chapter 22
When I opened the cake box, instead of cake, there were dead fish with frozen, staring eyes piled on the plate.
“Meow!”
It was extremely bad for my mental health.
…At this point, isn’t this animal abuse?
I shivered all over and ran to Ian in a fit.
You thoughtless beast. If you were going to give me raw fish, at least slice it like sashimi. How am I supposed to eat a fish staring at me with those dead eyes? And what if a bone gets stuck in my throat? And who gives raw fish as a peace offering anyway?
This is basically declaring war.
A challenge, huh?
I was scared that these fish would haunt my dreams.
…It seemed that reconciling with the tigers was impossible; if anything, the emotional gap was only going to widen.
“Allen, it seems Ariel is really sulking.”
Ian said slowly, holding me in his arms. I thought I saw a faint look of triumph on his face.
Of course, Ariel, in a state of panic from the dead fish, couldn’t see that.
Allen spoke with a gloomy expression.
“I brought it eagerly, thinking you would like it. How sad.”
‘You thoughtless beasts, use your brains for once. I worked hard expecting dessert, and you give me the blood-dripping corpse of a mouse? And giving me raw fish to “console” me—what kind of mindset is that?’
‘And sorry, but I know it’s all an act. Why not just go full method actor? Might suit your temperament.’
I glared at Ian and Allen with dagger eyes.
‘Oh right, you were an accomplice too.’
I kicked Ian’s chest hard, then dashed to the desk.
“Ugh. Ariel, that hurts.”
Even though it didn’t.
It was a flying kick from a third-degree Taekwondo black belt.
“Ariel-sama, looking at me with those eyes makes my delicate heart unsettled.”
Allen looked at me with a painfully wounded expression.
The cat didn’t back down and glared.
‘Delicate heart? What nonsense. A weak-hearted beast wouldn’t dodge a pen flying at 180 km/s just by moving its head.’
A delicate tiger? Never heard such nonsense.
It was utterly unreliable.
“Ariel, I like that look in your eyes.”
Where had the act of being hurt gone? Ian tilted a crooked smile at me.
Please, do not express that taste to me. Think it silently to yourself.
I looked at him with cold, disapproving eyes.
…Come to think of it, maybe that ridiculous tiger with his nonsense is better than that perverted one.
Ah, no—I hate both of them.
These annoying, weird tigers.
I had a feeling no larva dolls would survive today either.
‘Do they all read my mind or what?’
How do those annoying tigers always know my reactions? It was infuriating how they knew everything I would do and taunted me.
I’m in cat form—how easy is it to read a cat’s expression? Mari does it too, bringing me things I need.
Sitting on the cushion, I stared, lost in thought.
“Why are you like this, Cat-sama?”
Maybe my expression looked that serious, because Mari, who usually doesn’t speak when I’m deep in thought, asked cautiously.
I looked up at her.
‘Mari, do you have a vid-sphere?’
She gave me a pitiful look.
“Do you want some choux cream? But Ian-sama forbade it…”
‘No, that’s not it!’
Even when I protested, Mari looked at me sincerely sympathetic, as if it were her fault I couldn’t have choux.
‘…I thought Mari always knew my mind perfectly until just now.’
Apparently not.
Mari, who usually brings me exactly what I need and knows what I want to say, wasn’t understanding today.
‘…I really need that vid-sphere.’
Right. Let’s try writing with my tail. I focused all my attention on my tail, trying to form the “O” for the vid-sphere.
…But nothing happened.
My tail just swished left and right.
What’s with all those beastmen writing with their tails? Am I weird? Other beastmen can naturally write with their tails for communication. Why can’t I?
What’s different about me?
‘Hmm. Forget it.’
I gave up on writing with my tail faster than anyone else.
It’s true—quitting early is the best way.
Maybe it’s a divine sign: don’t try to communicate with others.
‘Mari, watch.’
“Yes. I’ll watch.”
She still looked at me with a slightly pitiful expression, thinking I was sad I couldn’t have choux. A complete misunderstanding.
‘Well, she’s watching anyway, so…’
I rolled on the floor once, then drew a square with my paw.
Then I tapped the air where I drew it and rolled again.
It was a perfect demonstration of a vid-sphere recording me and replaying it.
I looked proudly at Mari, satisfied with my explanation.
But Mari looked even gloomier. Dark clouds seemed to hover over her face. Soon, it looked like lightning might strike.
‘Did I explain it wrong? I think I explained it perfectly.’
“Do you want a snack? Ian-sama also forbade that…”
Mari trailed off gloomily. It looked like rain might pour soon.
‘No, that’s not it!!’
Of course, Ian did forbid snacks.
“Do you want cake…?”
‘No, not that!!’
I shook my head violently. How could a vid-sphere be interpreted as a snack? Even if I eat a lot of desserts, I’m not thinking only about sweets.
I only eat dessert because you put carrots in my food bowl, not because I only think about dessert. Starting and ending a meal with raw carrots—who wants that?
‘Okay, watch again.’
I looked at Mari seriously.
“Yes, Cat-sama. I’ll watch carefully.”
Mari stared intently, trying to make up for her earlier mistake. Her eyes seemed like they could shoot lasers.
A little scary, but I ignored it and drew a circle to explain the vid-sphere.
‘Understand?’
“Yes. So cute.”
She nodded as if she had discovered a truth.
I ignored that and explained again.
‘No, not that. Watch carefully.’
“Yes.”
I rolled again, pointed at the circle in the air, and rolled once more. This time, it was a circular vid-sphere, not the square one earlier.
“Do you want to roll on the bed?”
She tilted her head slightly.
Why couldn’t Mari, who always understood me, get it at such an important moment?
‘That’s good too, but watch again.’
I drew the circle, then jumped, pointed at it, and jumped again.
‘…This should be clear enough.’
This time, I was explaining the vid-sphere capturing my jumps.
“Is it… a vid-sphere?”
Mari said with an excited voice, like she got a speed quiz correct.
‘Yes!!!’
Finally, she got it.
A wave of pride and accomplishment washed over me. My fur stood on end from the satisfaction.
I enthusiastically applauded Mari for trying so hard to guess what I meant.
But let’s pretend I didn’t notice that, as a cat, my applause makes no sound.
‘No, how did she know that?’
I stared at the vid-sphere of me, thinking carefully.
From the side, it looked like the black fluff ball would be sucked into the sphere.
Now I understood why Mari hesitated to bring the vid-sphere. It contained several embarrassing recordings, including the garden runway…
‘When did she even record all this?’
Many of the videos’ timing was unknown, most of them teasing me by Ian.
‘Should I grab Ian by the collar and make him delete it?’
I looked at my paws, then back at the vid-sphere.
Was the footage Madame Hela saw previously one of these recordings? That would be extremely embarrassing.
But since I could watch my own recordings directly, I decided to overlook it this once.
I focused on watching the vid-sphere.
[Do you want choux?]
[Still not allowed.]
[Meow…]
Ah, right. That was the day after the dessert ban.
Even now, it’s infuriating. How could desserts be forbidden because of tooth decay?
If it were me, my teeth would have rotted anyway.
For choux, a pitiful expression is worth it.
In the vid-sphere, I was pretending with a pitiful look to get choux.
‘You can see exactly what I’m feeling from my expression. It’s readable.’
Ah, but how she knows my thoughts and desires, that isn’t written on my face. I really don’t know.
Still, it’s clear my expressions change drastically.
Watching myself in the vid-sphere felt strange but fun—like a variety show or an old diary.
I was performing flying kicks.
‘Maybe I’ll try.’
Seeing myself flying made my legs itchy to move.
I stopped the vid-sphere, looked away, and measured the distance to the desk and floor.
‘I think I can do it.’
Feeling capable of a safe landing, I leapt boldly with tremendous jump power.
Then I stretched my foot into the air.
Whack.
My foot hit Ian’s silvery bangs. His fringe.
Seeing him, I froze.
“Oh. 10 out of 10 points.”
Allen, standing nearby, clapped and cheered with genuine enthusiasm.
