Chapter 36
The feel of muscle under her hand—not the soft jelly of a cat’s paw—was too much for her to resist.
“Sharing a bedroom in the first place is the problem!”
Suppressing her instincts, Rosé rolled over and shouted in her mind.
Before even talking about sharing a bed—or worse, sleeping pressed up against each other—wasn’t it already wrong for a man and woman to be left alone in a locked bedroom?
“Don’t tell me… everyone still sees me as a cat?”
Neither Noah, who slept so casually beside her, nor the maids who found it perfectly natural that she shared a room with him, seemed to care. Even Jonathan, who should have objected the loudest, hadn’t said a word.
“What if I ended up having improper thoughts about Noah?”
Everyone might think there was little difference between a pretty cat turning into a pretty woman—but Rosé thought otherwise.
“It’s because they haven’t seen Noah’s chest up close!”
Back when she was a cat, no matter how strong and broad Noah’s body was, the most she could do was knead him while swallowing back her drool. But now? Now she could do much more.
“I don’t have claws or fangs anymore, but that makes this even more dangerous!”
Not that she was saying she would do anything… but still.
Seriously, did he train his chest separately or something?
Rosé turned onto her side again, snatched up a pillow from the floor, and hugged it to her chest.
“…I should just sleep.”
And she forced herself to close her eyes.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask for a separate sleeping arrangement.”
She didn’t know how long Noah intended to keep her hidden, but for Christina’s sake if nothing else, this wasn’t right.
As she lay there with her eyes shut, her thoughts wandered.
“If only I could freely change back into a cat…”
Another sigh escaped.
Everything else seemed manageable—she could protect Noah’s position, carve out her own life afterward, and live well enough. But the thought of eventually having to part ways with him left her unreasonably regretful.
“Where else would I find such a handsome man?!”
She rolled over again to face Noah, admiring his beauty as usual, yet her restless heart refused to calm down.
“Noah will be fine… won’t he?”
Gazing at the sleeping Noah, Rosé slowly raised her hand to his cheek.
His hand had often cupped her face, but hers had never cupped his. It felt strange to have the roles reversed.
“Why is his skin so soft for a man?”
Unlike his calloused, slightly rough hands, his face was perfectly smooth, not a single trace of stubble.
Not a single flaw anywhere.
In awe, Rosé let her hand wander across his features, caressing every line of his face.
The more she looked, the more unbelievable it seemed that a face like this wasn’t the protagonist’s. Even knowing, it still shocked her.
“Even his brow ridge is perfect.”
Though Noah was deeply asleep, tension lingered around his brows. Rosé sighed lightly and smoothed the area with her fingertips. At once, his expression softened in relaxation.
“Will Noah really be alright without me?”
He should be. With a lovely wife by his side, finding peace, he shouldn’t ever frown in his sleep again.
…No, he must be fine, and that’s how it would be.
Even so, when she left the palace, she hoped Noah would feel at least as reluctant to part with her as she did with him.
“Argh! Fine, I’ll just find an even more handsome man!”
Rosé grumbled to herself.
Maybe it was the early hour, but in her mind she pictured Noah smiling casually and waving her off, and just that image annoyed her.
Even though she knew full well no man more handsome than Noah could possibly exist, she still muttered the words and rolled back over.
But sleep didn’t come. For a long while, she simply blinked into the dark, staring blankly.
“Rosé…”
Noah mumbled, turned over, and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“Noah, stop. What if someone sees?”
Not that anyone could see, but still—it was more than enough to cause misunderstandings.
This wasn’t right. Rosé tried to wriggle free, but the more she struggled, the tighter Noah’s arms held her.
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll scold him properly.”
Resigning herself, Rosé sighed deeply and muttered.
This wasn’t right. She was sure of it. Yet, the moment she decided that, her eyelids—so light before—suddenly grew heavy.
The steady thump of Noah’s heart against her back lulled her into drowsiness.
“This is bad. I must’ve gotten used to falling asleep to this sound.”
With that thought, Rosé surrendered to sleep without resistance.
“Rosé…”
Half-waking for a moment, Noah pressed his face against the nape of her neck—still carrying the warm, sunlit scent she had as a cat—and drifted back into deep slumber.
* *
The next morning, Rosé was thoroughly scolded by Jonathan, who visited their room early.
“Lady Rosé, please show proper respect to His Majesty. An unknown beast-woman must not speak to him so familiarly.”
“…Mm… yes.”
It wasn’t about sharing a bed—it was about her speech.
She thought she had been using honorifics, even adding “Your Majesty,” but perhaps it still sounded too casual.
“Leave it.”
“Your Majesty.”
“I don’t care how Rosé addresses me, or what tone she uses.”
As usual, Noah was already up, dressed neatly, and said he didn’t mind in the slightest.
Rosé couldn’t be entirely pleased, though—because Jonathan was right about one thing: Noah couldn’t keep her a secret forever.
And Noah gave no answer to that point. His lips were pressed tight as he fixed his appearance in the mirror, which said enough.
“Hey, Noah. I need to get married too, you know…?”
As much as she wanted to stay by his side, Rosé was no longer a cat. She couldn’t just remain like a pet.
She had even been considering what she might do to make a living once Noah was safe. The idea of being a lifelong secret was unacceptable.
So, conceding that Jonathan had a point, she decided to work on her speech. After all, she had spoken politely enough to Christina yesterday. With practice, she could manage.
Still, what she really wanted to bring up was their sleeping arrangement.
“By the way, about the bedroom…”
“What business do you have this early?”
“I thought these might be useful, so I brought more books. They’re about beastfolk.”
Strangely, Rosé could never find a chance to say what she wanted.
“With the person right here, do we really need books?”
“Well, Lady Rosé only just learned she’s beastfolk herself. Wouldn’t it help her to read? Don’t you think so?”
Jonathan’s insight was sharp as ever. Rosé hesitated—should she say yes or no?
“I think it’d help! …Sir.”
“You can speak casually with me. I only meant you should be careful with His Majesty.”
“Ah… right. I’ll read these later. Anyway, Jonathan, about the bedroom—”
She tried to steer the conversation back toward separating their sleeping spaces.
“What about the bedroom?”
“It has been warm lately. That must be what she means.”
“I’ll have the firewood schedule adjusted for the fireplace.”
“No, that’s not what—”
Her words were interrupted again. Every time she tried to bring up the bedroom—
“Was your pillow too flat?”
“The pillow’s fine. That’s not the prob—”
“I’ll have new pillows prepared just in case.”
The subject kept getting deflected. At first Rosé thought it was coincidence, but it wasn’t.
“The young lady will be arriving after breakfast. You’ll be less bored if you have something to read in the meantime.”
Noah deliberately cut her off every time she tried to finish.
