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Chapter 12
She had planned to sneak back in and wait for Noah in the bedroom as if she had never left, but that all went out the window.
She felt bad for making Noah anxious, but her immediate concern was Evelyn and Amelia, who were trailing behind him, looking terrified at what kind of punishment awaited them.
Sure enough, both maids were near tears, scared out of their wits.
“Meow. Mrowr meow-meow. Myaak mrowr-meow. (Noah, I opened the door. The maids did nothing wrong.)”
Roze wanted to explain the situation before the maids got scolded. She even mimicked lifting the latch with her front paw in an attempt to demonstrate.
Of course, no one could understand her.
Noah, mistaking her for trying to defend herself, simply stroked her fur as if to say it was fine.
Guess I’ll have to do a live demonstration when we get back to the bedroom.
Giving up on defending herself for now, Roze nestled in Noah’s arms and looked straight ahead.
It was another bright and sunny winter day.
Ah, so warm.
The wind occasionally nipped at her nose, but the rest of her body was cozy. Somehow, Noah had a warmer body than Jonathan, making him the better choice to cuddle with.
While she was enjoying the winter air from the comfort of Noah’s arms, Jonathan, who had been silently following them, suddenly shouted,
“Your Majesty! Watch out!”
Startled, Roze looked up and saw a flowerpot falling from a building above.
Using Noah’s sturdy chest as a springboard, Roze launched herself into the air.
No! I must protect Noah at all costs!
It’s true what they say—everything you learn in life ends up useful.
Roze, once the undisputed champion of the neighborhood cats, used a powerful back kick to send the flowerpot flying.
Just as her body began to plummet along with the shattered pot, Noah swiftly caught her midair.
A perfect combo if there ever was one.
“Your Majesty! Are you alright?”
“Where did that come from…?”
Evelyn and Amelia, shocked by the sudden incident, rushed over to check on Noah.
“Must’ve been blown off by the wind.”
Jonathan, approaching as if it were no big deal, surveyed the area while Noah looked down at Roze.
Noah said nothing, but Roze got the sense that he was a little moved. As if he understood that Roze had acted to protect him.
“The pot falling may have been a coincidence, but it’s fortunate that Roze displayed her hunting instincts at the right time.”
Though Jonathan’s tone was unimpressed, Roze merely let out a low growl. It was a reasonable take. Expecting someone to believe a cat acted with intention was a stretch, after all.
And it was also a little embarrassing. If she was honest, her instinctual kick came from a fleeting thought more concerned about marring that perfect face than Noah himself.
Cat owners always overestimate their cats, anyway…
Whatever the reason, Roze figured Noah’s reaction was just him being overly affectionate. It made her chuckle.
Then she looked up at the open window.
Still… where did that pot fall from?
In the end, Roze didn’t need to demonstrate how she opened the latch herself after returning to the bedroom.
“The window was open, you said?”
“Yes… but, Your Majesty! We made sure to lock it before we left!”
“It’s true, Your Majesty! I double-checked myself before going out.”
Roze was just about to step in to clarify when—
“Replace the latch with one that doesn’t open so easily.”
For some reason, Noah brought up the latch first.
It was almost as if her earlier paw-flailing had gotten through, because Noah acted like he was certain Roze had opened the latch herself.
Even assuming he believed in his cat’s intelligence…
That’s… surprising.
It was such an absurd conclusion that she started wondering if maybe he did know she wasn’t just a cat.
With the maids off the hook and Noah visibly more relaxed, Roze also let her guard down—and was soon hit with a wave of sleepiness.
“Roze, please eat a little before sleeping.”
“Oh dear. At this rate, her face will land in the bowl.”
Sure enough, in front of the ever-elegant Noah, who could lift a fork with royal grace, Roze was nodding off.
They say cats sleep through most of their lives, and it really must be true.
So sleepy. Forget food, just let me sleep…
Before she could finish that thought, Roze curled up on the cushion and dozed off, belly-up.
“You two may go.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After dismissing the two maids, Noah carefully lifted Roze and placed her on the bed.
She was sleeping so deeply that when he reached out and grabbed her hind leg, she merely twitched it away without even waking.
Noah lay down beside her, resting his nose against her back.
She smelled like freshly sun-dried sheets on a bright day.
That gentle scent relaxed tension in his shoulders he hadn’t even realized was there.
—Perhaps we can set another date for the tax reform discussion. For now, shouldn’t we finalize the hunting festival location first?
The ministers were so adept at steering the conversation back to their agenda, Noah could only sigh.
Eventually, they circled all the way back to the matter of his marriage.
“You must take an Empress.” “You must produce an heir.” The calls were louder than at the last tea gathering.
—I see. You’re all just dying to see me lose my temper.
He didn’t take the bait, but that didn’t make the frustration go away.
Noah buried his face deeper into Roze’s fur and sighed.
They didn’t understand—he didn’t need an Empress. He already had Roze.
Calling her a cursed cat only proved how little they knew. Roze wasn’t just not cursed—
“She’s not even just a cat…”
Noah had found Roze two years ago, just before the new year, during a frigid winter. It was after his coronation, in the palace’s rear garden.
The word “garden” might evoke peace and tranquility, but for Noah, it was different.
“What brings you here again?”
That garden was a place he had been forced to hide in with his mother, unable to mingle freely.
“I just wanted to see it one last time.”
The garden, nestled between the imperial palace and a forested slope with a river, had only two entry points: a narrow path from the palace’s outer garden and a staircase from the Emperor’s inner chambers.
The former Emperor had locked the garden gate and restricted entry to the point where only those permitted through the Emperor’s chamber could access it.
Which meant Noah and his mother Melissa were virtually prisoners, unable to go anywhere or see anyone without the Emperor’s permission.
“I used to think of this place as a prison. But now… it’s beautiful.”
Had it not been for Melissa, Noah might have stayed locked up here—or worse, exiled to the provinces under the title of a hollow Duke, or even… dead.
Noah was born with red eyes—an ominous sign in the Empire, making him a pariah from birth.
And so, even after becoming Emperor, it wasn’t exactly joyful.
People continued to both fear and look down on him simply for existing.
—Noah, did you read the book I lent you last time?
He hadn’t wanted the throne enough to kill the one brother who had shown him kindness.
“It really is a beautiful place.”
As he stepped between birch trees and approached the marble gazebo, he thought about checking the nearby palace annex one last time.
Then he heard it.
“What was that sound?”
A faint meow.
Following the sound with Jonathan, they found a kitten, barely alive, in a storage shed.
“Mew.”
“You have red eyes, too.”
That was Roze. Her crimson eyes, just a shade different from his, were like rose petals.
Noah brought her back to his room, cradling the frail body as if she might shatter.
From that moment until winter passed and a new year came, Noah cared for her devotedly.
He needed her to survive.
He didn’t want to be the only red-eyed creature in this world.
To Noah, Roze was that kind of cat. One whose mere existence comforted him.
But then—
“Everyone, leave the room.”
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty? Is Roze under the bed?”
“Did I stutter? Jonathan, you too.”
One early spring day, as the snow began to melt, Roze ceased to be just a cat to him.
