Chapter 176
Leona thought that this moment was the most shocking moment of her life—and probably would remain so in the future.
Because she had believed she was the only one who had turned from a cat into a human.
Her legs trembled in shock.
Gabriel supported the staggering Leona and smiled calmly.
“Oh my. That’s quite the surprised face. I thought the Grand Duchess was a cat.”
The things Gabriel had done so far were strikingly similar to Leona.
Humans never drink silvervine leaves as tea.
And Gabriel had exceptionally sharp hearing and moved without making a sound.
Cats followed Gabriel with great affection.
But Leona had never imagined that Gabriel was a cat like herself.
Meanwhile, Gabriel had known everything all along.
Then… had she known everything and simply pretended not to?
Leona felt betrayed.
Just a few days ago she had wondered how a cat could possibly become an emperor.
And yet the empress of this country was a cat.
Then what on earth was Cassius, her son?
It wasn’t as shocking as when she accepted Minerva’s death, but it was still a tremendous shock.
Gabriel sat Leona down on the bed and plopped down beside her.
“You must have many questions. We could probably talk all night and still not finish, so shall I start by answering the question you asked earlier?”
Those words brought Leona back to her senses.
Right. The important thing wasn’t whether Gabriel was a cat or not.
It was whose side Gabriel was on.
With her red, full lips, Gabriel gave the answer Leona had been longing to hear.
“The reason I left Mars alone… was because I wanted him to lose the fight for the throne.”
“…What?”
“Personally, I hate Mars. Very, very, very much.”
Gabriel pressed her emotions firmly into her words.
It didn’t sound like an ordinary grudge.
“…Even though you have a son?”
“He’s not my biological son.”
Gabriel laughed softly, saying human men were in heat all year round and were disgusting to watch.
Every answer Gabriel gave went beyond Leona’s common sense, making her dizzy.
“That’s impossible. They look so alike.”
“Well, you’re a cat too, but you resemble Minerva, don’t you? When you live together long enough, people start to look alike.”
“…Then does that mean Cassius is a cat too?”
“No.”
Gabriel waved it off, saying Cassius wasn’t very important right now, and continued.
“Anyway, I hoped that incident would ruin Mars. I always had a way to escape. Even if I were imprisoned, I could just turn into a cat and run away.”
“….”
Listening to her, Leona felt envious of Gabriel.
Leona didn’t know how to turn back into a cat.
And that strange power that used to grant all her wishes had long disappeared.
The only proof that she had once been a special cat were her slightly sharper nails and fangs compared to ordinary people.
Gabriel read everything from Leona’s expression.
“You can’t turn back into a cat right now, can you? And you can’t use your power either.”
“How did you—”
“Because I was the same. From the moment I heard about Minerva’s death.”
“….”
Just because of Minerva’s death?
There were too many questions to ask, but at least the reason Gabriel had lost her power was the same as Leona’s.
Then why had Gabriel regained her power while Leona hadn’t?
Suppressing her impatience, Leona asked,
“How did you get your power back?”
“I found something new to protect.”
Gabriel’s eyes curved gently.
Her gaze lingered quietly on Leona for a long moment.
In the silence, Gabriel gently stroked Leona’s hair.
The touch was not just similar to Minerva’s from when she was alive—it was almost identical.
As if she knew that warmth.
“Minerva was my benefactor. And you, the daughter of my benefactor—the Grand Duchess… no, Leona—I treasure you as well. I even think of you as my own daughter.”
Cats have a habit of raising young together.
And if they feel a sense of kinship, even more so.
Even so, they each had their own positions and circumstances. Could she really care this much about someone who was essentially a stranger just because she was Minerva’s daughter?
Leona being Minerva’s daughter was one thing.
But she couldn’t understand why Gabriel regarded Minerva so specially.
Most of all, if Gabriel truly shared the same goal as her, there was something she should have done first.
“You said you hate Mars.”
“Very much.”
“Then why didn’t you get rid of him? If you’re the one beside him, you could have removed him anytime.”
Leona looked straight at Gabriel.
For once, Gabriel was at a loss for words.
Her lips moved for a long time before she finally forced out her voice.
“Because I don’t want him to die peacefully.”
For a moment, Gabriel’s red eyes looked pained.
Leona thought she saw a flash of yellow in them.
Come to think of it, when Gabriel turned back into a cat her eyes were yellow. So why did they become red when she turned human?
That trivial question soon vanished under the curse Gabriel spat out.
“I want to rip out all his claws and teeth, make him lose his child, gouge out his eyes… I want to give him unbearable pain. Only then will it be worth it.”
“…Can’t you just use your power?”
“This kind of thing doesn’t work. It only works as long as it doesn’t take someone’s life.”
Gabriel said she had lived longer than Leona and tried all kinds of experiments.
Sometimes she could make rain fall from a clear sky, but she couldn’t even make someone trip over a small stone.
Yet suggestions worked, so the rules were as unpredictable as a cat’s whims.
“So I tried to secretly help Minerva. But I never imagined she would die after being imprisoned like that. I underestimated Mars.”
When Minerva secretly entered the imperial palace, Mars happened to see her.
Unable to tell anyone and trembling in extreme fear, he eventually sent assassins.
“That shouldn’t have happened…”
Deep regret filled Gabriel’s voice.
As if she wished she could turn back time if she could.
But apparently even her power didn’t reach that far.
Because now both Leona and Gabriel were here, united in their hatred of one man.
Leona stared at the floor, fiddling with her nails.
After a long hesitation, she asked quietly,
“Did my mother… know you were a cat?”
Gabriel shook her head.
“There were… too many circumstances. But I just wanted to repay her kindness. I planned to confess after getting rid of the ones who were tormenting Minerva… but…”
She lowered her head deeply, lamenting how she had never been able to tell Minerva in time.
There was too much regret, too much lingering sorrow.
Without realizing it, Leona reached out and held her lonely-looking hand.
There was still much she didn’t know about Gabriel.
But the simple fact that Gabriel had been a cat made it possible for Leona to trust her.
Cats remember their benefactors.
Minerva loved cats, so she must have been kind to Gabriel as well.
Leona hadn’t expected Gabriel to feel comfort from merely holding her hand.
Fortunately, it seemed to give her some strength.
Gabriel lifted her head and held Leona’s hand tightly.
“I’ll get you into the imperial palace. Right to where Mars is. Let’s… take revenge together.”
Mars was desperately avoiding Leona.
Gabriel knew that too.
He believed Minerva’s child had come for revenge, yet he was too afraid of seeming mentally unstable to say anything and was trembling alone in fear.
If two cats who had become human joined forces, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
Leona thought so and nodded.
“I look forward to working with you, Gabriel.”
“Call me Gabi.”
That night, Leona gained a companion she could never speak about to anyone else.
* * *
Gabriel’s promise to get her into the imperial palace wasn’t empty words.
A letter arrived proposing that Leona become Cassius’s fiancée.
Lloyd, who had no idea Leona had joined hands with Gabriel, was horrified the moment he received the marriage proposal.
“Leona, what on earth is this marriage proposal…?”
“I managed to make a good impression on Gabriel.”
Leona didn’t tell Lloyd what had happened that night.
Even if she told him Gabriel was a cat and she herself had once been a cat, he wouldn’t believe it.
And if she said they had joined forces for some reason, Lloyd wouldn’t trust Gabriel and might unknowingly interfere.
Sometimes ignorance was a blessing.
Lloyd looked like he could never have imagined that Leona would actually pull this off—let alone create a reason to enter the imperial palace so quickly.
But if Leona became Cassius’s fiancée…
“Then what about Lady Aila Wolfgang?”
At Lloyd’s uneasy question, Leona recalled the old friend she had been trying so hard to forget.
