Chapter 59
Anna’s mouth fell open as she clung to me.
“It’s true. I mean, it’s not like I did it on purpose… it just kind of happened.”
“How can something like that just happen? I don’t understand at all!”
“Right? I know. Hahaha…”
I felt bad for Anna, but I couldn’t tell her any more.
Anna let out an awkward laugh but looked disappointed when I kept my lips shut.
I hurriedly racked my brain for a topic that could distract her.
“…Oh! Anna!”
“Yes?”
“By any chance, did you start raising a cat?”
“A cat?”
“Yeah. There was a cat on my bed before. It was a kitten with white fur, yellow patches, and purple eyes.”
“I’m not sure. At least it’s not my cat. And as far as I know, no one in the palace keeps personal pets… Wait—on your bed?”
“Yeah?”
Anna quickly started ripping the sheets off the bed.
“What if it had fleas?! It must’ve been a wild animal!”
“It’s fine. It looked clean.”
“Still! This is a hospital room! You can’t have fur-bearing animals in a place that needs to stay clean!”
In the end, she replaced every last piece of bedding.
Judging by how much she hated it, the cat definitely wasn’t anything Anna knew about.
I didn’t figure out the cat’s identity, but at least it got her attention away from the earlier topic.
The next day, many visitors came to my room again.
Count and Countess Lurupel visited just like yesterday, and so did Hariela’s older brother and the young duke.
The young duke especially surprised me—he brought an entire bundle of gifts for a sick visit.
“Wh–what is all this?”
“Winter lynx tails. A servant arrived from Caledonia right on time.”
“Oh… Thank you. But how much do these cost?”
“I brought them as a gift for you. Don’t worry about it.”
The pile of winter lynx tails he placed on the table looked to weigh several dozen kilograms.
I could only imagine how expensive they were. I wasn’t sure I should accept them.
“Th–thank you.”
I gave him a dazed expression of gratitude.
He nodded slightly in response, then suddenly approached me.
“Close your eyes for a moment.”
“My eyes?”
“Go on.”
I closed my eyes, pushed along by his urging. I wondered what he was trying to do.
But no matter how long I waited, I heard no sound from his direction.
“Keep them fully shut.”
Curious, I peeked one eye open. Immediately came his scolding. I closed them tightly again.
“It’s done.”
Soon he allowed me to open my eyes.
“…What did you do?”
I looked around, shaking my head. Nothing seemed different from before.
“I manipulated your aura.”
“Aura? What’s that?”
“The source of life-force hidden within the human body. A well-trained swordsman can release sword energy using their aura.”
“Ohh…”
I didn’t fully understand what he meant, but I got the gist of it.
Now that I thought about it, I had heard something similar before.
“So it’s like mana in magic?”
“…I wouldn’t know.”
He added that as a knight, he had never considered things in that way.
“I see. So did you give me some of your aura?”
“No. Aura cannot be transferred to another. But someone with greater aura can move another person’s aura.”
“And what’s good about having it move?”
“You should feel it yourself.”
“Me?”
I blinked and lifted myself up. I couldn’t tell what exactly had improved—until…
“…Oh! My body moves!”
“Yes. But it is only temporary. For true recovery, you must make that effort yourself.”
“Still, even moving freely for a moment is amazing! Thank you!”
I leaned against the bed, smiling brightly at him.
He smiled faintly back, then turned away awkwardly.
“…Ahem. I’ll take my leave.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ll visit again tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
He hesitated his way out of the room.
‘That should be all the visitors for today, right?’
With the Lurupel family and the young duke all having come, no one else was likely to visit.
My social circle was so small it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
‘I wish the Third Prince would come…’
But no matter how I thought about it, that kid wouldn’t show up for a hospital visit first.
According to Anna, the servants were buzzing with all sorts of rumors about me and him.
Given his position, he couldn’t move recklessly right now.
‘Maybe he hasn’t even heard that I woke up.’
Andrew, the Third Prince’s personal attendant, was extremely wary of the prince getting close to me.
He might have deliberately hidden the news.
‘What’s he doing right now…?’
Since the last visitor had left, it was about time for Anna to return.
I waited for her while wondering how the Third Prince was doing.
But unexpectedly, the door opened without warning.
It wasn’t Anna—she always knocked.
“…Who is it?”
My voice held a little hope.
“Spiii—”
A cat appeared, ears perked up.
“Kitty!”
“Spiiiii—!”
The cat seemed offended by how happily I called out to it.
I had no idea what I’d done wrong.
I had thought it yesterday too—this cat had a pretty terrible personality.
“You came again? Why do you keep visiting me?”
“Spiiii—”
“I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”
The cat lightly crossed the room and hopped onto my bed.
Then it plopped onto my thigh. My leg warmed instantly.
“You’re not supposed to be on the bed…”
Anna would definitely get mad.
I slowly moved my stiff arm, trying to push the cat away.
But when my hand approached its nose, it suddenly licked my palm.
“Ah! That tickles! Why do you keep licking—huh? Wait. My arm is moving better again?”
Was this cat also manipulating aura or something…?
The cat pretended not to notice anything, licking its own paw.
I stared suspiciously at it.
White and yellow fur, jewel-like blue-violet eyes.
Small, adorable, fragile-looking.
I had been thinking this since yesterday—its appearance reminded me of someone.
“Don’t tell me… Third Prince, Your Highness?”
The more I looked, the more suspicious I became.
Besides—witches always had cats, didn’t they?
Though I’d heard witches usually had black cats, not white ones.
Still, technically speaking, the Third Prince wasn’t a witch, so…
“…Are you really His Highness?”
“Spiiii—! Spiii! Spiiii—!”
The cat replied hastily, saying all sorts of things.
Naturally, I understood none of it.
All I could tell was that it had tiny grain-sized front teeth inside its mouth.
“…So you are His Highness?”
“Spiiii—!”
“Why did you turn into a cat?”
“Spiiii—!”
“…Is that a no?”
Talking to an animal that couldn’t speak human language—what was I even doing?
After a few more tries, I gave up.
The cat simply stared at me with an unreadable expression, then suddenly wedged itself under the blanket.
“Wah! What are you doing? Get out! Anna’s going to see!”
I struggled to get the cat out, but it licked my bare foot first.
“Ah! That tickles!”
I curled my leg up quickly to escape.
Then I realized—my weak leg was moving lightly, like a feather.
“Spiiii—!”
The cat crawled out and proudly shouted at me.
Its chest puffed out as it chattered away, clearly bragging.
“Are you a magic cat?”
“Spiii!”
The cat answered proudly, looking very satisfied.
I still understood nothing, but… it was probably saying yes.
“That’s amazing!”
“Spii!”
I clapped my hands and praised it in a cheerful tone.
My dogs back home would go wild with happiness when I praised them like that.
Sure enough, the cat puffed up with confidence.
“…So you are the Third Prince?”
“Spiiii—!”
…Apparently not.
The cat looked extremely displeased, smacking the blanket with its chubby tail.
It complained endlessly in squeaky noises.
“Sorry. I just don’t understand what you’re saying.”
It kept explaining anyway.
But after I still didn’t get it, it scratched its nose in frustration, then hopped off the bed like it was going somewhere.
“Spii!”
