CHAPTER 49………………………………….
It was a beautiful cat, with pure white fur that gleamed, a sleek, streamlined body, and bright sky-blue eyes that shone like gemstones.
No—at first it was a cat.
Bang!
Whether it had been a beast-man form or not, the branch where the cat had been perched now held a boy with a snow-white face.
“Honestly…”
The boy, with short, snowy hair and gem-like blue eyes, was so beautiful that he immediately drew everyone’s gaze.
“Too childish. I can’t stand it.”
His words, poked out through pink lips, only registered after a moment.
Landing gracefully from a fairly high branch, the boy crossed his arms arrogantly and stared at Lin.
Wow. He’s really pretty.
Lin’s eyes grew dazed as she stared into the deeper speckles spreading across his irises.
How could someone’s eyes be that beautiful?
The light in the iris near the pupil looked like tiny sunflowers made of stars.
“You know, when you teased that fool at the banquet, I thought maybe you were okay…”
Lin, lost in the boy’s gaze, barely heard what he was saying.
She murmured to herself, thinking that the boy in front of her might even be prettier than the dresses she owned.
“The doll is speaking.”
“Was he just a fool?”
“What?”
That last sharp retort came from Kaidan.
“Who are you, and why are you picking a fight?”
Kaidan stood before Lin, his tone just as sharp and prickly as the cat-boy’s.
Momentarily dazed, Lin regained focus as another handsome face entered her line of sight.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
The white cat-boy glared at Kaidan before pointing at Lin.
“I’m talking to you, Lin Pegasus.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
The boy walked lightly toward her like a true feline, and Lin, almost mesmerized by his face, drew Kaidan’s disapproving gaze.
So he really does like handsome faces…
It seemed Kaidan’s earlier claim about wanting a handsome fiancé wasn’t just talk—Lin couldn’t take her eyes off the boy.
Biting his lip with a slightly protruding fang, Kaidan felt a twinge of unease.
“Do you really think you can see your family again?”
“You heard that?”
The cat-boy, embarrassed at being overheard, blushed slightly and snapped.
“What! I was here first! You came over and started talking all on your own!”
True to his feline nature, he never apologized, instead turning his indignation into a sharp, “meow-like” reprimand.
“So! Do you really believe that? Innocently?”
“What do you mean, ‘innocently’?”
Huh? Lin looked up at the cat-boy in confusion. He crossed his arms again, looking arrogant.
“You believe everything the adults told you!”
“The adults?”
“Yes! You’re looking forward to seeing your family again? Fool! The adults lied!”
“Lied…?”
The boy’s cat-like eyes shimmered with tears as he pouted in frustration.
Nearby, seemingly his attendants, beast-men who accompanied him, stepped forward to restrain him.
“Ah, young master! Why are you like this to Miss Pegasus?”
“Please calm down and return to our quarters. Something bad might happen.”
“Let me go!”
Meow!
The boy let out a sharp cry, shaking off the attendants’ grip and shouting again as if making sure Lin understood.
“Even I, from another family, know the truth—they lied to you. Your grandfather is dead!”
Finally understanding what he meant, Lin shook her head.
“No. Our grandfather went to the Eastern Continent.”
“Are you stupid? That’s the same as saying he’s dead!”
The boy’s attendants exchanged troubled looks between their master and Lin.
Heh heh.
The boy’s eyes, filled with injustice and heavy breathing, seemed to say: You should be angry too.
But Lin, standing her ground against those who saw her as a child deceived by adults, shook her head firmly.
“Our grandfather really did go to the Eastern Continent.”
No matter how foolish they thought she was, she was confident—because she knew the truth.
‘It was in the original work.’
Unable to say that outright, she spoke what she could:
“So grandfather will come back again.”
Heh.
Lin smiled with certainty, showing her white teeth.
“Ha! Fool! Fool! Why are you smiling at something like that? That’s all an adult lie! Your grandfather is dead!”
“Oh my, young master, why are you acting this way?”
Though it was just a child speaking, the attendants feared causing conflict with the Pegasus family and tried to restrain their master.
Oh dear. The young lady of the Pegasus family has such a high status. What is our young master even thinking? The acting head of that family is ruthless…
The attendants, worried the young master might upset the Pegasus lady, watched nervously.
But Lin’s attention was elsewhere.
“If he’s dead, we can’t meet again!”
She noticed the tear forming in his beautiful eyes.
The cat-boy, struggling against the attendants, looked heartbroken.
Lin quietly held the boy’s hand.
“Miss Pegasus, I am truly sorry. Our young master has been going through a hard time lately.”
“Perhaps he’s upset? Of course he can be. How can we make amends…”
Lin wasn’t angry as the boy’s attendants feared.
The sharp-tongued cat-boy, despite his stern words, looked sad and as if he was concerned about others.
Lin shook her head, signaling the attendants to leave, and approached the slouched cat-boy.
“You know…”
“…What?”
“What lie did you hear?”
The cat-boy had been furious, insisting that adults’ lies shouldn’t be trusted.
It wasn’t just him pointing out someone else’s foolishness—it felt deeply personal.
“….”
He bit his pink lip once, trembling, and spoke in a quivering voice:
“Everyone lied to me. My little sibling, Tutu, is dead… but that’s not true.”
“That’s because the young master cried for three days straight… oof!”
One of the young attendants, who had been talking thoughtlessly, got a sharp pinch from another attendant.
The cat-boy raised his eyes and glared fiercely at the attendant, pointing his finger.
“He said he saw Tutu, that she went over the wall to catch a rainbow. He said he saw it with his own eyes.”
“I… really saw it.”
“You think I’m a fool?”
Hiss!
The boy, furious, unsheathed his claws, threatening the lying attendant.
“Who’s Tutu?”
“My cat. White, small, and the cutest, just like me. We grew up together—my little sibling.”
His eyes glistened with tears as he spoke about his cat.
“Tutu’s been very sick lately. Not even fully grown, same age as my brother. But… she can’t eat properly…”
Sobs.
Seeing the tears finally fall, Lin held the boy’s hand.
The boy’s ears, part of his beast-man form, twitched with emotion.
His white cat ears trembled as he continued:
“I know. When a cat Tutu’s age gets that sick… I knew it would happen.”
His rain-soaked, desolate face suddenly twisted into one of fierce anger.
“But the adults lied. They said Tutu went to find the rainbow, and she’ll come back. So I waited, not knowing she was already buried… I didn’t even see her last moment.”
The boy, his flattened cat ears spread wide, glared at his attendants with venom. But when Lin gently wrapped her hand over his, his eyes softened, filled with tears again.
