Chapter 61
Catch the human
Cedric was quite flustered. He had come at the usual time, as he always did, to attend to his master, but the room was completely empty. There weren’t even any signs that he had been sleeping, which left Cedric confused.
Stepping back out into the hallway, Cedric hurried along. Perhaps his master couldn’t sleep and had gone to the training grounds, that was his thought. But just as he passed the landing on the second floor, a strange scent reached him.
It was the pheromone scent exuded when a male and female paired. Cedric moved quickly, intent on finding the one bold enough to commit such impropriety within the ducal household. But the closer he drew to the source of the scent, the slower his steps became.
“This is…”
The scent was coming from none other than Sia’s room.
“…No way!”
His master was not in his own room, and the affection he had shown all this time had never been a lie. Though Cedric had found the young lady’s feelings a bit ambiguous, his master’s devotion had always been sincere.
Realizing what was going on, Cedric quickly descended to the first floor. He spotted Marie just about to climb the stairs and shouted loudly.
“No one is allowed upstairs today!”
“…Head Butler?”
“No one is to go upstairs today! Send word to the aides as well, tell them not to come in to work!”
The servants nearby turned puzzled gazes toward Cedric at his outburst. He ordered the footmen to contact the aides at their homes and instructed the maids to clean outside the mansion rather than inside.
After driving everyone out of the mansion, Cedric wiped the sweat from his brow with a deeply satisfied expression.
“This Cedric here shall personally guard my master’s precious time!”
* * *
“There is still no news of the human being found?”
At Emperor Declan’s question, the chief attendant at his side lowered his head and answered.
“My apologies, Your Majesty, but there has been no word from anywhere.”
“Hmph. I had expected it wouldn’t be easy, considering outwardly humans look nearly identical to our humanized form…”
“Your Majesty, it hasn’t been long since we received the divine prophecy. Please don’t be too troubled.”
“True. That is true, but still…”
Growing restless, Declan wanted to tap his leg but held himself back for the sake of dignity. After searching the Imperial Library for the records of past emperors, he had found an entry from two hundred years ago.
At that time too, God had brought a human. Furthermore, that human had successfully formed a pair with a member of the catfolk, and the Pelles Empire, blessed by God, had grown even more prosperous. However, not long after, a plague they had never encountered before spread and killed many of the catfolk.
Declan had thought that if a plague could kill cat werebeasts, then the frailer human must surely have died as well. Yet, there was no mention of the human’s death anywhere in the records.
There was other useful information too: speculation about why God brought humans in the first place. Though these words were not directly from the Creator himself, it was a bold hypothesis with some credibility.
“…‘If the blood of werebeasts becomes too concentrated, beastification may become permanent.’”
Permanent beastification meant becoming a beast, like their ancestors. Losing one’s intelligence and being trapped in beast form forever.
“So, does that mean that when true cats disappeared a hundred years ago… they weren’t hunted down, but instead regained their lost intelligence and became capable of taking human form again?”
Nothing was certain. Records about humans had either been destroyed or had barely existed in the first place, leaving only scattered traces. All they could do was form various hypotheses.
If this hypothesis was true, this wasn’t merely about extending their history. It was about avoiding extinction. Declan gritted his teeth in frustration.
“Anyone will do, so long as a cat werebeast claims the human.”
“As Your Majesty wills, so it shall be done.”
“Yes, so it must.”
Though he was worried deep down, Declan raised his voice with authority. There was no way they could let another race take the human.
“Just sitting around like this doesn’t suit my temperament! Bring Louis to me!”
Though he wished he could go himself, an emperor could not simply leave the palace. With a heart full of anxiety, he gripped the armrest of his chair tightly as if clinging to a lifeline.
“They say there are distinct differences between humans and werebeasts… If only I could see one for myself, we could find the human more easily.”
Deciding to send his son in his stead, Declan muttered to himself as he chose which territories he would visit.
“…He’s a duke in name, so he can’t avoid it. We’ll save him for last. And Louis will be reluctant to go to Blois anyway.”
A long sigh, tinged with both expectation and worry, slipped out through Declan’s clenched teeth.
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