Chapter 1
The Villainous Family’s Munchkin
Marianne ran straight ahead, oblivious to the hem of her dress being soaked in muddy water.
The high heels she was wearing for the first time in twenty years had long since come off.
As she pushed through the underbrush tangled with vines, fresh red scratches had formed on her feet, bleeding profusely.
Thud—!
A magic projectile filled with malice flew from behind, narrowly grazing Marianne’s side.
“…Ugh.”
The impact made her ears ring, but she refused to let go of the note clutched in her hand.
The first line on the note seemed to have predicted the situation with a sorrowful sentence.
[You must run away, Miss Marianne.]
“…Becky.”
Marianne’s pink lips curled inward, turning nearly as pale as paper.
If she hadn’t done that, her vision would have blurred, and she wouldn’t have been able to read the note any further.
“I left you alive until your coming-of-age ceremony, just in case… and yet, you still embarrass me to the very end, Marianne.”
Even when her family shouted at her, berated her, and locked her in a cramped room, she had believed in them to the very end.
But that trust had shattered completely today.
She had thought her father, the count, would at least treat her like his daughter, even if he was stern. But that too had been a delusion.
Perhaps it was fortunate enough. Wrinkles appeared near his eyes, and his voice, dripping with disdain, was filled with unmistakable anger.
“Father, I told you. The disgrace of our family should have been erased long ago.”
By her father’s side, her older brother had sneered while conjuring magical arrows.
And the last image Marianne had of her family was her father turning his back, as if he never wanted to see her again.
She didn’t have time to think—Becky had shouted, “Run, Miss!”
Even with her chest tightening from breathlessness, Marianne continued reading the note without pause.
[…If you go this far, there is a hidden portal.]
[The coordinates for the portal are…]
Without Becky, her head would have surely been separated from her body.
Since the journey south was treacherous, Becky had suggested using a portal. Marianne had spent all her secretly saved money to purchase one.
The southern region the portal led to was mostly farmland. By helping with work and earning wages, she could survive.
‘At least it will be far better than living for twenty years being scorned.’
Just a little…
Just a little more…
Desperately, Marianne ran toward the distant portal.
[I wish you luck, Miss.]
[…]
The letters below were splattered with so much blood it was impossible to read.
Dark red blood. Seeing it, Marianne couldn’t hold back any longer and crumpled the note.
Tears streamed down her face as she reached for the portal.
‘…Got it!’
At that moment, a magically conjured arrow grazed her pinky finger.
The side of her pinky split open, and blood gushed, but Marianne barely noticed.
In the blink of an eye, her surroundings changed.
“Huff, huff…”
She collapsed, panting heavily.
Having bled from her ankle for some time, her head spun, and she buried her face in the unfamiliar ground.
But something felt strange.
The ground felt icy cold against her face.
Even with all the blood, she didn’t feel any pain.
Panicking, Marianne lifted her head.
“Why… is it a snowfield?”
The south was supposed to be warm enough to farm year-round, wasn’t it?
She didn’t even have time to analyze the completely unexpected scenery.
Her body felt impossibly heavy, and her eyelids drooped.
Marianne’s eyes slowly closed, her body leaning forward, and her vision sank.
But she didn’t feel anything as she fainted.
Hmm…
I must have collapsed somewhere freezing.
Now, the warmth around me is so intense that I feel like stripping off my fur clothes.
It even feels like someone is gently stroking my back… but maybe that’s just my imagination.
“Awake?”
“Huh?!”
Hearing an unfamiliar voice, I wanted to respond, but a strange sound came out of my mouth instead.
…‘Awung?’ What on earth is that sound?
I glared at the man in front of me.
But somehow, he was huge—like a giant—and his face was far above me.
“No matter what… it’s too much to puff up your fur at someone who saved you.”
His eyes drooped, seemingly shocked, but I couldn’t see that from my perspective.
Looking around quickly, I realized I was standing on top of a massive pile of papers… on a desk.
Right. No matter how you looked at it, it was a desk, and there was no way a person could be sitting on such a huge desk.
And the fact that such a huge person existed was absurd!
…Could it be.
My head dropped.
Oh no.
On the paper pile, I saw a small, chubby white fluffball.
I blinked in disbelief, even though I could see everything clearly.
Please, please.
On the opposite side, there was a full-length mirror.
And in it, undeniably…
A cat with puffed-up fur and a tail, eyes wide and blue.
Right. I had turned into a cat.
A white cat with black markings.
Though it tried to look threatening, its legs were so short it wasn’t intimidating at all.
I pressed my forehead against the pink jelly pads of my paws.
‘Was I really that badly hurt?’
When my brother—or rather, the one I hated enough not to call him that—had returned badly injured, his body would change for self-healing.
Though he turned into a tiger, not a small cat.
The jelly pads I touched were bandaged, swollen from injury.
Probably from the magic arrow that hit me while I reached into the portal.
My hind legs were similarly wrapped; the bandages made the legs look twice as thick.
I wanted to lick the stiffened fur around my front paws but restrained myself because I was still human inside.
Instead, I bowed deeply to the man in front of me. He must have saved and treated me.
“Awung.”
Thank you.
But… who are you?
I looked up at him with that gaze.
Unfortunately, my feelings probably didn’t come across.
Or perhaps he just wanted to have a staring contest.
His large hand covered my mouth as he stared at me, making me embarrassed enough to look away first.
He had black hair, golden eyes, and wore an extraordinary black uniform.
‘This feels so familiar.’
Though it couldn’t be.
He was clearly a high-ranking noble, but that was all I could tell.
I was nearly abandoned by the Fontine family, and my activities were limited to the library.
Even then, I was locked in a tiny room whenever guests came.
I looked away and noticed the window behind him.
Snow was still falling—clearly, the coordinates were off.
I needed to stay calm.
‘Calm down, Marianne.’
I brushed my head with my paw, then licked the unbandaged swollen pads.
This was a common behavior cats did for mental stability.
Marianne Fontine.
Today should have been my most blessed coming-of-age ceremony.
But in the Fontine household, blessed by the tiger deity, I was a cat.
A munchkin cat with short legs.
As if waiting for this moment, the man drew his sword.
He had waited for today to humiliate me.
In the end, there was no twist.
A white-and-black munchkin cat was easy prey.
With Becky’s help, I successfully avoided my family’s eyes and bought a portal.
After the ceremony, I had planned to leave with her to settle in the south…
But all I had left was the blood-soaked note.
Even that disappeared after I fainted.
‘Becky… I’ll survive, no matter what. I promise.’
After grooming my fur, my thoughts cleared.
Thanks to Becky, I was alive.
Though I misused the portal coordinates, I had escaped death, and could use the portal again to reach the south.
‘Yeah, I haven’t completely failed yet.’
I checked the portal mark on my hand—there was still one chance left.
The man in front of me not only saved me when I collapsed but also treated me.
He looked a bit cold, though.
I looked at him again.
‘But he seems to think I’m completely a cat.’
From the way he was stroking me and his expression… yep.
If not, he wouldn’t be staring at me with such affection upon first meeting.
