IJEBPSCLB 28

chapter 28

Tap.

She entered, still not fully recovered, and the office door closed behind her.

“Have you called for me? Marie Angelus of Eint, at your service, my lord.”

After confirming the office was empty, as always, she knelt on one knee and rested her arms on it toward him.

Her blueberry-colored hair, tied high, stayed perfectly still.

It was the perfect posture of a knight showing obedience.

Even wearing a maid’s uniform, which could be cumbersome, her posture was precise and neat, reminiscent of an accomplished knight.

It was completely different from when she had earnestly told Ariel that her heart would not survive.

Eint.

The shadow he had trained.

An organization for him, by him.

From gathering information, planting spies, to even killing—this was a group that would do anything for Ian.

Since long ago, Ian had secretly taken in street children skilled in swordsmanship, archery, or intelligence gathering, nurturing them into his own people.

To those living on the streets, his choice was a light, a salvation.

That was why, each possessing exceptional abilities, they obeyed him absolutely with unconditional loyalty.

They often handled extreme tasks like disrupting opposing intelligence or destroying rival organizations.

Yet no one knew they existed, or that they were even active.

Was it because everyone who knew them had disappeared? Or because they were careful in their actions?

No one could say.

The dead cannot speak.

They were like darkness present everywhere in the world, and at the same time, shadows that blended seamlessly wherever.

Just as a card has a front and back, while the knights and aides officially assisted him, they were the covert organization moving busily for Ian alone.

Despite the prolonged wait, she did not falter in her posture and patiently awaited her master’s command.

Tap. Tap-tap.

His fingers moved slowly.

‘Normally, one should suspect the sharks. But the timing was uncanny—assassins arrived exactly when they were summoned.’

The Etia family.

The rulers of the sea, masters of the oceans, apex predators—the shark clan.

They rarely ventured onto land, except for their envoys.

Yet the head of the Etia family was coming onto land just to kill a single cat.

‘That’s far too strange.’

They seldom leave their territory, and Ariel had no visible connection to them.

Furthermore, no family could manipulate who Ian chose to meet.

He acted according to his whims and rarely initiated contact.

Extracting information about whom he would meet was impossible in the Cadellion estate.

In the Cadellion estate.

‘Could it be that the Etia head’s schedule leaked?’

The Etia, who neither came onto land nor accepted new people. Their spy must have been quite high-ranking within the family.

‘How long have they been preparing so meticulously?’

Ian smirked at the thought.

‘Then who sent those assassins? Their sly behavior is fox-like, but the way they act doesn’t quite match the fox clan.’

A snake? A wolf?

Or perhaps a third party.

Ian drummed his fingers in thought, then slowly parted his tightly pressed lips.

“You.”

His fingers stopped tapping the desk.

“Go to the west for a while.”

“And we’ll deal with this matter all at once after you return from the west.”

“Understood.”

Marie bowed in response to his command.

A small signal was launched for the great storm that would strike later.

Fluffy pink clouds drifted across the sky, and little tufts of fur floated gently above them. I chased them back and forth.

Would a cotton candy village in a fairy tale look like this?

‘What is this?’

I grabbed a sky-blue fur tuft floating above. But the cotton candy-like fluff slipped through my fingers teasingly.

“Ah! Hey! Come back!”

I jumped around trying to catch the runaway fluff.

The tuft, escaping my hands, suddenly shot straight into my mouth.

“Whoa… so sweet…”

‘Delicious!’

As the blue cloud entered my mouth, it melted pleasantly, like eating a fluffy cotton candy cloud.

I felt my body float.

This must be what the famous cloud bread tastes like.

‘I wanted cotton candy!’

To be precise, I missed all the foods from Korea.

I chased the tufts up onto a massive cloud.

‘I wonder if this one’s good too?’

Curious, I bit into the cloud beneath me. The soft, fluffy cloud melted instantly in my mouth.

‘Delicious…’

I devoured the clouds in a trance.

As I ate, the pink sky gradually cleared, transforming from a surreal, fantastical world into the usual clear blue sky.

When I came to my senses, the cloud I had climbed had almost disappeared.

I felt gravity pull me down.

“Waaah! I’m falling—!”

Blink. Blink.

I woke up in bed, blinking.

‘Ah… I think I dreamed of eating cotton candy…’

I couldn’t recall the details of the dream.

I woke up just like any other day.

Was it because Ian had treated me? Even though I had lost so much blood and been heavily injured yesterday, my body felt better than usual.

Where my body usually felt heavy, it now felt light.

Physically, my weight hadn’t changed, but it felt different.

I lay on the bed, full of vitality, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Ariel! Move!”

Ping. Chang. Chang!

Kyaaang—!

Whoosh.

A sword fell toward me.

Marie naturally struck it away with her bow stand beside me.

And I could do nothing but tremble.

Because of me, Marie got hurt.

Yesterday’s events replayed in my mind, likely because they had been so shocking.

‘I even remember my past life, so why am I shocked…’

Threats of death from people who dislike me are nothing.

My mouth turned bitter.

Recalling my helplessness, the despair and self-loathing began to consume me.

If only I had been able to do something then.

If I could have helped Marie even a little…

Would she have been hurt?

Maybe. Could I have helped at all?

Everyone was skilled with weapons—Marie and the assassins alike.

At first, I thought she might be a knight.

‘Now that I think about it, maybe not a knight.’

‘…What is Marie really?’

Doubt arose in my mind.

Even thinking over and over, no answer appeared.

‘What matters is Marie almost died. Because of me.’

The fact that she nearly died because of me didn’t change.

If Louise Cadellion had been slightly later, both Marie and I would have died that day.

The vitality in my body drained from my toes, leaving me powerless.

My lively body felt like soaked cotton again.

‘Right. I can’t live like this.’

I leapt from the bed.

I had been living too carelessly, thinking this happiness would last forever.

‘This is a nuisance.’

‘I need to know things and grow stronger. To protect myself. I can’t just keep relying on the Cadellion estate forever.’

For now, he kept me around out of curiosity, but that wouldn’t last.

‘One day I’ll have to leave. I need to prepare for that.’

‘Right. I’ll go study.’

“Meow!”

‘Marie!’

I called for Marie in my room.

Seeing she hadn’t come in yet, I realized I must have woken up early today. That improved my gloomy morning mood slightly.

“Oh? Did you cough, little cat?”

A familiar yet new voice spoke behind me.

I knew I had heard it somewhere.

“From today, I am your new personal maid, Lea Shuette.”

A girl around my age with curly lemon-colored hair tied high smiled gently and bowed to me.

Blushing slightly, she looked down shyly, giving the impression of a timid personality.

“Marie is on leave due to personal reasons, so I’ll be taking care of you for now. When she returns, she and I will both serve you, Ariel-sama.”

‘Marie is on leave?’

Probably because she was sick from yesterday’s incident.

I pushed thoughts of Marie aside and extended my two front paws for a handshake with Lea.

‘Let’s get along.’

“Oh! You’re even cuter in person than from afar!”

She looked at me with sparkling eyes. I thought she was shy, but maybe I was mistaken.

Her hands carefully covered mine as if handling a precious glass bead. Stars seemed to shine from her eyes toward me.

I looked away, feeling overwhelmed by her gaze.

Then I heard a sleepy voice.

“Ah… should I just destroy the mansion? I think Ian would approve.”

‘Um… we haven’t even known each other two minutes.’

What is she saying?

To talk about destroying the mansion the moment she sees a cat.

Perhaps it’s a new law of the tiger household—nothing here is normal.

I shook my head and slipped through the small open door, following the head butler’s directions to the shared library.

“Go straight.”

Straight.

“Then take a right and go straight. Haha.”

…Where was the right turn again?

“If you’re going to the library, go straight one more time and take a right.”

Lea stopped me wandering in the middle of the corridor.

Finally, I reached the library and looked ahead.

“Simple enough, right?”

‘Only the explanation was simple.’

A massive wooden door blocked my path. Despite being wooden, it gleamed black.

The butler said it was made from ebony wood.

‘Wow… why is it so big?’

I tilted my head upward to look at it.

“Shall I open it for you, little cat?”

‘Yes.’

I nodded, waiting for it to open, when Lea’s bright voice came from behind.

“If it’s difficult to enter, should I just break this door?”

What are you saying now?

I was waiting for the door to open, and she asks if she should break it.

Marie debates the survival of her heart, and Lea talks about breaking things—why does everyone debate survival?

Wait… I feel like I’ve heard that line about breaking something before.

‘…Weren’t we just meeting for the first time? Why does your voice sound familiar?’

It’s really strange.