Chapter 7
When I opened the round pendant, there was a tiny note inside.
[It wasn’t me. Mister Meow tore open the pouch with the treats and secretly ate them.]
The slightly urgent handwriting made me laugh out loud.
One day, after my little cat returned home from a long outing, I learned of the existence of a ‘co-cat parent’.
It was around the time Mister Meow’s outings began to grow longer and my worries deepened.
One day, when Mister Meow came back, there was a note attached to his collar. It said, in a kind tone, that Mister Meow seemed to have an owner, but when he was out for a long time, he stayed at their place, so I shouldn’t worry.
That was how our strange joint cat-rearing began.
Not knowing each other’s face, gender, or age, we communicated only through notes passed via Mister Meow.
[By the way, your wedding anniversary is coming up? That’s such a wonderful time. Is your husband treating you well? Ah, maybe I shouldn’t ask such things? It’s been so long since I had a day to celebrate like that, so I’m curious. Are you happy?]
Sometimes, we exchanged personal stories like this. I would read the notes he or she had added and smile wryly.
Right, my wedding anniversary was coming up soon. Not long ago, I’d been excited about it for no reason at all.
What happened in such a short time to make me this way?
With a stifled sigh, Mister Meow, who had been licking my hand fervently, suddenly stood up and moved away.
I stroked Mister Meow’s soft fur a few times and then went to my desk.
Taking out some paper I had set aside for notes and picking up a pen, I hesitated for a moment and then began to write a reply.
[My husband… treats me well. It’s just, these days, I think something is wrong with my own heart. Not long ago, I heard a rumor that my husband is having an affair. Even though I know he’s not that kind of person, I keep doubting him. Why is that? Am I becoming paranoid?]
After staring at the note I wrote in my gloomy mood, I folded it small and put it in Mister Meow’s pendant.
It was because I wanted to share these dreadful thoughts with someone.
With an awkward feeling and stiff fingers fidgeting, I let out a long sigh and lay down beside Mister Meow.
To doubt my husband’s fidelity over a nasty rumor was an exhausting waste.
Just as Chloe said, there was no evidence. Only my attitude had changed.
“Isn’t it funny…? Just a little while ago, we were a normal couple, excitedly looking forward to our wedding anniversary.”
In the place where a little rumor had taken root, a doubt had now grown too large to handle.
Even as I sighed at how pathetic I was, I found myself worrying about where my husband, who wasn’t coming home on time, might be right now.
* * *
“Maybe we should move.”
Chloe, sitting across from me at a hotel restaurant that’s all the rage these days, spoke.
It was even before the appetizers had come out.
As befit a popular restaurant, the tables were packed, and countless waiters hurried through the crowd.
She spoke in a tone as casual as saying the weather was nice today, and I, absent-minded, tilted my head and asked,
“All of a sudden? Did something happen?”
People passing by who recognized Chloe glanced at our table from time to time. She enjoyed that kind of attention.
Chloe pouted her lips sweetly as she fiddled with the napkin on the table.
“It’s not that anything happened in particular… it’s just that something feels a bit off.”
Chloe spun her water glass and frowned slightly. She glanced around for no reason, then leaned in over the table and lowered her voice.
“Lately, I keep feeling like someone is watching me.”
“Watching you?”
Chloe let out a deep sigh, nodded, and looked up at me with a pitiful expression.
“Yeah. Actually, for a while now, someone’s been leaving flowers at my door. I figured it happens sometimes, so I just let it go… but starting the day before yesterday, there’s been a note with it, too.”
Chloe’s parents were commoners, but they made a fortune in business and returned to Tensia.
Chloe had chosen to stay alone in the capital to work as an actress.
There was a bit of friction over this, but her parents had no choice but to accept Chloe’s decision, since she had Hayden’s support.
After that, she got a new apartment and had been living alone.
Chloe took out a note she had stuffed carelessly in her small tote bag and handed it to me.
“At first I just threw them away because they creeped me out, but they kept coming, so just in case, I’ve been saving them.”
[The red skirt you wore yesterday looked really good on you.]
Despite the neat handwriting, it was impossible to erase the sense of creepiness. I frowned and handed the note back to Chloe.
“Shouldn’t you report this to the police?”
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