Chapter 55

That moment could only be described as a dive. Not the graceful kind you’d expect from a cat—but a full-on face-plant onto the floor.

“Gasp!”

I jumped and quickly scooped it up.

“In all my life, I’ve never seen a cat land on its face instead of its feet.”

There was no blood, but the thud had been real. I gently reached out to check if anything might be hurt on the inside.

“Mind if I check?”

But I didn’t even need to ask. The moment my hand touched it, the cat nuzzled me eagerly, purring like it felt no pain at all.

“Are you telling me not to go?”

I carefully sat back down and asked. This time, the cat straightened up on its hind legs and placed its soft front paws—one on my shoulder, one on my cheek.

“Myaaah…”

Its eyes, like shimmering turquoise gemstones, seemed to ripple with emotion.

‘It looks like it wants to say something…’

If only I could understood cat. Why couldn’t I have gotten a magical power like that instead of just leftover spirit magic?

But the only thing I could say right now was—

“You have beautiful eyes.”

I gazed into them, utterly entranced. But again, this cat responded in a very un-catlike way.

“Mya.”

Instead of turning its head away, it looked right back—deep, unblinking.

As time passed, it felt like something more than just our eyes were connecting. I was just starting to wonder if I was imagining things when—knock knock—my maid entered with a tray.

“Young Lady, here are the boiled eggs you requested.”

“Ah—y-yes. Just set them there.”

Still dazed like I’d woken from a dream, I spooned some crumbled yolk and offered it in front of the cat’s mouth.

“Come on, time for noms.”

Healing the outer wounds with potion was fine, but food was needed to regain real energy.

The cat drew its head back, unsure, but when I gently coaxed it, it gave in—*chomp*—then, like a switch flipped, devoured the eggs like it hadn’t eaten in days.

‘What, were you starving for three days or something?’

Smiling with satisfaction, I stroked its back as it curled up stubbornly in my lap. It blinked slowly, yawning cutely, clearly full now.

Actually—correction.

‘That cuteness could kill a person…’

But I couldn’t just sit here holding it forever like a mother hen.

“Hey, shouldn’t you go home?”

Twitch, twitch.

Its ears folded back, clearly hearing me, but it just closed its eyes like nothing happened.

‘Hmm…’

Do you really understand me? I asked half-jokingly.

“You don’t want to go? Want to live with me?”

The cat immediately straightened up, locking its big, dewy eyes on me.

Sparkle.

Sparkle.

Those moist, glistening eyes practically begged me, full of clear intent.

No human could withstand that. Certainly not me. I wasn’t built to be that coldhearted.

‘Is this what they call… being chosen?’

Maybe that “mya!” it kept mewling, meaning something like, ‘Take me in, human!’

Maybe I saved a kingdom in my past—wait, no. My previous life.

Overcome with emotion, I said, “Alright. You’re mine now. You’ll live with me. Okay?”

I hugged its slender honey-colored body tight and gave a gentle kiss on its little wet nose.

“Mya!”

A sensitive cat might’ve slapped me with a soft paw right then, but this one?

It climbed back up to my shoulder and enthusiastically licked my cheek.

‘What kind of dog-cat is this…!’

And that wasn’t all. This cat was a lap cat and a clingy affection monster. I found that out over the course of the entire evening we spent together—when I named it and got to know it better.

‘It seems to love me… a lot? Maybe because I treated its wounds?’

It was hard to believe we’d just met today. Honestly, it made me feel more awkward than the cat did. As if I was the shy one.

It understood everything so well.

“El.”

“Mya!”

The name I’d given it—every time I called, it answered right away.

“Alright, which color should we go with?”

I held up a few string bracelets left in the drawer to choose one for El’s neck, and he immediately pointed to the pink one.

“You like this one?”

I asked to confirm, and he nuzzled his head against my hand.

“You little show-off.”

When I gently rubbed him from his forehead down his back and gave his rump a few pats, his long tail swayed back and forth.

I wanted to try petting the tail too, but… would he hate that? I was still debating when a maid came in to inform me,

“Young Lady, everything is ready.”

“Oh… So it’s already bedtime, huh.”

Time had flown while I was with El.

I hooked a tiny pendant onto the pink bracelet he chose and left it on the table for now.

“Alright, shall we go?”

“Mya?”

You have to take a nice warm bath before bed, of course.

Humming, I stepped into the bathroom, and only then did El seem to sense something ominous—his body stiffened up in my arms.

“Ah, so you do hate water, huh?”

I was worried that if he went in the water, he might bang around again like before, so I carefully dipped one of his paws into the warm water. But there was no particular reaction—he just stayed frozen in place.

‘Does this mean he’s okay…?’

At least he didn’t claw me or bolt out like a rocket, so I lowered him gently onto the bath mat and said, “Wait here for a second.”

With the maids’ help, I changed out of my clothes, then picked El up again and stepped into the bath.

“Mrrrrng…”

At some point, El had covered his eyes with his front paws. As the water touched him, he started wriggling.

I held him tighter to keep from losing my grip and whispered soothingly,

“Shhh. You can’t get into bed unless you’re clean.”

At that, he froze.

But then—his breathing, a ragged little wheeze escaping from his slightly open mouth— something felt off. Worried now, I gently pulled his paws away from his face.

“El, open your eyes. Okay?”

“Uuugh…”

“Are your eyes hurting?”

“Grrrng…”

He only whimpered, making me more anxious.

“I’ll be careful not to get any water in.”

I gently cleaned the sleep from his eyes, brushing softly for a few minutes. Eventually, El opened his eyes.

But the moment his blue eyes locked onto my reflection in them—

Grrrrrrgl…

El fainted.

Panicked, I ended up calling Ramande.

The way he repeated my words sounded like he was grinding his teeth.

“You… took a bath… together…?”

“Yeah. He seemed super tense, and then just—fainted…”

I had rushed through the rest of my bath, barely washing up before coming out to explain everything. Ramande just stared at me with a long, deep sigh, as if he couldn’t begin to process it.

“You… really…”

Then he looked at El and sighed even deeper.

“This… is seriously…”

Finally, he ran a hand through his hair with a savage swipe and groaned once more.

“Where the hell did you even find something like this?”

“What? Is there something weird about El?”

“El?”

“That’s his name.”

Since I’d decided to keep him, he was family now—so I gave him a name using a syllable common to all us sisters.

“Well, of course. You even named him.”

Ramande’s voice was thick with irritation.

‘Something’s off…’

Did I interrupt a date or something?

But it wasn’t the first time I’d called Ramande at night. He’d never reacted like this before.

“Ramande, do you not like him?”

“Do I like him? That’s not the issue—this, this thing…”

“What’s the problem? He’s just a cat.”

“Just a cat? Have you ever seen a cat with paws this big?”

Ramande lifted El’s paw, limp from having fainted.

“His legs are too thick for a kitten. And look at the black tufts on the ears. He looks kind of like a lynx, but…”

His expression grew more and more complicated as he struggled to define it.

“But there are no spots on his body. No whisker pads. And that tail is way too long.”

“You… know a lot about cats, don’t you?”

“Because you used to go on and on about wanting one, remember?”

“Back then?”

Ah. Right. There was a time when I lived at the temple and went wild over a stray cat that snuck in—talking about cats day and night.

“You still remember that?”

I was just starting to admire Ramande’s uncanny memory again when El’s whiskers twitched and his blue eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Mya…?”

“El, you okay?”

He nuzzled into my hand, purring. But the moment he saw Ramande, he let out a strange sound—neither a hiss nor a growl.

“El?”

I thought he was sneezing, but Ramande suddenly pulled my robe collar shut.

“What are you doing?”

“…There’s a cold breeze.”

“I’m fine, though?”

But there was no resisting Ramande’s stern glare. Huff. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“A-anyway, El seems okay now, so I should head to bed.”

I scooped up El, who immediately snuggled his head against my chest like he’d been waiting for it.

“…You’re not seriously going to sleep with him, are you?”

“I am.”

“No. You don’t even know what that thing is, and you’re going to sleep with it?”

“Maybe he’s just a hybrid or something. Look how small he is.”

“Small…”

Ramande, whose mood had been sour all along, unexpectedly let out a laugh.

“Still no. He might bring bugs into your bed.”

“Hiss!”

El let out a sharp, offended sound, and Ramande seized the moment.

“See? Look at those fangs. He’s a predator, I’m telling you.”

“…”

El clamped his mouth shut.

“That’s not nice, El. Ramande just checked on you, remember?”

I held El’s gaze and spoke firmly.

It would be a disaster if he actually lashed out while Ramande was still suspicious of him.

“You have to be nice. Got it?”

Of course, I turned to Ramande too.

“El is really smart. Don’t say mean things in front of him. Okay?”

“Oh, really. He’s smart, huh?”

“He is.”

“…And you’re bringing him to the North?”

“I kind of have to.”

Ramande crossed his arms and tapped his upper arm with his finger, then suddenly let out another long sigh.

“Then he’ll have to get along with me, too.”

“Really?”

“Really. If you’re going to insist on keeping him, how could I stop you?”

Ramande dropped his serious expression and tousled my hair like he always did.

“Yay! You hear that, El? You have to like Ramande too from now on.”

But I celebrated too soon.

“Which means… he’s sleeping with me tonight.”

“What?”

Before I could react, Ramande had swiped El from my arms and tucked him under his arm.

“Mya?! Mya!”

“Sleep well, Minuelle.”

Just like that, he darted out of the room before I could stop him.

As the door closed, I heard Ramande mutter—

“I just want to talk with you for a bit…”

That made my tension ease, and a laugh slipped out. Ramande was clearly just as fascinated as I was by how well El understood human speech.

“Why not just admit it, you dummy.”