“My thoughts were short, I’m sorry.”

I was surprised by the spontaneity of the apology, and even more surprised by how unexpected it was.

I was at a loss for words, but then I heard the kind words.

He almost snapped back, It’s so easy to say, but he knew better than to be so foolish.

The sound of his heartbeat seeps into my ears through his jacket, and my body snuggles against his chest, steadying itself.

“Are you okay now?”

“Ohom.”

I heard Killian chuckle in the air overhead at my sobbing reply.

“Hmm, such a wimp…….”

His tone relaxed, and I quickly closed my eyes and ears, pretending not to hear.

Looking at the books made me realize how determined Killian must have been to keep me alive now.

It must not have been an easy choice for the crown prince who held the future of the empire to question the oracle and protect me, rather than kill the cat that was tied to the honor of Huppert.

Killian is scary, sometimes incomprehensible man, but he’s also the one who makes me feel safest.

I hope he never changes……….

Suddenly I remembered his doomed future in the original book, I buried my face in his arms, clinging to him.

His addiction to black magic, his descent into madness, his ruthless tyranny.

I wish none of it had happened.

I could smell the familiar scent of wood in his arms, thick and clean as always.

“It’s okay.”

His reassuring tone rattled my ears.

I wanted to find a way for Killian, for me, for both of us, to have a stable life.

If we could change the present, maybe we could change the future in the original story.

I wish I could write a letter and let him know, but I’m so paralyzed that I can’t even mention anything related to the original, so I try my best to be by his side and help him walk a different path from the original.

Finding a way to be human at the same time.

And Killian doesn’t get blackened, he becomes a good emperor, meets his destined mistress, and they have a normal, beautiful love……!

I forced myself to imagine something positive, and hope began to bubble up in my gloomy heart.

Well, let’s believe that, let’s make it so!

“Meow!”

Determined, I slapped his jacket with my front paw.

Killian, who assumed he’d hit me in frustration, nodded and spoke up with a serious expression on his face.

“I won’t let you see it next time.”

No!

“Miyameow!”

I shook my head coldly to make my point.

It’s a bigger problem if he didn’t want to take me with him because he was afraid I’d freak out when I tried to look for clues.

If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have known I could read, and I wouldn’t have gotten any answers to my questions about the cat and the oracle.

I needed any information I could get.

I’m worried that this would make him stop carrying me around, so I quickly clung to his chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Oohmeow?”

I continued to squeal, clinging to his jacket with my claws.

Unable to make out what I was saying, Killian squinted, then let out a giggle at the ridiculousness of my behavior.

“I’m glad if things got better at least a little. Go get some rest.”

Killian stroked my cheek and ear, then spoke softly.

“Get dressed.”

The words were strangely stern, even in their affection.

Thud.

At that moment, I heard the library door close in the distance.

Was it a person?

I quickly reached for his inside pocket and slipped inside.

The sound of clicking heels echoed steadily from the doorway, drawing closer to him.

“Reading, Your Highness?”

The voice sounded familiar, somehow…….

“I had a book to look up, too. What were you reading, Your Highness?”

It was Lady Gisela.

“I can’t believe the Countess is here.”

Killian said casually.

“I thought this place was off-limits to all but royalty.”

“Oh my, I suppose you haven’t reported to the king yet; in fact, the king has given me special permission to do so. I made a small request to the king a few days ago for access to this place, and he was very gracious.”

She spoke like a chirping lark, with an innocent laugh at the end.

It was a subtle way of flaunting the fact that the Emperor had broken an imperial rule with such a simple request and that not even the Crown Prince could stop her now.

“Your Highness, wasn’t yesterday’s hunt quite extraordinary?”

Lady Gisela didn’t stop there, bringing up the hunt as a topic of conversation.

At this point, I have to admit.

Catherine Harman Gisela was clearly a woman who was not afraid of anything.

“My dear,” she said, “I’ve had a bit of a headache from all the exertion, and I didn’t even realize it was evening. I hope you slept well, Your Highness because now that I think about it, you don’t look very well. Are you all right?”

It was an incredibly sweet and kind question.

I could see what she had in mind.

In the original books, when Killian was in pain from a black magic potion, she’d be concerned about his condition and would bring him rare medicines or make him a more delicious meal.

Of course, they weren’t painkillers or antidotes; they were addictions.

To break down a man’s sturdy boundaries, she chose to create a weakness so carefully that she could penetrate.

It was her way of making him realize that she was the only one who cared about him in the midst of his father’s surveillance, his mother’s infrequent visits, and the dull, stifling life of the palace.

“If you have any discomfort, I have some good medicine from abroad…….”

“I slept well.”

But Killian laughed a slow, gruff, and somehow sarcastic response.

“I suppose it’s only because the food you prepared yesterday was so good.”

He added, and this time the words were lost on the other side.

It seems that she didn’t look like she was expecting this.

“I’ll have to admit, You are a very good cook.”

“…….”

“From now on, I suggest that the Countess always accompany me on hunts, and you prepare those great things as you did yesterday, for the greater pleasure of all.”

Puzzled, Lady Gisela stood still, unable to add her usual smile.

“Why don’t you answer me.”

“That…… is an honor to have you say so, Your Highness, and I will do my best.”

Confusion seeped into Madame Gisela’s tone as she reluctantly replied.

“I am grateful that you accept the offer.”

Speaking more relaxed, Killian took a step toward Lady Gisela.

“What can I do to honor you for listening so well to me?”

“Your Highness, it is enough for me to know that Your Majesty and Your Highness have come to visit…….”

“Very well, you should come along and see what your Majesty want to hunt next.”

“What……?”

Lady Gisela asked, chilled to the bone.

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

Killian’s voice had a hint of a smile in it.

What was he thinking?

I could hear Madame Gisela’s shaky breathing as she didn’t hear the answer she wanted to hear from Killian.

She couldn’t seem to accept that he was okay.

“……Yes, Your Highness, May I ask what you would put in your hunting ground? I can’t imagine.”

“It wouldn’t be fun if you knew in advance, wouldn’t it? It would be the same thing to knock down something that is trying to fly or to suffocate something that behaves as it pleases.”

Madame Gisela, who had stood for some time unable to reply to Killian’s sarcastic retort, gradually forced a smile, trying to break the stern mood.

“I suppose that means you have a great deal to hunt, your highness.”

“It’s not that it’s going to be great, it’s just that I’ve never seen it before and it’s going to be fun.”

“Ho-ho-ho, I’m looking forward to it, really…….”

I heard her swallow dryly, her smile fading.

“Then……. I’ll take a look, Your Highness.”

It was the first time Lady Gisela had avoided making the first move in conversation.

The sound of her dress and shoes faded as she politely stepped back.

As Killian glided past her, a shuddering gasp escaped Lady Gisela’s lips as he watched her for a moment.

* * *

“Take a break.”

Said Killian, setting me down on the bed and heading for the bathroom.

“Mmmm.”

I gave him a knowing sound as I changed into my chemise, then flopped down on the bed.

I tried to remember what atrocities Madame Gisela had committed in the original.

I wanted to have some idea of the insanity she would wreak in the future if things didn’t go according to my plan.

While Lady Gisela’s dosing of Killian with the black magic potion was a major event in my memories, there wasn’t much about what else she had done to the Prince in the past.

So, should we guess what happened with the female lead whom Madame Gisela had tormented her so terribly?

Well, slaps and hair-pulling are common. Drugging her food, staging kidnappings, and eventually staging her own death to trap her, hmm.

Damn, in retrospect, she’s a huge XX, isn’t she?

I had a lot of patience and in every scene where the beautiful and innocent female lead kept quiet for fear of harming the male lead, I was so upset that I put my fist in my mouth and cried!

From the disposition of that dainty Lady Gisela, she cannot be expected to do violence to Killian, or to seek to interfere with the Emperor, or to make a frightful self-destruction?

I’m sure the medication will keep him at bay, but what can I do to stop him from having a falling out with the Emperor?

If I go out there, boom, they’ll all have their knives drawn as soon as they hear me!

“What are you thinking.”

Killian asked as he stepped out of the shower, touching my ear, and I patted the bed coldly.

If I can’t tell you about the original and I can write about me.

“Pfft.”

Ugh, that’s not the kind of thing to say so casually!

I protested my frustration, but he just pressed his thumb and forefinger firmly against both of my cheeks.

“I’m lucky the book doesn’t freak you out.”

That’s a completely separate issue!

There’s a human being who wouldn’t freak out at that picture. Come here.

“Come here.”

Killian holds out his hand to me, and I reluctantly climb into his palm.

He’d just gotten out of the shower, and I could smell the faint scent of his perfumed cologne.

I could see his red eyes staring at me from beneath his slightly damp black hair.

“Are you okay now?”

“Meow.”

“What do you want to say?”

“Meow.”

I shook my head and quietly jawed on my front paw.

“Good night, then.”

As he lowered his hand in finality, I was about to move around on the bed to find a place to sleep when a curious thought flashed through my mind.

“Awww!”

I turned around coldly and bit his sleeve.

“Why?”

Killian looked down at me with a questioning look in his eyes.

Is it okay to ask this?

What if he had a stormy day and I still wanted to ask him this?

Why am I wondering this at such a serious and important time?

I glared up at Killian, who was waiting patiently.

“Write it.”

Killian spread his palm out in front of me.

I stared at his large palm, then hesitantly approached and began to write letters with my front paws, one by one.

I hadn’t thought of it until now, but once it was in my head, I didn’t think I could make it through the rest of the night without asking.

I glanced back up at him when I was finished.

He’d been staring down at his palm in silence, and now his eyes snapped to mine.

“What do I look like when I’m human?”