Chapter 16
Noah and Roze’s carriage arrived at a lake where one could see from end to end in a single glance, the scene itself exuding a sense of calm.
At the water’s edge, a broad canopy and comfortable tables and chairs were already set up, as if they had been prepared well in advance.
The furniture looked too fine and expensive to be temporary—like a piece of the imperial palace had been moved there.
‘Impressive.’
It would be the perfect spot for taking pictures.
The still water, reflecting a sky as clear as glass and tinted a shade close to the heavens above, made for a stunning view. But even that couldn’t compare to Noah’s face.
Holding a white teacup against the flawless backdrop that screamed “SNS profile picture location,” Noah looked so unreal that it felt like staring at an AI creation.
Honestly, with looks like his, wouldn’t even serious mistakes be forgivable?
Mesmerized, Roze spent a long moment staring at Noah before wandering toward the lake.
Maybe there were fish. Curiosity itched at her, and she wanted to take a closer look.
But she hadn’t walked far before her neck tugged.
“Yaaang!”
Noah had pulled her back, sat her on a nearby chair, clipped a leash to her necklace, and tied it to the chair.
“Yaaang! (This is suffocating!)”
She understood he was worried, but it was stifling. She wasn’t about to run away again, so couldn’t he just untie it?
She even pawed at the leash, making a show of trying to rip it off, but Noah pretended not to notice.
In the end, Jonathan, watching from the side, spoke up.
“Perhaps it would be all right to untie her for a while?”
“No.”
“She won’t exactly jump into the lake, would she? I think it would be fine.”
No—cats mustn’t be let loose just anywhere. That was common sense.
But Roze wasn’t exactly an ordinary cat.
Even if Noah didn’t know she had a human inside, he was convinced she was clever.
‘Noah, please!’
She let her eyes glisten and fixed him with a pitiful stare, hoping he might relent. But Noah didn’t budge.
‘Tch.’
Accepting this as payback for running away yesterday and being dragged back, Roze hopped onto the chair, flopped onto her belly, and just sat there.
Still, simply gazing at the lake, the sky, and Noah against that backdrop was entertaining enough.
‘A spectacle. A masterpiece. A divine gift.’
She was immersed in the serenity and Noah’s beauty when—
“Kitty!”
Out of nowhere, a strange little girl popped up and scooped Roze into her arms.
Startled, Roze thought perhaps the child had just wandered in while on a stroll.
But then—
“Jonathan.”
Noah’s eyes snapped to the child, suddenly sharp and murderous.
“Jessie! No!”
A woman, the child’s mother, rushed out from the brush, clearly chasing after her daughter. Noah’s expression grew darker still.
His gaze sliced toward the surrounding knights like blades.
“Why is someone able to enter here?”
The child and her mother aside, at least one knight was going to pay dearly for this failure.
Noah might not have been a tyrant anymore, but when it came to Roze, he certainly wasn’t rational.
“The knight standing beside Roze. Was it you?”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty.”
Noah’s glare bored into the knight, who had indeed been at Roze’s side yet failed to stop the child’s hand. He looked ready to kill him.
Before blame could lead to imprisonment or execution, Roze had to intervene.
“You.”
“Waow!”
“Standing next to a human—”
“Meow! Nyaaang!”
Every time Noah opened his mouth, Roze cried loudly over him.
Her eyes had been fixed on Noah’s lips—so tempting to steal. The moment they parted, she meowed at full volume, drowning him out.
Maybe it was amusing to watch the emperor’s every word—words that could easily condemn a man—get blocked by a kitten’s cries.
The maids and knights stifled laughter, cheeks twitching, until one finally couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
The icy tension shattered.
Thankfully, Noah stopped trying to finish what he was saying.
“Go now.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you!”
The terrified mother scooped up her child and fled.
The knight beside Roze slumped with relief, and so did Roze.
‘That was close…’
Jonathan, who always looked at her with indifference, now fixed her with a puzzled stare—as if surprised at her “cleverness.”
* * *
The next day, after an uneventful return from their little outing, Roze woke refreshed.
With a bright smile, she saw Noah off and, after breakfast, threw herself into an elaborate performance—playing with a ball of yarn in the bedroom.
She was sending a message: Don’t worry, I’ll stay here and play like a good cat. You can leave.
After all, they’d even changed the latch on the windows. Surely, she wouldn’t be able to open it again.
“Should I step out and fetch the new sheets?”
“I need to get a vase too. Since we changed the latch, it should be safe, right?”
Still uneasy, the two lingered in the bedroom.
But they couldn’t just keep hovering there forever.
Besides, the latch wasn’t exactly complicated—it was just the kind that twisted to lock the two window frames together.
‘Oh, come on. As if a cat could twist a latch multiple times and open it.’
Pretending not to understand their words, Roze chased the yarn ball around, playing innocently.
‘Ha, I—’
Or so she intended. But she got too absorbed chasing the yarn, so much so that she didn’t even notice when they finally left.
She would’ve played until lunchtime if she hadn’t slammed her head into the bed leg.
‘Am I abandoning my human dignity?!’
Overwhelmed with self-disgust, she put one paw on her hip, the other on the bed leg, and shook her head.
‘Sigh… Even standing on two legs feels awkward now.’
Naturally—it was to be expected after becoming a cat.
Still brooding, she hopped up onto the window ledge.
‘This is nothing!’
They’d gotten careless, thinking one new latch would be enough. Gripping with her paw, she twisted it easily. The latch turned without issue, and just like that, she slipped out of the bedroom.
‘This time I’ll return without getting caught!’
Resolved, she leapt down into the garden.
‘No one here again.’
As usual, the area in front of Noah’s quarters was strictly controlled. Just like the other day, not a soul was around—not even a mouse.
‘Oh right, I heard there aren’t any mice here.’
Oliver knew everything that happened in the castle. He probably even knew who the food thief was.
‘I should’ve thought of that sooner—would’ve saved me some trouble.’
Still, despite the risk of getting lost again, she decided to head toward the woods behind the storage building—the route she had already explored once before.
As she padded along, snowflakes began to drift down onto her head.
‘See? I told you, it’s not time for the snow to melt yet.’
She walked lightly, reassured by the softly falling flakes.
But after a while—
‘…What was that?’
Roze’s back prickled. A sound.
No matter how she scanned the surroundings, there wasn’t a soul in sight. Yet she kept hearing crunching noises—footsteps in the snow that weren’t hers.
‘Did I mishear?’
At first, she thought it was her own footsteps echoing back. But no. They came from another direction.
Every time she made a crunch, another crunch followed. Step for step, mocking her.
‘A… ghost?’
Normally, she wouldn’t think such nonsense. But the snowfall swallowed every sound. It was too silent—no people, no birds, nothing.
Only those footsteps, echoing hers.
Her heart shriveled in her chest.
Thud.
Already on edge, she nearly leapt out of her fur when something heavy fell directly behind her with a loud crash.
