Chapter 6
One last time.
Just one more attempt at escaping.
If I failed again this time, I decided I would simply stay at the Grand Duke’s residence and completely win everyone over to my side.
And I also needed to find out why Tionis had brought me here and was taking such meticulous care of me.
Why he wouldn’t let me escape.
It was true that everyone in the Grand Duke’s residence was fond of me—but the affection Tionis showed me was different in nature from the others’.
That much was certain.
‘Could it be that after seeing nothing but hideous monsters, he’s developed some kind of… unusual taste?’
I had seriously worried about that once.
But no—rather than that, it really felt like he wanted something specifically from me.
My animal instincts were screaming it at me.
That said, I’d have to keep living as a cat for a while longer…
‘Maybe I should turn back into a human first and get down on my knees?’
‘If I beg properly, he might spare me.’
‘I mean, think about all the aegyo I’ve done so far.’
‘If he told me to live as a cat for a certain number of hours every day, I could do it.’
‘Just not all day like this—seriously…’
In my head, I ran through every possible scenario I’d have to face if this escape attempt also failed.
Then, after spending the entire night wide awake, I tried to escape again—this time under cover of darkness.
‘You idiots. If you hadn’t connected the step ladder to the vanity, I wouldn’t have been able to open the door.’
Originally, the doorknob was far too high for me to reach no matter how much I jumped.
But thanks to the little staircase they’d placed next to the vanity, opening the door was no longer difficult.
Of course, one might ask why I didn’t just transform into a human to open it—but that would leave me completely naked.
If I ran into someone like that, the situation would spiral completely out of control.
Considering everything, this was the better option.
I carefully slipped out of the room, making sure not to make a sound.
In fact, there was no one guarding the door at night.
After all, I’d never once come out at night before!
Keeping low, I crawled forward cautiously, slinking along the corridor.
Having short legs was actually a blessing at times like this.
So far, no one had ever noticed my faint movements like this.
‘…Ah. Except Tionis.’
As expected of the Grand Duke of Kabelug.
He always appeared without a sound, startling me every time.
Every escape attempt had failed because of Tionis…
Still, he was human. Surely he’d be asleep at night.
If I played it right, maybe I could succeed this time.
‘Come to think of it, what kind of animal’s blessing does the Kabelug family have?’
It had to be something far more impressive than a tiger.
Maybe they were blessed by some incredible beast—that would explain how he always caught me so easily.
…No! This wasn’t the time for that.
With no one around, my thoughts were wandering. I shook my head to clear them.
The fact that there were no knights in the corridor meant that there must be a large number guarding the main gate.
My priority was to get outside quickly and quietly and climb over the wall.
But, as always, luck was never on my side.
Not long after leaving my room, a faint sound pricked at my ears, and instinctively, all my movements and thoughts froze.
‘…Something’s rustling behind me?’
A strange sense of dread crept over me.
It was a sound so small that human ears wouldn’t catch it—
So faint that I wouldn’t have heard it at all if I’d still been in my room.
Only in this silent, empty corridor, with a cat’s sensitive hearing, could I barely pick it up.
And for some reason, the sound kept getting closer.
Close enough that whoever it was would appear as soon as they rounded the corner.
‘Don’t tell me… Tionis is up?’
Beyond that corner was Tionis’s bedroom.
In the Grand Duke’s residence, the only person who could hide their presence this well was probably Tionis.
If I got caught now, my final escape attempt would end in complete failure.
My body, which had been stiff just moments ago, moved on instinct.
I knew the layout of the corridors like the back of my paw now, so I quickly slipped behind a nearby storage cabinet.
Just in case, I covered my ears with my paws and curled my tail tightly inward.
I held my breath, covering my mouth so even my breathing wouldn’t give me away.
Please… don’t notice me, Tionis.
‘…Huh?’
But the person who appeared from around the corner wasn’t Tionis.
Nor was it any of the servants I was familiar with.
It was a completely unfamiliar man—
One with such an ordinary face that it was hard to remember, topped with a thick, scruffy beard.
And at last, I understood where that irritating rustling sound had come from.
Rustle—rustle—
The man was picking up valuable items from the corridor one by one and carefully stuffing them into a black bundle.
A black bundle…
No matter how you looked at it, he was a thief.
‘Don’t tell me… this is the intruder from outside?’
The rumors among the servants about someone stealing items night after night.
The external intruder the entire Grand Duke’s residence had been desperately searching for.
The one Tionis had allegedly threatened to tear limb from limb and hang at the front of the estate.
That had to be him.
I didn’t know how Tionis—who caught me so easily—had failed to find this guy, but…
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, anger flared up inside me.
‘So you’re the reason I couldn’t even reveal that I’m human and had to keep pretending to be a cat!’
I completely forgot my original purpose for coming out into the corridor.
All I could think about now was catching this man.
If not for him, I wouldn’t have been forcibly held by Tionis and made to wear a pink polka-dot bib.
I wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of making fake “bathroom evidence” with water every night so the maids wouldn’t worry.
And most of all, I might’ve already gone south to live somewhere warm by now.
…Well, to be fair, it was very warm here, and the people were incredibly kind.
The only problem was having to live as a cat.
I stamped my front paw.
‘He’s human. There’s no way he can see as well as I can in a dark corridor.’
My blue eyes gleamed, piercing through the pitch-black darkness.
“Meow.”
“…W-What was that?”
At the eerie cry, the man flinched violently.
That’s right—you wouldn’t have heard that an animal lived here.
And certainly not one that roared so ferociously!
While the thief looked around in confusion, I silently leapt onto the top of the cabinet.
Whoosh!
“Ack!”
I’d aimed to rake his face, but the man was faster than expected—and my short legs worked against me.
My claws only grazed his shoulder.
“W-Who’s there?!”
Even so, he clutched his shoulder, unable to scream properly.
Startled, he dropped the black bundle he’d been holding like it was his life. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.
Panicking even more, he hastily grabbed it again and pressed himself flat against the wall.
‘It’s already too late.’
With a confident grin, I placed my paw firmly against the door.
Attacking him had only been to throw him into confusion—my real objective lay elsewhere.
Without making a sound, I dashed straight to the door of Tionis’s room.
I extended my claws and scratched the door wildly.
A few scratches were nothing—after all, I’d found the thief he wanted so badly.
“Aow! Aaaow!”
I let out a deafening howl that could’ve shaken the entire estate.
‘Tionis! Come out! The thief you’ve been looking for is right here!’
Bang—the door flew open.
I bared my fangs and looked up at Tionis—
…or rather, I tried to.
Tionis moved at a speed so fast that even my enhanced dynamic vision couldn’t follow it.
In an instant, he was behind the thief and had already caught him.
It was so fast that even the captured thief was too shocked to say anything, nearly collapsing to the floor.
And then, for some reason—
“…Huh?”
When I came back to my senses, Tionis was also gripping the scruff of my neck.
