***
It’s already morning.
I blinked my eyes sleepily and let out a long, lazy yawn. After stretching my whole body out, my patron’s face came into view. I met his golden eyes—shining even more beautifully in the morning sunlight—and gave him a silent greeting with my gaze.
Ah. I don’t want to get up. I wish I could lie here just a little longer. Just ten more minutes.
I pressed my face against his chest and stubbornly stayed put, but my patron stared down at me intently. He was staring so blatantly that I almost suspected the bastard was trying to start a staring contest with me. Is there something on my face or what?
Come to think of it, I feel like I had a dream last night… What kind of dream was it again? It felt like an insanely good dream. Hm….
Ah. Right. I think it was a dream where I turned back into a human.
Yeah. Yeah, that’s it. I was human again, so happy that I was practically bouncing around. I was so thrilled that I unleashed my ultimate skill—picking things up with my hands. I remember holding a candlestick in my hand and being overwhelmingly moved.
Yeah. Human again…..
………
………
………
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I—was human, wasn’t I?!
The thought slammed into me, and I shot upright.
When I looked ahead, my patron was staring straight through me with an unusual expression. Of course he was—his cat had suddenly turned into a human right in front of him. Surely he wasn’t about to call the knights outside and throw me into some underground dungeon, right?
I looked at my patron hesitantly. There was no change in his gaze as he took in my flustered state. He was just… staring, deeply focused. I shuffled backward and opened my mouth.
“Um, listen—I’m really not a suspicious person, okay.”
…Huh? That’s weird. I can hear a cat meowing.
I glanced around the room. But there was no cat, and no other person either. Guess I imagined it. I turned back to my patron and continued my explanation.
“So, you see, I’m actually that cat.”
…The cat meowing keeps going. I carefully scanned the room again, then turned my gaze back to my patron.
“Hey. I think there’s a cat in here.”
At my words, my patron let out a soft huh of laughter. I was about to snap irritably when I froze and slowly lowered my head. There—two black, fluffy front paws.
…What the hell is this?
I lifted my head again. My patron was smiling with his eyes, a gentle crescent-shaped grin. Staring blankly, I muttered,
“Nya-nya-nyang—nyanyang?”
I’m a cat again? What the hell?
There’s a saying like this.
“How dare you give something and then snatch it back so cheaply and unfairly?”
Whenever I got into arguments as a kid, I always answered the same way.
“Here it is. What are you gonna do about it?”
Yeah. That exact thing is happening right here.
If a curse breaks, it breaks. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. How does it make any sense for it to break and then just snap back like this? It’s so absurd and ridiculous that I don’t even have the energy to get angry.
Shit. Fine. Do whatever you want. Toy with me all you like. Just make sure you put things back where they belong when you’re done. You damn old witch.
I let out a heavy sigh and glanced sideways.
My patron was completely absorbed in his work. The feather pen moving swish, swish across the page seemed lighter and more cheerful than usual.
All day today, my patron keeps alternating between staring at me intently and wearing this strangely pleased expression, smiling subtly to himself. Oh—he’s looking again. His golden eyes soften, and he taps my head lightly with his finger. Then he scratches the back of my neck and strokes my back. As expected, his face looks unnaturally happy.
I’m about to explode from frustration over here, and he’s just floating on his own little cloud of joy. If I leave him alone, he’ll probably start swaying his shoulders and dancing.
Yeah. What would you know?
With another deep sigh, I rested my chin on my front paws.
Why did I turn back into a cat again?
No—why did I even turn human in the first place?
At first, I wondered if it had all been just a dream. But when I saw the candlestick I’d played with and casually left behind, I knew that wasn’t it. I had definitely turned back into a human.
But how?
I retraced everything that had happened last night, one by one. But there was nothing particularly strange. I hadn’t taken any weird medicine. The only things that were different from usual were… pestering my patron to have clothes tailored, and then—
…Headbutting my lips into my patron’s lips?
At the possibility flashing through my mind, I shook my head hard.
No way. That can’t be it. If that were true, then what the hell even is this?
Getting dropped into some place I’d never heard of, turning into a cat after drinking an old witch’s potion—that alone is ridiculous enough. But breaking the curse with a lip headbutt? What is this, a fairy tale? Then what am I, Sleeping Beauty? Or the Frog Prince? A luxury, brand-new Cat Prince?! Are you kidding me?!
As I fumed to myself, I glanced sideways—and met those golden eyes, smiling softly. I flicked my tail thwap, thwap against the floor, clearly telling him to get back to work.
Fine. Let’s think positively for now.
It’s certain that headbutting my patron’s lips turns me human, even if only for a while.
Just in case, I’ll secretly try it one more time tonight. Even if I do turn human again, I still haven’t figured out how to get back to where I originally came from. Until I find that method, staying here is the best option. This is the imperial palace, after all—if anything can be found, it’ll be found here.
Having steadied my resolve, I stood up.
I hopped down from the desk, and my patron looked at me. I gave him a short nyaang and headed toward the office door.
Let’s see now….
First, I need to deal with clothes. I can’t go wandering around stark naked like last night. I should also move the jewels I’d stashed away to somewhere easier to grab and run with, just in case. Jewels are hard to convert into cash, so I should stockpile some money too. Oh—and I’ll need a bag to pack things in. Can’t forget shoes either.
As I walked while thinking through all of this, my mood gradually lightened. Plotting where and how to secretly procure each item made me feel like a phantom thief. Hm. That’s kind of cool. Yeah. That’s it.
Items disappearing one by one from the imperial palace. No evidence. No witnesses. All that remains where the objects once were is a few strands of black fur fluttering in the wind. Appearing like the wind and vanishing like smoke—he is the palace’s looting phantom cat, K.
My drooping tail slowly lifted higher. After standing still for a moment, the little creature resumed walking. Gone was the sluggish, gloomy pace from earlier. Instead, the steps were light and lively.
Simon Licht began walking after the cat, who had suddenly shaken off its gloom and was now moving cheerfully.
Unlike how listless it had seemed earlier that morning, the cat appeared to be in an exceptionally good mood. Watching it trot along, Simon almost imagined a jingle-jingle bell sound coming from its tiny, dainty paws.
Simon was currently tailing the cat. Unlike before, he was doing so under direct orders from Crown Prince Calyx.
The order was simple: watch it—and guard it. He had been instructed to perform surveillance and protection at the same time. While it seemed questionable whether a single small cat truly required both guard and monitoring, Simon accepted the order without complaint.
The small cat commonly called “Nabi” looked like it was planning to pull something today.
It slipped into areas with few people and kept glancing around suspiciously. Just what was it planning to get up to this time? The creature was clever to the point of being downright sly—whatever it did, it was bound to be something big.
After wandering around for quite a while, the place it arrived at was none other than the laundry yard.
What business could it possibly have here? Simon hid himself among the many clothes hanging out to dry and observed the cat.
Lowering its body, the cat looked around before staring intently at one particular piece of clothing. It padded underneath, wiggled its hips as if measuring the distance, and then leaped.
The hanging clothes came tumbling down to the ground along with the cat. At the sight of the small creature flailing while buried under fabric, Simon let out a soft pfft of laughter.
After finally poking its head out from beneath the clothes, the cat—apparently not tired at all—snatched up several more garments. Simon realized that all the clothes the cat had gathered together formed a complete outfit.
As expected, it was no ordinary cat. How could it possibly select and steal human clothes so precisely, assembling a full set?
The small creature grunted and struggled as it gathered the clothes into one spot. Using its tiny mouth, it bit down on the fabric and dragged it along the ground, spreading it flat. Then it layered another item on top, repeating the process over and over.
For a human, this would have been an easy task. But for such a small-bodied creature, it was nothing short of grueling labor. Especially since it had chosen only high-quality garments worn by royalty—those were never light to begin with.
By now, Simon was watching the cat not merely to fulfill his orders, but out of pure curiosity.
After all, being able to carry out his duty and satisfy his curiosity at the same time was a remarkably good deal.
