The boy’s body trembles as he feels along both arms. As excitement creeps into his voice and grows louder, the presence outside the room sharpens. The knights are on high alert.
After fumbling over his body for a long while, the boy suddenly goes quiet. Calyx wonders if he’s noticed that he’s awake—but that’s not it. the boy opens and closes his hands, staring blankly as he mutters,
“I’m human.”
He murmurs it like a sigh, then starts breathing rapidly. Suddenly, he jumps to his feet and shouts,
“Yes!!!”
Calyx finally lets out the laughter he’d been holding back—pfft—but the sound is swallowed up by the boy’s cry.
the boy bounces around on the bed, then suddenly sucks in a breath and clamps a hand over his mouth. He peers around the darkness, barely visible anyway, scanning this way and that. After holding his breath for a moment, he mutters,
“Almost got caught.”
The Empire’s finest knights—capable of detecting even the smallest disturbance—are standing just beyond the door, and he’s just shouted loudly enough for an ordinary person to hear. There’s no way he wasn’t noticed. But the boy doesn’t seem to have thought that far. It’s strangely similar to how he’s usually sharp and clever, yet oddly oblivious in certain ways.
the boy crouches down quietly and stretches a hand toward Calyx’s face. Judging by the way he doesn’t notice a pair of wide-open eyes, his night vision must be atrocious. Calyx decides to let the boy do as he pleases until the situation becomes clearer.
Keeping his eyes closed, he feels a hand waving back and forth in front of his face. The motion is strong enough to wake even someone fast asleep. After waving his hand there several times, the boy whispers,
“Hey, patron. You asleep?”
Patron. Calyx rolls the word around in his mind with his eyes still shut.
“Patron. You really sleeping, right?”
Patron. So that’s what his little cat usually called him. Well, from the moment they first met, the little thing had an impressively high nose. Even when begging for food or demanding something, he’d always stare with proud, unapologetic eyes—like he was simply claiming what was rightfully his. There was no way such a creature would think of him as an owner. But patron… It suits his audacity perfectly.
Calyx suppresses a quiet chuckle.
If he were to snap his eyes open right now, the boy would panic, then hastily lick his front paws and play dumb—though he doesn’t have any paws to lick at the moment—and then lash out in irritation instead. Just like always.
The boy grows increasingly restless. Perhaps too excited to contain himself, he pants lightly, flailing about in a fluster. He hops off the bed, jumps in place, stretches his arms high. Thrilled by his new human body, he doesn’t spare Calyx a single thought. Thanks to that, Calyx props his head up on one hand and reclines, leisurely watching the boy.
Under the moonlight, the boy’s exposed body is small and slender. And yet, strangely, it doesn’t feel fragile. Even as a cat, he’d always been small—but never weak. It seems his build itself is simply petite.
The boy bustles around the room, his steps quick and light. He picks things up one by one with his small hands, fiddling with them. He must like having human hands—every time he grabs something, he lets out an admiring, “Oh!” His face is filled with pure delight.
After playing about busily for a long time, the boy suddenly freezes. He curls in on himself and trembles, then scans his own body. Only then does he realize he’s completely naked. Startled, he hurriedly looks around the room, and when he urgently covers the thing dangling between his legs with both hands, Calyx can’t help but let out another laugh, his throat vibrating.
“Damn it. That old witch. Doesn’t she even know that clothes are a basic transformation option? This is humiliating.”
The boy mutters in an embarrassed voice.
A witch… Calyx turns the word over in his mouth, lost in thought. The easiest thing would be to ask the boy directly, but he has no desire to startle him when he’s this excited. More than anything, it would be a shame to miss the fun of watching him bustle around, chattering nonstop. Besides, he doesn’t necessarily need the boy to figure out what’s going on. If it becomes difficult, he can always ask later.
When Calyx looks away for just a moment, the boy is now loitering near the door. He doesn’t dare go out, though. Knowing there are people waiting beyond it, there’s no way he’d open the door when he doesn’t want to be discovered.
“What kind of room doesn’t even have a single set of clothes lying around? And it’s not like I can strip my patron and wear his pajamas.”
Grumbling, the boy comes back toward the bed. It seems he couldn’t find anything to put on. Naturally so—everything except what’s being worn is taken away by the maids. Standing beside the bed, the boy shivers. Having been wrapped in fur before, the sudden absence of it must make him quite cold.
“Ah. It’s cold.”
Unable to endure the chill any longer, the boy quietly climbs onto the bed. He holds his breath for a moment, as if checking whether Calyx has woken up, then wriggles his way under the sheets. From the edge of the bed, Calyx watches with amused eyes as the boy—panting softly beneath the covers—squirms his way closer. He’s the same one who would burrow into Calyx’s chest every dawn when it got cold. He’s probably itching to cling on for warmth.
Perhaps deciding he can’t stand it anymore, the boy suddenly sits up. He stretches out his hand again, waving it in front of Calyx’s face. Keeping his eyes shut, Calyx feels the boy sneak closer and carefully lie down on top of his chest. The weight feels different than usual.
“Ahh. As expected, my patron-brand chest-bed is the best.”
the boy rubs against his chest, giggling to himself. Then he rubs his eyes with one hand and yawns. From experience, Calyx knows the boy will fall asleep again in no time. But the boy seems to have other plans, mumbling sleepily against Calyx’s chest.
“I shouldn’t sleep… I gotta… grab my stuff and run…”
Blinking drowsily as he resists sleep, the boy ends up dozing off almost absurdly fast, breathing softly. Calyx gently strokes the black hair, listening to the faint breaths. The texture beneath his hand feels different than usual. Naturally—it isn’t a cat.
Even so, it’s undeniably soft and pleasant. Calyx presses his nose into the boy’s black hair. The scent is the same as always—familiar.
“You really never let me get bored, do you?”
Calyx whispers with a smile. The boy squirms and mutters in his sleep.
“Mmm… patron… rub my back…”
Laughing out loud now, Calyx slips his hand under the sheet and rests it against the boy’s back. The sensation is clearly different from the small back that once fit neatly in one hand. As he slowly traces along the spine, smooth, hairless skin slides beneath his palm. It’s hard to believe it belongs to a boy—so soft it is.
After stroking him slowly, again and again, the boy settles into steady sleep once more. His relaxed expression makes it clear he feels safe. Once Calyx confirms he’s deeply asleep, he reaches to the side of the bedpost and pulls a cord. Next to the thick cord used to summon attendants is a far thinner one, almost impossible to notice. When he pulls it, a knight on guard enters.
The knight’s face is tense—clearly, he’s been on edge ever since entering earlier. A sudden human appearing in the Crown Prince’s chamber would naturally put the entire Crown Prince’s Palace on fortress-level alert.
As Calyx gently strokes the boy’s black hair under the knight’s gaze, he speaks in a low voice.
“Everything regarding this boy is to remain absolutely confidential.”
The knight, who looks like he wants to ask something, opens his mouth slightly—then nods. Calyx gestures for him to withdraw and continues enjoying the feel of the boy beneath his hand.
Who this boy truly is. What exactly has happened.
There are things he needs to hear for certain. But he’s confident this boy isn’t a threat to him. And even if—by some remote chance—that weren’t the case, he has more than enough power to stop it.
He’s already looking forward to how the boy will react come morning, and what he’ll say. Still, even this moment—listening to the boy’s breathing—is enjoyable. Since meeting this boy, there hasn’t been a single day that wasn’t pleasant. As long as this boy remains by his side, that enjoyment won’t fade.
Yes. As long as he stays by his side.
If the boy, now human, tries to leave—what then?
Calyx presses his lips to the boy’s black hair.
“I can’t allow that.”
As he whispers against him, the boy suddenly squirms. Calyx pats his back gently.
