Chapter 28
As she spent time here, Sia realized she didn’t particularly feel trapped in this place.
“Oh, if I turn here, it’s a shortcut…”
Doing a final check while walking alone behind the back garden, Sia found the shortcut Cedric had told her about. She found it just fine, but had no choice but to stop when something blocked the middle of the path.
“Huh?”
That something was none other than the strikingly cool-looking black cat. He hadn’t come when she wished for him, but now he appeared out of nowhere.
“How are you here?”
Delighted, she hurried over, and the black cat, who had been sitting in the sun, stood up.
“Wait, you’re not leaving, right?”
Worried that she might scare him off, Sia hesitated. She wanted to hold the cat in her arms and smell that warm scent, just like last time. She stopped and started rambling.
“Do you know how much I’ve been through lately? At least listen to my story before you go, please!”
It wasn’t that she thought the cat would understand her words. She just wanted to hold onto him because she was so happy to see him. Besides, unlike the town square where cats used to lounge everywhere, there wasn’t a single cat to be found at the duke’s estate.
She’d found that odd, and so when this cat suddenly appeared again, she was overjoyed.
“…You’re not going to leave, right?”
Sia carefully approached the black cat who remained still. Step by cautious step, she got close enough to reach him and quickly scooped him up.
“Gotcha! Hehe…”
As soon as she grabbed him, she ran her hands over his face and head. Kisses were a given. Overwhelmed by her enthusiasm, Nox didn’t know what to do.
In truth, he had deliberately come to find her in this form. He wanted to confirm the hypothesis that had solidified over the past week of being with her.
[…Can you really not understand me at all?]
“Hm? Why are you meowing so cutely? Do you have something to say?”
[Even if someone isn’t a cat-type werebeast, werebeasts can communicate with each other even when in animal form. Did you know that? Even if the language is different, you can usually understand, at least a little.]
Hearing Nox let out a much longer meow than last time, Sia responded with a happy smile as she held him.
“You’re happy to see me too, aren’t you?”
[…She really doesn’t understand a word.]
He now understood exactly what had been causing the sense of dissonance in their conversations.
[So, Sia, you’re not a werebeast after all?]
He’d already suspected she wasn’t a cat-type werebeast, given how little she knew about them.
Still, he hadn’t considered that she might not be a werebeast at all. He’d just assumed they couldn’t communicate, but that the language was getting across somehow.
But after having brief conversations with her for a week, he was now certain—Sia probably didn’t even know what a ‘werebeast’ was, let alone anything about the Pelles Empire.
He’d even fully realized that when she talked about cats, she was referring to ‘primordial cats’. Her current behavior toward him made that clear.
So then, what in the world was she?
“Here, let me pat your butt for you.”
Sitting down on a nearby bench with Nox in her arms, Sia happily patted his backside.
[……]
He should have been displeased, but strangely, he wasn’t. Instead, without thinking, he pushed his hips up as if asking her to pat more.
His dignity as a duke was in shambles, but Nox couldn’t help but act on instinct.
“Good boy, do you like that?”
Nox realized what he was doing and felt his face grow hot. How embarrassing. He was even starting to worry that another servant might see. No matter how little he showed his emotions, it would be obvious in this situation.
“Huh, why are you suddenly upset?”
As he pulled his hips away, Sia scratched under his chin and behind his ears to soothe him. After all, how could she let such a handsome black cat get away?
“See, this is why I always keep something like this in my pocket.”
Sia whipped out her mint candy tin and poured some catnip into her palm, setting it in front of Nox.
“My baby, you liked this, didn’t you?”
She’d only seen him twice and was already calling him ‘my baby’.
Sia herself felt a little embarrassed after saying it, her cheeks flushing.
Nox, whose face was several times redder than hers, let out a pitiful cry in disbelief.
[Do you have no shame at all!]
This unfamiliar affection.
Even though he knew she only adored him as she would an primordial cat, he couldn’t hold onto his dignity in the face of her love.
It was just too sweet.
Discussion
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Loylem
She has already realized several times that all the cats in this world are werewolves, but the author deliberately omits it, which creates dissonance