The Cat Who Weeps in the Dark - Chapter 5

The moment that scent drew near, Damian stumbled backward. She didn’t turn around, but she could tell just from the sound of his footsteps. Damian was scared. Of course he was. He was a fool who couldn’t do anything but harass women.

This was also Helion’s fault. He was as strong a man as the Golden Lion, the Kingdom’s great ruler.

To have survived meant to be strong. And to be strong meant to be able to survive again.

The words she had spoken to him were true, and they had become reality. That young boy had grown into a man strong enough that no one could ever threaten him again.

Just his approaching presence, just his lingering scent, perhaps even his mere existence, was enough to strike fear into people.

“It was a pleasant sleep for once, but your trivial play-acting woke me up. How do you intend to pay for that?”

Helion asked gently. Yet, contrary to his gentle tone, his words were nothing short of harsh.

“Th-that’s not… I’m sorry, brother. I’ll just go, so you can go back to sleep.”

Damian apologized without being asked and quickly turned away. And then, abandoning the woman he had just been harassing, he bolted for the door.

‘Damn it! Take me with you too!’

Katie peeked behind her, her head bowed low. Through her narrow vision, she saw Damian scurry away alone. But her view was soon blocked by something pitch black.

The moment she realized it was the fabric of Helion’s pants, wrapped around his solid thighs, Katie quickly turned her head back and lowered it even further to hide her face.

“I haven’t seen your face before.”

That would be true. She had tried her best to avoid his notice.

She was a spy for the Kingdom, and Helion knew her face. Though it was the youthful face of an eight-year-old, much different from her current appearance, she couldn’t afford to be complacent.

If he somehow noticed something amiss and discovered she was a spy, everything would be over.

“You wouldn’t have, as a mid-ranking knight. I was assigned to Prince Damian’s Dawn Palace, so I had no reason to go to your Twilight Palace.”

“True. I can’t know the faces of all the knights. Especially not mere mid-ranking ones.”

Unlike high-ranking knights who served as direct escorts, mid-ranking knights rarely had occasion to meet with the imperial family. Even if they did, it was usually from a distance during large events.

“Rather, why don’t you look up?”

Katie, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had safely navigated the crisis, stiffened at his words.

“Why are you so bowed? Like someone hiding something.”

Helion leaned against the stand, sprawling slightly. Katie turned her face away to avoid his gaze, which had moved from behind her to her side.

“That’s not it… I’m just ashamed to have shown you such an unseemly sight as a knight.”

“Ah. So, you’re saying you deliberately engaged in such an act, knowing it was shameful?”

“I did not participate in Prince Damian’s harassment!”

“You didn’t seem to make any move to push him away, though?”

“I told him to get away many times.”

“Usually, doing that with words alone is called ‘coquetry.'”

Why did this man, whose very presence was threatening, have to be good at arguments too?

Katie gritted her teeth, real shame now starting to well up. But losing her temper here would only play into his hands. Helion’s clear intention was to infuriate her and make her look up.

“…I apologize.”

Instead of getting angrier, Katie chose to back down. She didn’t want to apologize to that petty traitor who had repaid her kindness with enmity, but it was one step back for two steps forward.

As she readily offered her apology, the man seemed to lose interest and slowly rose from the stand.

“Good. You may go now.”

She had expected him to try to see her face, but he gave up surprisingly quickly.

Indeed. Why would an imperial family member be curious about the face of a mere mid-ranking knight?

He probably just had a momentary flicker of curiosity about her involvement in such an act with his brother and decided there was no need to waste time arguing.

Katie, still bowing her head, quickly bent at the waist, turned, and was about to bolt for the door like Damian had.

Just as she felt her wrist being seized, her body was spun around in an instant.