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Chapter 10
It was a day like any other.
The only difference was that a separate steak had been prepared just for me.
I wondered if it was really okay to go from eating porridge to meat after only a few days.
“Mewng…?”
Trusting the renowned physician, Dr. Etman, I took a bite and swallowed. Contrary to my worries, it went down without any trouble.
How long had it been since I’d eaten meat?
Savoring the rich juices, I happily polished off the steak.
“Lizette, come here.”
After I finished the beef, a pale hand stretched out toward me.
Resting in the palm were three blueberries.
They had been one of my favorite fruits in my previous life…
“Meow.”
I walked over to Eloise’s hand and stuffed all three blueberries into my mouth. A sweet fragrance spread across my tongue.
Something this delicious hadn’t even been that expensive, yet I’d hesitated countless times over whether I could afford to buy it.
As I reflected on my past life, a sigh escaped me.
“Mew…”
“Do you want more?”
Perhaps she thought I looked disappointed, because Eloise placed five more blueberries into her hand and offered them to me.
My stomach was already full from the beef steak, but dessert always went into a separate stomach.
Once again, I crammed several blueberries into my mouth at once.
Nom.
Living as a rich family’s pet really was wonderful.
If only my owner weren’t destined to become a villainess, it’d be absolutely perfect.
Honestly, how could someone not become a villainess in an environment like this?
A fiancé who irritated her with every word he spoke, and a family that treated her coldly.
My previous life hadn’t been much different.
A family that barely considered me human, and a boyfriend who constantly gaslighted me.
At least I had been able to move out, distance myself from my family, and break up with my boyfriend.
Only then had I finally been able to breathe.
Granted, I had been pretty broke afterward.
For Eloise, though, the only way to escape her family would be marriage.
And to make matters worse, the man she was supposed to marry was a “gentle bastard.”
She was trapped no matter what she did.
“Mew…”
As I sat on my designated cushion nibbling blueberries, the table was cleared away.
Eloise finished her meal and picked up a book, but after hearing my sigh, she looked over at me.
“Lizette?”
“Meow.”
I waved my front paws to indicate it was nothing, and she shrugged.
“The more I watch you, the more it feels like you actually understand what I’m saying.”
“Mya? Mya?”
Pretending not to understand, I calmly licked one of my front paws and groomed myself.
Did I act too human again?
Since my soul was human, some habits slipped out before I even realized it.
“If you were a beastkin, Eti would’ve noticed by now.”
So Eloise called Etienne “Eti” too.
He hated that nickname.
If he ever heard her call him that, I could already imagine the expression he’d make.
It had only been a few days, but somehow I already missed everyone.
“Hmm…”
After a thoughtful hum, Eloise closed her book and stood.
“Let’s go for a walk, Lizette. The entire estate is your territory anyway.”
A walk?
I wasn’t a dog, but the thought of exploring the mansion excited me so much that my tail started wagging on its own.
I scampered over to Eloise and rubbed myself against the hem of her dress.
“Meeow~”
Let’s go already.
I’d barely had the chance to look around the greenhouse before, so this was perfect.
The Montclair family members worried me a little, but who would dare openly scold the villainess’s cat?
Besides, I was the cat entrusted to her by the Second Prince himself.
“You really are excited.”
I followed Eloise out of the room.
Several knights stood guard on the second floor while maids hurried through the hallway attending to their duties.
One of the knights spotted us and froze.
“My Lady, where are you going without a maid accompanying you?”
“For a walk. I won’t be leaving the estate, so there’s no need to keep watch over me.”
“It isn’t surveillance… I’ll accompany you.”
“As you wish.”
Since Eloise accepted so easily, the knight quietly fell in behind her.
The reactions of the maids we encountered on our way down from the second floor were no different from those at the Imperial Palace.
“Aww, it’s so cute.”
“Look at those tiny little legs waddling along.”
Waddling?
They thought they were whispering quietly, but I could hear them perfectly.
“You two.”
“Y-Yes! We’re sorry, My Lady!”
The two maids immediately lowered their heads.
Eloise silently stared down at them.
I walked over to the trembling maids and gently rubbed myself against one of their skirts.
The maid whose eyes met mine smiled warmly.
“You look bored. Attend us during our walk.”
“Y-Yes! Of course!”
Rather than looking nervous, the maids actually seemed delighted by the assignment.
I’d expected the servants to dislike her because she was the infamous villainess, but apparently accompanying her on a stroll was preferable to scrubbing the mansion.
Since Sophie was out running errands, the maids fetched a parasol and followed behind Eloise together with the knight.
This was starting to look less like a walk and more like the Pied Piper—before I knew it, more and more people had joined us.
Once we stepped outside, an enormous garden spread before us.
“Meeow~!”
It was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but gasp.
Under the high autumn sky, flowers of every color swayed gently in the breeze.
I’d arrived at the Montclair estate by carriage, so I hadn’t realized it before, but the garden was even grander and more magnificent than the Imperial Prince’s Palace.
“Meow!”
A yellow butterfly fluttered into view, and before I knew it, I had lunged after it.
“Lizette!”
The instant Eloise cried out, someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck.
Dangling limply from the knight’s hand with my body hanging straight down was an utterly unpleasant feeling.
“Myaa…”
“Oh! My apologies.”
As I flailed my hind legs in protest, the knight quickly adjusted his grip and held me properly.
Just like Sophie, he even spoke to me politely.
Having a high-ranking owner really did make all the difference.
“Give her to me, Whiston.”
“Of course, My Lady.”
Transferred from the knight’s arms into Eloise’s embrace, I shivered slightly at the coolness of her body.
I’d noticed it before.
Eloise’s body temperature was definitely lower than everyone else’s.
Was it because of the medicine she took every night?
“Lizette, look at this.”
Before me bloomed a pale blue-green rose.
Its color was strangely mesmerizing.
Its fragrance was unlike an ordinary rose as well—refreshing, yet sweet.
“Meow!”
“Seale sent it to me as a birthday present ten years ago.”
“Mio…”
“They’d developed a new rose variety at the Imperial Palace. He said the color resembled my eyes…”
Well, well.
Marcel had been quite the flirt ever since he was a child.
And somehow he’d lost her to the Crown Prince.
What a waste.
Eloise would’ve been far happier marrying Marcel instead.
As we continued walking through the garden, an unpleasant voice interrupted us.
“My Lady.”
Even his neatly groomed mustache looked obnoxious.
The butler.
I’d thought no one would dare pick a fight with the villainess’s cat, but this old man certainly would.
“Butler.”
I hissed at him, but he merely clicked his tongue and addressed Eloise instead.
This old man didn’t even greet her.
“This is the garden Madam has lovingly cultivated.”
“So? Has Mother forbidden me from entering the garden?”
“What I mean is, why have you brought that cat out here?”
Y-You insolent old man!
What did I ever—
Well… I did have a bit of a record.
Still, today I’d been behaving perfectly while resting quietly in Eloise’s arms.
“I’d say our Lizette is much better behaved than you.”
“After the flower vase, are you planning to ruin the garden as well? Everything here is precious to Madam.”
“Is there anything in this mansion Mother doesn’t treasure?”
The butler fell silent.
Clouds drifted lazily across the sun, darkening the sky.
Taking his silence as an answer, Eloise continued.
“Oh… except me.”
Her lonely voice settled softly into my ears.
“It’s all thanks to you, Butler. I’m truly grateful.”
His gray eyebrows twitched sharply.
I knew it.
Everything about that man, from his face to the way he acted, rubbed me the wrong way.
He had definitely been isolating Eloise from the rest of her family.
“If you simply conducted yourself properly, My Lady, there would be no issue.”
“What about the invitations addressed to me that you threw away, then told Father I’d refused to attend out of spite?”
“I’ve never done such a thing.”
I knew it!
I knew that butler had been up to something!
Wasn’t Eloise his mistress as well?
Struggling free, I planted my paws on Eloise’s slender arm and launched myself with all my strength.
Today, I was going to rip every last hair out of that ridiculous mustache.
“Hiss!”
I flew straight at the butler’s face and slashed at his precious mustache with my claws.
The metallic scent of blood filled the air as tufts of gray hair drifted to the ground.
Landing lightly on the dirt, I flicked the filthy drops of blood from my claws.
“You damned cat!”
“B-Butler!”
“Lizette!”
Hearing everyone’s shocked cries, I looked up.
A kicking foot was descending toward me.
I don’t think I can dodge this…
“Meeeoow!”
