‘Your Honor, I swear I’m innocent. I had absolutely no intention of touching that area on purpose.’
Even with the body of a cat, perhaps because she still had a human soul, Rose dreamed that she was standing trial and defending herself in court.
The key issue? Whether or not she had intentionally touched Noah’s private area.
‘Absolutely not! I swear on my chest! …I mean, on my heart!’
Okay, yes, his thigh had felt so firm—like solid wood—that she’d been amazed by the muscles and couldn’t help but knead it excitedly, but there had been no ulterior motive!
‘Besides, what could it even mean if a cat touches someone there? It’s meaningless!’
As she passionately defended herself, Rose suddenly began to feel sad about her situation.
Overwhelmed by emotion, she had been shouting at the top of her lungs in this bizarre courtroom—until she finally woke up.
‘What a ridiculous dream.’
It was nonsense, she knew. Still… maybe it was a reflection of some suppressed desire.
Stretching languidly, Rose rolled on Noah’s lap.
‘How long have I been sitting like this?’
She didn’t need a clock to know quite some time had passed.
But Noah—he was still in the exact same position he’d been in before she fell asleep.
He continued reading the report in front of him, gently stroking her absentmindedly but never lifting his eyes from the papers.
Whatever was written in that report, he was reading it with great care. He was even making notes and occasionally issuing orders to Jonathan, who stood by.
‘Is there such a diligent tyrant in this world?!’
The more she watched him, the more it was clear: Noah wasn’t a tyrant.
‘Who gives gloves to gardeners so they don’t hurt their hands? What kind of tyrant does that?’
No, he wasn’t just not a tyrant—he was a good emperor. It was honestly unfair he was called one.
Rose wasn’t just biased. Even in the original novel, it was written that Noah had tried to be a good emperor—before he changed.
‘He must have felt so wronged…’
As she stared at him, thinking this, Noah suddenly spoke in a firm voice.
“No.”
Then, he pushed a plate of cookies to the edge of the desk. Apparently, he thought she was staring at them because she wanted to eat one.
His voice was cold, but the fact that he even paid attention to what she was looking at sent shivers down her spine.
So loved. So very loved. She didn’t know what to do with herself.
The steady ticking of the clock, the scratching of his pen, Noah’s calm breathing…
And beyond the open window behind him, warm sunlight and gently fluttering curtains—
The scene was so peaceful it made her drowsy, even though she had just woken up.
Like… like when you visit Grandma’s house during summer break. After stuffing yourself with delicious food and curling up in her arms for a nap…
She remembered someone describing peace that way in a past life.
She hadn’t understood it then. But now, sitting drowsily on Noah’s lap, she thought she finally got it.
But Rose deliberately stood up, stretched, and gave her body a shake—trying to jolt herself back to focus.
No time to be napping thanks to Noah’s love. First, I need to figure out who arrived six months ago.
Sitting back down gracefully, Rose began to think hard.
That time frame stood out—it was when things had clearly gotten worse.
It seemed more likely that someone new had joined six months ago and started causing trouble, rather than someone already in the palace changing behavior.
‘Maybe I should check servant contracts or something?’
If someone new had joined around that time, there would definitely be a record.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty. It’s almost time for lunch. What would you like to do?”
“Bring it here.”
Rose, hearing Evelyn’s voice as she asked about lunch, suddenly recalled something Evelyn had said before.
‘Did Madam Green really talk to him about it?’
Who had Madam Green spoken to?
Rose had a hunch that Madam Green was someone higher-ranking than the other maids.
Evelyn had said she passed on the request to Madam Green, and on the day Rose was found, Evelyn had followed Madam Green’s instructions.
‘Is she the head maid?’
Madam Green had red hair neatly tied back and seemed fairly old.
Given Evelyn had spoken to her about suggestions, she was clearly a superior.
But could Madam Green have spoken directly to Noah?
No… probably not.
Noah was the emperor, after all.
No ordinary head maid would dare mention servants’ meals to the emperor.
Madam Green hadn’t even shown up since Rose returned to the palace.
She didn’t seem to be Noah’s personal maid either.
Even Evelyn and Amelia—who were around more often—weren’t particularly close with Noah.
So there was no reason to think Madam Green had that kind of relationship with him.
‘If Madam Green reported something, but it didn’t reach Noah… then someone between her and Jonathan must be suspicious.’
Jonathan was absolutely trustworthy.
He was close enough to Noah to take Rose out of the palace on his own authority.
‘Oh… right. There was someone who stood by Noah.’
Rose had thought Noah had no allies when everyone turned against him. But there was one.
Jonathan Wales.
He had stood by Noah to the end—and paid for it with his life.
‘Wales… And the barony title too, that was something Noah gave him, wasn’t it?’
Noah had helped his family, who were discriminated against for being foreigners, live with dignity.
Jonathan had repaid that debt with his life.
Though he often showed even less emotion than Noah, Rose realized now how loyal he was.
‘If I protect Noah, I’m not just saving him.’
Noah’s well-being wasn’t just tied to her peaceful life as a pampered cat.
If the emperor changed, even Evelyn or Amelia’s safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
‘Wow. That’s a lot of responsibility.’
Someone was clearly orchestrating a systematic embezzlement scheme.
‘The audacity of these people…’
To think they’d try to steal food under a so-called tyrant’s nose.
But then again…
‘They probably never questioned the tyranny.’
The real problem was the way Noah had been portrayed from the start.
People thought he was the kind of man who’d seize the throne from the crown prince and do much worse without batting an eye.
‘I need to figure out alternate exits if the window gets blocked.’
I will fix that image! Fired up again, Rose began dreaming of tomorrow’s escape plan.
* * *
But the next morning, what awaited Rose wasn’t a dramatic escape event.
[This is revenge, isn’t it? Hey! This is totally revenge, right?!]
She’d been wondering how long they’d let her be—turns out they were just giving her time to settle in.
Evelyn, who always said she must not leave the bedroom, suddenly picked her up early that morning.
Rose thought maybe she was being taken on a short walk.
‘Wait… the bathroom?’
But Evelyn carried her out of the bedroom and opened the door just to the left of it.
Inside was a large bathtub—and standing there, sleeves rolled up, was Amelia.
“You’re healthy enough to sneak out of the bedroom for a walk, so surely you’re healthy enough for a bath, right?”
Evelyn gave a bright smile, but there was a steely glint in her eyes that was definitely not normal.
Rose wondered if this was some kind of revenge—since cats usually hate baths.
Rose had never gotten wet since turning into a cat.
Sure, she’d been rained on during her street-cat days, but she’d always thought baths were unnecessary—she stayed clean without them.
It wasn’t until she stepped into a bowl of warm water that she realized…
It wasn’t about not needing to bathe. She just didn’t want to. And she’d used that as an excuse.
[AAAHHH!! I HATE WATER! NOAH!! SAVE MEEEEE!!!!]
