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chapter 40
My words hadn’t even fully left my mouth.
My gaze was frozen on her.
A face I had missed so dearly was right in front of me.
I just stood there, motionless.
“The beast you were curious about is standing right there.”
Ian, who was looking at Mari, gestured toward me with his chin.
“She’s undergone an incredible evolution, hasn’t she? From a mere cat to a fully grown human.”
At his words, Mari turned her eyes to Ariel.
He folded the silver-rimmed glasses he was wearing and set them down on the desk.
His voice sounded strangely displeased.
“Even the mansion’s owner doesn’t visit, and yet nowadays, you’re the busiest person in this house.”
“You’ve become living proof that even if you step into a tiger’s den, as long as you keep your wits, you can survive. And now you even demand dessert from the tiger, don’t you?”
“With that level of audacity, I suppose bringing down a lion’s mansion would take no time at all.”
With that, Ian put the fan down.
“After all, a cat is also part of the feline family.”
“Ian, you’re mistaken. It’s correct to say a tiger is part of the feline family. After all, cats are ruling the world these days.”
Allen, who had already finished half of the work, looked proudly at the tasks he had completed.
“Ah, so that’s why the tiger’s den isn’t called a tiger’s den anymore, but a cat’s den.”
The new assistants would have probably lost their minds if they heard that, but they were currently on a business trip. Mari quietly thought it was fortunate that the assistants weren’t around.
Of course, if they had been, she probably wouldn’t have been called into this kind of situation in the first place.
Ariel ignored the tiger’s nonsense without sending a disapproving glance.
Or rather, he didn’t even have the mental bandwidth to do so.
Because of the astonishing beast standing right in front of him.
Seeing her face again after several months, my eyes went wide.
I stared intently at the familiar violet hair before me.
Not just purple, but a slightly darker shade in the eyes,
A face that seemed expressionless, yet upon closer look, emotions seeped through.
And her hair tied up high.
It was Mari.
So much had happened while she had been gone—new personal maid, becoming Louise’s disciple, falling seriously ill, and even transforming into a human…
I realized all over again just how long she had been absent.
I moved my lips and finally managed to utter a single word.
“…Mari?”
Thankfully, the words that came out weren’t the strange historical drama-like speech that everyone had always corrected me for.
“…It’s really you…?”
My mind was tangled from the shock of the situation.
“…Really?”
My saliva swallowed down my throat.
“Even as a human, Cat-sama, you’re still dangerous to the heart.”
A faint smile passed over the otherwise impassive face that seemed unbreakable.
Seeing her speak about her own heart with such a detached expression—it was unmistakably Mari.
No other beast could say something like that with that expression.
Was she alright? Fully recovered? Why had her leave lasted months? Had she eaten properly? Had she missed me? So many questions crowded my mind, yet only one phrase came out.
“…Mari, I missed you!”
I smiled brightly.
It was a smile filled with months of longing and yearning.
Ian placed his hands together under his chin and narrowed his eyes slightly.
“And me?”
His perfect lips curved into a smooth arc.
“Didn’t you want to see me?”
“Yes.”
You saw me just yesterday.
We see each other regularly. Every day, even.
I looked at him with incredulous eyes.
“How cruel. The mansion’s owner who brought you here didn’t want to see you?”
He lowered his gaze.
His long eyelashes trembled slightly, casting a shadow over his glassy blue eyes.
The scene exuded a pitiful atmosphere.
Seeing this, Allen shook his head with a look that said life was unfair, then turned back to his work.
Of course, to Ariel, Allen was invisible, overshadowed by Ian’s presence.
“Wow. Almost fell for it.”
“I almost said I missed him on impulse.”
I was so weak to expressions.
“…Doesn’t he use his face a little too well?”
No matter how I thought about it, he clearly knew he was handsome.
Absolutely certain.
Otherwise, how could someone smile like that, not as part of a scheme, and yet make a human seem even more cunning than a fox?
Impossible, yet it felt like there were nine fox tails behind him.
A millennium-old gumiho couldn’t compare.
One face alone could ruin a nation.
“Now I understand why they say beauty can topple a country…”
With someone that stunning, it was no wonder a country could be swayed.
“If she asked for the stars, she’d probably get them…”
“Even the crown, if asked, would be willingly given.”
Having seen such a face, it was no surprise if no other man ever satisfied him again.
Even though Allen was handsome, he didn’t catch the eye.
Seeing the tiger in front of me every day, I often wondered how I could ever handle romance in the future with such raised standards.
I looked at the white tiger again.
Ah, right.
“The shock of seeing Mari almost made me forget why I came to this office in the first place.”
“Hey, tiger. I’m going out now.”
Ariel diverted his gaze and dropped a bombshell.
“Freely.”
“No.”
I had no real reason to oppose, so I looked at him questioningly.
“Why?”
“If a chocolate loaf had legs and wandered the streets, it’d get eaten by the wandering beasts looking for food.”
He smoothly curved the corners of his red lips.
“The world’s rough these days.”
In this rough world, you seem the most dangerous to me.
Ariel swallowed the words he had on the tip of his tongue.
“Besides, whether herbivorous or carnivorous, everyone can eat a chocolate loaf.”
What nonsense.
A humanoid beast being called a chocolate loaf?
I immediately bristled.
“Who’s calling me a chocolate loaf!”
I glanced at him nervously and added:
“…yo.”
It was somehow awkward to speak casually to the head of the household.
Sometimes, the cruel version of him from the books came to mind.
Allen actively encouraged me to use informal speech.
But why, out of all breads, chocolate loaf?
“Loaf… the sound is just weird…”
There are so many other beautiful breads.
What kind of face would resemble a chocolate loaf anyway?
“If I’m a chocolate loaf, you’re the white cream cheese on top.”
The thought bubbled inside me, but I didn’t voice it.
Seemingly unbothered by my delayed politeness, he continued.
“If it bunches up, beasts will trample it and roll it around.”
“It’s not even bunched up!”
I sneaked a glance at him and added another “…yo.”
He arched his eyes as if to say, “Don’t you think so?”
“Yeah… I really don’t think that.”
I sighed.
“That’s too much.”
My heart raced.
It was time to begin my full-scale activities for a comfortable future life.
I couldn’t delay any longer.
I threw out the first excuse that came to mind.
“Could you at least let your distant cousin go out into the streets freely?”
Ah. Maybe there’s no freedom here.
“No, let me at least keep my freedom to go outside.”
“I want to go out and buy things too…”
Recalling Ian’s expression, Ariel sadly lowered his gaze.
I could never say that I was going out to live a comfortable future life in front of him.
Then a ridiculous voice came from ahead.
“Where did you learn to make that expression?”
“Just from you.”
Ariel answered without hesitation.
So this is why actions in front of children matter.
Watching that cunning cat, I realized why parents must be careful in front of their kids.
Ariel’s eyelids trembled as he maintained a pitiful expression.
“Don’t you think it’s time to see a broader world?”
“I feel like I’ve lived too narrow a life so far.”
As soon as I said that, Ian smirked.
“These days, how wise can a frog in a well be? Don’t you know almost all frog sages live in wells?”
“Most frog sages are craftsmen, so I suppose that makes sense.”
Allen chimed in from the side.
After staring at them in disbelief for a while, a brilliant idea struck me.
“Ah. No.”
Since I’m Louise’s disciple, I can just get permission from her to go out.
‘The servants know I’m Louise’s disciple. Then Ian has no grounds to stop me, right?’
Not a bad idea.
Ariel raised one side of his mouth in a sly smile.
“What are you thinking about that makes your expression look like you’re planning world domination?”
Ariel returned with a perfectly innocent look, asking what I meant.
“World domination?”
“You had the expression of scheming how to get one more cream puff.”
“The face of someone eyeing a cream puff to steal.”
“Exactly like a thieving cat.”
A thieving cat?
A model cat who had never stolen in his life bristled.
“Too handsome, uselessly so, tiger…”
Damn it.
I tilted my head to look up at him.
From above, his expression seemed somehow satisfied.
The sudden shrink in perspective made Ian look taller than he was.
‘I can’t fix this.’
Originally, I wanted to say, “A uselessly handsome tiger rules the world.”
Really.
Ah. He’s a cat now.
I hadn’t finished speaking.
Looking into his playful eyes, I felt fear for the future.
‘If I get caught… I’m dead…’
A shiver ran through me, and I dashed out of the office.
I couldn’t help worrying about the unseen future.
Ariel, demanding to go out, and Ian, opposing him, had been clashing fiercely these days.
The black furball, who moved well around the mansion, didn’t go near Ian at all, instead hiding in the study, reading books.
He even skipped dessert and tried to eat meals in the study.
Not even glancing toward Ian.
Perhaps because of this, the mansion’s atmosphere grew gloomy.
Leah and Mari entered the room to wake up the sleeping baby cat as usual.
But Ariel had vanished somewhere, leaving the bed cold.
“So you really went out after wanting to?”
Thinking the same thing, they frantically searched the area.
They lifted pillows and checked the floor of the sofa.
But Ariel was nowhere to be found.
“Mari, Cat-sama is here.”
Leah lifted the basket lid and called out.
Inside, a tiny kitten with pale green eyes stared at them intently.
It almost looked desperate.
“Let’s go!”
Ariel, back in kitten form, had brought along the dress he would use to cover his body when transforming back into human, and sat in the basket, staring at Leah and Mari.
“Let’s leave the mansion!”
The nineteen-year-old cat was reaching the age where independence grew.
Curiosity and adventurous spirit called to the vast world outside the mansion.
