Is this a dream?

The subtle silver hair looked as soft as paint dissolved in water.

Killian’s eyes closed and opened slowly as if submerged beneath the surface.

The white female body under the flowing hair forms soft curves, and the particularly thin back… … .

“……!”

Killian’s suddenly frozen eyes flashed sharply and he jumped to his feet.

A n*ked stranger was curled up and sleeping.

He squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed the blanket, throwing it in her direction.

The sound of the blanket fluttering over the woman’s body spread throughout the bedroom.

Killian wiped his dry face with his hand, he sighed and looked back at her.

“Where’s the cat? …….”

There was no sign of the cat where she lay.

His gaze turned cold as he searched for the cat.

“Where did it go?”

I had heard something about cats when I was learning about the history of Huppert and the Oracle.

It was said that cats had five senses and were more intelligent than other animals, and they harmed people.

So?

The cat was his to discover.

For the first time in his life, he came face to face with something he had only seen in drawings.

A cat that shouldn’t be alive had fallen into his hands, alive, and when he had a chance to kill it on the spot, there was a part of him that he didn’t want to kill it.

How did the cat, which was said to have disappeared from the Huppert Empire after being exterminated for hundreds of years, be discovered in the garden of the imperial palace today?

It was also bizarre that the little animal seemed to understand human speech, desperately trying to keep me away from Lady Gisela from eating her food.

And that the tiny creature, so small it could be placed in the palm of his hand, had lain by his wounded side and watched over him until he fell asleep.

“How dare you take what is mine…….”

His red eyes, fiercer than a beast’s, glared at the woman who had intruded into this room so unexpectedly.

The kitten must have recognized the woman’s presence faster than anyone else.

It might have ducked for cover, but it might have run out the open door and gone somewhere else.

Because of this ridiculous woman.

For this naked, insignificant, woman he had never allowed to come here.

His sharp gaze was directed at the woman, but the woman covered by his blanket was fast asleep with an innocent look on her face.

“Wake up.”

It was clear she was after something.

This time, a woman lying naked in his bed.

It could have been set up to frame him, or it could have been a greeter to seduce him and get something out of him.

Only torturing in some way would tell.

“Open your eyes…….”

A series of low, grating voices leaked out.

Killian immediately stretched out his hand to the motionless woman.

“Get up now…….”

Killian’s lips parted as he grabbed the woman’s shoulders menacingly.

The woman, startled by his touch, quickly opened her eyes.

“Meow?”

At the same time, he felt the fluffy fur in his hand.

A chill ran through his body, and a deeper shock struck his mind.

She had turned into a cat and was staring up at him, wide-eyed.

“Huh?”

Killian’s eyes widened as if he’d seen something unbelievable.

* * *

Suddenly, Killian relaxed his grip and my body fell onto the blanket without a chance to resist.

His face looking down at me looked calm, but somehow it felt like he was nervous.

Why did he wake me up so suddenly?

That’s been quite a grip he just had.

“Meow …….”

Did I kick him with my back paws in his sleep?

Or did I touch his wounds?

But any human being who gets irritated over something like that, you should have abandoned me a long time ago when you came in injured instead of taking care of me and giving me madeleine.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t figure out what I was doing while I was sleeping, so I started to get frustrated.

As a human, I might be able to guess, but as a cat, how could I possibly know what my sleeping habits were?

I tried to touch my nose to see if I had snored too loudly, but I lost my balance and fell over

“Meow…….”

By this point, I was ready to say something, but Killian was still staring down at me.

It was a face that anyone, no matter how clueless, could tell that he was not in a mood right now

The red eyes beneath his black hair remained silent, cooler than the dawn.

“You…….”

It was a long time before Killian’s low voice broke through.

“What are you?”

I looked up at him more, wondering what the hell he was talking about.

“Who are you?”

His piercing red eyes stared back at me.

I wondered how I, a cat, could answer that question.

Killian’s long eyes slowly narrowed as I stared at him in surprise.

“Did you just…….”

“Meow?”

“You just clearly…….”

“……meow?”

I asked, tilting my head, and Killian’s mouth dropped open, unable to say anything more.

“Hah.”

He sighed in disbelief and swiped his dry face.

 I was so scared that I thought this might be because of the aftereffects of him getting beaten earlier.

How badly did he have been abused to wake up like this?

“……you’re a cat.”

Or was it just that I was being too clueless earlier?

“You’re really a cat.”

But even with these eyes, Killian was still repeating that he couldn’t believe I was a cat.

I didn’t know if I’d been too intrusive earlier, or if he was just slightly, shallowly addicted to the black magic potion.

Okay, He had eaten Lady Gisela’s food, so that’s much more likely.

But the original story said there was definitely an antidote.

But only Madame Gisela knew about it, and she died without it.

Since I’m going to be stuck with Killian for the rest of my life until I can escape this empire, I’d better make sure he doesn’t take any more of the black magic potion, and if possible, I’ll find the antidote, and give it to him.

“If I say it right now…….”

He was under the delusion that I wasn’t a cat, so I needed him to recognize me as one now.

Come take a look, your Majesty.

“Meow.”

I immediately lifted my front paw and licked it with my tongue.

I could see his red eyes flutter open.

Well, see, I’m a cat, right? How could a human lick their hands and lick their fur with saliva? Unless you are crazy.

I washed my face harder, pretending to be preoccupied with licking out the fur.

His fierce gaze down at me his narrowed eyes seemed to fade, and I tried to scratch my ears with my hind paw, but my short legs sent me rolling to the side.

“What are you doing?”

He frowned, picked me up, and set me upright.

I was very embarrassed, but Killian’s expression softened a bit, so it wasn’t a bad outcome.

When I thought about it, it was nothing to be ashamed of, since cats are short-legged, and falling over while scratching their ears is no big deal. Well, I’m not a person anyway.

I finally saw Killian leaning against the pillow as if he had no longer doubted me. Of course, his eyes were fixed on me.

“Hmm.”

Thinking it was about time, I quickly pretended to yawn and straightened my back.

If he sleeps, I’ll sleep again, so I can be refreshed and live to fight another day.

This time I stretched out my hind legs, and my fur stood on end in the colder dawn air, which was colder than the time I fell asleep.

Now that I think about it, the night air felt quite cold.

It’s a good thing I have fur, or I’d be freezing my *ss off if I slept n*ked without it.

I rolled over like I was sleepy, and suddenly a blanket flew over me.

Killian had thrown it.

It looked like he’d thrown it away, but it didn’t matter.

It was strange, but I thought it was fine, so I buried my head in the blanket.

As my eyes slowly closed, I could vaguely hear his voice saying something.

Tomorrow, I’ll try ……, and I’ll know.

Something like that.

* * *

“……”

Killian looked at the sleeping woman.

Only after seeing the cat’s body take on a human form inside the blanket he had carelessly thrown away did he become convinced that the scene earlier was not an illusion.

“Hah.”

A hysterical gasp escaped his lips along with a low swear word as he brushed his hair.

It’s human.

A cat had become human.

Though it was unclear whether she knew about it.

The cat clearly transformed into a human right before his eyes.

“How…….”

How did this happend?

Killian laughed as if he had experienced a failure before turning his attention back to the sleeping woman with the blanket pulled up to her chin.

It was said that the cat would threaten the Huppert Empire and eventually become the culprit that would destroy it.

That’s what all the people had been taught.

However, contrary to the teachings that the empire achieved peace and prosperity by exterminating them, a cat that had been believed to have been extinct for hundreds of years appeared in front of him.

It even turns into a human when it sleeps, in a way he has never been taught.

He wondered what it meant.

“Hmm.”

It was only for a moment that the sharp shock of encountering the cat in the palace gardens hit him.

His father’s fierce vigilance, the young mistress who had pushed his mother away, and the countless nobles who had risen through the ranks and kept watching over the crown prince.

It was this animosity that made him consider bringing the cat back to life and presenting it to them.

“…….”

But soon a question caught his attention.

Was the education he has studied so far really based on the truth?

If it was true that the survival of an empire was related to cats, then what does the development of this brilliant empire over hundreds of years mean?

The cat that was supposedly exterminated is still alive and well.

Besides, he hadn’t been taught anything about a cat becoming human.

“I’ll have to find out.”

Maybe some of the things that had been written about cats were fabricated.

Maybe there were people who profited from hiding the truth.

However, all of this was just a hypothesis, and there was no clear evidence.

“Until then…….”

I’ll keep her alive.

If there is no need for it, it won’t matter if they kill it then.

Killian looked down at the girl who was leaning back on a pillow and breathing softly.

The woman in a deep sleep, covered with a blanket, was estimated to be around Killian’s age or younger.

“…….”

As the task at hand began to become clearer, Killian decided he needed information about cats.

Until then, he would have to keep the cat although he could hardly call it a cat anymore by his side.

Never to be seen, never to be taken from him, never to be seen by anyone connected to the imperial family.

Killian’s eyes naturally turned to the woman, but he suddenly furrowed his brows and grabbed his forehead.

But first, there is something to be done.

He’d have to get to know the cat, now that he was stuck with her for the time being.

“Uhh…….”

This n*ked woman’s clothes were also a problem.