Chapter 19
“…El.”
Blink.
It was reality.
“Ariel. Are you okay?”
My eyes, still wide open and unfocused, couldn’t settle on anything.
Blink, blink.
I blinked several times to focus my vision. Right in front of me, Ian wore a worried expression.
It wasn’t the heat of the banquet hall, but the cold night wind brushing over my fur that sent a shiver down me.
Feeling the chill of the night wind brought me some clarity.
Ah. This isn’t that place from before.
It wasn’t the basement, nor the snowfield where no one had been.
The anxiety that had filled my heart drained away like sand slipping from an overturned hourglass. In its place, relief filled the void.
Ian gently stroked my fur.
‘Right. And there’s the tiger in front of me too.’
If Ian had wanted to kill me, he’d do it with his own hands. Would he let someone else do it?
The gentle warmth of his touch on my fur put my mind at ease. To feel safe with someone who once tried to kill me—it was something I never thought possible.
I tapped him lightly with my paw to get his attention.
“Ian.”
“Why?”
“Let’s go.”
I stepped toward the outside.
“You mean leave the banquet and go home?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ian remembered the expression of that fox beastman when he met them, a look of being ready to flee at any moment.
“Alright, let’s go home.”
Since the Cadellion mansion was her home, his words carried a wish for her not to run away.
By saying “home,” he wanted her to recognize that the mansion was naturally where she belonged.
Perhaps, if she tried to run, those words would linger in her mind and make her hesitate.
If such words could keep her from leaving, he could repeat them as many times as needed.
As he stroked my fur, the faint coolness radiating from me surrounded him. The invisible, refreshing aura eased his breath. It was the same aura I had felt from her since we first met.
A calming energy that quieted noisy minds and brought rest.
Ariel’s unique aura, which always felt warm even in the famously cold north, gave him chills of pleasure when it enveloped him.
‘Of course, even if you leave, I’ll find you.’
For a moment, his eyes sank into a dark blue.
Ian thought this to himself while stroking Ariel’s fur.
Yet Ariel, who had no way of knowing Ian’s thoughts, worried.
“Home.”
Home?
Where could she even define as her home? The house she had lived in during her previous life? Or the Simond mansion, where she had spent more time in the basement?
“Do I even have a home in this world…?”
Since when had that tiger’s home become my home?
Could that tiger’s home really be my home? I kept mulling over the simple words, “Let’s go home,” in my mind.
“Focus. This is just a storybook.”
To me, home was only the place I had lived in my previous life. More precisely, it had to be. Nothing else could be “my home.”
This is just a place to stay for a while. That’s all it is.
The thought repeated in my mind left a bitter taste in my mouth.
It had been a day that started well but ended in chaos.
“Cat-san, do you know what happens today, the last day of the Peace Festival?”
Mari gently brushed my fur.
“What’s happening?”
I looked at her with curious eyes.
“There’s a fireworks display. It’s the highlight of the Peace Festival.”
Mari put down the brush after finishing grooming my fur.
I looked at my fur, now neat, with satisfaction, unlike last time when it had been messy.
“How about going with Ian to see it?”
Fireworks. I had barely seen fireworks even in my previous life.
The mention of fireworks made Ariel’s eyes sparkle.
‘They said the fireworks here are incredible.’
Especially in the original story, the Peace Festival’s fireworks were described fantastically, so I wanted to see them even more.
“Fireworks…!”
Mari. Let’s go to the office right now.
I flung open the office door—though it was Mari who opened it, but let’s overlook that—and boldly ran to Ian. It took me a while to dash on my short legs, but it was obviously faster than walking.
As I ran toward him, he set aside the glasses he had been wearing and looked at me.
“Ian!”
“Fireworks!”
“Let’s go!”
Let’s go to the Free City festival. Release lanterns, watch fireworks, and drink beer!
I tugged on his pant leg, looking up at him.
“Looks like the little cat wants to go to Free City.”
Mari remarked perceptively.
“Let’s go, then.”
Ian, who had been organizing papers as soon as I entered the office, replied casually.
Allen glanced at the pile of work.
“Ian, what about your work…?”
“You don’t have to do it all today, do you?”
“Right…?”
“Then do it tomorrow.”
The matter of work was easily settled.
Yes. Today’s tasks could wait until tomorrow.
I nodded in approval at Ian’s excellent mindset.
Allen, who had been alternating glances between me and Ian, quickly decided to flatter Ian rather than oppose his firm stance.
“Yes. A wise choice. As the saying goes, postpone today’s work until tomorrow.”
I looked at Allen with a stunned expression.
“What are you doing? Let’s go.”
Allen, opening the office door to leave, turned back briefly.
‘Yes, it’s better to keep things peaceful.’
With a sigh, I stepped out the door that Allen had opened.
Thanks to that, the remaining two assistants reportedly worked until midnight in tears that day, then received a week of paid leave.
What a wonderful workplace.
Despite being night, Free City was as bright as day.
Being the last day of the Peace Festival, the streets were crowded with people. Unfortunately, because of the fireworks, lanterns weren’t released, so none floated freely in the sky.
All along the streets, merchants tried to attract customers, and joyful haggling could be heard between those trying to lower prices and those selling as-is.
“Mom, if I write here, will the tree god grant my wish?”
A child’s lively voice brimmed with pure curiosity. The innocence of the child brought a natural smile.
“Yes. If you write your wish here and pray sincerely to the tree god, it will grant your wish.”
The mother held the child’s hand firmly, speaking kindly. She also said something like, “Hold my hand tightly, so the tree god will grant your wish,” worried about losing the child.
Looking around, I saw a large willow tree at the center of the four-way intersection, surrounded by lights, shining brightly, with papers hanging from it where people had written their wishes.
“If you write your wish there, the tree god will make it come true.”
Ian whispered in my ear as he held me, his robe draped over him. His low voice tickled my ear.
‘You know, there’s actually no tree god.’
I wanted to tell him this, but I couldn’t speak in human form, so I just shook my head.
My childhood innocence was already gone.
Nevertheless, Ian and his chestnut hair led me to the wish tree.
“What wish will you write?”
Ian asked casually, looking at me. He looked so natural I almost forgot I was in human form. Did he really think I could write?
‘How could I write…? Does he really think I can write?’
I stared at him in disbelief.
Even if I was different from ordinary cats, surely he wouldn’t think I could write. Do normal tigers in the north even read and write?
“You’re a little cat. How could you write a wish, master?”
“Our cat is a genius, so she can. I raised her, after all.”
Ian wrote out the animal language alphabet from start to finish, like writing A to Z in English.
“Now, pick one letter at a time.”
Thanks to some sort of reincarnation patch, I understood the characters even though I had never studied the language. How fortunate.
I pointed to letters without hesitation, looking at Ian.
He copied each letter I chose onto the paper in front of him.
“Longevity.”
“Wealth and honor.”
“Peerless beauty.”
Three words were completed. While Ian wrote his own wish, I looked at the finished words with a satisfied expression.
‘Even if the tree god grants just these three words, I’d be content.’
Even knowing the tree god didn’t exist, I wanted to believe in it. I looked happily at the paper with the letters I had chosen.
I could feel the incredulous gazes of Ian and the assistants beside me, but so what?
‘What did you write?’
Curious about Ian’s wish, I tried to peek at his paper. Detecting it instantly, he raised his arm to hide it.
“It’s a secret.”
‘That sly thing. He saw all of mine.’
Giving up on stealing a glance at his wish, I tapped Ian, indicating the desired spot.
Following Ariel’s insistence, Ian hung her paper on the tree first.
Longevity, wealth and honor, and peerless beauty dangled in the air.
Ariel stared at the words hanging there.
‘Hmm. I didn’t know I could feel this sincere.’
Seeing them, even knowing the tree god didn’t exist, it felt like the tree god would grant the wishes.
“Wish tree souvenirs! Come and see!”
“Sweet fruit juice, 3 Cooper!”
“Refreshing beer, 2 Cooper! Cheap, cheap!”
‘Ian, let’s go there!’
Still craving alcohol, I clearly heard someone selling beer amidst the bustling crowd.
I looked around for the beer stand and tapped Ian. Let’s have some cold beer. Us.
Refreshing, he said.
Ian’s expression shifted slightly.
Then he tapped my nose.
“Drunken cat.”
“Exactly. You love alcohol so much that if you drink, you’ll probably wrap Ian’s tie around your head.”
“The tie, Allen, you drank with it on your head.”
“That was only once, master.”
Allen protested indignantly.
Drank with a tie on his head, in front of his boss? Wow. Truly amazing. Like master, like servant.
Then, a single voice captured my attention.
