IPBW 14🍎

Chapter 14

“Meow!”

I almost tumbled over, wrapped up in the thick blanket, but Artep caught me in time.

“If I rolled you around, you’d go tumbling like a ball. I could play catch with you.”

— You’re the one who wrapped me up like this.

How dare he laugh after being the culprit?

“Don’t move. If you do, the blanket will come loose.”

— It’s not even cold.

I shot him a glare before turning away, sulking as Artep carefully tucked the blanket tighter around me.

Taking advantage of his brief silence, I let my eyes wander once more over the garden: flowers swaying in the breeze, trees arching overhead, the tranquil pond glimmering under starlight.

Next time, I should ask him to bring me out for another night walk.
The thought warmed me—until Artep suddenly spoke.

“Shasha. Did you know… there are nights when the moon doesn’t rise?”

I tilted my head at him, puzzled. It was the first I’d ever heard of such a thing.

At my innocent reaction, Artep gave a faint smile. But strangely, that smile looked unbearably lonely.

“Most people never notice the absence of the moon, blinded as they are by the countless stars. But it’s there, plain as day—or rather, plain as night.”

Following his gaze, I tipped my head back. The sky glittered with stars, each one shining as if to flaunt its existence.

But among that sea of brilliance, there was no moon.

Ah…!

At last I understood the emptiness I’d felt earlier when gazing at the sky.

“Even with so many stars… something essential is missing.”

Artep let out a shallow sigh, his voice low and weary.

“This is the most tired I’ve felt in a long while.”

I turned to look at him instead of the sky. His black hair fluttered in the breeze, his face shadowed so darkly it seemed almost hollow, his eyes empty of life.

He didn’t look like the Artep I knew.

What weighed on him so heavily? I wanted to ask, to listen, to comfort him. But I couldn’t. He didn’t seem the sort to confide.

Perhaps it was because I was only a cat that could understand human speech. If I were just a normal cat, maybe my mere presence would’ve been enough to comfort him.

“Still, I’m glad you’re here. If you weren’t… I don’t think I could endure this.”

Artep let out a broken laugh that sounded more like a sigh.

“It would’ve been unbearable.”

The wind stirred the blades of grass, playing a quiet song across the garden.

My chest ached watching his exhausted face. Unable to stand it any longer, I flung off the blanket and leapt straight into his arms.

“Shasha?”

I thrust out my pink paw pads right under his eyes.

Startled, his eyes widened. Then, glancing between my face and the paw, he suddenly burst into laughter. He had understood my intent.

It was embarrassing, but I couldn’t just do nothing. He liked my paw pads, after all.

“Are you letting me touch your jelly?”

His large hand gently enveloped my tiny paw.

I braced myself for him to squeeze and play around as usual, but instead, Artep bowed his head.

And softly pressed his lips to the fur of my paw.

— Wh-what…

The gesture was so solemn, so reverent, like a knight pledging an oath to his liege, that I froze on the spot.

For a long moment, he remained still, lips resting on my paw. Then, lifting his head, he murmured quietly—

“Has the time already come?”

His words tasted bitter in the night air.

Allen appeared, carrying a tray.

“My lord, it is time. You must go.”

He set down a glass filled with clear liquid.

Water?

Before I could peer into it, Artep seized the glass and drained it in one swallow. Then, scooping me back into the blanket, he started toward the mansion.

“From tomorrow, you won’t see me for half a month.”

— What?!

The announcement blindsided me. I had known vaguely that there would be a time we couldn’t meet for half a month, but not that it would start tomorrow.

“He could’ve at least told me earlier.”

I glared up at him, but for once, I couldn’t even manage a meow. His face looked too unbearably lonely.

His steps seemed slower than usual, almost reluctant.

“Even if we can’t meet, I’ll still receive your words. If you want to say something, tell Allen.”

— Wait. Allen knows I can understand human speech?

“I won’t be far. I can reply quickly, so don’t hesitate to send messages.”

— Not far? Then you’re not leaving for your estate? Where exactly are you going…

Artep continued speaking as if my questions never existed. Frustrated, I wriggled in his arms, but wrapped tightly in the blanket, held firmly against him, I couldn’t even free a paw.

“Stay still. You’ll catch a chill.”

He carried me into the mansion.

“Endure a little, even if you miss me. This time… something feels different.”

Up the stairs he went, past the second floor where his chambers lay, all the way to the very top. At last, he stopped before a door.

— What’s this room? Aren’t we sleeping together tonight?

I called to him, but he gave no reply.

Instead, he pressed a firm kiss against my forehead.

— Artep… Are you really leaving without telling me anything?

His ruby-clear eyes reflected my worried, sulky expression. He smiled faintly, then handed me to Allen.

“Take good care of him. And if there are any changes, report immediately.”

Changes? What kind of order was that supposed to be?

Artep turned the doorknob. But just before stepping inside, he paused, glanced back at me once more.

The room beyond him was pitch dark, devoid of even a single light. The air seeping out from within felt so cold it sent a shiver down my spine.

“I will return when the full moon rises.”

Leaving only those words, Artep stepped into the darkness.

Allen carried me down the stairs. I didn’t resist. I was too busy cursing that heartless duke in my head.

“He insisted on sleeping together every night, and now—when he’s leaving for half a month—he doesn’t even stay with me once?”

“What a cold-blooded man. One moment, his gaze drips with honey, the next, he leaves me in the dark with nothing!”

For all his teasing, Artep never hid his affection. Yet sometimes, his way of caring left me deeply unsettled.

“I tolerated the paw-squeezing, the petting, the hugging… and this is how he repays me?”

The man was truly insufferable.

“Shasha, tomorrow I’ll brush your fur for you! Do you know how sad I was when His Grace forbade me from brushing you?”

I was mid-rant when Allen, ever oblivious, broke in with fake tears.

He had seemed respectable when I first saw him serving Artep from afar. In person, he was unbelievably noisy.

“But this is a secret, okay? His Grace hasn’t lifted the ban yet, so you can’t tell him!”

Strangely enough, Allen didn’t seem afraid of Artep at all. Perhaps it was because he’d known him since childhood. Even if he wilted under Artep’s intimidating presence for a moment, his antics would always return.

“And why does my Shasha look so gloomy?”

— I’m not gloomy. I’m angry.

“Could it be you already miss His Grace? Do you want to see that scary face again?”

— Ridiculous. Why would I miss that awful man? What I miss is… my mother…

I cut myself short. There was no reason I couldn’t see my mother.

Yes, my family wanted to take me, but Mother was in the annex. If I slipped in, I could at least see her face.

There were guards patrolling, sure, but…

“Surely even in this tiny body, I can sneak into my own house.”

Besides, Artep had reassigned Sir Alcott, his knight, elsewhere.

Once my mind was set, hesitation was pointless.

So, after Allen carried me to my chamber, I waited about thirty minutes. Then I slipped out of Redmond Mansion on my own.