worried, but seeing me awake, their faces lit up.

"Ziom, I'm glad to see you awake," said my father, his voice full of relief.

"Sorry, father," I responded, holding Artic Sky gently against my chest. "I didn't mean to worry you." Although I wanted to say it was his fault that I was in this situation, I didn't dare. After all, the information I received about the bloodline awakening mentioned that the more dangerous it was, the better the bloodline's rank. But even though I felt I was on the brink of death, I only received the upper rank. I can't imagine what I'd have to do to achieve the perfect rank.

Aiza, who seemed very worried until she saw me, said, "I'm happy you're okay. We were so worried, and I had to stop Asli…" Asli covered Aiza's mouth, so she couldn't continue what she was saying.

Riun approached and looked curiously at the little wolf in my arms. "So, this is your new companion," he said with a smile. "He's adorable."

Asli, always more serious, nodded. "Make sure to take good care of him, Ziom. This bond we form with our wolves is very important."

I nodded, feeling the weight of her words. "I will," I said with determination. I always wanted a pet dog.

My father sat on the edge of my bed and looked seriously at those in the room.

His words left me confused. I thought I'd survive no matter what under his protection. I felt a shiver just thinking that I could really die. I looked at him intently, waiting for him to start talking.

"As you know, you've always been by far the weakest among your siblings. You get sick easily and have a naturally weak body, so you tire easily. So, your mother and I were very worried that you'd die at a very young age, which is why I made you do the same journey as your siblings so that your bloodline awakening would compensate for your weak body." He fell silent for a moment as if he wanted to say something until he started speaking again.

"To be honest, I was planning to give you a much easier journey without putting you in any danger, but lately, you've changed. It seems like you no longer want to sleep almost all the time, and we no longer have to force you to leave your room occasionally to avoid getting sick from being cooped up in your room almost all the time."

"So, I'm very happy that you survived, and I hope you live the way you want without being restricted by your body." I felt warmth hearing this, but the only words that came out of my mouth were, "I understand, father." As I processed the information, I saw my father get up from the bed, and when he was about to leave the room, I said, "I'll do my best to live up to it." I said without thinking too much.

My father nodded, satisfied with my response, and said, "Good. We'll start your training when you've fully recovered. For now, rest and recover completely." Before leaving the room.

With that, he got up and headed for the door. Riun, Asli, and Aiza gave me one last look before following him, leaving me alone with my mother and Artic Sky.

To my surprise, Mother gave me a hug before saying, "I'm sorry, forgive me." With tears in her eyes, and I just hugged her back, not understanding the reason behind her behavior. In my memories, she had always been the coldest towards me, and even during family gatherings, she only spoke to me occasionally.

When she seemed to calm down, she said softly, "I'll try to be a better mother," before letting go and leaving the room.

When everyone left, I settled back into bed, gently stroking my new companion. Before I knew it, I fell asleep again.