The Cat Who Weeps in the Dark - Chapter 29

An empty room inevitably breeds too many thoughts. Katie was no exception. She tried hard not to look at the bed. Her heat was already approaching, stirring her nerves—if she glanced there, she knew the memory of that day would resurface.

But the harder you try not to see something, the more you see it. The harder you try not to remember, the more it lingers.

Before she knew it, the memory of that day flooded back. Katie let out a sigh and cradled her head in her hands.

“Ugh, seriously. Katie.”

It was all because of her sensitive nose. The room was saturated with Helion’s scent—the unnamed cigars he occasionally smoked and the crisp, grassy aroma.

She’d learned this while guarding him, he loved sprawling out anywhere. Warehouse mattresses, garden grass—he didn’t care. The grassy scent clinging to him likely came from those very habits.

‘Honestly, what a weird guy.’

In short, he was impossible to pin down. He was as refined as a carefully rolled cigar, yet his spirit was as free as wild grass on the roadside.

Seemingly lax yet sharp, affectionate yet cold, relaxed yet precarious.

He lazed around, yet the sheer volume of work he handled far surpassed Damien’s. Even on days like today, when he was sprawled out, she couldn’t bring herself to scold him.

Then again, doubting his competence was pointless. Wasn’t he the Empire’s hero, the so-called Phantom of the Battlefield, who had once cut down the Kingdom’s forces?

‘Right. If you’ve seen those eyes, you’d never call him lazy.’

Golden irises, as if sunlight had taken physical form. And that piercing, fierce gaze that seemed to see straight through a person.

Katie took a deep breath, recalling those vivid golden eyes.

That was the moment it happened.

Her heart suddenly lurched, a heavy thud echoing in her chest, and then—her stomach burned.

“…Huh?”

A startled gasp escaped her as she clutched her abdomen. Heat radiated from her navel, spreading through her veins in a searing wave. Panic set in. Her entire body stiffened, her breath hitching as if someone had punched her in the ribs.

“What the hell…? Did I get poisoned without even realizing it?”

No. She was just surprised by the sudden sensation; this wasn’t pain.

Then what the hell was this?

As Katie questioned herself, she realized.

“Damn it.”

It was a sensation she couldn’t possibly mistake now. Heat. She didn’t know why it was happening now of all times, but that damned estrus cycle was about to begin.

Katie moved her already trembling legs, rising from the sofa. A glance at the clock told her it was already half past nine in the evening. Her shift would end in thirty minutes. Before that, she needed to get back to her room and somehow resolve this situation.

“Agh, hnnn.”

Her body refused to obey her.

Katie sank back down, clutching her stomach. Her thighs twisted together, and her head spun. This was a completely different level from the heat she’d experienced last time—this was true heat.

‘Was it because I took medicine back then that it wasn’t so bad…? But still. This is… this is just too much.’

It felt like the very first time she’d gone into heat. Like that time she couldn’t bear the surging fever and was crawling on the floor.

Katie sat on the floor, leaning her upper body against the sofa, panting heavily.

‘At this rate, I won’t make it to my room. At times like these, I need to stay calm. First, let’s assess the situation.’

Her heat had started shortly after coming to Helion’s room. She wasn’t sure of the cause. All she did was smell his scent. No, perhaps that was the cause. A male’s hormones could be fatal to a female in heat.

But why, of all people, did it have to be Helion again? It was utterly enraging that the one who triggered her heat was her enemy, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

In this state, she couldn’t make it to her room. Even if she crawled like last time, there was no guarantee she could reach her room safely without being seen by anyone. Hadn’t she encountered several knights in the hallway on her way here?

Then, there was only one option. Within the thirty minutes remaining until the shift change, she had to somehow resolve this heat right here.

It was no coincidence that her eyes landed on the bathroom at that moment.

‘It’s not good to rely too much on medicine. If possible, try to resolve it on your own.’

‘Are you planning to handle it yourself when you go back? You don’t know what kind of medicine it is, so you won’t be able to get an antidote prescribed without seeing a doctor.’

Wayne’s words and Helion’s words echoed alternately in her mind.