At the sudden question, the boy shuffled his feet and then slowly opened his mouth.
“I’m looking for a book I really need to find.”
The boy paused, lifted his head, and slowly swept his gaze over the books packed all the way up to the high ceiling. Then he let out a deep sigh.
“But I already feel overwhelmed just thinking about how to find it.”
He spoke in a weak voice, then slyly sent a glance my way. His head tilted slightly to the side as he blinked slowly, and that expression was painfully familiar. Calyx had no trouble reading the boy’s gestures.
You won’t play with me? Or maybe, You won’t do this for me?
Right now, the boy was pestering him to find the book he was looking for. And Calyx had never once refused the boy’s requests.
“Shall I help you find it?”
The boy’s eyes sparkled, and he broke into a wide grin.
***
The hand that had been rubbing my back slipped away. Then fingertips gently scratched the top of my head. They fiddled with my ears, then scratched the back of my neck. I let out a lazy yawn and opened my eyes.
When I did, golden eyes were smiling at me. I blinked my bleary eyes at them, then yawned wide once more.
Lifting my head, I realized I was on top of the desk in the office. I had no idea when I’d ended up here. I flopped back down onto the plush cushion and continued enjoying my patron’s touch.
As I lay there quietly, my memories began to return bit by bit.
Last night, I’d spent the whole time loafing around the library with my patron before we parted ways. I stayed behind in the library to kill time, then returned much later. I was so sleepy that I wanted to go back and sleep right away, but I had to wait for my patron to fall asleep first.
Anyway, even after I finally made it back to the bedroom, I held out while checking when I’d turn back into a human, and it was just around dawn when I finally reverted to being a cat. So it really is only at night that I turn human, I thought, collapsing onto my patron’s chest right on the verge of passing out.
After that, my memories get spotty.
I vaguely remember getting brushed while nodding off once morning came, and I think I caught and ate meat that was flown right up to my mouth a few times. The next time I briefly opened my eyes, I was curled up against my patron’s stomach. He must’ve been carrying me tucked there the whole time until we came to the office.
“Huaam—”
Stretching out a long yawn, I looked at my patron.
When I ran into him outside last night, my heart honestly nearly dropped out of my chest. But thankfully, I hadn’t been found out. He’d woken up, been startled that I wasn’t there, and come out looking for me. I’d known for a while that he liked me, but realizing he liked me enough to come searching in that freezing night moved me a little.
In any case, I was really glad my patron came out.
Walking around in human form in the pitch-dark night, I’d ended up getting lost. If my patron hadn’t shown up, I might’ve wandered the imperial palace all night. Thanks to meeting him, I found the library, drank warm tea, and on top of that, he even promised to find the book I was looking for.
The best part, though, was telling him my name.
Unfortunately, since I told him while I was in human form, he can’t call me by it right now. Still, hearing my name come out of his mouth made me absurdly happy. So I’ve decided that from now on, I’ll sometimes call him by his real name instead of “patron.” Fair’s fair—if you receive something, you should give something back.
“Nyaa—”
That’s right. Lyx.
When I called him Lyx, he smiled prettily again with those golden eyes. Little punk.
Still, I wonder when that book will turn up.
I’m not even sure a book like that exists in the first place. A case of someone coming from another world and returning? Does something like that really exist? Well, since I’m sitting right here like this, there’s no reason there couldn’t be other cases… If it does exist, my patron will find it. My patron’s smart, after all.
Suddenly, my patron gently scratched the spot where my tail meets my butt with his fingertips. My body twitched, and I let out a protesting yowl.
Hey—don’t do that. That feels weird.
Maybe he understood me, because he stopped scratching and laughed silently. In retaliation, I stretched out my front paw and poked little claw holes—plink, plink—into the documents in front of him.
My patron might actually be kind of a genius.
With one hand, he flips through documents and signs them, and with the other, he pets my back. I watch the pages flutter by, then after a certain amount of time, I shift positions.
I flop onto my right side and press my right flank against him, then roll onto my left side and offer up my left flank. When my neck gets bored, I lie on my belly and stick my neck out instead. Depending on the spot, the touch needs to change—stroking here, scratching there—and even without looking at me, my patron somehow knows exactly what to do. Purring away, I marvel at my own foresight in choosing this guy.
Ah. I’m bored.
Now that I’m fully awake, I’m bored. Enjoying my patron’s touch is nice, but a cat, by nature, is meant to play happily. Still lying on my side, I surveyed the desk.
Documents. Documents. Documents. Documents. Documents. Documents. …Ink!
An ink bottle—something he absolutely never left within my reach ever since that ink incident—was sitting there bold as day. I subtly rolled my eyes to check my patron’s face. He was completely absorbed in his work. This was an opportunity sent straight from the heavens. Narrowing my eyes, I stretched my front paw toward the ink bottle.
……
…What?
Just as my paw was about to touch it, the bottle floated up into the air. Turning my head, I saw my patron move the ink bottle far away, smiling with his eyes.
“Are you bored?”
I flicked my tail and smacked the hand scratching my neck, then snorted. As if he’d give the ink bottle back just because I said I was bored. Tch. Tch.
I pushed myself up, stretched long and hard, and hopped down from the desk.
My patron looked at me as if asking where I was going, but I turned sharply and headed for the door. You take the ink bottle away from me, I’ll take my soft fur privileges away from you. Hmph.
Huh. That’s Bondre!
I spotted Bondre’s back as he hurried along.
Several humans followed behind him, lugging heaps of baggage. Looks like he’s off to tailor some clothes again. If Bondre’s working inside the imperial palace, then they must be clothes for royalty—but whose clothes could it be? To kill my boredom, I decided to follow him.
The humans walked briskly, completely unaware that I was tailing them.
They walked and walked—seriously, so much walking. Looking around, I realized this was a place I’d never been before. I’d explored the imperial palace pretty thoroughly, but it really is massive if there are still places I haven’t seen yet.
After following them for a long while, the humans finally stopped in front of a building. Seeing them enter after receiving guidance from an attendant, I hesitated. Even if it’s royalty, is it really okay to just barge in?
You know how it is. Princes fighting over power and all that. What if I go inside and run smack into another prince who’s openly targeting my patron? That’d be a disaster. That bad guy might kidnap me—my patron’s precious cat—and use me to threaten him. Then my softhearted patron would hand over the Crown Prince position just like that in exchange for my life.
Hmm……
I lingered around the building, mulling it over.
But turning back now feels unsatisfying, and I’m so bored.
Ah. Bored. Bored. Bored.
……Come to think of it, there’s no need to think about this so negatively.
Right. If there is a prince like that, I’ll just hide and spy on him. I’ll listen in on every last detail of his terrifying schemes, dig everything up, then go straight back and tell my patron all about it. Yes. Yes. That’s a brilliant idea. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
Nodding to myself, I headed toward the entrance Bondre had gone through.
I infiltrated the building and began moving stealthily. If a human appeared, I hid in a corner, then moved again when no one was around. Normally, I’d never sneak around like this, but this place is, no matter how you slice it, enemy territory. Sneaking around in enemy territory is never something to be ashamed of.
Still, moving like this makes me feel like a spy. No—this isn’t just a feeling. Right now, I am a spy infiltrating enemy territory. My fur is completely jet black, too, so even my outfit fits perfectly. It’s a shame I don’t have sunglasses, but let’s overlook that for now.
My weapon is the sharp claws hidden inside my fluffy front paws. These terrifying things stay tightly sheathed in everyday life, only to burst out—shnk!—at a critical moment and turn the enemy’s face into a rag. That’s not all. With these claws, I can dig straight into walls and do rock climbing. Truly, an all-purpose secret weapon. Even James Bond 007 probably never had a weapon like this.
