🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 09
Tairin and Jake stared blankly at the scene unfolding before them.
“Impressive.”
“Yeah, really impressive.”
There was nothing else to say.
Padadadak!
The sound of strong paws hitting the ground echoed.
Chwarak!
A small kitten’s body performed a dazzling twist in midair.
Chab!
The cat clutched a feather bundle tightly with both front paws.
“Ungnyang!”
“Caught it again.”
When it landed proudly, Sirka couldn’t hide her admiration.
“Wa-ung!”
The baby cat—or rather, the lynx humanoid Bariya—puffed out her chest with pride.
Her nose was flushed red with excitement.
“See, little one? I told you you’d like it.”
Sirka pulled the stick she had been holding with a smile.
Bariya braced her front paws tightly, determined not to lose the prey she had worked so hard to catch.
“For a baby cat, hunting play is the best.”
Indeed.
The stick Sirka swung was a fishing rod with feathers, designed specifically for cats.
Honestly, when Jake had been asked to fetch it, he hadn’t imagined it would be for Bariya.
She wasn’t even a real cat—it was a humanoid, after all.
But…
“If I hadn’t brought it, I’d have felt bad. And to think she’d use it so well.”
Jake chuckled as he watched Bariya throw her whole body at the feathered toy.
“She must be a natural at hunting. How can she be so good at it?”
Tairin, already completely smitten with Bariya, had moist eyes.
Jake panicked slightly—this wasn’t the sensitive kind of humanoid he knew.
Bariya had only been in Khalif’s house for a day. What had happened in that short time?
He’d heard she had lost track of her prey at some point. Could that have been the trigger?
“Our little lady must be the best hunting cat humanoid in the world.”
Tairin’s certainty made Jake nod reluctantly.
‘Her movements are definitely not ordinary for a cat.’
“All right, that’s it! Little one, think of these feathers as hyenas and attack!”
“Kyaaong!”
Stimulated by Sirka’s shout, Bariya let out a fierce yowl and swung her paws widely.
The feathers couldn’t withstand her sharp claws and fluttered down in midair.
“Kyaaak!”
But tearing the feathers wasn’t enough. Bariya pounced on the stick in Sirka’s hand.
Unable to resist her momentum, Sirka dropped the stick, and Bariya struck it repeatedly.
In the end, the toy couldn’t withstand her assault and was completely destroyed.
“Perfect, little one. Excellent hunt.”
Sirka stroked Bariya’s head as if congratulating her on defeating the illusory hyena.
Bariya, still puffing with pride, lifted her red nose high.
Tairin and Sirka clapped enthusiastically.
‘…Isn’t she a little too fierce for a cat?’
Of course, cats are carnivores that play-hunt for fun.
But even considering that, the child was… temperamental.
“Well done! You’re amazing!”
“Our little lady is wonderful!”
Yet if he spoke these words aloud, the already infatuated tiger humanoids might just attack him.
So Jake wisely joined in the applause instead.
“Kya-ung! (I truly am a great lynx!)”
No one noticed that Bariya was shouting that herself.
After the contract ended, Khalif’s three humanoids each took on a role.
If Sirka’s job was to teach Bariya hunting skills and how to fight hyenas, Sabrina’s was to feed the child and raise her well.
“Why me?”
Honestly, Sabrina wasn’t thrilled with her role.
She thought teaching hunting would suit her better, but both Bayden and Sirka had stubbornly opposed it.
The reason? Her hunting techniques were too brutal to teach a child.
When Sabrina complained, Sirka sighed.
‘Think about the fate of the hyena humanoids Mother hunted a few days ago.’
‘……’
Even the persistent, vicious hyenas had been left in a state too gruesome to collect their bodies.
Eventually, Sabrina accepted her role.
After thinking, she set up a spot under the gazebo in the garden, instead of the dining room.
She disliked feeling trapped and didn’t stay in the mansion often. But being in the open garden eased her mind.
“Mistress, the young lady has arrived.”
Sabrina turned sharply from the unfamiliar sight of a table full of food.
The baby cat was strutting proudly toward Tairin.
“Maek!”
Bariya let out a powerful cry and leapt onto the chair across the table.
“Muaak!”
She planted her front paws firmly on the table, eyes shining as she gazed at the food.
Her tongue peeked out, moist and ready.
After playing hunting games with Sirka, she was clearly very hungry.
“All right, little one.”
“Maeng?”
“You’re going to eat like that?”
Bariya tilted her head and looked at her front paws in response to Sabrina.
“Uyaeap!”
She was startled by her soft pink paw pads exposed in midair and hurriedly shifted to humanoid form.
“I… I didn’t realize it was in cat form.”
“Do you prefer animal form?”
“Yes.”
Bariya nodded immediately.
“It’s easier for escaping, and easier to hide presence or appearance. So I mostly stayed in animal form.”
It was easy to imagine how harshly she had survived on the run.
“Even if you’re a cat humanoid, your animal form is still quite small. If you want to grow well, don’t be picky—eat a variety of foods.”
Sirka’s usual nagging slipped out naturally in front of Bariya.
Compared to Sirka, whose growth had been remarkable, Bariya seemed smaller, so the scolding was inevitable.
“I’m not picky! I can’t eat what I don’t have!”
Bariya wriggled with excitement at the sight of the table full of food.
“All right, you must be hungry… wait, the food seems a bit cold.”
Although Bariya had arrived quickly, being outdoors meant the food had cooled.
“Tairin, go reheat the food…”
“No! It’s fine! If it’s hot, I can’t eat quickly!”
Already overwhelmed by the smell, Bariya began eating before Tairin could clear the dishes.
Fresh vegetable and fruit salad, pasta rich with creamy sauce, and pizza with delicious tomato sauce—all tempting.
Meat was her favorite, but even non-meat dishes were delicious.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Bariya’s eyes sparkled as she nodded enthusiastically.
‘I’m really glad we contracted with Khalif.’
One cannot fight alone.
She would never regret taking the hand offered first, knowing her own limitations.
The world still had good things!
“……”
Sabrina watched Bariya eat happily, fascinated.
For her, meals were merely functional, a way to get nutrition for activity—nothing more.
Seeing Bariya so joyous made the food look appetizing to her too.
‘How strange.’
Everything was new—the garden meal, the child across from her, watching her eat so happily.
She never imagined this would happen.
‘No… maybe I once imagined it.’
When was that?
There were times when staying in the mansion had been enjoyable.
Even now, it wasn’t unpleasant, but back then, the mansion hadn’t felt so confining.
When was that?
“Kyaruru!”
Suddenly, a joyful laugh pierced her ears like lightning.
Turning her head, she saw Bariya laughing brightly, playing hand games with Tairin.
“……”
Sabrina couldn’t look away from Bariya, who laughed as if the garden belonged to her.
She felt she was witnessing small, fleeting happiness she never thought would return to her life.
It was the first time in 18 years.
‘I’ll stay here a while to watch over the child.’
If Bayden, who always worried about his wandering companion, knew, he would have fainted.
After the fun hunting games and joyful meal ended, Bariya was summoned to Bayden’s study.
Sirka’s and Sabrina’s parts were done; now it was Bayden’s turn.
“……”
“……”
A tense standoff unfolded.
Anyone seeing them might have thought two enemies had met on a narrow bridge—the atmosphere was icy.
Bayden’s aide, the white tiger humanoid Silva Braizer, was sweating nervously.
He had ended up between them unexpectedly, despite knowing they supposedly got along.
Why were they like this?
Unfortunately, he had no idea.
All tiger clans, the great head of the Khalif family, Bayden.
Right now…
‘What do I even do with a little girl?’
He was utterly at a loss, facing the biggest dilemma of his life.
He couldn’t see a way forward with Bariya and felt completely in the dark.
