Chapter 11
Before I knew it, Ian had relaxed his expression and was poking the cat’s cheeks.
“She says she doesn’t want to tell.”
As Ian pressed my cheek, it squished in like a soft cake. Maybe it was from eating all kinds of desserts since coming here—my once thin body had become noticeably soft and plump.
I got kidnapped and all that happened was that I got chubbier.
This cat kidnapper.
Still, it felt unfair. I couldn’t even finish a single cookie in one sitting.
Right now, thanks to Ian and Marie, I was slowly increasing both the variety and amount of food I could eat.
But strangely, anything that wasn’t dessert just wouldn’t go down well.
Then why was I getting so chubby? If I was going to gain weight, I’d rather just grow into an adult cat.
For some reason, I felt a bit wronged.
‘When did I ever say I didn’t want to tell?’
“Just now.”
He kept pressing my cheeks, apparently enjoying how soft they felt.
‘Not that—I don’t have a name!’
I crossed my short little front paws into an X shape.
It didn’t look like an X at all.
“No name…?”
‘Yeah.’
I nodded.
Oh. He understood. That’s amazing. How did he get that?
No matter how you looked at it, it just looked like two cotton balls pressed together. Maybe if you looked closely, it kind of resembled an X.
Ian’s expression stiffened for a moment.
Allen asked again, clearly flustered.
“No name?”
‘Yeah. None.’
But it hadn’t caused any problems. I’d lived just fine without one so far.
I shrugged.
“What kind of name would be good?”
As if nothing had happened, Ian’s expression softened again, his eyes curving slightly.
“Tell me what you want. Kkamangi? Blackie? Pippi? Malsook?”
‘Oh my god. Where did Malsook even come from? How does your brain come up with names that probably didn’t even exist in my past life…’
“Or how about Nero?”
A black cat named Nero?
What am I, the main character of some famous song? How does coincidence work like this?
I didn’t even bother fixing my stiff expression.
‘If you pick one of those as my name, I’m cutting ties with you. I’ll never see you again.’
His gaze lingered on me briefly before drifting away.
“That pouty look and those eyes are pretty cute. If I name you one of those, will you look at me like that every time I call you?”
How is this a cute expression?
Could you not distort the meaning of “cute”…?
‘Mom, he’s weird.’
He must be a pervert.
Again, I respect preferences—but please don’t direct them at me.
I stared at Ian with a cold, unimpressed look.
“At this rate, it seems she’ll just ignore you completely.”
‘That’s right. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear and walk past you like a stranger.’
“Really? That’s a shame.”
“I think it would be fine if you were ignored by the cat, Ian. It might be good for you to taste the bitterness of life…”
Allen muttered quietly.
“Allen, what was that? You want to spar with me tomorrow morning?”
Ian raised one corner of his lips.
“I’ll be quiet.”
Allen shut his mouth immediately. Ian glanced at him with satisfaction before turning back to me. Silence filled the room for a moment.
“Hm…”
Tap. Tap, tap.
The sound of long, straight fingers tapping the desk echoed steadily in the office.
“The name…”
After finishing his thoughts, he stopped tapping.
“The name will be… Ariel. Let’s go with Ariel.”
‘Yeah. I like it.’
Satisfied, I nodded and buried my head into his hand. I was so sleepy I couldn’t help it—my head drooped and my eyelids fell shut.
Ariel was definitely better than Malsook or Blackie.
Ian gently stroked my neck and back as I leaned against him. My fluffy black fur parted under his touch and then settled back into place.
“Ariel…?”
Allen asked, looking like something was seriously wrong.
‘Has he finally lost his mind?’
From Allen’s perspective, it wasn’t strange. The cat didn’t know, but “Ariel” meant ‘beloved beastfolk’ in the ancient beast language.
Love—and his lord—didn’t belong in the same sentence, no matter how many times you thought about it.
“Allen. That look in your eyes is quite disrespectful.”
“It’s not.”
“I’m normal.”
“Ah… yes.”
Allen replied without a soul.
‘People who say they’re normal are never normal.’
He kept that thought to himself.
Thinking he might need to find a doctor to fix his lord’s mind, Allen turned his gaze to the stack of documents.
And that very thought would later lead to him sparring with Ian—“sparring,” meaning getting beaten to the brink of death.
“Ian, the former head has ordered that you host the Peace Day festival.”
“I’m the head now, so I should.”
“Isn’t it normal for the former head to help during the early days? I’m the one suffering down here.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
‘It’s already Peace Day season. The first day of the new year isn’t far off.’
Peace Day.
The anniversary of the peace treaty.
It sounded grand, but it was really just a shortened name.
As the name suggested, it commemorated the day representatives from each region came together and ushered in an unprecedented era of peace—so it was celebrated with the largest festival of all.
Since the treaty, aside from minor disputes, wars had noticeably decreased.
So people welcomed the first day of the new year with a grand festival.
Nobles attended the Peace Day party hosted each year by one of the four ruling families, while commoners joined festivals held in the free city throughout the week.
The host had to invite all nobles, even those they disliked.
And invited nobles had to attend unless they were formally excluded—even if they hated each other.
Because the benefits of attending far outweighed those of staying away.
In fact, it was the only event where nearly all nobles gathered.
Not attending meant social isolation.
The party would be talked about all year long.
Naturally, beastfolk gathered for various reasons—some to climb the social ladder, some for business, some just to eat, drink, and enjoy.
But what most people hoped for was romantic love.
“I heard the hyena heir and the eagle lady fell for each other at the ballroom?”
“I know! Their photo was in the continental news—they looked so sweet.”
“Oh my.”
“I wish I could experience a love like that.”
With so many beautiful and handsome beastfolk gathered, and the lively atmosphere, it was only natural that love blossomed.
‘Meeting at the party, then fireworks, then a ball—what a perfect date course.’
Since many nobles stayed in nearby townhouses afterward, it was easy to continue relationships.
“I heard a pigeon beast and a crow beast are getting married!”
“Oh my, how is that even possible?”
“It’s love that transcends everything.”
There were so many couples that people even said relationships formed on Peace Day would last a lifetime.
‘Celestine will love this.’
She always dressed like a noble peacock—elegant yet flashy—and attended the party.
She always said she’d become someone far above me… but honestly, she hadn’t done much.
Objectively, she was beautiful—very beautiful.
But with her high standards, she’d never dated anyone.
Yes. She was famously single.
‘Men must have confessed, but she rejected them all for trivial reasons.’
Obviously.
And then she’d take it out on me.
‘I want to go to the festival this year too.’
Even if it was just to laugh at Celestine.
‘But if I actually went, I’d probably just freeze and do nothing.’
Because of illness or surveillance, I had never attended any festival before.
But maybe this time…
‘I’d rather go to the free city than the nobles’ party.’
Maybe they’d have fried chicken and beer.
If not, at least beer.
The taste of beer from my past life lingered in my mind.
‘I’ll beg Marie to take me to the central city. If not… maybe I can sneak out at night.’
“Why are you smiling so slyly?”
Ian poked me, popping my happy thoughts like a balloon.
‘Sly? I’m smiling warmly!’
“Ariel, even so, you can’t run away.”
‘I’m not running away. Why would I leave a place that feeds me and keeps me warm?’
…Unless there’s somewhere better.
His hand stroked my back gently, warmth spreading through me.
‘If you think I’ll fall asleep just because you’re petting me…’
…This body really is useless. Always sleepy.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
Ian watched Ariel’s breathing rise and fall as she slept, then wiped away his soft expression, returning to his usual icy demeanor.
“Allen. Did you know the Simond family had a black cat?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Ian fell into thought.
‘Why didn’t they even give it a name? And when we attacked, they ran away without it.’
It felt like they were trying to erase its existence entirely.
As if it shouldn’t exist in this world.
He finally spoke, his voice now cold and sharp.
“Investigate Ariel and the Simond family. Everything.”
