Chapter 7
Artif always looked at me with eyes full of life — or maybe with a living, sharp glare.
It wasn’t my fault that our political positions differed; if anything, I was also a victim.
Until now, when I said “the Duke of Redmond,” people only cursed him and moved on, but after spending just one day together I felt unjust and sad.
Yet Artif’s illogical insistence quickly cooled my feelings.
“You’re my cat. I’m your owner. So you have to sleep with me.”
— You’re mine. I’m grateful you let me stay here, but I still have the right to choose where I sleep.
“I don’t know what you’re saying, but no.”
Artif was completely unreasonable.
Even a child wouldn’t be this stubborn.
I was too tired to argue, so I ignored him and tried to jump off the bed — but his next words froze me in place.
“Looks like you don’t need an owner. Then from now on you’ll have to eat the kind of food ordinary cats eat — scraps.”
— Y-you despicable man!
“Your choice. Sleep with me and let me feed you veal steak with a fork, or sleep separately and eat scraps without a fork.”
I remembered the juicy, flavorful veal steak.
At the same time, my memory overlapped with yesterday’s scraps Allen gave me and my head buried in them as I ate.
Blackmailing with food — how petty.
‘So underhanded. Really petty.’
I half-expected he wouldn’t actually give me scraps, but I know what kind of man Artif is.
He doesn’t change his mind once he’s decided.
— You’re a really bad guy.
In the end I spun on my heel and pressed myself to the very edge of the bed, lying down as close to the rim as I could.
“You’ll fall off that way.”
— What do I care. I’m someone being threatened with food by a merciless human who bullies a powerless cat.
“Hah. What a stubborn cat you are.”
I pretended not to hear and closed my eyes.
“I’ll have to carry my cat around with me every day then. I’ll be worried you might fall.”
— …….
Artif’s threats continued.
“I can’t leave you alone even for a moment, so I’ll have to take you with me when I work and even when I shower.”
Hearing the word “shower” brought back the image of Artif in his loose clothes a while ago.
I wriggled and slid a little farther inward.
“Quip, hahaha!”
At the odd sound I turned my head and glanced over. Artif was laughing out loud when our eyes met.
I flattened myself as close to the floor as possible.
“One, two, three!”
I made a sudden push with my thighs and kicked off the floor, leaping upward.
— Got it!
After endless practice at jumping, I finally managed to hang onto the doorknob.
Tears blurred my vision. Who would believe a cat could tremble so much?
‘If I just open it, I’ll finally escape.’
Heart pounding with hope, I put my weight on the doorknob. But it only gave a little; the door didn’t open.
How do you pull a door…?
I searched my mind fast. The knob was slippery and I couldn’t hold on for long.
‘Right. I’ll give it a swing.’
I braced my waist and wiggled my body. The knob moved and clicked, but still the door didn’t open.
My arms started to lose strength.
Then, for a moment the doorknob dropped and I slipped.
‘I’m falling…!’
I curled up and covered my head.
“Shasha!”
Just before I hit the floor, Artif, who was entering the room, spotted me and caught me in time.
— Gasp, I’m saved.
My heart pounding, I clutched my chest and looked at him. He seemed startled too, his eyes wide.
“Are you okay?”
He lifted my arms by the wrists with thumb and forefinger and turned me this way and that, inspecting me.
— Thanks for saving me, but I feel a bit nauseous.
“You, really.”
Embarrassingly, he examined every inch of my naked body, then took me in his arms and moved to the tea table.
I surrendered quietly. From experience, escaping from this muscular man was impossible.
When Artif sat, the maid who had followed placed two teacups on the table.
One was black tea, the other looked like milk — probably mine.
After the maid left, Artif spoke.
“You were trying to escape, were you?”
Artif’s red eyes flashed.
— No. Never.
“Caught in the act and still denying it. How brazen.”
— …so what?
I turned my head defiantly.
— Are you saying I should stay locked in my room forever?
Where in the world do people keep companion cats imprisoned like that?
“I never meant to keep you locked up forever.”
He sighed and, with a softened tone, sat me beside him.
“I actually came to talk about that today. If you just burst out, you’d be sure to get into trouble.”
Really? Who said I’d cause an accident?
I opened my mouth to argue, but froze when I remembered how close I’d come to falling earlier.
“Today I’ll make a small door at the bottom of the main door, one you can slip through.”
I stared at him in surprise.
This was the Duke’s bedroom. The door was thick and sturdy to prevent threats to the duke and to keep words from leaking out.
‘He’s going to punch a hole in that door?’
He must be out of his mind.
— Give me a room instead. Leave that one open all the time. Why take such a risk?
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my duty as your owner to take responsibility and care for you.”
— I’m not thanking you; I’m calling it pathetic.
“Come here. You’re too tiny to sit on the sofa and drink milk.”
He placed a flat cushion on the table and put the cup of milk in front of it.
I scrambled up onto the table.
I wanted the black tea, but I wasn’t sure if cats could drink it.
Steam floated off the milk as I tipped my lips to it.
— So rich!
Was milk always this delicious?
Artif watched me drink, then spoke.
“You must know I’m not a good owner.”
I looked up. He smiled faintly and wiped the milk off my fur.
But his face soon sank, and his expression was far from the impassive one I had seen before.
“I can’t be by your side for half of each month.”
— Half a month? Why? Do you go to your estate?
Artif was famous for hardly ever showing himself.
I had thought he just disliked banquets and society, but apparently there was a reason.
“The half I am here, I’m also busy all day catching up on work.”
— What kind of work piles up so much that you spend every day like that?
I hopped from the table to the sofa and Artif stroked my back.
Whenever he touched me I usually tried to push him away, but for some reason now I couldn’t.
“I’ll do my best to feed you when I’m around. If I really can’t make time, I’ll have someone else do it.”
— The maid could feed me normally.
He often ate only after I finished, so feeding me took a long time. When he was busy, he’d feed me meat while he survived on sandwiches while working.
‘Kind of foolish, actually.’
Maybe guilt for taking me in but not caring for me well.
“But whether the maid feeds you or you’re allowed to roam, there’s one rule you must remember.”
— What is it?
He looked straight into my eyes as if piercing my insides.
“You absolutely must never let others find out you can understand human speech.”
My heart dropped like it fell into the floor. Fear flooded me so much I forgot how to breathe.
They’d found out. When…?
A surging anxiety ran wild and uncontrollable.
If they discovered I was human — or, worse, that I was a daughter of the Rettel duke’s house — they would use me. They’d try to seize the throne by using me.
‘I’m the crown prince’s fiancée.’
Because I’m the crown prince’s fiancée.
