***
Huaam—
I let out a small yawn and blinked my eyes. Every time I closed them and opened them again, it felt like I might just pass out and fall asleep on the spot. Miscalculation. No matter how much I had to do, I should’ve made sure to get a proper nap during the day. Estimating the time, I rubbed around my eyes with my front paw, swish swish.
Judging by how steady my patron’s breathing was, he’d already fallen asleep—long ago, most likely. Still, I endured and waited for the night to deepen. If my patron happened to wake up in the middle of this, it’d be a huge disaster.
Sure, my patron is kind and gentle, but he’s still the Crown Prince, isn’t he? No matter how I think about it, there’s no way I’d come out unscathed if I suddenly turned human. Nine times out of ten, I’d be dragged away by the knights and tossed into an underground dungeon. Being locked up in some unsanitary hole like that? Absolutely unacceptable. I’d never tolerate it.
Figuring it should be safe by now, I slowly lifted my body.
Seeing my sleeping patron’s lips made my heart flutter. If I just pressed my lips to his… would I really turn back into a human? Judging from what happened yesterday, there was a strong chance. But it wasn’t something I could be completely sure of. I’d have to confirm it one more time to make everything clear.
Maybe I became human because our lips collided, or maybe it was because the old witch’s potion was wearing off and I temporarily reverted. Or maybe I turn human every night. The exact reason would have to be verified step by step, but for now, there was one thing I needed to check immediately.
After confirming once again that my patron was deeply asleep, I slowly leaned my face closer. Swallowing hard, my throat bobbed with tension. As the lips drew nearer, I even felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t intentional, and I definitely wasn’t harboring any strange thoughts—but still, this was basically stealing a kiss in secret.
I steeled my resolve, squeezed my eyes shut tight, and pushed my snout forward.
Touch—
A soft, yielding sensation sent a ticklish shiver through my entire body. It was a feeling I hadn’t noticed yesterday when I’d just slammed into him without thinking. I pulled my face back and cautiously opened my eyes.
Suddenly, everything went pitch-black. The room that had been perfectly visible just moments ago was now completely swallowed by darkness. I raised my hand and felt around my face—there was no fur anywhere, only smooth skin. Spreading both hands in front of my eyes and examining them from side to side, I let out a hollow laugh.
“…What the hell. It really works.”
That old witch must’ve grown up reading way too many fairy tales.
After blinking a few times, the darkness gradually faded. Still, it was clearly different from when I was a cat—I had to consciously focus to see properly. Lowering my head, I saw my patron sleeping soundly beneath me. I looked at him with renewed eyes.
Yesterday I was too shocked to really notice, but seeing him like this, he’s still huge. Back when I was a cat, I was so small that of course he looked big—but even now that I’m human, he still looks enormous. His broad chest, shoulders, and arms used to feel nothing but comfortable, but now that I’m looking at them like this, they’re oddly irritating. What the hell is with this guy? Why is he so damn big?
Sitting astride my patron’s chest, I turned my head backward.
Holy—why are his legs so long? My feet are all the way over there. Turning my head to the side and looking at his arm, that’s ridiculously long too. I casually compared it to my arm, and the difference was painfully obvious. This can’t be right. I must’ve messed up my sense of proportion after spending so long as a cat. There’s no way two guys should differ this much.
I spread my fingers and measured the length from my armpit to my wrist. One span. Two spans. Three spans.
Then I started measuring from my patron’s armpit.
One span. Two spans. Three spans. Four… spans… five…
Quietly, I curled my fingers back in. Height isn’t everything. There’s no need to obsess over it. Right. No need at all.
That said, I’m sitting on his chest and he doesn’t seem to feel heavy at all. Part of me wants to jump up and down until he lets out a groan, but I have to restrain myself. It’d be bad if he woke up right now.
Carefully, I climbed down from my patron’s chest.
Just as I was about to get off the bed, I looked at his face again—and a spiteful urge popped up. No, this isn’t spite. This is perfectly natural competitive spirit between men. Height may not be everything, but it’s still a little infuriating.
I hooked a finger under my patron’s nose and pushed it up, turning it into a pig nose. No matter how handsome he is, slap a pig nose on him and it’s ridiculous. Watching his humiliated face soothed my wounded pride. Then I pressed even harder, muttering under my breath.
“My name is K. K. You jerk who won’t even call me by my name.”
After giving him a pig nose until it turned red, I felt thoroughly refreshed. With a lighthearted mood, I pulled my finger away.
Dragging out the clothes and shoes I’d hidden under the bed filled me with immense satisfaction. The trouble I went through to get these—seriously, I couldn’t do it twice. If that angelic maid hadn’t carried them over for me, there’s no way I’d still be alive.
I rummaged through the clothes and put them on one by one, but they were incredibly awkward to wear. I couldn’t tell which side was the front, so I put them on and took them off over and over again. There were so many buttons that I nearly saw dawn while fastening them. In the end, I just did up a few of the top buttons and slipped on the shoes. Hopping in place a few times, they felt pretty comfortable. The size was close enough—guess I really am lucky.
I stood in front of the mirror on one side of the room. It wasn’t as polished as the nobles who come and go through the imperial palace, but I looked decently put together. If the maids had dressed me, it’d have been perfect, but on my own, this was the best I could do.
Stepping closer to the mirror, I saw my face. It looked exactly like I remembered. My skin didn’t seem damaged, and there wasn’t any stray cat fur left on my face. I spun around sharply in place, then winked at the mirror and went bang—firing an imaginary shot.
“Damn. I look pretty good, huh?”
It’s something I always did before going out, but today it felt oddly embarrassing. Normally, I’d do this and immediately run over to show off my outstanding looks and fashion sense to the old man—but today, there’s no one to show. I firmly shoved down the thoughts of home that were starting to surface.
Turning away from the mirror, I surveyed the room.
Clothes on. Shoes on. Now what?
There’s a mountain of things I want to do, but first things first—I need to deal with the most important matter. Finding a way back.
The curse has partially loosened, and the rest can be dealt with by finding that damn old witch. Unlike when I was a cat, I’ve got a real chance now that I’m human. The problem comes after that. The old witch wasn’t the one who brought me here, so there’s no way she’d know how to send me back. To find that method, the best place to search is this imperial palace. While looking for a way back here, I’ll also need to prepare to confront the old witch step by step. And once I find the method, I’ll immediately chase her down and completely lift the curse.
To do all that, the very first thing I need to do right now is learn how to read. If I can read, I can turn the library upside down and find even the smallest clue. But learning letters—easy to say, not so easy to do. To reach the point where I can comb through a library on my own would probably take years of brutal, Spartan-style study.
I reined in the gloom creeping into my heart.
Sure, it’s daunting, but I’ve already succeeded in turning back into a human. I’ll manage the rest somehow. If things really don’t work out, I can just seduce some human working in the library and make them do it for me.
Yeah. That’s perfect. Instead of wracking my brain learning a foreign language, I’ll just rope in someone suitable and have them handle it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. It’s so simple.
Giggling as my mood instantly improved, I threw the window open.
Uwaaagh—
Thud.
At the loud noise, Calyx anxiously peered down beneath the window. Then he let out a sigh of relief.
the boy who’d fallen quickly sprang back up, dusting off his backside with a few pats. Then, as if he’d never fallen at all, he strode off with a perfectly composed face. As always, he looked unfailingly plucky. He walked a few steps, stopped to tilt his head in confusion, glanced around, then turned and headed in another direction—still just as plucky.
One of the knights stationed below the window offered proper courtesy toward Calyx and began following after the boy. After confirming both the boy disappearing into the distance and the knight tailing him, Calyx turned away.
After being attended to by the maids and getting dressed, Calyx left the room and gently rubbed his nose. He must’ve been pressed quite hard—it still throbbed faintly. It seemed the boy had been far more hurt by not having his name called than Calyx had realized.
K. He’d said his name was K. That was the boy’s name.
Walking along behind the guiding knight, Calyx tried saying it out loud.
K.
It suited the boy well—his stubborn gaze, his black fur. Somehow, it felt like a slightly more endearing name might have fit, but the sound of “K,” carrying the boy’s solid pride so clearly, wasn’t bad at all.
The boy didn’t seem to walk very fast.
